Author: Carrie Rattle

On Monday, February 22nd, the Credit Card Act of 2009 took effect, outlawing several of the most egregious practices of the credit card companies. Can you finally relax? C’mon—by now you know better than that! True, your interest rate can no longer suddenly skyrocket, and a misstep with one card will no longer poison your… Continue reading Beware: Creative Old Dogs Inventing New Dirty Tricks

Here are some stopping overshopping tips straight from the front lines of the struggle. They’re from the Web’s “frugalati,” bloggers who share their secrets for cutting down. Kathy M. Kristoff, of Tribune Media Services, assembled these and more in a January 3rd piece. Katie Dunsworth (www.smartcookies.com) touts “rathers”: “I’d like that pair of designer shoes,… Continue reading Secrets for Cutting Down: What Others are Doing

by Avis Cardella For decades now, one of our prevalent media images has been the celebrity who indulges in shopping sprees of epic proportions. We’ve all seen the magazine spreads and websites, the photographs of bag-toting actors, models, and musicians, caught in the act. The notion was simple: one of the rewards of big fame… Continue reading Cause Celeb: Are Celebrities Reflecting a Cultural Shift Toward More Mindful Consumption?

More and more clearly, a troubling picture of online auction addiction is emerging. While there are no hard numbers yet, the anecdotal evidence is pretty compelling. And we shouldn’t be surprised. Already a decade ago, the alarm was sounding: in 1999, Elizabeth Weise wrote in USA Today, “Take the thrill of gambling, the excitement of… Continue reading Yet Another Shopping Pitfall: Online Auction Addiction

At last, the provisions of the Credit Card Act of 2009 have taken effect. And yes, several of the most egregious credit card company practices—the sudden skyrocketing of interest rates, for example, or jacking up someone’s interest rate on one card if they’re late on payments to another—have been curtailed. But consumers must stay vigilant.… Continue reading A Cautious Reminder About Credit Cards

Jennifer Lance, writing in the January 7th Eco Child’s Play, calls our attention to a positive (and somewhat unexpected) consequence of the economic downturn. She cites a New York Times and CBS News poll which found that “more Americans are spending more time with family and friends and less time shopping during the recession.”  The… Continue reading Recession Promotes Family Time Over Shopping

In Ireland, where the recession has hit even harder than in the United States, a new survey yields results that are simultaneously worrisome and encouraging. In a piece published in The Herald, Ireland’s evening newspaper, Cormac Byrne discusses the survey’s results. Some 40% of the 250 youths polled said that ”financial limitations on their family… Continue reading Irish Youth Feel Recession Keenly, are Prepared to Share the Burden

The global recession is pinching pretty much everyone, scaling us all back. Even dyed-in-the-wool overshoppers are curtailing their purchases, dragged into prudence by economic anxiety. For some, however, Sim Sites—online virtual communities such as Second Life, There, or Moove—are an increasingly attractive alternative. In these worlds, your avatar (the character that represents you) can shop… Continue reading Sim Sites: A Surprising Low-Cost, Low-Risk Alternative for Some Overshoppers

We’ve now looked in some detail at the Daily and Weekly Weigh-Ins, a keeping of numbers that will tell you how much you’ve spent, what you’ve spent it on, and how much you could have saved had you bought only what’s more necessary rather than less. In order for these numbers to begin revealing the… Continue reading Weighing-In (Part 4)

Over the last two postings, we’ve been examining Weighing In, an important technique for sweeping away the financial fog most overshoppers are mired in. We’ve looked at four columns on the Daily Weigh-In Form—Item Purchased, Actual Cost, Necessity Score, and Necessity Cost. Today, we’ll look at the second column, Category. The idea here is straightforward:… Continue reading Weighing-In (Part 3)