Archive for the ‘Money’ Category
Cell Phone Bills Through the Roof, Consumers Look for Options
10:42 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · economy|Money|Telecomm · Comments Off
17 Mar 2009
In this time of economic difficulty, it seems that more and more people are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to paying what’s fair for the basics — which in this day and age means a cell phone. I’ve had my fair share of through-the-roof cell phone bills myself, but a report in The Christian Science Monitor this week made my jaw drop: according to a consumer advocacy group, cell users in San Diego are paying a whopping $3.00 per minute for their calls. Excessive text messaging can also make your bill go through the roof. Are unlimited cell phone plans the answer? It depends on your usage, according to experts.
This average is driven up by a small slice of consumers who buy large plans but rarely use them. If you cut out these big-spenders, the average falls somewhere between 50 cents and $1 per minute – far more than the “10 cents a minute” claim made in many ads.
That means if you are a big talker/texter an unlimited plan is the way to go. But if you aren’t, you’ll be selling yourself short.
I experienced sticker shock a few years back when I went over my minutes on my cell phone: a $300 bill was my punishment for not watching the clock. That decreased when I went on an unlimited plan but the problem was I wanted to use the Internet, and an unlimited data plan was also really expensive on my carrier. I sucked it up and paid — and continue to pay.
As people start looking for creative ways to cut costs, some are turning to pre-paid cell phones. That sector has reportedly grown some 13% this year, as a result of the economic downturn.
If I weren’t on contract with another company, I’d be interested in this offer, which came to us via Boost Mobile, and that you might find attractive as well: an unlimited plan WITH Internet for only $50. Check it out.
Are you cutting back on your cell phone use as a result of the recession? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Via / Chicago Tribune
Latinos and Blacks Pay More for Health Care at End of Life
12:21 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Health|Money · Comments Off
10 Mar 2009
Latinos and blacks are less likely to seek out medical care throughout their lives, leading to increased costs at the end of life which far outweigh what is spent by white patients, according to a new report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Dying Hispanics and black Americans have much higher treatment costs than whites, because they get more costly, intensive treatments as they near death, say researchers who analyzed data from the last six months of life of almost 160,000 Medicare patients.The average cost for Hispanic patients in those final months of life was $31,702, compared with $26,704 for blacks and $20,166 for whites. Compared to white patients, costs were about 30 percent higher for blacks and almost 60 percent more for Hispanics, the Associated Press reported.
According to U.S. News & World Report, researchers have concluded that the reason for this is the lack of medical care received by black and Latino patients throughout life who, upon becoming terminally ill, receive “more treatment when there’s little chance of improving or extending their lives.”
Via / U.S. News & World Report
RIP: Your Neighborhood Starbucks
5:37 pm By Maegan La Mala · business|Marketing|Money · 5 Comments
28 Jan 2009
Living in San Francisco, watching the neighborhood coffee shops fold only to later have their storefronts converted into Starbucks is a pretty common sight, or least it was. Now it looks like the inverse is about to happen…karma is a bitch! Or perhaps it’s just the economy that’s a bitch or an asshole or a jerk but check this out: Starbucks is starting to shut down stores. It’s the end of an era:
Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that it would cut as many as 6,700 jobs as it closes hundreds more stores and eliminates more positions at its corporate headquarters.Faced with slowing demand for lattes and cappuccinos because of the recession, Starbucks plans to close 300 stores, including 200 in the United States, and eliminate about 6,000 store jobs. The company also plans to eliminate about 700 corporate jobs, including about 350 at its corporate headquarters in Seattle.
The coffee giant made the announcement as it reported that its profit dropped 69 percent in its fiscal first quarter with sales continuing to slide.
I guess that with all the unemployment, foreclosures and inflation paying $6.50 for a weak cup of milk starts looking questionable. What’s sad about all of this is the layoffs, which of course affect people like students and the working class.
But if it were up to me I’d settle for, say, just one Starbucks in a 5-block radius in San Francisco, instead of 15 in a 2-block radius in my hood (I’m not exaggerating…the photo above actually shows one right in front of the other in Vancouver). The growth rate that they had up until now — 8 stores per day — was insane, and the small neighborhood coffee shop went the way of the dinosaurs because of this.
Know what also suffered? My tolerance level. Seeing aggressive office workers basically ready to off anyone who stands in their way between them and their skinny vanilla latte really tested my own humanity and made little old me feel murderous on a regular basis. I know I’m not the only one who has felt this way. New Yorkers, you know what I’m talking about!
Are you mourning the decline of Starbucks or celebrating it? Tell us your thoughts.
Via / MSNBC
Image via orangejack on Flickr
Michelle Obama vs. Beanie Babies
10:51 am By Maegan La Mala · business|children|Controversia|Marketing|Money|Politics · 3 Comments
26 Jan 2009
How would feel if a toymaker (say, the maker of Beanie Babies) started manufacturing dolls in the image of your two young daughters without asking for consent or even respectfully letting you know in advance? Spittin’ mad, I’d say, especially if you were a woman interested in shielding your children from the massive spotlight that will fall upon them as children of the president. It sounds a bit surreal, but that’s actually what has happened, and Michelle Obama isn’t happy:
First lady Michelle Obama is not pleased about the marketing of a pair of dolls that bear the same names as her daughters.“We believe it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes,” Ms. Obama’s spokeswoman said.
Ty Inc. has released the 12-inch plush dolls as part of the company’s “TyGirlz Collection,” introduced in 2007. The Sasha doll has pigtails and wears a white and pink dress with hearts. The Malia doll has a side ponytail and a long-sleeve shirt with capri pants.
Ecuador to Default on External Debt
11:45 am By Maegan La Mala · economy|Ecuador|Money · Comments Off
15 Dec 2008
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa announced that his country would not pay back the remaining balance on it’s external debt, saying that the debt is immoral and illegitimate.
The decision of defaulting on the global bonds (2012, 2015 and 2030) was taken by Correa after the official presentation of the final report from the Public Credit Audit Commission (Comision para la Auditoria Integral del Crédito Público, CAIC [es]) audit regarding Ecuador’s foreign debt. Ecuador’s decision to stop payments on the interest on its national debt is it’s second in two decades, the other coming in 1999, when it defaulted on $10 billion. In 2008, the figure stands at $3.9 billion.
Ugly Betty Really Wants Clinton in Obama White House
10:35 am By Maegan La Mala · Money|Politics|TV · Comments Off
5 Dec 2008
Ugly Betty’s America Ferrara, a longtime supporter of Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton, is putting her money where her mouth is. The Latina actress is hosting a “conversation” with the one time presidential candidate on December 15th, with the goal of getting rid of the $7.5 million debt left behind after her failed campaign.
Clinton’s presidential campaign committee sent an e-mail to supporters on Thursday, inviting them to participate in a conversation with the former first lady in New York City on Monday, Dec. 15, which will feature special guest Bill Clinton and will be hosted by America Ferrera, the “Ugly Betty” star who first announced her support for Clinton in January 2008 and campaigned for her in Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day?
8:26 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|economy|Marketing|Money|Shopping · 4 Comments
28 Nov 2008
Growing up with a mom who worked in retail, the day after Thanksgiving meant watching my single mom wake up before the sun, before the crazy shoppers, to open up whatever store she worked in at an unholy hour. We never shopped for bargains because it was my mother’s job to make sure others could. Even today, as my mom approaches retirement age, she moved her tired body in the dark, towards the city of Manhattan to unlock doors and fill shopping bags. Black Friday gets no love from me.
My sister and I celebrated Buy Nothing Day before it was even officially a day.
Food Stamp Use Reaches Record Numbers
11:05 am By Maegan La Mala · economy|Food|Money · Comments Off
26 Nov 2008
Once upon a time when I was a teen, food stamps were actually like stamps, well actually more like coupons on Monopoly money colored paper and I remember being ashamed when my then boyfriend’s mom sent me to the corner bodega to buy something with them. While sadly the stigma still exists with using food stamp benefits, even if they no are accessed via an atm like card but for more and more familias, food stamps are a need not a want if they want to keep their family fed.
“We soon will have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a D.C.-based anti-hunger policy organization. “If the economic forecasts come true, we’re likely to see the most hunger that we’ve seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established.”
The Agriculture Department is set to release the new numbers as early as this week. Agency officials declined to confirm the figures but outlined them in a briefing last month for advocates and administrators of state food stamp programs. Breaking the symbolically important 30 million mark comes on the heels of government data showing that 11.9 million people went hungry in the United States at some point last year. That included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50 percent from the year before.
Via / The Washington Post
President Elect Barack Obama’s Weekly Address : This Week The Economy
9:10 am By Maegan La Mala · economy|Money|US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off
17 Nov 2008This past weekend, President Elect Obama gave a weekly address to the U.S. and in what seems unprecedented, put it up on YouTube. Not surprisingly, the topic of this week’s address was the economy.
Sarah Palin’s New $150 G Style
9:55 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|economy|Fashion|Money|US Presidential Race 2008|Women · 2 Comments
22 Oct 2008
Despite Alaskan governor’s excellent record, the Republican National Committee felt that Sarah Palin needed a fashion makeover at a cost of more than $150,000.
The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.
The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
Hola!
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