Can't find a coupon code anywhere? With the growing "live chat" customer service trend, many operators are trained to hand out coupon codes to polite shoppers that simply ask. I did the research and found a dozen of the most popular retailers that'll hand out a code via live chat to shoppers who play their cards right.
    
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With Lego people taking over the movies for the last couple of weeks, we figured we'd give in and let them conquer our desktops as well. Here are some of the best wallpapers catching Lego folk in their natural (and sometimes unnatural) habitat.
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You can never have too much counter space in a kitchen. If yours is a little small or cramped, these DIY burner covers could help.
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Netflix is one of the few internet services that is hard to improve upon. For a small fee you can binge watch a huge library of movies and television shows in a slick interface on just about any device you own. This won't stop us from trying, though. Here are some of the best ways to improve on an already great Netflix experience.
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You can get a complete workout with just your body. This "Periodic Table of Bodyweight Exercises" showcases dozens of moves—from easy to insane—you can do to build strength and/or reduce fat. The clickable infograph leads you to videos showing how to do each move.
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Consumers are increasingly turning to big box stores like Walmart and Target, as well as, convenience stores, dollar stores and pharmacy chains to meet their grocery needs, Forbes reports.
A new study by retail design firm King Retail Solutions and the University of Arizona’s Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing found that 77% of the 1,200 shoppers surveyed bought groceries from a non-grocer last year. And 94% of those shoppers said they would continue to buy groceries at the same stores in 2014.
Consumers pointed to price and convenience as their top reason to shop at stores like Target and Walmart rather than a traditional supermarket. One Walmart in Denver recently announced it would start letting customers order groceries online then pick them up at the store; what’s more convenient than that?
In fact, Target and Walmart were ranked at the top of the KRS study for most popular places to shop that aren’t traditional grocers. Next in line were pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS followed by Costco, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, 7-Eleven and Kmart, as well as, local farmers markets and food stalls. It should be noted that the study was conducted prior to the December data breach of millions of Target customers’ personal information.
It’s not just canned, preservative-filled foods shoppers are getting at non-traditional grocers, either. The study found that consumers ranked the fresh prepared meals at Walmart and Target above those available at Safeway, Kroger, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
The increase in patronage to big box and other nontraditional grocers doesn’t mean the end of traditional grocers. In fact, a separate study by Market Force Information of 6,600 consumers last year found traditional supermarkets topped consumers’ favorite places to shop for groceries.
In that study, consumers ranked Trader Joe’s as their preferred stop for grocery shopping, citing the friendly atmosphere, wide selection and fast checkout. Other traditional grocers that topped the list were Wegman’s, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods Market and Publix.
Only Costco and Target ranked in the top 10 for favorite grocery stores in the Market Force study. Walmart landed near the bottom of consumers’ lists of favorite places to shop because of low-quality produce, unsanitary marketplaces and crowded stores.
No matter where you choose to shop make sure you go prepared with a list and the latest tips and tricks to a better shopping experience, from how to pick the best produce to choosing your shopping cart wisely.
Are Grocery Stores Doomed? Study Shows More Shoppers Buying Food At Target, Walmart, Pharmacies [Forbes]
The menace of loitering senior citizens in the New York City metropolitan area continues. First, a McDonald’s in Queens kicked out a group of neighborhood seniors who used the restaurant as an all-day coffee house, and politicians brokered a peace. This time, a 73-year-old man who walked laps around a Long Island mall has been banned from the property for trespassing.
Let’s back up a minute. Just being inside the mall before the stores open isn’t trespassing. Mall walkers exist all over the country: they’re mainly senior citizens who walk the climate-controlled, ice-free corridors of their local shopping center for exercise before it opens. This man says that he once had permission from the management to use the restroom before the mall officially opened, but they stopped allowing him to do so.
“This [security guard], I guess he has it in for me for some reason, but he escorted me to the security office and asked me for my license, took my picture and escorted me out,” he explained to News 12. He received a six-month ban from the premises: if he’s seen anywhere on the property, from the Sears to the parking lot to the IHOP, he’s not allowed on the porperty.
It’s not like American suburbia has any shortage of malls, though. The banned walker told Newsday that he simply moved to a shopping center in the town of Massapequa. That mall happens to be owned by the same company, Westfield. Maybe they have a more liberal bathroom policy.
Mall-walker banned from Westfield South Shore Mall in Bay Shore [News 12]
Banned from one mall, West Islip man walks at another [Newsday]
Shocking news from aboard a Holland America cruise ship, the MS Nieuw Amsterdam, which sailed from Florida earlier this month set for the Caribbean: A ship worker reportedly confessed that he’d raped, beat and strangled a passenger before trying to throw her overboard from her balcony on Feb. 14, federal authorities say.
The alleged reason he gave for his actions? He felt slighted when she responded unfavorably to his knock on the door to deliver breakfast one morning, reports the South Florida Sentinel.
According to the FBI agents’ report after interviewing the 28-year-old worker, he said he was delivering the food to the victim’s stateroom and knocked three times before she said anything. That’s when she allegedly yelled, “Wait a minute, son of a bitch!”
“[The suspect] stated that the passenger’s comment of ‘son of a bitch’ was offensive to himself and his parents. He was angry and upset the rest of the day,” an agent wrote in the report.
He tried to find her later elsewhere on the ship “in order to punch her in the face,” but when he couldn’t, he said he used his master key to get into her room and hide on her balcony where he fell asleep.
The victim told officials that she was attacked with no warning in her room in the middle of the night. She says he raped, beat, punched and strangled her and then tried to throw her from the balcony into the ocean in international waters somewhere off the coast of Roatan, Honduras. He reportedly admitted to doing so.
The worker told agents he fled when he heard knocking at her door and jumped from balcony to balcony to escape, broke into another stateroom and fled to his staff cabin, where he told his roommate to call security because he’d killed a passenger.
He was quickly detained and arrested by the FBI upon the ship’s arrival back in Florida on Sunday on charges of attempted murder and aggravated sexual abuse. He was immediately fired him his job, the cruise line said.
The victim was airlifted to a hospital as soon as the ship docked, and Holland America flew her family in to be with her while she undergoes medical treatment.
“We continue to work closely with authorities to understand how this incident occurred and what additional actions we can take to help ensure that nothing like this ever happens again,” Holland America said in a statement yesterday, calling it a “senseless assault” that shook the company to its core.
Cruise worker admits he raped, tried to throw passenger overboard, feds say [South Florida Sun Sentinel]
How to save. Smarter ways to spend. Borrowing. Negotiating. And yes, even when to let them screw it up for the sake of a lesson.
Here are some strategies to help you not suck at teaching your kids about money.
To Allow, or Not to Allow, Allowances?
There’s no real rule on how much, if anything, you should give your child for a weekly allowance. It should depend on your family’s finances. To make the math easy, some parents match the dollars given to their child’s age.
Some suggest giving an allowance that’s not dependent on chores, while others link the payout to completing a to-do list. But realize that giving an allowance that’s not linked to some kind of work or responsibility may send the message that you can get something for nothing — that’s not something I want to teach my kids.
My brood — 15, 12 and 9 (those are their ages; not their names) — have never had allowances. They don’t have a set list of chores, either. Rather, they know that being part of this family means they’re expected to perform certain household duties. And if their parents ask them to do something, saying “no” is not an option. In exchange, we’re willing to give them money for certain purchases. Others they have to save for — we’ll get to that in a moment.
If you do give a weekly allowance, there will come a time when your child asks for a raise — allowance inflation is real — or complains that she doesn’t get as much as her best bud Mary does each week.
While it’s tempting to say no, consider that your kid needs to learn to negotiate for what they want, whether it’s a raise at work, to have control of the television remote or whatever. Explain they won’t always get what they ask for, but encourage them to write up their reasons, or provide evidence, for why they deserve an increased allowance.
The Bucket List
Regardless of whether your children get money from an allowance, as a reward for a good report card, or as a birthday gift, you should instill some rules so they don’t blow it all in one shot.
The easiest way is to use three buckets: “spend later,” “spend soon” and “charity.” You can decide how much goes in each pot, but I’d recommend 45% to spend soon, 45% to spend later and 10% for charity.
The “spend soon” bucket should be one that your child can spend on anything he wants, as soon as he wants, and he shouldn’t need your permission to spend it. (Of course, you should still monitor where the money is going.)
The “spend later” bucket should be longer-term savings for something that’s too expensive for your child to buy right away. It’s something they need to save for over time.
The “charity” bucket will give your child the added lesson that sometimes it is better to give than to receive. You can go over possible charities your child might have interest in, and after a certain amount is accumulated, she can make her donation. While there are charities everywhere you look, consider giving to a local food bank or shelter where your child can see his money at work. Or maybe your child will want to start a charity drive of his own.
Try tools like Three Jars and Bankaroo to help.
A Lesson in Budgets
While splitting up cash into several buckets can help a child with long-term plans, nothing will accomplish this goal better than setting a budget.
A budget will do several things. First, it will help your child plan for spending, but even better, it will show him where his money has gone over time. So when he complains he doesn’t have enough for that new PlayStation game, and you show him he spent $15 on candy in the past month, he may reconsider what he does with money in the future.
If your kid runs out of spendable cash, don’t come to the rescue. Delayed gratification is one of the most important money lessons you can teach.
Try these budget worksheets to help teach your kids about allotting their cash.
Bolster Saving and Start Investing
Even if your child understands he has to save money to afford his long-term wants, you can give some added incentive.
Think matching funds, just like you get for your 401(k) plan. (Read this if you need a primer.)
Perhaps you’ll invest 50 cents for every dollar Junior sets aside in his “spend later” jar. Or maybe you’ll go dollar-for-dollar, or more. Whatever amount you choose to match will motivate your saver to save just a little more.
Our family has put the idea of matching funds on steroids. Several years ago, we opened “The Bank of Mueller.” It offered 10% interest on any deposits every six months. Our kids started stashing away so much money after seeing the power on compound interest that we had to install a cap. Now, the first $1,000 of savings gets 10% interest, and all money after that gets 5%. (Establishing the cap was also a way for us to teach about today’s interest rate climate.)
And yes, even the 9-year-old has reached the 10% interest rate cap — but they all keep saving anyway.
In the beginning, when balances were relatively low, they used to love seeing all their cash at the end of six months. Now they only see it on paper. If we had to withdraw all their money just to show them the green, we’d need to hire an armed guard for the trip home from the bank.
They also keep some money in their bedrooms for their short-term spending.
If you’re not ready to open a family bank, at least teach your kids about compound interest. Try TheMint.org’s compounding calculator for help.
Once your kids start socking it away, you can introduce how the stock market works. Look around the house and pick a few products they like, and start monitoring the stock price of the company that makes the item. You can even have your kids create a mock mutual fund made up of their favorite companies — easy to track on any number of free stock market monitoring sites — and you can compare its performance to an index fund.
Credit
In addition to savings lessons, you can start teaching about spending with credit. You don’t want your kid to grow and up and head off to college without a real understanding of how interest rates are calculated and what late fees can mean.
When you’re shopping with your offspring, use a credit card and explain how it’s an I.O.U., and you will get a monthly bill with all the charges you’ve made.
When the bill comes in, use it as a real life example. Show them how interest is calculated — that you pay a price for borrowing if you don’t pay it off in full. Also show them how long the bill would take to pay off if you only pay the minimum.
Use TheMint.org’s debt calculator as a teaching tool.
And finally, take a listen to what index fund guru Jack Bogle has to say about kids and money.
Have a topic you’d like to see covered in How To Not Suck? Or maybe you’re an expert who would like to share your insight with Consumerist readers? Send us a note at notsuck@consumerist.com.
You can read Karin Price Mueller’s stories for The Star-Ledger at NJ.com, follow her on Facebook, and on Twitter @kpmueller.
PREVIOUSLY ON HOW TO NOT SUCK:
How To Not Suck… At Valentine’s Day Gifts
How To Not Suck… At Merging Your Money When You Marry
How To Not Suck… At Borrowing For College
How To Not Suck… At Saving For College
How To Not Suck… At Pre-Paying For Your Funeral
How To Not Suck… At Making Financial New Year’s Resolutions
How To Not Suck… At Last-Minute Christmas Gifting
How To Not Suck… At Saving For The Holidays
How To Not Suck… At Charitable Giving
How To Not Suck… At Disputing Credit Report Errors
How To Not Suck… At Lowering Your Utility Bills
How To Not Suck… At Home Inspections
How To Not Suck… At Understanding Credit Card Rewards
How To Not Suck… At Getting Ready For Tax Season
How To Not Suck… At Picking A Retirement Plan
How To Not Suck… At Deciding When To DIY
How To Not Suck… At Getting Out Of Debt
How To Not Suck… At First Year College Budgets
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Food and bathroom behavior just don’t mix — especially at a restaurant that’s serving paying customers. So it’s no wonder video footage of a Pizza Hut employee in West Virginia peeing into the kitchen sink — the same one used to wash utensils and supplies — has prompted health officials to shut down that location to investigate.
In the video, via WOWKTV.com, a man looks like he’s just checking something on a computer and then oh, there he goes, walking over to the deep sink and undoes his pants… and relieves himself. Sigh, gross, and sigh again.
Pizza Hut has confirmed that the fellow shown in the surveillance footage is a Pizza Hut District Manager.
When the news channel contacted the county health department about the video, the city’s sanitarian watched it and then temporarily closed down the restaurant. A sign hanging on the door says it was shut down because of “conditions within the establishment constituting a substantial hazard to the public health.”
“It’s something you hope to never have to deal with but we take it seriously,” the county sanitarian says. “They’re closed until we do a thorough cleaning on the place and have the reassurance there are safeguards in place.”
Safeguards like maybe a big signing reading, “THIS IS NOT A URINAL?” perhaps?
In a written statement Pizza Hut said of the franchise location that it doesn’t like it when people pee in the sink:
“First of all, we are embarrassed by the actions of this individual. Pizza Hut has zero tolerance for violations of our operating standards, and the local owner of the restaurant took immediate action and terminated the employee involved. While the isolated incident occurred during non-business hours and did not involve any food tampering, we follow strict safety and handling procedures and the restaurant has since been closed. We apologize to our customers of Kermit, West Virginia and those in our system who have been let down by this situation.”
*Thanks for the link, Brandon! And by thanks I mean, oh goodness gracious, that’s so gross.
Shocking video leads to local Pizza Hut closing [WOWKTV.com]
This is a really old, really expensive stamp.
The 1-cent postage stamp from a 19th century British colony in South America is expected to sell for between $10 million and $20 million at Sotheby’s on June 17, the Associated Press reports.
The One-Cent Magenta has a storied past, including breaking the auction record for a single stamp three times. It’s also the only major stamp missing from the British Royal Family’s private Royal Philatelic Collection.
Marked with a three-masted ship printed in black on magenta paper, the stamp is thought to be the only survivor of a small batch commissioned in British Guiana when a shipment of stamps was delayed from London.
The stamp was first owned by a Scottish boy in South America in the late 1870s. The boy sold the stamp to a local collector, who in turn sold it to a dealer in Liverpool. When the man died his collection was bequeathed to the Postmuseum in Berlin. Following World War I, the stamp was auctioned by France for $35,000, setting the first record for a single stamp.
Another auction record was set in 1970 when the stamp was purchased for $280,000 by an investment consortium. In 1980, the stamp was sold to John E. du Pont for $935,000. du Pont’s estate is currently selling the stamp. A portion of the funds from the auction will go to the Eurasian Pacific Wildlife Conservation Foundation.
Rare stamp could bring millions at NYC auction [Boston.com]
In the future when you bite into a Pop-Tart or an Eggo Waffle, know that the palm oil in those items didn’t add to the destruction of the rain forest. Kellogg Co. has promised to only buy palm oil from companies that are friendly to the environment.
This pledge is a response to pressure from environmental groups that have been pushing big names in the food industry to stop using palm oil from plantations that destroy rainforests in Southeast Asian countries, especially in Indonesia, reports the Associated Press.
As we’ve all been learning since grade school, there are many endangered species living in the rain forests — in these, there’s the orangutan and Sumatran tiger — and cultivating palm oil is a big threat to those animals. More than 30,000 square miles of Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests have been destroyed in the pursuit of palm oil, say leaders of a campaign against such a practice.
Kellogg has promised to require its suppliers to trace their palm oil back to those plantations that have been verified independently as complying with the law and meeting standards for protecting the environment and human rights. Processors and growers will also be held accountable under the policy, says Kellogg’s chief sustainability officer.
“We must ensure they are all producing palm oil in a way that’s environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable,” she said.
Palm oil shows up in small amounts in products like Pop-Tarts, cookies and waffles, but most cereals don’t have it, she added.
Environmental groups are all about this policy change, which requires compliance or substantial progress by Dec. 31, 2015. Thus far it’s one of the toughest policies out there, joining other food companies like the Girl Scouts and Burger King.
“Kellogg is sending a strong message to palm oil producers that traceable, deforestation-free and exploitation-free palm oil are core conditions for global market access,” said the campaign director for a group called Catapult.
Kellogg to use environmentally friendly palm oil [Associated Press]
The Washington Post got its hands on the request for bids [PDF], which outlines the system requirements but doesn’t really provide any guidelines for privacy or security of info.
Reads the document:
“The database should track vehicle license plate numbers that pass through cameras or are voluntarily entered into the system from a variety of sources… and uploaded to share with law enforcement. NLPR information will be used by DHS/ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to assist in the location and arrest of absconders and criminal aliens. Officers should be able to query the NLPR database with license plate numbers based on investigative leads to determine where and when the vehicle has traveled. This information will assist in locating criminal aliens and absconders, and will enhance officer safety by enabling arrests to occur away from a subject’s residence. The use of NLPR will reduce the man-hours required to conduct surveillance.”
And while the bid request provides a great level of detail on the government’s wishlist for the NLPR database — 24/7 access, unlimited tech support, smartphone apps for users — the apparent lack of concern for discretion and privacy may be cause for concern.
But not to worry, as a rep for ICE tells the Post that the NLPR “could only be accessed in conjunction with ongoing criminal investigations or to locate wanted individuals,” and that “this database would be run by a commercial enterprise, and the data would be collected and stored by the commercial enterprise, not the government.”
As you’d expect, such assurances don’t really deal with the bigger issue — that the government wants to create a massive database that could be used to track the movements of drivers.
“Ultimately, you’re creating a national database of location information,” Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, tells the Post. “When all that data is compiled and aggregated, you can track somebody as they’re going through their life.”
The bid request also doesn’t give specifics on how long information will be stored, which agencies would have direct access to NLPR, and what exactly would constitute a justified use of the system to track a driver.
“This is yet another example of the government’s appetite for tools of mass surveillance,” said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the ACLU.
Two Fire and Rescue Personnel Named Chief Fire Officers Patch.com Two City of Manassas Fire and Rescue employees have earned the Chief Fire Officer designation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE). Battalion Chief Todd Lupton and Fire Marshal and Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Frank ... |
Police: Victim stops would-be robber by throwing chair W*USA 9 The attempted robbery happened on Tuesday night at the Yorkshire Service Center on Centreville Rd. Loading… Post to Facebook. Police: Victim stops would-be robber by throwing chair on WUSA9.com: http://on.wusa9.com/1eSyok5. Incorrect please try ... |
Prince William County crime report Washington Post Prince William County. These were among incidents reported by Prince William County police. For information, call 703-792-7245. epa04086492 A protester throws a device at riot police during continuing protests in downtown Kiev, ... |
WTOP |
Fairfax County Animal Watch Washington Post FAIRFAX COUNTY. No incidents were reported by the Animal Control Division of the Fairfax County Police Department. For information, call 703-246-2253. epa04086492 A protester throws a device at riot police during continuing protests in downtown Kiev, ... Fairfax County seeks owners of dead dogWTOP all 6 news articles » |
Most resumes have to make it through an automated keyword sorter before they even stand a chance at getting a brief glance (an average of 6.2 seconds) by an actual human recruiter, who first look for quick ways they can eliminate your resume from the stack. Finding a job almost seems like winning the lottery. You can boost your odds a bit, though, by deleting these words.
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Dear Lifehacker,
I'm finally ready to purchase health insurance for myself, but I'm really overwhelmed by the choices out there. What's the difference between an HMO, a PPO, an HSA, and these other plans? Help!
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You could spend a lot of time trying to prepare for every possible job interview question (and there are a ton), but most job interviews really boil down to just five things employers want to know about you.
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According to some US health experts, eating too much sugar can be as bad for you as smoking or drinking a lot of alcohol. This video from TED Ed explains just what sugar does to your brain and body—and why it's so addictive.
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My grandmother's birthday was [last] Monday, and Facebook encouraged me to celebrate by posting a greeting to her wall, or virtually sending a birthday gift. Trouble is, my grandma is dead.
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Great discussions are par for the course here on Lifehacker. Each day, we highlight a discussion that is particularly helpful or insightful, along with other great discussions and reader questions you may have missed. Check out these discussions and add your own thoughts to make them even more wonderful!
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Being your own boss is great! Being your own boss is also hell sometimes! After going from a (cushy) work-from-home salaried employee job to fending for myself as a freelancer, this is what I wish I had known when I started.
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