Do you go dumpster-diving for your wife’s anniversary gift? Do you dine on cow’s hearts and goat’s heads, so long as the price is right? When you hear the words “reusable toilet paper,” do you think “Brilliant!” rather than “Yuck!”? If you answer yes to any of the above, then TLC’s latest “extreme” show may be for you.
Long the workhorse of the financial mainstream, the checking account has undergone a radical evolution in recent months. Banks are shifting to the business model embraced by airlines, unbundling a product and adding fees on an a la carte basis for services that used to be included.
In this week’s link roundup: wisdom, tips, and lessons about money and family from moms everywhere—and tons of affordable, heartwarming gift ideas that’ll show much Mom is appreciated.
“Good Mother’s Day gifts are like geometry class where you are required to show your work in order to get credit.”
“All people pay for at such seminars is to listen to someone repeat the ideas that are already freely available in books and on the internet… The people who could most use the help are the people who can least afford the cost of such a seminar. It feels like preying on the weak to [...]
“A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.” – Frederick the Great “Kings are not born: they are made by artificial hallucination.” – George Bernard Shaw “God save the queen/ ‘Cause tourists are money/ And our figurehead/ Is not what she seems” – Sex Pistols
“If you were the purest of a luxury consumer, you wouldn’t touch this stuff with a ten foot pole.”
“Air travel on any class but economy is preposterous. Leaving lights, printers, computers, copiers and the like on ‘stand-by’ overnight is plain stupid.”
A credit card is the “quickest way for young adults to build good credit”—and it’s also the “quickest way to destroy a young adult’s credit.”
“If you’re looking for a quick and easy path to change from any self-help book, CD, or DVD that promises you instant and effortless change, put it back on the shelf or return it to Amazon. I can assure you that you’re wasting your money and time.”
“On Wednesday Elmo wanted to buy ice cream that he craved. / But Elmo didn’t spend at all. No that day Elmo saved.”
