AT&T no longer offers new subscribers the option to have unlimited data on their phones. So many subscribers feel lucky if they have been grandfathered in with their old plans and still pay $30 per month for unlimited data. But a new study indicates there’s about a 50-50 chance these customers are paying more than they need to—and they’d save an easy $10 a month by opting for a limited-data plan.
A new report estimates that the average American worker drops nearly $1,100 annually on coffee. That’s not much less than what the average worker spends to commute to the job.
We’ve all gotten a utility bill that was larger than we were expecting. A $250 electricity bill here. A $100 gas bill there. This family got one, too. Except, it was a cell phone bill for more than $200,000.
Today, the FCC is announcing new guidelines that should make sneaky mobile phone fees a thing of the past.
If the rumors are true, one day soon you’ll be able to buy an iPhone for under $400 without being locked into a contract. It also looks like Americans will have the option to share data plans with multiple devices, rather than having to pay for a separate monthly plan for each gadget.
This week’s link roundup also includes simple rules of thumb for buying everything from coffee to a home, and insights as to why personal finance can be as tricky—and messy—as potty training.
In Part I of this consumer factoid extravaganza, we learned all sorts of weird info about spending habits, housing costs, and family expenditures. For the sequel, we’re dealing with moms, Mexicans, McDonald’s, men’s dwindling DIY skills, the earning power of maiden names, how using a cell phone can be a sign of poverty, grandparents stealing [...]
“History tells you that prices in this industry have come down for 10 years. In the last 10 years, there’s been a significant number of business combinations in this industry, and prices have come down by 50%. And prices continue to come down.”
Services like Best Buy’s Buy Back program are presented as consumer safeguards. A customer who buys a new TV, cell phone, or other electronic gadget can be assured that the retailer will buy back the item if it’s brought back into the store within a certain window of time. This might sound great, but the [...]
A significant chunk of both the workforce and the recently unemployed fear that their skills and experience are obsolete, and no longer needed in the workplace. Older workers in particular have been driven to extraordinary lengths to appear less dinosaur-like: Some are even getting cosmetic surgery to improve their career prospects. There’s another kind of [...]
When buying a new car, trading in an old one is often part of the deal. Now, when consumers feel the need to upgrade their cell phones, it’s easy to trade in or sell their old handsets at the same store where they’re making their new purchase—including retailers like Kmart, Target, Office Depot, and RadioShack.
