http://blog.brassmagazine.com Money & Real World Stuff Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:41:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Consumer prices fell by 1% in October, the largest drop in 61 years. This is the biggest one-month decline in prices since records began in February of 1947, and twice as large as the expected 0.5% decline. This decrease in inflation was brought about by a 8.6% drop in energy costs, ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/19/consumer-price-drop/ This spring I met Emily Harrington. "Why the heck do I care," you say. Well, that's a good question. I'll give you six (alphabetized) reasons you should care: A. She's a rock climber. That's legit, and I guarantee she can do more pull-ups then Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger. B. She's a national champion in ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/17/emily-harrington-rock-climbin-it/ Black Friday will soon be upon us. For those who don’t know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when stores open at 6 a.m. or earlier and offer some of their best sales of the year. People stand for hours in the freezing cold, then, when the gates open, ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/14/black-friday/ Shopping, like laundry, is something I like to put off as long as possible. So, much like taking up at least five washers at a Laundromat, my grocery bills regularly top $100. Invariably, I’ll purchase a few items just because they’re on sale. When it lands in my cart, however, ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/12/check-your-receipts/ A few weeks ago, I mentioned what people did with the $300-$600 checks they received from the government’s economic stimulus plan. As it turns out, 279,000 of these checks never made it to their respective owners due to incorrect addresses. Thankfully, it’s easy to correct this mistake. Head to the IRS’s Where’s My ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/10/last-call-for-free-money/ We told you to vote, and you did. Hooray! Pat on the back. Medals for everyone. Every election we get told that it's super-important, but apparently we really thought it was this time. Personally, I think all us young people (hey, it sounds better than Gen-Yers) were just enticed by those I Voted stickers. Regardless, 2.2 million ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/07/ya-i-voted-so-did-you/ It seems as if obnoxious department store displays of Christmas decorations are put out earlier each year. Whereas in years past it was unusual to see animatronic fir trees singing “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” before Thanksgiving, now it’s not unusual to start seeing Santa in the middle ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/05/early-holiday-shopping/ Tomorrow is a big day. I’ll wake up at the ungodly hour of 2:30am (or, more likely, stay up until 2:30am) to catch a plane that will whisk me away to New York City. I'm looking forward to a fun-filled week of exploring, shopping, meeting The Naked Cowboy and giving ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/03/dont-worry-new-york-ill-be-there-soon/ Well, I'm sure all of you expected a fantastic Halloween blog-- it being Halloween and all. But, I think my coworkers have covered that ish. And let's face it, if you don't have your Halloween on at this point, it's not going to happen. Regardless, you might have noticed that the U.S. financial system is ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/10/31/halloween-horror/ It’s a good year for all you Halloween fanatics out there because this year, more people are joining in on the fun. According to a new study, 64.5 percent of consumers plan on celebrating Halloween this year, as opposed to 58.7 percent in 2007. Not only that, but people will also ... http://blog.brassmagazine.com/blog/2008/10/29/scary-spending-extreme-halloween/