Expensive tastes are getting a little bit cheaper this holiday season. When a Starbucks regular realizes that the $3.50 he spends every morning on the way to work adds up to nearly $1,000 each year, he may decide that a good way to save money would be to brew some coffee at home. Of course, he'd be right, but the retail coffee giants don't want you to see it that way.

This year, as more of its customers take a closer look at their budgets, Starbucks is introducing some new ways to save money on coffee and gift items without skipping its stores every morning.

Savings start with new Gold Cards. Store managers will be giving out a limited number of Gold Cards to the very best customers, while others can buy the cards for $25. These cards are good for 10% off most items in the store, and the company expects to sell "millions." If you're one of the ones spending $1,000 annually on coffee, $25 buys you $100 of that back. So if you're not going to cut back on your Starbucks visits, at least you can cut the damage to about $925 this year.

In addition to selling savings with the Gold Cards, the store is cutting prices on many of its gift items in hopes of luring holiday shoppers. Coffee samplers and CD's that sold for $14.95 in 2007 will be marked down to $12.95 this holiday season, and stores will feature tables with gifts under $10 as well.

Lastly, the coffee giants have teamed up with Costco to offer savings on gift cards for the first time ever. Costco shoppers can purchase five $20 gift cards for $80. This deal has been available for just one month, and already the store has sold more than 1 million gift cards. Starbucks execs are optimistic that this will be a huge moneymaker in the holiday quarter. After all, shoppers love to save money -- but one of the best ways to save money still remains: Don't buy overpriced coffee every day.

The Daily Deal for Saturday, October 11, 2008

It's been coooolld here in Portland over the past few days, and I'm getting ready to start outfitting my family for rainy fall and winter bike rides. I am looking for a jacket with a nice high collar and a bright, but snug profile. Bingo! The Burton girls' 'System' jacket is just what I need. And at a daily deal price too, down from the original $169.95 to only $67.98. It's a girls' jacket, but the sizes available are large and extra-large, ideal for a smallish woman.

It's a boarder jacket, so if I ever decide to hit the slopes, I'll be stylish and snug there too. The closest comparable jacket, the Element, ranges from the low $70s up to $89.97 at other online retailers; no one else seems to carry the System, which is a 2006 style (and in my opinion, way cuter than this year's fashion).

We call them "money moments" -- those situations when we are forced to make a money decision on the spot with those seemingly simple questions posed to us under pressure from a salesperson that tie your stomach up in knots wondering if you're really getting a good deal or just getting ripped off.

The truth is, most of the money "deals" you are offered are just a waste of your hard-earned dollars!

Here are eight money moments every one of us faces at some point, along with a comeback answer that could save you money. Read them all and the next time you are put on the spot by a salesperson, you can skip the sweaty palms because you'll already know the right answer!

I'm a bit out of my dollar store bailiwick here but feel compelled to report on an investigation that the Toronto Star Newspaper did on lead levels found in toys throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

Apparently, dangerously high levels of lead were found in toys, knick-knacks and costume jewelery at retailers both big and small. The Star used two types of high-tech tests to discover lead in things like a baby pacifier sold at a dollar store, a Hannah Montana bracelet, found at a Wal-mart, and even in part of the costume of a stuffed toy bought at a souvenir shop in the airport.

At a toy store called Animal Crackers, a jewelery kit billed as lead-free was far from it. An anchor-shaped pendant in the kit had nearly double the legal limit for lead and the necklace clasp tested at 150 times the limit. When confronted with the facts, the store owner immediately trashed the remaining jewelery kits that were still on display. As an independent store owner, he says he can't afford to have everything he sells tested and says that job belongs to the government. Dangerous products should never be allowed into the country but, evidently, our so-called safeguards have more play in them than a swinging door.

If you're wondering what the kids are going to be asking for this holiday season, you can get a preview on what will be tops on many wish lists with the "Hot Dozen" list from Toy Wishes Magazine. The list won't save you any money -- the cheapest item is a $12.99 set of Bakugan Battle Brawlers and the most expensive a $300 ride on triceratops -- but it will help you navigate what will be a frenzied toy market out there this year.

Wal-mart and KB Toys are already in something of a price war, trimming prices on key toys well before the holiday season really starts. Toys R Us, whose PR team contacted us about our Black Friday forecast thinking it was too gloomy, is still, however, optimistic about its prospects this year.

However it turns out, shoppers will certainly buy a lot of toys this year -- they do every year -- the only question is whether or not they spend enough overall to satisfy retailers and economic forecasters.

There are some things that it really pays to spend extra money on; houses, beds, and bicycles. But there are some things that we buy that are simply money drains. Here are five purchases where it pays to be cheap.

1. Car. A depreciating asset, you lose money the minute you drive it off the lot. And then they continue to depreciate. I buy cheap, used cars with about 30,000 miles on them. I try to pay no more than $12,000 or so and I still think that is too much. My next car will be a hybrid of some sort with gas mileage 50 MPG or more. If I need a van for a trip, I will rent it.


2. Higher education. Unless you are going to Harvard or one of the big name schools, it really doesn't matter. Most of us can get a great education at our local state schools for a whole lot less money. Especially for a general liberal arts degree, it doesn't make sense to be $100,000 or more in debt to get that bachelors. Save your money for the masters or professional school.


3. Household products. Save a fortune every year by buying all household products in bulk. Cleaning supplies, detergents, bathroom products, paper goods and kitchen staples can be bought cheaply at one of the large stores. Stock up for 1-3 months at a time to save money and gas.


4. Children's clothes. Kids grow so fast, especially when they are little. Take hand me downs, shop thrift shops and buy at cheaper stores like Target and Kohls. You will find high quality at reasonable prices. As they get older and want nicer clothes, have them earn a part of the cost so they appreciate the value.


5. Hotel rooms. I travel all over the country for speaking engagements and all the hotel rooms look the same. Unless it is a five-star hotel at over $500 per night, I rarely notice a difference between expensive and cheap rooms. When traveling on your own dime, look for the cheap rooms and spend the extra money on a nice dinner out.

Barbara Bartlein is the People Pro. Join her for her new webinar on relationships. For info see: Webinar

How many times have you made a purchase you didn't really need or couldn't really afford because you were getting something free? Did the item seem like too good of a deal to pass up, or did the freebie sweeten the deal so much that you couldn't walk away?

That's the whole point of sales, freebies, and other marketing gimmicks. People have been studying buying behavior for years, and companies target consumers with sales and specials that they know will speak to their weaknesses. Yes, our brains may be flawed in that regard. We can get tricked into making an ill-advised purchase with these psychological games.

I'm not immune to them, and I don't know many people who are. Good deals make us happy. We love feeling like we got something for free or for an extra special price. What's the key to NOT getting hoodwinked by effective marketing tactics? It's all about self-control. Knowing your budget and sticking to it is, of course, important when you're out shopping. And if you can't stick to your budget when shopping, then you either need to stay home or leave the credit cards at home.

We're in scary financial times, and I don't think that consumers should put themselves in situations in which they might blow their budgets. You better believe that retailers are going to be pulling out all the stops (especially with the upcoming holiday season) to get you to spend your money. Don't fall prey to clever marketing. Be more aware than you ever have been about tactics designed to get you to buy things you don't need.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

I recently heard about a woman in New York who is buying her third apartment in the city. In addition to her homes on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side, both of which face Central Park, she has grabbed a pad in the tony Tribeca neighborhood of lower Manhattan. This convenient pied a terre is costing her over $40 million dollars, not counting her impressive expenditures on remodeling, decorating, and so forth.

When I heard about this, I was struck by an increasingly familiar feeling: the desire to gather up a gang of malcontents and begin stringing up plutocrats.

I'm not sure that the time has come to start buying supplies, but I've been told that fortune favors the prepared; consequently, I've started pricing the necessary supplies for a revolution.

I am the ant.

When the elephants battle, it's my kind who ultimately get stomped on.

After obsessively reading about the outcome of the last decade of unchecked greed, I realized that this obscene Wall Street gaffe doesn't affect my situation in the slightest. Yet.

Because I don't have a mortgage that I HELOC'd to high heaven. I don't have a portfolio heavy with financials. I don't work for an investment bank. I don't live on my dividends. I don't own a business that needs to borrow to make payroll, and I don't have any payments on a 2007 Ford Excursion that I now can't unload as gasoline prices reach ever upward.

In other words, I'm already under the radar. Move on, please. Nothing to see here.

What matters to you most when you're at a fast-food drive-thru? Time? Accuracy? Speaker clarity? If you say all of the above, then you're going to head straight for Chick-fil-A, which won the best overall drive-thru of 2008 in a new survey by QSR Magazine. Wendy's clocked the fastest time overall.


Here are the top 10 best drive-thrus of the chains overall:

Chick-fil-A
McDonald's
Burger King
Wendy's
Del Taco
Krystal
Taco Bell
Carl's Jr.
Jack in the Box
Checkers

For the full lists, see QSR Magazine.

The Daily Deal for Saturday, October 4, 2008

My sweet husband has a problem with phones. Specifically, he loses them. He's lost his Blackberry and I've been tiring of paying the monthly fee for his account on the 'friends and family' plan, without having the benefit of being able to actually CALL HIM.

Perhaps we can remedy that without having to pay the rather large cost AT&T would charge us for replacing his equipment in less than 22 months. J&R.com has the refurbished Blackberry 7100 on its Weekend Sale for only $99.99; $17 less than Amazon.com's deal and $80 less than the regular discounted price (the list price is $349.99, but we all know no one pays retail for these things). The phone is unlocked, so you can use it on any cellular plan. This Blackberry utilizes the "SureType" keypad; I haven't used it but, according to RIM, it's the best evah.

Let the Black Friday price wars begin! On the heels of Walmart's announcement that it is slashing prices on toys for the holidays, KB Toys is also cutting back prices. The chain says it will be offering two hundred toys at a reduced price of $10 or less -- Walmart is so far only offering a selection of popular toys at that price -- and cutting prices on hundreds of more items throughout stores.

The new sale extends the chain's "Super Value Program," which offers discounts on selected toys each week. Low-priced items include: Fisher-Price preschool toys for $10, Hot Wheels sets for $10, board games like Yatzee for $8, Crayol craft kits for $7, Polly Packet playsets for $5, NFL action figures for $5, and Beanie Babies for $5.

For more Black Friday deals, see our Black Friday 2008 Scorecard feature, and keep up with all the latest updates at our Black Friday section.