Comments on: When a splurge is not a splurge.

By: Now A Country Mouse

Now A Country Mouse — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:48:06 +0000

Great urge to splurge article.

By: Susie

Susie — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:58:05 +0000

Great article on resisting the urge to splurge. Sometimes the smallest of treats will suffice. I think, for me, it’s the idea of the thing, more than the thing itself. I was just reading a Time magazine article that, as you allude to in your post, reports that sales of lipstick and nail polish are up in these trying economic times.. Two very inexpensive pick-me-ups. They are two of my personal favorite actually, along with a cup of coffee and 30 minutes to myself to read a book – right in the middle of the day. The ultimate splurge!

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 02:10:23 +0000

Nice idea about the Medicare card, which is a rip-off waiting to happen.

But blacking out four figures in it doesn’t solve the problem of what happens if you have a stroke, a serious heart attack, or an auto accident, any of which can leave you incommunicado. What exactly will the ER staff do when they find a Medicare card in your wallet that doesn’t show your Medicare number? Will they refuse to care for you?

And for the same reason — stroke or heart attack — you sure had better have your Medigap card with you. Not all trips to the doctor or the hospital are planned.

Also, your source’s advice to carry only one credit card sounds fine until you realize that many merchants don’t take that credit card. I don’t carry cash and strongly prefer to charge purchases on a Costco AMEX card (yep, paid off in full at the end of each billing cycle). AMEX gives me a nice kickback, including 3% off the cost of gasoline. But I have to carry a MasterCard or Visa for the several merchants with which I regularly do business who just won’t take AMEX.

LOL! Glad they caught one of the chuckleheads! Under slightly more suicidal circumstances, we could nominate him for a Darwin Award.

By: Neurotic Workaholic

Neurotic Workaholic — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 04:46:23 +0000

Great advice in both articles. I’ve never been mugged, but thieves have pickpocketed my purse/coat on more than one occasion. Thieves target students, because students are often more likely to carry laptops and smartphones.
I recently got my security deposit back after moving to a new apartment. There was a small part of me that was tempted to splurge, but I saved more than half of it and used the rest to pay bills and pay off some of my credit card debt. I am going to splurge a little bit, though. I’m going to buy a new purse for the first time in a long time, because my only two purses have holes in them and their straps are broken.

By: Alison Wiley

Alison Wiley — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:26:46 +0000

Love the ‘hunter-gatherers are drawn to bright shiny objects’ observation. And thanks for the reminder about Social Security cards and numbers.

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:58:35 +0000

Not only is that very funny, it’s also a stellar example of what we call “instant karma”. As the song says, it WILL “get you every time”.

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:28:53 +0000

Our convenience store was robbed one night. When the police came to make a report, they found a pager dropped dropped by the thief. They paged him, saying someone had found it and he could pick it up at the police station. It was after hours so he had to ring the buzzer at the police station when he came to pick his pager up.He had just gotten out of prison recently,too.

By: Hootieman

Hootieman — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:10:11 +0000

I was mugged in the early ’90s. It took a while to get better. I am still very wary, and I much more precautious. I worked around large groups of people all day long, and had just gotten used to them.
I know it will take time Donna but I hope it gets better soon.

By: Donna Freedman

Donna Freedman — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:00:51 +0000

@Nicoleandmaggie: Go read it and let me know if you find it as funny as I did.

By: Nicoleandmaggie

Nicoleandmaggie — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:21:30 +0000

Good information, especially about the Medicare card. I’m interested to know about the laughing matter with the stolen check!