Article: Why Only Thinking About Affordability Makes You Poor

Posted By Paul

I saw this article on a blog that I discovered today.

I really liked the article because I use the term 'affordability' a lot when I talk about money. When people ask me if I think it's okay for them to splurge on something I often ask the question: "Can you afford it?"

This article emphasizes that many people when answering that question are simply asking themselves: "Do I have the money now to cover the payment?"

It talks about how using that definition can lead you into some poor choices.

The article lists a set of other questions you should ask in addition to just basic affordability when making a financial choice:

1. Is it necessary or is it nice to have?
2. Is there a more economical version?
3. Would most people in your situation want to buy it?
4. Would you still buy it if you had time to think about it? In other words, is it an impulse decision?
5. How is that going to affect your short and long term goals?

I especially liked item 5....considering the choice in relation to your financial goals.

I think that now when discussing financial choices with people I'll have to ask the question: "Can you afford while meeting your other goals?" as a starting point for discussion.

Check it out:

Why Only Thinking About Affordability Makes You Poor

I Saved Some Money on a Keyless Entry Remote

Posted By Paul

We have a car with keyless entry, and the remote started to wear out (not just the battery, but the actual buttons). It still worked, but you really had to push hard on the worn out buttons and it would often take two or three tries, so I decided to replace it.

I called the dealership to see what it would cost to get a new one, and I was told they cost about $150 each!

That seemed like a lot, so I decided to look around on the internet. I ended up here:

http://www.keylessride.com

It said that they could send me the correct remote for my car along with instructions on how to program the car to accept it. Since the price was much better than the $150 I had been quoted from the dealer, I decided it was worth a try.

I felt a little more confident when I entered the year/make/model of my car and the web page brought up a picture of a device that looked EXACTLY like the remote I had. I ordered one and received it fairly quickly.

The instructions had quite a few steps (a lot of insert the key, remove the key, etc. to put your car into 'learning mode'), but they were clear and also included tips in case you have trouble. I had my new remote programmed in just a few minutes.

I was even able to keep my old remote valid so now I have a spare. So instead of $150 the new remote was about $40. I will DEFINITELY use them again the next time I have a worn out remote and need a new one.

A Proud Frugal Shopping Moment

Posted By Paul

There have been several articles of how you can save money by purchasing things used. I wanted to share a recent outing where I really saw that philosophy in action.

It all started with wanting to get my kid a jigsaw puzzle. He's only 2 1/2 years old so I was looking to find one with at most 25 pieces (preferably big pieces that were durable).

I went online and found a puzzle that looked great. It was a 20 piece puzzle and had nice thick pieces made of wood.

The problem was that the puzzle cost over $20 (and that didn't include shipping). Even though the puzzle seemed to be just what I wanted it seemed a little pricey for something my kid would outgrow in a year or so.

So coincidentally that evening my wife and I had planned an errand that took us near a Goodwill store. I decided to postpone my online purchase and see if the Goodwill store might have something that would work for me.

We totally hit the jackpot, there were stacks and stacks of kids puzzles. We ended up buying one large piece floor puzzle, two 'puzzle packs' (each pack had 4 puzzles of a dozen pieces each), a 15 piece Winnie The Pooh puzzle, and finally a Lite-Brite that we happened to see.

For ALL of the above we paid $12. So not only did I pay half of what the online order would have cost me but instead of getting one puzzle I actually got 10 (plus a Lite-Brite).

I'm going to have to try to be more aware of when I am looking for something that might be easily found at a Goodwill or other secondhand stores. Buying used is ESPECIALLY good for toddler toys where he will inevitably either outgrow or destroy the item.

Article: 5 Things You Should Buy Secondhand

Posted By Paul

Here is a link to an article listing 5 things that you should always try to purchase used if you are trying to save money:

5 Things You Should Buy Secondhand

Article: Black Friday's dirty little secrets.

Posted by Paul

I've never been a Black Friday participant (they pretty lose me at 'wake up early on a day off'), but I've always been intrigued by the tradition.

I found an article about things to watch out for on Black Friday. An interesting read, but one point in particular surprised me.

It was referring to the idea of "derivative models" essentially sale models that lack features from the standard model. They use an example of a Samsung TV being advertised as a Black Friday special at Wal-Mart. Here is an excerpt from the article:
---
"That model doesn't appear on Samsung's web site. Maybe it was made just for Black Friday," he said. Another red flag, the deal on that TV just lists the deal price and not the regular price of the model.
---

I had no idea that there might be special models made just for Black Friday or other sales. It seems like the consumer really needs to research sale models carefully, especially with electronics where model numbers and feature sets are often complicated.

The whole article can be read at the link below:

Black Friday's dirty little secrets

Article: 10 products to always buy generic

Posted By Paul

I thought this was a pretty cool article:

10 products to always buy generic

Now that we have a little one with various toys we seem to go through batteries more quickly and we now just get whatever battery is cheapest and we haven't noticed any difference.

We often buy generic or store brands and only switch back to the name brand if we have a reason.

For example I have a cheesecake recipe that I'm rather proud of and I've noticed that whenever I make it with generic cream cheese it doesn't turn out as well. So I always go for the name brand when I'm going to make that particular recipe.

An interesting little article, check it out!

Article: Overcome marriage money challenges

Posted By Paul

I read an article on the dollar stretcher that I really liked. So many aspects of the article reminded me of things that my wife and I do to handle money in our marriage, such as:

-Using rewards credit cards (never carrying a balance but splurging with the reward money)

-Saving up for expensive items (which also gives you time to decide if you really want or need the item in the first place)

Worth a read for all married couples, whether or not spending is a source of friction in your marriage:

Overcome marriage money challenges

Frugal in the new year!

Posted By Paul

Happy New Year!

Sorry that this blog has been so quiet recently, but times have been hectic and I haven't been able to post for a while (I was busy shopping for a new car, you can hear all about it in an upcoming post).

Now that it's the new year my wife and I have been going over our various expenses and seeing if there are ways to save a few dollars here and there. My wife and I already life pretty frugally so there aren't many places to save money, but I think it's still a good idea to at least take a look once a year.

One thing we did decide to cut back on this year was the newspaper. My wife and I would often have breakfast and read the paper so it was nice to have the Sunday paper delivered every week. Once we had a child we noticed that breakfasts aren't quite as leisurely as they once were so we don't have the long meals to peruse the paper, so some weeks we barely even look at it.

It's a very small expense but we decided to cancel it for now and add the money we save to our child's college fund. It's a small difference, but we figure that every dollar counts.

We plan on making this quick once-over of our spending an annual tradition. Just a quick friendly discussion over dinner one night to think about all of our expenses and whether or not they are still "worth it" to us.

We're hoping that this will keep us from falling into the trap of spending month after month on something we don't really need or want simply because we never actually sit down together and make the decision to get rid of it.

Article: Back To School Shopping On A Budget

Posted By Paul

I was reading an article in the newspaper talking about how many children and teens are developing frugal shopping habits because their parents are encouraging them to stretch their back to school budgets.

There were kids talking about how they were avoiding clothes that had the brand name right on them and were focusing more on trying to get as much for their dollar as possible by checking out the clearance rack and so on.

It was exciting to hear about children developing good spending habits early, and I noticed that the common thread among the children in the article was that they were given a spending limit by their parents and therefore were motivated to stretch their dollars as far as they could.

As a new parent I think a lot about how I might instill good values (including good spending habits) in my child. When I was in my tween and teen years I was never told: "You can only spend $100 on back to school clothes this year." I was told something like: "Let's go to the store, we need to go and get you some shoes and a winter coat."

Of course I remember that I really disliked clothes shopping (still do) so if my folks had told me something like "You have $100 to spend on back to school clothes." I probably would have just asked to wear my ratty jeans one more year so I could spend the money on comic books.

However, many teens are more concerned about clothes than I was, so I think it's a great system to provide your child with a spending limit so they can start to understand the benefits of making their dollar go farther.

Here is the article in full:
Frugality is cool in back-to-school shopping

Article: Get your spouse to stop overspending

Posted By Paul

Here is an article I enjoyed that was talking about managing a spouse who is more free with spending than you would like.

It's a short article but it reminds me of what one married couple I know did as a way to manage their money. They had a fairly common system where one spouse (in this case the wife) handled most of the day to day money issues (she wrote the checks for the utility bills and mortgage, etc.). The husband was sometimes prone to overspending and that frustrated her.

What she did was that she made sure that the husband helped with the check-writing (she wrote the checks and he entered them into the checkbook), so that he could see and realize that they were spending too much money. By actually seeing the checkbook balance shrink (and sometimes go negative) he was able to see the consequences of his actions. Prior to that his spending was something he would hear about through his wife but it never sunk in until he got involved in the process.

Here is the article:
Get your spouse to stop overspending

Article: 8 Things Parents Don't Need

Posted By Paul

As a new parent I was happy to run across this article listing things that you DON'T need as a new parent.

8 Things New Parents Don't Need

I especially liked the author listing the expensive burp cloths and how cloth diapers work just as well. In fact a friend of mine went to a baby shower where as a game they had each guest decorate a cloth diaper in permanent marker for the parents to use as a burp cloth. The parents use them for various baby related cleaning and it's cool to see the funny and creative designs that the guests put on them.

Also the fact that they mentioned the baby wipe warmer was excellent. I saw one listing for a baby wipe warmer that said something like:

"the baby wipe warmer saves you money by being able to use any type of wipe in it."

What saves you even more money is to not buy the warmer in the first place. I looked on Amazon and read customer reviews of warmers and several people swore that their baby didn't like cold wipes and that buying this device improved their life considerably. Our baby actually thinks the cold wipes are kind of ticklish and using the cold wipes will often turn his crying into laughing. I guess it goes to show that all babies are different.

Any other suggestions for things new parents SHOULDN'T buy, or at least shouldn't ASSUME they need?

What NOT To Skimp On

Posted By Paul

There seem to be two valid philosophies when it comes to being frugal:

"Save On Every Purchase"
The idea: when it's time to buy something, look for the cheapest option that will get the job done.

How it can go wrong: one time I wanted to buy a VCR and decided to buy the cheapest one that had the features I wanted. The result was that I got a VCR that worked so horribly that in a few months it was practically worthless. I decided to buy a VCR that was more than twice as much ($70 vs the original $30), but this one actually worked pretty well and has lasted quite a while without breaking.

"Every purchase should be viewed as the last one you'll ever buy"
The idea: if you are going to buy something, buy it with enough quality so that you will never have to replace it.

How it can go wrong: you end up buying something much nicer (and more expensive) than you need, or you end up buying something super nice that ends up becoming obsolete or useless quickly.

Being frugal is often a balancing act between these two ideas. Do you focus on purchasing quality or do you focus on saving money?

In this time where everyone is looking for ways to save money I decided to give some thought to things that you SHOULDN'T try to save money on.

Here are some of my ideas:

Things you use every day - if you're going to be using it every day, then buy some quality. If it's something that spends a lot of time in the attic or a back shelf, then skimp. For example, buy a good kitchen knife but buy a cheap fondue pot. On a personal note, my wife and I bought some cheaper kitchen knives several years ago. Now most of those knives are literally falling apart, and we're replacing them.

Things with lots of moving parts - this is my lesson from the VCR. If it has a lot of moving parts then if it's of low quality it will fall apart quickly. For me this includes things like power tools, and electric kitchen appliances.

One article I found sounded promising
Skimp Or Splurge

The article had a slideshow of 12 items they thought you should be sure to buy quality, which I thought was a pretty good list:

Sofa
Mattress
Bureau
Men's suit
Men's Dress Shoes
Men's Overcoat
Women's Overcoat
Women's Little Black Dress
Women's Slacks
Cooking Pot
Cooking Skillet
Chef Knife

Any other suggestions out there?

A way to save on home projects.

Posted By Paul

I recently completed a home project where I tiled the floor of one of the rooms in my house. At first I was worried that I would run out of grout or tiles, so I made a second run to the hardware store to get more.

Well of course I ended up with more than I needed. Luckily this time I made sure to save receipts and also keep my un-used building supplies (bags or mortar, bags of grout, and boxes of tiles) in good condition so that I could return them.

I had one extra bag of grout, one of mortar, and 3 unopened boxes of tiles. I contemplated keeping the grout and mortar in case I needed to do repairs, but ultimately decided that I could always get more, so there was no point in storing the bags in anticipation of needing it some day. I had one box of tiles that I had opened, but since I only needed 2 of the 12 tiles in the box there were 10 left which I figured was plenty to keep in case I ever needed to do repairs.

A quick trip to the hardware store with my receipt and they were happy to take back the unopened building supplies. I got my money back for those items, and saved a little storage room in the garage.

Where the rubber meets the road

Posted by Matt

I just had new tires put on my car and thought I would share the details of my shopping experience, which was much more complicated than I initially expected. Before I get into that, however, I wanted to point out that maintaining your tires properly prolongs their lifespan, which is the easiest way to save money on them. I have recurring reminders on my google calendar to check my tire pressure monthly (see the box on "Tire Inflation" here) and get the tires rotated and brakes inspected (annually, which corresponds to every 7500 miles) at my favorite local shop.

The shop mechanic who last rotated my tires was the person who actually recommended new tires, but I didn't take his word for it. I checked the wear bars and also used the coin tests. My tires hadn't worn perfectly evenly, but they were close and one of them definitely needed replacing.

So, I went back to the tire shop and they gave me a list showing tires from their inventory that were compatible with my car.

I ask whether any of the tires on the list were designated as "low rolling resistance" tires, as I had heard that this could save money by improving gas mileage, but the clerk didn't seem to know anything about this. I also asked about the age of their inventory, but was reassured that the shop sold enough tires that they didn't have a problem with tires aging on the shelf.

The list of available tires was short, but unfortunately, I wasn't quite sure how to comparison shop. I found a very helpful article on HowStuffWorks that helped me interpret the sidewall codes used by the tire industry to categorize their tires.

Here's an example from my shopping list: P195/60R15 87T M+S
P - Type of tire (passenger)
195 - width of the tire across the tread in millimeters
60 - Aspect ratio of the sidewall compared to the width
R - Radial construction
15 - Diameter of the rim in inches
87 - Tire's load rating
T - Tire's speed rating
M+S - Mud+Snow, meaning the tire is suitable for all-season driving

All of the codes my shopping list were similar (because they primarily describe sizing) but I noticed one important variable: the speed rating. The "T" in the code for these tires means that they are rated as safe to drive up to 118mph. The other tires on my shopping list were rated "H", meaning they were safe up to 130mph. This didn't really concern me, as I don't plan on driving anywhere near 118mph, much less 130, but the shop told me that the T-rated tires would last for 70k miles, whereas the H-rated tire sets would last between 40k and 50k miles. The explanation from About.com:

The faster a tire can go, the softer the rubber compound they use to make it (softer rubber grips dry pavement better), so the tire will wear out faster than a "slower" rated tire.

The T-rated tires were priced a little higher, but only until I made the comparison fair by computing how many dollars it would cost me per mile of service life:

Warranty (Miles)	Price	Miles per dollar
40,000	247.96	161.32
45,000	307.64	146.27
50,000	337.80	148.02
70,000	356.80	196.19

Based on this, the high mileage tire looks like a great deal. This is just what the shop clerk told me, but I'm always skeptical of the sales pitch, of course. I also worried that I would sell the car before going another 70,000 miles (which equates to about ten years of driving for me) but decided to gamble. Who knows how long I'll have to wait for an affordable electric car?

Next, I decided I should check online prices, but I didn't find any cheaper deals, especially considering that I would have to pay for shipping (around $50) and then pay to have the tires mounted/balanced/installed.

The tire shop also wanted to sell me siping for an additional $50, but I declined based mostly on a Consumer Reports article indicating that siping was most helpful in snow and ice conditions, which I don't encounter often.

The only real bad news in this story is that the quotes that the clerk initially offered me had expired by the time I had finished doing all of this analysis! Luckily, it was very simple to apply the lessons learned to pick from their current inventory list and I'm satisfied that I still found a good deal. Barring any advances in tire technology in the next 10 years (what are the odds?), I should be well prepared for the next set, too.

Cost + Subscription = Adding insult to injury

Posted By Paul

A product model that you see all the time is the system where you get the initial product cheap (or free) but the supplies that you need to purchase to USE the product are either less affordable, or downright expensive. According to an article on Wired (called "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business" which can be found here) one term for this is "cross subsidy" (where you get one thing free or cheap, but you need to buy another thing to use it).

One thing I've been seeing more and more are cool gadgets that are sold under this model EXCEPT the initial price tag for the item really isn't that cheap.

These types of devices are dangerous and thinking hard about them are a great way to take a frugal approach to life. Here are a few modern toys that come with a hefty initial price tag AND a monthly service fee:

iPhone - Yes, they are cool, but not only does the phone itself cost quite a bit ($200-$300), but they require a high cost data plan that seems to be about twice that of a normal cell phone plan ($70 per month per line for the iPhone, as opposed to most cell plans that cost $30-$40 per month per line). Just imagine what you could do with an extra $30-40 per month. If the whiz-bang technology is your thing and you can afford it then go for it, but give it some thought first.

Bodybugg - A device a I saw recently that is used for monitoring your calories burned. It's a really cool fitness device, but in order to use it you have to pay a $15 a month subscription fee on top of the $300-$400 initial price tag. If you ever decide that you don't want to pay the $15 a month then the device becomes essentially useless.

Satellite Radio - The receivers aren't cheap, and there is a monthly subscription fee involved. Not as bad as many other subscription based services but it's still another bill every month.

Not to say that owning any of these things make you a bad person. If you want some toys, and can afford them without putting your financial well being in jeopardy then go for it. Deciding to splurge on something doesn't necessarily make you financially irresponsbile (see my earlier post Know Your Indulgence), but I think that any non-essential item that requires a decent initial cost AND a monthly fee should be given some serious thought.

One way I like to think of these purchases is by taking the service cost of an item and adding it to the initial cost, and then see if I still think it's a good idea.

For example, let's say you're thinking of getting an iPhone, but you're not sure if you want to spend the money. Another way to look at the purchase is by taking the service cost and imagining it as part of the initial cost. Assume a 2-year service contract and an extra $30 a month for the iPhone plan over a typical cell plan, then that's $720. If the iPhone service still only cost you the same as a regular cell plan per month, but the device itself cost you $920-$1020, would you still buy it?

On a related topic is an earlier post:

Beware Of Subscriptions

Article: Save Without Sacrifice

Posted By Paul

There was an article on Yahoo Finance today:

Save Without Sacrifice

I liked the fact that it opens with an emphasis on looking carefully at the luxuries in your life, and specifically talks about the distinction between need and want.

But my favortie part was where the article talks about the "Vice-A-Day Deal." It is saying that if the cold turkey approach to cutting out the daily frills from your life is too hard, then try limiting yourself to one frill a day.

It reminded me of the idea that while you may not last long on a super strict diet where you eat nothing but healthy stuff, a more moderate diet where you eat healthy but occasionally splurge will still yield benefits and will hopefully be something you can stick with long term.

I liked the idea of trying to find a moderate approach to saving money. So often I see people who do financial "crash diets" where they decide to cut out every frill from their life (movies, Starbucks, meals out, etc.) and they end up being unable to stick to it long, and then they are back to their old patterns. By creating a system where you can only have one frill per day you have a better chance of saving money AND sticking to it.

Article: Pitfalls of Frugality

Posted By Paul

I liked this article on the Dollar Stretcher called:

The Pitfalls of Frugality

The author talks about how trying to save money can sometimes end up costing you more than you intended.

I thought the article was great. You rarely see articles talking about BAD ways to save money. I thought I'd call out his five main points and share my experience with them.

1. Don't buy poor-quality merchandise.

This is a great point, but often the difference between a great deal and a big mistake is something you only see in hindsight. For example, once I was trying to find an affordable DVD player. I purchased an off-brand that was on sale for $30, and while my friend Matt bought one that worked great for quite a while (maybe it even still works?), the one I got died after about 4 months. It's tough to find that line between being frugal and buying junk.

2. Don't buy something you're not going to use.

I've never really fallen into this trap. Usually if I end up buying something I definitely use it (though there have been times where I've bought tools that I figured I'd use a lot but that have only been needed once so far). This story reminds me of a friend who LOVED outdoor sports, or at least loved the EQUIPMENT. He had yards of climbing rope that had never been uncoiled, an ice-ax that had never touched ice, and all kinds of equipment that he always WANTED to use. He had bought nearly all of it on sale, but most of it never saw actual use.

3. Don't buy more than you're going to use.

This reminds me of some friends of mine who had a garage sale recently. They were getting rid of a lot of stuff that had never been used. Why? Well it was stuff that was purchased on sale with the assumption that it would be needed SOMEDAY, but that never ended up being needed. It's one thing to stock up on canned soup when it goes on sale, but if this garage sale was any indicator, buying two of something (coats, pairs of running shoes, camping tents, coolers) because they're on sale with the plan of using the second item when the first wears out will often result in a lot of stuff that you store for years and then get rid of.

4. Send in rebates carefully.

I've probably been burned by this one. I love rebates and make sure to carefully read the fine print and follow the instructions for submission very carefully. It's fun when I get the check months late since by then I've long forgotten that I ever submitted the rebate in the first place so it feels like found money. I wonder how often I've sent in the rebate and for whatever reason not received the rebate (I honestly don't know).

5. Watch your coupons.

For the first few months when after I graduated I lived in a city where I didn't know anyone, and money was tight so I would spend Sunday reading the paper and clipping coupons. The author of the article makes a good point about how using a coupon might not always save money. I think I stopped clipping coupons when I used a coupon to buy a box of 'Toaster Scrambles' (they were like Pop-Tarts except they were filled with egg/cheese/bacon, etc.). I thought they would be a great quick snack to take into work in the morning when I was running late, and then I tasted them. They spent months in the freezer before I finally found them encased in a block of ice during a freezer clean out.

So the economy is bad, now what?

Posted By Paul

So I've been thinking a lot about the recent downturn in the economy. Specifically I've been thinking about how I want to react to it and what I should do.

Then I remembered something from a book I've read (and recommended in earlier posts). The book is called:
The Millionaire Next Door

One thing it talks about in the book is playing "offense" and "defense" with your finances.

The idea is that offense is about bringing money in. Getting raises, making sure your investments pay off, anything that is designed to bring in money is considered offense.

Then there's defense. Clipping coupons, finding ways to lower your utility bills, and good old not buying stuff all count as defense. They don't bring money in, they keep it from going out.

The book suggests that the best thing to do is to always keep an eye on both aspects of your financial life, because playing great defense without a good offense (or vice-versa) doesn't really help you much.

So I've been thinking that with the economy slowing down, my wife and I are really focusing a lot on defense, since the potential for good financial offense seem smaller and smaller (stock market isn't doing so great, interest rates are down, and I'm not assuming that I'll get a great raise this year).

So what sort of things can you do to focus on defense? Well the first thing we've been doing is watching our expenses closely. We still have a social life, but now dinners at fancy restaurants have been replaced with more casual dinners like pizza at someone's house, or picnics in the park (which it turns out is just as much fun and much cheaper). We've also been scaling back on movies, instead we've been watching DVD's that we rent. Not to say that we won't check out some of the big summer blockbusters, but it definitely won't be a movie every weekend (which you know isn't too hard for me, if you've read my earlier post No More Movies).

The second thing we've been doing is watching the monthly expenses, trying to see where we can save a few bucks. We've cut out fancy cable packages, we don't have gym memberships, we are a cell phone only family, and our big extravagance is a one disk membership to Blockbuster Online.

The third thing we've been doing is that just for now we're taking a very frugal look at one time expenses, trying to determine if we want to spend the money now, or wait until later. One example is that my passenger window on my car is having trouble (the glass is intact but it won't roll down), and normally I'd probably pay to have it repaired immediately, but for now I'm going to just live with it in the hope of either getting some time to try fixing it myself or maybe find a way to get it repaired on the cheap.

It probably sounds like my wife and I are pinching every penny, but I really don't view it like that. We still get to go out and have fun with friends and family, but by making a few conscious decisions to tighten the belt, we can have that fun and still keep saving. It lets you feel like you're in control of your finances in uncertain times, and once the economic climate improves then we can splurge a little more, but with the current outlook (and a baby on the way) every dollar we save lets us sleep a little better.

I guess our philosophy when it comes to playing financial defense is: "Spend as if you were poorer than you are, so you'll never have to be that poor for real."

Not very catchy, but a good way to live when economic forecasts are gloomy.

Article: Furniture Liquidation Pitfall

Posted By Paul

Hi Everyone,

I read an article in the Oregonian that was talking about how consumers should be careful when dealing with furniture liquidation sales because sometimes these sales can be filled with furniture from other stores. The idea being that if you are going to a high end furniture store's liquidation and see what looks like a high end couch on sale you might actually be looking at a much cheaper couch from a different store mixed in with the inventory.

Check it out:

Liquidation sales pose pitfalls for consumers

Article: Why you're a big sucker.

Posted By Paul

No this is not an April Fool's joke. It's an article I came across at CNN Money written by a behavioral economist that talks about the psychology of making purchases and how much of human nature involves illogical spending choices.

I liked the fact that the author concludes with:

"What's the seller trying to do here?"

Which reminded me of my posting:

Know Their Agenda


Read the full article on CNN Money by going here