ATMs are getting a new face — literally, a human face. Some bank customers are already encountering what might be called ATM cyborgs, in which a machine includes a screen showing a bank teller's head. The teller, in a remote location connected via webcam, is able to perform tasks that traditionally have been handled only by bank employees in person, such as check cashing.
Considering that Black Friday is a totally made-up event meant to stir up retail sales during the peak winter holiday shopping season, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that stores are loosey-goosey with what “Black Friday” means. Even so, the current Black Friday hosted by Home Depot seems a bit much.
Signs indicate that the mild non-winter of 2011-2012 is giving the economy a much-needed boost. Warm weather has helped employment in fields such as construction, and also helped consumers save on heating bills. More jobs, and a little more money in American consumers’ pockets, have meant increased spending at places such as home improvement stores, [...]
What happens when the expenses you’ve targeted for trimming involve hairdressers, housecleaners, accountants, and other service providers with whom you’ve had business—and personal—relationships for years?
Also, learn from the mistakes of others: Check out lists of foolish (and wasteful) assumptions consumers make all the time, the dumbest money moves during one’s college days, and incredibly stupid things people do when shopping online.
A Wisconsin public library loans out iPads to patrons, each one loaded with 1,000 books and 10 audio books.
Throughout the recession and the slow, meek recovery that has followed, there has been much discussion about a “new normal.” After the financial collapse, there was a widespread shift among consumers, a tendency to scale back on unnecessary expenses—as some observers put it, to replace the mindless accumulation of the past with more “mindful spending.” [...]
There are also money lessons to be learned in this roundup from millionaires who hate fees as much (or more) than you and I, high-profile pawn shop owners who are wise enough to walk away rather than lose money on deals, and parents who rarely if ever splurge on purchases for their kids.
Now through August 9, use the coupon code GYWB5 for online shopping or follow this Ace Hardware link to print out a coupon for an in-store discount of $5 off any purchase of $25 or more.
Place an order by Monday, July 18, with Lumber Liquidators, and you can get a discount of $40 to $200 off already marked-down merchandise. Different coupon codes listed at the site give a range of discounts: JUL40, for instance, grants $40 off orders of over $1,000, while JUL200 gives $200 off purchases over $3,000. Codes [...]
Also, one series of insights has it that you should manage your money similarly to the way you golf—or rather, the way a good golfer golfs.
