Great Comment About Southwest Airlines Charging For Priority Seating
September 9, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Travel
Great comment from Jon:
My wife and I just flew Southwest on Labor Day Weekend. Getting there early won’t get you the best seat. They have a couple of ways you can check in early, either at the kiosks in the airport, or online up to 24 hours prior to your flight. Either option lets you print a boarding pass, with a boarding number on it. The boarding group you are assigned to determines the order in which you board the plane, and thus the “quality” of your seating. I’d guess that they hold open some slots in the “A 1-30? group for people who are willing to pay the extra $10. We were in the B 1-30 and B 31-60 groups (last to board), and still didn’t have much problem finding decent seats together on flights that were full, so unless it was extremely important to me to be first off of the plane on landing, it’s not worth the extra cost. If you’re first to board, you also spend quite a bit of time just sitting in your seat waiting for everyone else to board and settle in before departure.
My Favorite Personal Finance iPhone Applications
March 3, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Tools
Recently, I bought an iPhone after about two years of carrying around a phone that looked like it was about to fall apart. I had to switch carriers away from T-Mobile, because the service in our house was horrible. I knew that I was going to go big or go home this time with my phone choice, and iPhone is simply the best smart phone when you boil down all of the options out there. I thought about a Blackberry, but they function best as business use only. I wanted personal use and business use, and the iPhone does the best job of that. I may have gone with the G1 Google phone by T-Mobile, because it is the closest thing to the iPhone in my opinion. The G1 uses the Android open-source software so new applications are being developed every day for it, much like the applications for the iPhone. But like I said, it wasn’t an option, because T-Mobile has a coverage gap in our area. I haven’t gone nuts downloading new apps, but finding new applications that will make my life easier is my favorite part about the iPhone. There are a zillion other websites out there that do a better job of reviewing iPhone applications, so I will only give you a short list of my favorite personal finance applications that I know of so far.
Busch Gardens Stops Giving Away Free Beer
January 6, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News
The effects of the economy slowing down are hitting people in every aspect of their life. Now, if you visit Busch Gardens, you won’t be able to enjoy a free glass of beer courtesy of Anheuser-Busch anymore. The company decided to nix their hospitality centers at Busch Gardens that are famous for giving out glasses of Bud and Bud Light. Busch will be converting the hospitality centers to cafes and restaurants, and they cite the reason for taking away the free beer is because it alienated guest of the park to only people 21 and over. Yeah right. They’re struggling financially, and they punish the customers for it.
7 Steps To Saving Money On Black Friday
November 13, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Shopping, Spending and Saving
The big day is coming up when retailers begin to smile and consumers go crazy over deals that aren’t really deals. I shouldn’t say that. There are some deals, but many people get caught up in the deals that aren’t really deals. There are basically three types of people when it comes to Black Friday.
- The “I don’t care about black friday. It’s too crowded” person The “I like to go out, because it makes me feel like Christmas is here, but all I do is watch other people go crazy” person.
- The “I’m going to get that $300 flat-screen TV, hardcore to the max about Black Friday” person.
Free Coffee, Doughngiuts, and Ice Cream On Election Day
November 4, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Contests and Giveaways
Lines are long to vote today, but there are a few companies trying to make it a little easier for you to vote today. Starbucks is giving out a free cup of their original brew coffee. The corporate owned Krispy Kreme stores will be giving out star-shaped glazed doughnuts. Also, Ben & Jerry’s will be giving out a free scoop of ice cream today. Originally, you had to prove that you had voted with the “I voted” sticker, but I think the companies have rescinded this requirement because it violates election law.
So, go out and get fat while you vote!
Want To Buy Saddam Hussein’s Yacht?
November 3, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News
If you’ve got 20 million pounds, which translates to about $35 million bucks, you can buy Saddam Hussein’s yacht. The yacht was built in secrecy by the Iraqi government specifically for Saddam Hussein in 1981. The broker that will be auctioning off this yacht say that it will take as much money as its worth to remodel it, because Saddam kept the decor in its wonderful eighties-sheik-persian like fashion. Read the article that I linked to. It’s pretty funny.
Personally, if I had enough money to buy the yacht, I would drop a bomb on it and let that thing sink like the titanic somewhere out in the Mediterranean.
The Use of Layaway Is Becoming Popular Again With Retailers
October 28, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Credit and Debt, Spending and Saving
When I was a kid, if I was at the store with my mother and I pointed to a big ticket item that I wanted, she woud reply, “We’d have to put that on layaway to afford that!”. I didn’t really know what “layaway” was, but then she explained it to me when I was older and it made a lot of sense. Pay for something weekly or monthly increments until you’ve paid for it in full. Then, they give you the item. However, that was back in the 80’s when it wasn’t as easy to get a credit card or home equity line of credit. In the past 20 years, the use of credit cards and home equity lines has skyrocketed, and the average consumer carries thousands of dollars in debt. Our culture has changed since our grandparents and parents were young. Instead of saving up to pay for something, we want it now, so we buy now and pay later. But, all of this paying later business equals billions of dollars spent on interest every year on products that GO DOWN in value, including cars. But now that the economy has slowed down and many Americans are starting to realize that they need to get out of debt, the use of layaway in the retail industry is coming back.
The Price of Gas Falls to An Average of $3.15 Per Gallon
October 15, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News
You have probably noticed that gas has dropped severely over the past couple of weeks. Now, according to George Jahn from the AP, the average price of a gallon of gas in the United States has dropped to $3.15. This is almost a dollar lower from the national average for gasoline in July.
Why did it drop so much?
The Easiest Way to Insure Your Bank Deposits Beyond $100,000
September 22, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Consumer News, Investing
You know that the economy is on shaky ground when the hottest topic in personal finance is making sure your bank deposits are insured. Many of us never think about what would happen to our money if our bank closed its doors. Almost all traditional commercial banks insured their deposit accounts up to $100,000, which is enough coverage for the average citizen. However, some of you are blessed with an abundance of money and $100,000 might not be enough. Many small businesses carry bank deposit balances over $100,000 as well. Traditionally, the only way to make sure you are fully insured is to spread out your money to multiple banks in $100,000 increments. In fact, Clark Howard suggests that you spread it out in increments of $90,000 to account for the interest you’ll accrue on the money. So, if the worst happens and your bank closes up shop, you’ll insure your interest as well.
Where Should You Put Your Money During Times of Financial Turmoil?
September 16, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Economy, Investing
The recent news of the financial turmoil on Wall Street is unsettling. For younger folks like me, it’s even more unsettling, because my generation has never been old enough to remember financial problems like this in the past. Older folks know that we’ve rebounded from situations just as bad or worse than this one. One thing that we need to remember is that this is what happens in a free market. The market corrects itself by snuffing out companies that took on too much risk. This is why I disagree with all of the government intervention and bailouts on a philosophical level. On a practical level, I agree that it had to be done, or the future of our financial sector would have been very grim. Also, we need to realize that the government isn’t just bailing out these large corporations for the sake of helping a bunch of rich executives. They are thinking about the consequences that would ensue for the average customer of a company such as AIG. It’s a tough situation, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
