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Book it! Borders 30% off through Dec. 24

Julia Scott Dec 22nd 2009 @ 6:00PM EST Filed Under: Bargain Babe

Get 30% off one regular priced item at Borders Dec. 22-24, 2009. Some exclusions. Print the coupon here. You must belong to its free loyalty program, called Borders Rewards. Use code BSL7023C. Online code expires at 11:59 p.m. PST Dec. 24.

One per customer. The coupon is also good at Borders Express and Waldenbooks stores.

Caveats: coupon cannot be combined with any other discounts or sales or offers. Excludes previous purchases, special orders, gift cards, newspapers, magazines, comics, coupon books, eBooks, digital downloads, video games, vinyl LPs, self-publishing programs, Smartbox products, Rosetta Stone(R) software, shipping, and all electronics.

Wal-Mart jobs: Ever wonder what it's like to work there?

Laura Heller Dec 22nd 2009 @ 5:45PM EST Filed Under: Extracurriculars

Getting a peek inside a major retailer can yield some pretty revealing information about their business and culture. It's not an easy thing to arrange -- there are hoops to jump through, media relations representatives to juggle and a vetting process. But in the end, a reporter can walk away with a pretty great story.

If only that were true of a recent New York Times article, "My Initiation at Store 5476." Reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom worked for one day at a Walmart store in New Jersey and came away with a nice "reporter's notebook" piece, but did little to shed light on the inner workings of the retailer. Instead, she relates a sanitized experience and a pretty unoriginal one at that.

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10 reasons for pocketbook optimism after a financially shaky 2009

Lou Carlozo Dec 22nd 2009 @ 5:30PM EST Filed Under: Recession Diaries

I lost my job of 16 years in 2009, and perhaps your luck was no better. I certainly wouldn't blame you if you looked at 2009 as one to forget where your wallet is concerned.

But as the "aughts" turn into whatever you wanna call a decade with years 10-19 in it, I found plenty of reasons to feel upbeat. To me, it's not so much a matter of putting a happy spin on a sad year, but looking at the facts, and choosing to build a case based on them -- one that affects the all-important bottom line.

Here's my list of 10 financial highlights worth celebrating with the end of the year, and the decade.

1) Health Care Reform: When it comes to this issue, I blame the Obama administration for only one thing: It failed to effectively communicate the evils in the private insurance system that most of us -- including every Senate Republican--somehow forgot during the Great Healthcare Debate. No matter: Real reform is on the way, and while far from perfect, it marks the first crucial step in terms of bringing the U.S. on par with the rest of the world, including our neighbors in Canada, in building a health care system that guarantees a fair shake for all of us. No matter how shaky the new system starts, it will mark an improvement over the insurance company mafia where everything short of death itself is treated as a pre-existing condition.

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Virtual doctor visits -- the future of American medicine arrives

Tom Barlow Dec 22nd 2009 @ 5:00PM EST Filed Under: Health

What if you could visit a doctor, any time of day or night, without leaving your home, and that doctor could review your history, diagnose your problem and phone in a prescription? That's the pitch for the cutting edge of insurance-driven health care, the virtual clinic.

And this is not pie-in-the-sky: The UnitedHealth Group in Texas offers its NowClinic virtual visits to anyone in the state for $45. Play the Take a tour video to see your health care future unfold.

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CVS free $5 e-gift card plus BOGO free batteries!

Julia Scott Dec 22nd 2009 @ 4:00PM EST Filed Under: Bargain Babe

Buy an e-gift card (different from a store-bought gift card because it is virtual) at CVS for $25 and you'll get a $5 bonus e-gift card. This makes a great gift for yourself as well as others, especially if you regularly shop at CVS. No code needed. Unclear when this deal ends.

If you missed it, there are a ton of other stores offering gift card bonuses leading up to Christmas.

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Free electric cars shows what happens when legislation goes wrong

Tom Barlow Dec 22nd 2009 @ 3:00PM EST Filed Under: Transportation, Taxes-tax credits

You may have seen reports about how you can get a free $6,500 electric runabout thanks to the government's energy tax credit for what they call Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. The first time you encounter a golf cart merrily clogging traffic as it putts down the street 10 mph below the speed limit, though, you might not think so highly of this "bargain".

The vehicle in question here is Drive Electric's NEV-48 EV, a golf-cart-like, open-sided, four-wheeled, two-seater with a top speed of 25 mph. The company claims that current legislation (which changes Jan. 1) will cover the entire purchase price of $6,496.53 (shipping and sales tax extra).

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Find way out of mall with iPhone app

Josh Smith Dec 22nd 2009 @ 2:30PM EST Filed Under: Shopping, Technology

A new free iPhone app, Point Inside, solves almost all of my major annoyances with visiting a big mall: knowing where I am, where the store I want to go to is and how to get there.

While malls that could fit inside a shoebox have five directories scattered throughout the small building it seems as if larger malls hide the directory so that shoppers will inevitably spend more time roaming and thus more time buying stuff.

But if you have an iPhone or iPod touch then you'll never have to endure this frustrating experience again.

Point Inside is an app which provides users with a map of the mall that they are visiting, complete with where you are in the mall and a searchable directory of stores that includes hours, phone numbers and specials.

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The Duh Report: Lower mortgage payments are easier than higher ones

Zac Bissonnette Dec 22nd 2009 @ 2:00PM EST Filed Under: Real Estate

Consider this headline from CNNMoney: Lower loan payments = fewer redefaults for homeowners

I'm not sure which is scarier. Is it that this incredibly obvious fact is being reported as news or that the federal government actually spent money researching and presenting the data to confirm that it's true.

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Michael Jordan plays hardball in suing grocers

Ron Dicker Dec 22nd 2009 @ 1:30PM EST Filed Under: Extracurriculars, Celebs & Money

Basketball legend Michael Jordan might be making another court appearance -- this one of the legal variety -- if lawsuits he filed Monday against two grocery chains are not resolved.

Jordan, a former Chicago Bulls star, is going on the offensive against the Chicago area's Jewel and Dominick's markets, claiming they are using his name and iconic 23 uniform number to advertise without his consent, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Continue reading Michael Jordan plays hardball in suing grocers

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