Valentine's Day is the best time to buy a sports car
There's nothing like cruising down the highway, wind whipping through your hair in a sporty two-seater to stir up romantic feelings. Whether you're playing the parts of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief," enjoying a first date in an Alfa Romeo like Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross did in "The Graduate" or flying through the desert in your "Schaguar" like Mike Meyers and Elizabeth Hurley in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," there's no arguing with the romantic feelings that a fast car brings.
Even better than spending Valentine's Day in a sports car, right now is one of the best times to buy a one.
Lovers giving less this Valentine's Day
A new survey of by PayPal confirms that people are spending less on each other this year than they did before the economy took a crash but that doesn't mean they have stopped giving gifts altogether.
The majority of men who took part in the survey reported that they wished they could give more to their special someone this year which may be due to the fact that nearly half of consumers will spend less than $50 this year. Thankfully, only 28% of women reported that they would like to receive more on Valentine's Day, so for the most part couples should be able to enjoy each other's company on Feb. 14.
PayPal's Can't Buy Me Love survey also showed that George Clooney and Megan Fox topped the list of celebrities you would want Cupid to hit with an arrow. It's not all love though, Kanye West better work on a Valentine's Day auto-tuned hit otherwise he might be spending the day alone as he was voted the celebrity that people would least like to see on Valentine's Day.
Another interesting bit of information from the survey revealed the differences in valentine spending between single people and those in relationships which is shown on the graph below.
Aphrodisiac foods cheaper than you think for Valentine's Day romance
Lovers, you've got a little more than one week until the hottest day of the year. No, we're not talking about summer solstice or the dog days of summer. Feb. 14, Valentine's Day, the day devoted to red-hot romance, love and hearts, is notoriously hot, hot, hot. And whether lovers are toting home heart shaped boxes of chocolate under their arms, ordering in heart shaped pizzas or going out for a romantic dinner, food plays a big role in Valentine's celebrations.
So WalletPop thought we'd give lovers a helping hand this year. With the help of Dr. Melody Hart a practitioner at ChicagoHealers.com, we compiled a shopping list of must-have aphrodisiac foods. And, as an added bonus, most of these foods are pulling double duty, offering numerous health benefits, too.
Free cellphone service for poor lowers rates
Assurance Wireless announced today that it is cutting its per-minute calling option in half in a program aimed at giving poor people cellphones.Call it a coincidence, but the move comes less than a week after WalletPop pointed out that after the 200 free monthly minutes are used, customers can buy more airtime at 20 cents a minute -- double what the company's sister program, Boost Mobile, was offering at 10 cents a minute.
Its text messages, however, remain extraordinarily high at 15 cents, making messaging more costly than a domestic phone call. Most prepaid plans charge less for texting. Whatever. At least the calling rate drops.
Don't pinch your pennies, change them in for bigger bills
Looking to hang onto your hard-earned cash a little longer? Instead of pinching pennies, research suggests converting them into big bills.Researchers from New York University found we tend to hang onto $50s, $20s and even $10s longer than we do $1s and $5s. The theory: It's more painful to part with a big bill than it is a little one.
"People tend to over-value large bills relative to an equivalent sum of money in smaller denominations because of self-control reasons," says one of the study's authors, Joydeep Srivastava, professor of marketing at University of Maryland. That "overvaluing" leads us to make more impulse purchase with small bills or "change" than if we the same amount of money (or even a few dollars less) in larger bills.
How to save on Valentine Day gift giving
According to a survey on Valentine's Day gift giving, overall Valentine's Day spending is up 50 cents, but the average gift people are giving to their significant other is down almost $4 from 2009. Even though this brings Valentine's Day gift spending down to the levels we saw in 2004, ladies will still make out better than their male counterparts, as men on average will spend double what their wives or girlfriends will.
Coupon use is up. How shocking!
A new report says coupon use is up 27% from 2008 to 2009. This is the first time coupon clipping has increased in 17 years, but puh-leeze, tell me something I don't know. The Great Recession made folks frugal? NO!The list of folks not surprised by this trend includes Stephanie Nelson, a long-time coupon clipper who runs CouponMom.com. More people are using her site and her tips to become effective clippers than ever before.
Nelson's new book, "The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half" compiles all her tips. In 295 pages spread over 21 chapters, she shares practical strategies for folks who want to dramatically reduce their bill at grocery and drug stores. Following her tips will take a few minutes extra, but the savings pay off. And you'll get quicker over time.
If you don't buy her book (selling for $9 on Amazon
, marked down from $15), I've summarized some of her best tips:LipStix ReMix, the '$100 million' cosmetics invention (plus a special Aol offer)
Jason Cochran
Jan 30th 2010 @ 1:00AM EST
Filed Under: Extracurriculars, Home, Health, Investing, Video, Economizer, As Seen on TV
Friday night on ABC's Shark Tank, we were introduced to a product that could, as infomercial godfather Kevin Harrington put it, make "$100 million on TV." It was LipStix ReMix, an ingenious lipstick recycler.
Although the pitch ended in a fantastic six-figure deal, its inventor made a simple negotiating mistake that could end up costing her an untold fortune. Jason Cochran found out what it was in WalletPop's exclusive AfterShark interview. (Make sure you stay tuned for the end of the interview, when Quillin offers an exclusive two-for-one deal exclusively for WalletPop readers.)
Earn gift cards from Internet browsing
I've written about Swagbucks before but now is a good time to revisit because the site's rewards are spiking today. First, I know Swagbucks seems like a total scam. I resisted joining the site for months for that exact reason. Then I gave it a chance and I have earned more than $200 worth of gift cards in the past few months.
This is how it works. You register at Swagbucks.com and the the site installs a small toolbar at the top of your Internet browser (such as Internet Explorer or FireFox). When you search using the Swagbucks toolbar, you can win swagbucks, which you can redeem for prizes and gift certificates.
Some searches will earn you one, two or five swagbucks. For others, you'll get nada. Today is mega swag bucks day, when the site awards 10, 20, 50 and 100 swagbucks for searches. If you're going to try Swagbucks out, today is a good day to join.
Once you accumulate some swagbucks, you can turn them in for prizes. I always go for the gift cards. For example, 45 swagbucks will get you a $5 Amazon gift card. 130 swagbucks will get you a $10 Starbucks card, and so on. You can trade in your swagbucks for clothes, MP3s, movies, and more.
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Man-up: Free pants from Dockers
February 9, 2010
Free subscription to Surfer magazine
February 9, 2010
Denny's free breakfast, if you can stomach the line
February 8, 2010
Friday Freebies: breakfast, diapers, biz cards, lotion and more
February 5, 2010
Free e-book for Kindle, iPhone, and more
February 5, 2010
Free lotion sample from PerriconeMD
February 4, 2010
Vista Print offering free business cards, mug, address labels
February 3, 2010
Free emergency food stash
February 2, 2010
Free sample of Pampers Cruisers diapers
February 1, 2010
Denny's Superbowl freebie again
February 1, 2010Interest Rates
| Type | Current | APR |
|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed mtg | 5.03% | 5.16% |
| 5/1 ARM | 4.04% | 3.57% |
| $30K HELOC | 5.20% | 0.00% |
| 36 month new car loan | 6.38% | 0.00% |
| 1 yr CD | 1.30% | 1.30% |
PERSONAL FINANCE FROM CNNMONEY
Holiday Shopping
Let AOL Shopping help you this holiday season. Find deals on the hottest products and gifts, holiday party advice and enter our weekly 10 'til 2010 giveaway!
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RECESSION-PROOF JOB aDVICE
Find out which jobs are best bets for these uncertain economic times.
Debt Management Basics
No matter how deep in debt, you can still work your way out. Get great debt management advice, savings suggestions and new spending habits.
How Much Should I Save?
REAL ESTATE DEALS
With the housing slump in full swing, find the hot foreclosure deals, see how to sell your home quickly, or learn how your neighbors are fairing in our new real estate survey.
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