Mechanics are salespeople, and like brokers they often have more knowledge about their products and services than the average consumer. Therefore, they are viewed as professionals and without taking the time to learn about cars, customers have no choice but to trust their recommendations are in the customers’ best interest. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the ... Continue reading this article…

As I mentioned a few days ago, Consumerism Commentary is matching your charitable contributions. Please take this opportunity to give to your favorite charity. Here’s how to make your charity count twice. The four-day weekend has seen consumers spend $45 billion, up from $41.2 billion last year. I contributed to this figure slightly, buying three ... Continue reading this article…

Annie Leibovitz is one of today’s most famous photographers. You may have seen her name in the news recently for her financial problems rather than for her art. Although reports of her annual income included numbers north of $3,000,000, she was saddled with multi-million-dollar debt and exposed to legal problems. The photographer is mainly known ... Continue reading this article…

I have a business opportunity for you. For the most part, you’ll be a salesman. You’ll sell overpriced, mediocre products to your friends and co-workers, people already in your trust network, with whom you can use their guilt and their desire to maintain happy relationships. The truth is the products don’t matter. It can be ... Continue reading this article…

This is a guest article by Kimberly Palmer. Kimberly Palmer is the author of Generation Earn: The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back, which was published by Ten Speed Press this week. The following post has been adapted from the book. I’ll admit it: I was recently suckered into spending more than ... Continue reading this article…

When I graduated college, my father surprised me with a car: a very used 1987 Toyota Celica. I didn’t know much about owning a car at the time, and the Celica required quite a bit of car. For example, it required not only replacing engine oil occasionally, it required filling engine oil from time to ... Continue reading this article…

Amazon’s 3rd-generation Kindle e-reader, set to be released on August 27th, had me worried for a little while. My gadget-y friends and I often wonder aloud about upcoming features and technology advances, and many of them assumed Amazon would try to make it more like an iPad. As a happy owner of a 2nd-generation Kindle, ... Continue reading this article…

Flexo posted a good review of the major changes in the Wall Street Reform bill that passed through Congress yesterday, and mentioned that it will be some time before we know exactly how the regulations which are now possible will be written. But there are some reasonable guesses we can make, and I thought it ... Continue reading this article…