Good reading for February 12th:
- Why sadness can blow your budget – CNN.com – “If you’re sad and shopping, watch your wallet: A new study shows people’s spending judgment goes out the window when they’re down, especially if they’re a bit self-absorbed.” I think this happens to almost everyone (he says self-absorbedly…).
- Scanning Your Money to the Bank – Bits – Technology – New York Times Blog – “Soon you will be able to deposit checks by scanning them at home and sending them electronically to your bank. No need to visit a branch or even an ATM.” (More on CheckFree’s offering)
- Economy Fitful, Americans Start to Pay as They Go – New York Times – “With the number of jobs shrinking, housing prices falling and debt levels swelling, the same nation that pioneered the no-money-down mortgage suddenly confronts an unfamiliar imperative: more Americans must live within their means.”
- Paper or Plastic? – washingtonpost.com – Looks like the right answer is “neither.”
- FindABetterBank launched – “We launched FindABetterBank last Friday and we’ve already crossed the 1,000 visitors mark.” Congrats, guys!
- CheckFree to Enable In-home Remote Check Deposits for Consumers and Small Businesses (NetBanker) – “CheckFree aims to change that with a new service targeted to consumers and very small businesses (press release here). The key is using existing consumer scanners and multi-function printers.” Cool.
- Tracking Consumer Savings on eBay – Bits – Technology – New York Times Blog – “Writing in an coming issue of Information Systems Research, the researchers report that eBay buyers saved more than $7 billion in 2003 and $8.4 billion in 2004. Extrapolating from their data, they project that consumers saved $19 billion on eBay last year.”
- Put Buyers First? What a Concept – New York Times – “My Christmas story — the one I’ve been telling and retelling these last 10 days — began on Friday, Dec. 21.” (Oldie but a goodie.)
