There's a point when frugality simply isn't worth it. Sometimes, when you're trying to save money, you'll grab the cheapest version of a product possible, only to realize a few days later it doesn't properly or just plain falls apart. So, we want to know, what items are worth the little bit of extra cash?
When most people think of heart attacks, they picture sudden and traumatic chest pain. But heart attack symptoms can be mild and have different symptoms. The signs may also be different between men and women.
Orange Gatorade has the same active ingredient as your furniture polish, orange extract. If you're in a pinch, it can work as a makeshift polish.
Many times, being broke means being desperate. Your mind is stressed, your finances are stretched like nobody's business, and you don't have many options available. And, unfortunately, there are a lot of "debt traps" that can keep you stuck in a paycheck-to-paycheck cycle . Let's go over some of these traps and check out better solutions.
There's a lot of debate about which method of drying your hands is actually the most clean. This video explores the benefits of both and explains which one actually helps keep your hands the most clean.
French toast is a classic breakfast staple, but it's hard to find the perfect balance of moisture. Drying out your bread slices beforehand can keep the interior from getting too soggy.
Last week we stood in front of the bathroom mirror with you and asked for your picks for best electric toothbrush. Now we're back with your most-nominated mouth cleaning tools, and we're ready to narrow down a winner.
Biscuit joinery requires a specialized tool, but it also provides a quick, simple joint that is strong enough for most applications. Here's how a biscuit joiner works, and a few applications when you might use one.
We could all benefit from a little financial literacy. Fortunately, there are a lot of free resources out there. FoolProofMe is one of them, and it takes financial education a step further by offering an entire database of money courses and quizzes.
iOS/Web: Goodshop is a shopping portal that lets you earn money for charities while you shop. They now have a mobile app for the iPhone and iPad that lets you earn and save while on the go.
If you're looking to save some money on video games, you have plenty of options, from local stores to huge online retailers, all offering gently used games for all platforms, as well as consoles and handhelds as big discounts. This week we're looking at five of the best spots to grab good deals on used gaming gear, based on your nominations.
Maybe this country’s pumpkin spice obsession has gone a little too far. That must be the case when pumpkin spice condoms and pumpkin spice Four Loko seem completely plausible, and there are multiple brands of pumpkin spice gum on the market. Now we’ve learned that Cedar’s has brought pumpkin spice hummus back, because that is exactly what the world needed.
It will go nicely on your pumpkin spice bagels (if you don’t already have pumpkin spice cream cheese for them), pumpkin spice tortilla chips, pumpkin spice crackers, or… I don’t know, maybe even something that doesn’t contain any pumpkin or cinnamon.
If you believe in the innate wisdom of animals, here’s an anecdote for you: I got some pumpkin spice-flavored dental chews for my dog to see whether she would like them. She likes pumpkin purée, so why not? I handed her one, and she spit it out at my feet. Not that those are the only pumpkin-flavored dog treats.
Pumpkin Spice Hummus Is Here In Case You Want Your Day Ruined [Buzzfeed]
The three largest soda companies each vowed to put measures in place that would help reduce the number of sugary drink calories consumed in the United States by one-fifth during the next decade, the New York Times reports.
The companies plan to use their marketing and distribution resources to reduce each American’s consumption of sugary drinks by at least 20% by 2025. The Times reports that soft drinks currently account for about 6% of the average consumer’s daily calories.
To achieve the new goal the soda companies will expand the presence of low- and no-calorie drinks and sell products in smaller portions.
Additionally, they will design promotions to educate and encourage consumers to reduce the calories they are drinking. One such tactic includes the use of signs at vending machines and soda fountains encouraging consumers to check the calories on the back of the drinks they are considering purchasing.
The new programs, which will begin in Little Rock, AR, and Los Angeles, will cover company-owned vending machines, coolers in convenience stores and fountain drink dispensers in movie theaters and restaurants.
A trip down the soda aisle at the grocery store will also look different to consumers, with significant changes to to end-of-aisle promotions and marketing materials expected.
“We’ll use the most critical levers we have at our disposal, and the focus really will be on transforming the beverage landscape in the U.S. over the next 10 years,” Susan Neely, chief executive of the American Beverage Association, the industry trade group, tells the Times.
Tuesday’s pledge announcement was made at the 10th annual Clinton Global Initiative where officials with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation detailed how the new commitment would be assessed.
Similar to the soda companies’ previous campaigns to reduce the number of sugary drinks sold on school campuses, the new strategy will be evaluated at interim levels by the amount of product shipped.
While the new initiative may be a step in the right direction, consumer health advocates say it doesn’t do enough to adequately protect the public’s health.
Officials with The Center for Science in the Public Interest say in a statement that the industry could accelerate the progress of reducing sugary drink calories by dropping its opposition to taxes and warning labels on drinks.
“Those taxes could further reduce calories in America’s beverage mix even more quickly, and would raise needed revenue for the prevention and treatment of soda-related diseases,” the statement reads.
In recent years, there has been an increased push by health groups such as CSPI, government officials and regulatory entities to reduce the amount of sugary calories consumed in soft drinks.
Back in 2013, CSPI called on the Food & Drug Administration to limit the amount of sugar in soft drinks and other sweetened beverages.
“As currently formulated, Coke, Pepsi, and other sugar-based drinks are unsafe for regular human consumption,” CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said at the time. “Like a slow-acting but ruthlessly efficient bioweapon, sugar drinks cause obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The FDA should require the beverage industry to re-engineer their sugary products over several years, making them safer for people to consume, and less conducive to disease.”
Other regulatory proposals included former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to limit the size of soda containers. That plan was met with fierce disapproval and required many court appeals before essentially being quashed this summer.
Across the country in California a bill that would require warning labels on sugary drinks stalled. But two cities – Berkley and San Francisco – recently announced initiatives to become the first cities in the U.S. to pass per-ounce taxes on the drinks.
Soda Makers Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Join in Effort to Cut Americans’ Drink Calories [The New York Times]
According to USA Today, the super-sized doughnut delivery required eight employees to cary and would cost an estimated $2,600 in the United States.
The colossal box was part of a Twitter competition meant to promote the company’s new “Krispy Kreme Occasions” division that customizes doughnuts for corporate events and even weddings.
After the delivery was complete – and some of the doughnuts were consumed – the folks at 360 Resourcing Solutions fittingly tweeted a photo of Homer Simpson’s go-to salivating pose.
Krispy Kreme officials say there are no plans to recreate the massive box in the U.S. or elsewhere in the U.K.
But for consumers in the U.K. thinking of inviting 1,000 of their closes friends to chow-down, Krispy Kreme will sell 100 of their Double-Dozen boxes of doughnuts for $2,600.
Krispy Kreme’s 2,400-doughnut box [USA Today]
We’ve joked in the past that Taco Bell will eventually just wrap every every ingredient in its kitchen and serve that meat/cheese/lettuce/sauce beast as its own menu item. They recently let someone try just that, and apparently the results were not awful.
In the video below, Fast Company’s Mark Wilson pays a visit to Taco Bell HQ, where he got to create and test — then later sell — a Bell beast of his own making.
As one would be tempted to do when in the test kitchen of a fast food chain notorious for stuffing and wrapping just about anything it can get its hands on, Wilson begins to create what he initially dubs, El Todos, because it has every ingredient he can include: multiple taco shells, beef, chicken, cheese, bacon, lettuce, all manner of sauces and everything else he can sandwich between two large flour tortillas.
The Bell employees on hand to witness this kitchen-sink approach to fast food suggested renaming Wilson’s creation “The Piñata” because it will explode when cracked open and you don’t know what you’re going to get.
And so he took his Piñata to the Taco Bell sensory labs, where employee taste-testers sampled and judged his addition to the Bell canon.
“Seems like a fun idea that a group of kids or family would want to share,” wrote one tester. “Definitely something you would want to customize even more.”
Others gave the Piñata positive grades in their feedback.
“It’s pretty much the best thing I’ve ever eaten out of a Taco Bell,” says another tester. “I had to eat the whole thing to taste every ingredient in it.”
A test kitchen employee tells Wilson that the response to his creation is “pretty good” compared to other items she’s seen come through the lab.
When Wilson went to a local Taco Bell to try his Piñata on an actual customer, the manager he worked with suggested adding taco shells to the mix, bringing the total up to five inside the already overstuffed monster.
The customer’s verdict?
“That is a veritable cornucopia of flavor,” he responded while still chewing. “It’s got a lot of different tastes, which makes it very interesting.”
However, the manager at this Bell said it’s unlikely that it could ever go on the menu, as one Piñata takes 4-5 minutes to make just one, and as we’ve seen, people don’t like waiting for Taco Bell orders.
The Oregonian reports on the lawsuit involving a Jan. 2013 incident, in which the Portland man refused to stop and show his receipt after making purchases worth $102.66 at the wholesaler.
The man says he didn’t stop because he doesn’t believe the store’s employees had the right to detain him based on Costco’s receipt-checking policy.
While that’s all well and good, employees didn’t see it that way and one grabbed the man’s cart, preventing him from leaving.
When the employee wouldn’t let go of the cart the man allegedly grabbed him by the shirt collar and physically moved the employee away.
That’s when, according to the suit, another employee used a “martial arts type strike with his leg,” that led to the broken bones.
The man is seeking $150,000 for past and future medical expenses, $20,000 for lost wages and $500,000 for pain and suffering.
The lawyer representing Costco filed a motion regarding the incident stating that the man’s injuries were “the sole and direct result of his own conduct, fault and negligence” because he attacked the employees first.
A lawyer representing the man says instead of resorting to a detainment and possible physical confrontations when consumers don’t abide by receipt-checking policies, the store should simply cancel the customer’s membership.
A couple years ago, a former Costco employee told Consumerist that checking receipts is both a matter of loss-prevention and to make sure that customers were not overcharged.
Man won’t show Costco Wholesale staff receipt, suffers broken leg, sues for $670,000 [The Oregonian]
What season is it? We can’t blame shoppers for being confused when they wander into this seasonal mashup at Menards. When the timing is a little off in a store’s Seasonal section, things get kind of strange. Of course, Christmas stuff out on display in late September is no longer jarring to Consumerist staff. If it’s after Labor Day, Christmas merchandise on the shelves no longer fazes us. With patio furniture, though?
There had to be some kind of explanation for this. Menards is mostly a Midwestern chain, but they do have stores in other places. Surely this was taken in their southernmost stores, somewhere that people still need patio furniture in late September. We checked back with tipster Erika to make sure that was the case.
Nope: she took this photo in tropical Fargo, North Dakota.
The study [PDF] by real estate firm John Burns Consulting found that $83 billion in home sales, or 414,000 homes, won’t happen this year in part because of consumers’ high student loan debt, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The figure works out to be about 8% of all home sales for the year, the firm estimates.
Researchers found that for every $250 per month in student loan debt that consumers owed their home purchasing power decreased by $44,000. With more than 5.9 million consumers under the age of 40 owing more than $250 a month in student debt, that would significantly affect the housing market.
Additionally, the report found that most households paying $750 or more per month in student loans are essentially priced out of the housing market all together.
“We actually think it’s pretty conservative,” said Rick Palacios, director of research at John Burns Consulting, tells the LA Times. “We’re only looking at people age 20 to 40. We know there’s a big chunk of households over age 40 who have student debt, too.”
As reported previously, consumers with student loan debt face an uphill battle when it comes to purchasing a home thanks in part to a new federal rules that went into effect last month. The new rule gives mortgage lenders broad legal protections as long as they do not approve loans for buyers whose total months debt exceeds 43% of their monthly gross income.
Additionally, the Federal Housing Administration is looking to scrap a waiver that helped many first-time home buyers in the past. Currently, the agency allows mortgage lenders it works with to ignore student loans debt that’s been deferred a year or more when assessing a borrower’s eligibility for a loan.
Not only does higher student loan debt make for more high-risk borrowers, but higher monthly payments on loans means more consumers are struggling to scrap together enough money for a down payment. The National Association of Realtors reported that 54% of first-time home buyers said student loans made it tough to save money.
Student loan debt curbs housing market by $83 billion, study says [The Los Angeles Times]
Cooking with dried beans instead of canned beans has its advantages. Find the right soaking times for a variety of beans with this handy little cheat sheet by WonderHowTo.
Does debt have an expiration date? Not quite—but there is a statute of limitations. The statute of limitations dictates when a creditor can sue you for repayment of unpaid debt, and depends upon a variety of factors. Learn how it's determined and you might avoid some financial follies.
Procrastinators waste too much time, but to get over this bad tendency, you need to know why you procrastinate . Dr. Joseph Ferrari of DePaul University has categorised a few basic types of time-wasters, and has solutions for them too.
Sometimes, a chart or infographic is the best way to communicate complex topics—like what the different types of cuts of beef are (and how to cook them) and how to fix common cooking mistakes . Here are some of the most save- or print-worthy food graphics we've shared on Lifehacker.
As a storyteller of any kind, the way you weave your narrative decides whether people keep reading, watching, or listening. The classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons can teach you how to construct strong narrative and how to collaborate with others in a way that's a whole lot of fun.
