“Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.”
This advice is probably a little late for owners of the 1.5 million homes in foreclosure, but a WSJ story succinctly tells the big reason anyone should become a homeowner—because it saves money compared to renting, not because it’s going to make anyone rich. Many speculators are learning that buying a property you cannot afford will do just the opposite.
The news is making the rounds that in the first half of 2009, 1.53 million properties in the U.S. were in the foreclosure process. It’s likely that some people are looking at their drastically depreciated homes—and their inflated mortgage payments—and are strategically walking away.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, which has stores throughout the West and a few in other parts of the country, is giving away one iced beverage with the purchase of an iced beverage. A coupon is required, and you can print it out here. Valid only through Friday, July 17.
For years, high-end steak houses have held a monopoly on the best beef. Restaurants had dibs on USDA prime beef, and whatever they didn’t scoop up was secured by gourmet stores and specialty butchers. But now that restaurant goers are forsaking their $50 steak dinners for meals around the family dinner table, steak houses aren’t buying beef like they used to—meaning your meal at home could feature meats every bit as good as a top steak house
This weekend (July 18 and 19), IKEA is hosting a “Seize the Days” sale, in which certain wood furniture is being discounted by 50 percent, and in which one free breakfast per customer is being awarded. Print a coupon and see more details here.
One thing the recession has made clear: Living large is totally not necessary. The waste and added expenses of huge cars and enormous homes seem silly right about now. For many people, downscaling may literally mean shrinking the size of those two mainstays, cars and homes.
To boost business in recession-era times, major restaurant chains like Denny’s, T.G.I. Fridays, Applebee’s, and Chili’s have been rolling out discounts and promos over the past few months—$5 specialty sandwiches, two-for-one entrees, free appetizers, and such. If you’re interested in such things, take advantage of these specials while they exist, because they may not be around much longer.
Everyone would love to eat well without spending a fortune. So how do you do it?
“Your customers might be better at designing your product than your elite team of product designers.”
In Major League Baseball, where team payrolls can vary enormously, the payroll-dollars-to-team-wins ratio can be dramatically, appallingly different. Since The Cheapskate Blog is all about getting the best value, I thought the midseason All-Star break was a good time to look at which teams are and aren’t getting the most bang (i.e., wins) for their payroll bucks.
