The Top 2 Post just appeared two weeks ago–on June 21st, 2011

OK, so yesterday I posted about the brighter side of “Extreme Couponing.” Today I’d like to talk a bit about the trend’s darker side.

Could the TLC’s Show “Extreme Couponing” be hurting shoppers’s self esteem? Phil Lempert, a leading food industry expert and editor of SupermarketGuru.com and The Lempert Report, thinks it might be.

“When I saw the first episode of ‘Extreme Couponing’ last December, I thought the viewing public would learn new ways to save money and be reinvigorated to use coupons each time they shop,” says Lempert. “However, according to research and direct feedback that we’ve received, consumers no longer feel good about saving $10, or 10-to-20 percent. They’re becoming depressed that they are not able to buy $1,000 or more groceries for 25 cents.”

I can’t help but make the comparison to girls’ and women’s self esteem when they see unrealistic pictures of thin celebrities–and then get depressed because their own bodies don’t look that way. (Hello! Air brushing. In 2008 singer Britney Spears shared untouched and retouched photos of herself in a bathing suit, to show how even a star with a fit body like hers doesn’t look perfect in real life. Way to go, Britney!)

The same can be said for the unrealistic situations that the show portrays, especially when it comes to stores breaking their own rules. How so? In some episodes you come to find out that supermarkets that normally double only a few coupons doubled all of them when the cameras were rolling.

This not only hurts self esteem, when regular shoppers can’t match these deals, it hurts all shoppers.

According to Lempert supermarket retailers are now revising couponing policies to avoid driving themselves out of business with abnormal and unrealistic redemption costs.

“Couponing is a valuable tool for brands and marketers,” says Lempert. “With the Internet’s ability to focus offers better than ever, we should be rejoicing. Instead, we’re promoting a desperate feeling to catch up, saying that unless we can save more than we spend, we are failures at food shopping.”

In a quick poll on SupermarketGuru.com readers were asked about their grocery savings strategies as a result of the promotion of “Extreme Couponing.” According to the panel results, 73 percent said they spend one hour or less planning their savings/shopping trip with only less than one percent spending more than four hours.

When asked “if time is money” 59 percent of the panelists replied that saving time is equally important as saving money.

Even without the tens of hours a week clipping away, 64 percent of SupermarketGuru.com panelists report saving between 11 and 40 percent compared with the “Extreme Couponers” who may save upwards of 90 percent but who have spent between 30-to-40 hours per week clipping, researching and managing their coupons.

Unless you’re running a couponing site and earning a full-time salary for your connection to couponing, I can’t justify spending a full-time schedule worrying about coupons–especially if you end up feeling bad about yourself in the end. However, I do believe that there are some couponing tips you can takeaway from the show, just as I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

Agree? Disagree? Post a comment to discuss.

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Mobile payments outfit Zong is to be assimilated into the PayPal world, following the announcement that eBay is handing over US$240 million in cash to acquire the company.

Zong runs the kind of operation that looks like someone anybody could manage: buyers enter their mobile phone numbers when they want to buy something from a site, receive a transaction code, complete the purchase, and pay for the purchase on their phone bill. Proving that it’s not such a tough nut to crack, Zong claims 250 carriers worldwide, but developed its system on a fairly frugal $27.5 million in funding.

The convenience of the arrangement – plus its attraction to carriers, who get to add another billable event to their operations at the cost of carrying the purchases for a while – has proven irresistible to eBay.

The acquisition also bolsters PayPal’s relationship with Facebook. The Social Network™ was already accepting payments through Zong, and last year began abandoned its rumoured “Facebook wallet” development work to sign on with PayPal for payments.

According to Techcrunch, Zong also claims big names including Disney’s Playdom, Big Fish Games, Sony Online Entertainment and Zynga as customers.

PayPal clearly sees mobile payments as something of a Holy Grail. When Google unveiled its mobile platform in May, PayPal responded with a lawsuit, saying that The Chocolate Factory had head-hunted developers from its own project to steal its secrets.®

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….over the past year thanks to decreasing finance costs and fixed price servicing.

The Suzuki Alto, Barina Spark and Hyundai Getz shared the honours as the cheapest cars on our roads, according to annual surveys of a range of popular cars released this week by automobile clubs in all states except NSW.

Toyota’s LandCruiser is the most expensive vehicle to keep on our roads with the RAC of Western Australia estimating the 4.5-litre V8 costs as much as $406.84 a week. LandCruiser has retained the dubious honour as the most expensive vehicle to run in Queensland for the past six years.

The auto club surveys tally costs such as fuel, tyres, registration, service, repairs, depreciation and loan interest. Costs vary between states with South Australia reporting a drop in costs and Western Australia the only state reporting a substantial rise of $50 in running costs.

RAC spokesman David Moir attributed the rise to fuel costs which are now second only to vehicle depreciation in total running costs in Western Australia.

Although most of the costs vary between states, the surveys found the cheapest small car is Hyundai’s petrol i30.

Toyota Camry, Suzuki Kizashi and Holden Epica share the honours as the most frugal medium cars, while Holden Commodore dual-fuel (petrol and LPG) model is the cheapest large car to own in Victoria and Queensland, Toyota Aurion is the best bet in South Australia and Ford Falcon XT LPG takes the honours in Western Australia.

The RAC survey also shatters the myth that frugal hybrids and diesels are cheaper to run.

In Queensland, the Camry hybrid costs $11.68 more a week in ownership costs than the petrol model. RACQ spokesman Steve Spalding says diesels are also less attractive this year.

“Last year diesel and petrol fuel prices were much closer together, so diesel owners were picking up the benefits of fuel consumption,” he says.

“But this year the higher premium on diesel fuel means we aren’t seeing the same overall savings.”

He says it also depends on the model as car companies charge between $2000 and $10,000 more for a diesel variant.

The best way to save on running costs is to bargain for a cheaper price and pay with cash, Spalding advises.

“Depreciation and finance are the biggest costs in running a car, not fuel and maintenance,” he says.

“Depreciation is 35 to 45 per cent of running costs and even though finance costs have dropped in the past year, it still represents about 20 per cent of total ownership costs.

“So the more you shop around and the better you bargain, the more those costs drop.”

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That’s exactly what Audi have done. The A7 is a four-door coupe that sits between the A6 and A8 range in terms of size and price. With its low-slung, handsome shape though, it looks more like a stretch-limo version of its baby brother the A5 coupe than any other member of the Audi family.

The range starts at a little over £45,000 and stretches to almost £50,000, meaning it’s far from the cheapest Audi money can buy. Although it’s available in two-wheel drive, the majority of versions come with Audi’s Quattro four-wheel drive system.

I spent a week with the 3.0TDI Quattro in SE trim, which costs a tenner over £48,000. Although the 3.0 litre petrol has more power, with 300hp, the diesel’s 245hp still makes it plenty fast enough and it’s much more frugal than its unleaded counterpart.

Nought to 62mph is cleared in 6.3 seconds and, as with the 3.0 petrol, top speed is electronically limited to 155mph. The other engine choices are a 204hp, 2.8 litre petrol unit and a lower power version of the 3.0 litre diesel, also with 204hp.

Considering it’s a big engine powering a big car, the diesel unit is remarkably frugal, with a combined fuel economy of just over 47mpg. The petrol versions, by contrast, only manage 34-35mpg.

Like all but one of the A7 range, my car was fitted with a seven-speed automatic gearbox, with power being split 60/40 in favour of the rear wheels under most driving conditions.

The auto box is excellent, with gear changes virtually seamless and the long seventh gear ensuring the engine is running low down the rev range at cruising speeds.

The A7 is aimed at reasonably well heeled people who want a good looking car with a lot of practicality. In spite of its low roofline, there’s plenty of room inside for four six footers to travel in comfort.

The boot is big too, at 535 litres, expanding to 1390 with the rear seats down. The electronically operated tailgate opens and closes at the touch of a button with a barely audible whoosh.

When it comes to the driving experience, the A7 doesn’t disappoint either. Incredibly nimble for such a big car, it has high levels of grip through corners thanks, in part, to the four-wheel drive system.

It’s also a very refined and comfortable cruiser, with a magic carpet ride and external noise nicely suppressed.

The A7 is a very fine car in virtually every respect. I could criticise it for its poor rear visibility, but the onboard reversing camera and parking sensors help ensure you don’t bump into anything.

Nope, just about the only valid black mark against it is the price. £45,000 for even the most basic model is quite steep. And a glance down the options list — £6300 for a Bang and Olufsen stereo, £1600 for massage/ventilated front seats, two grand for air suspension, and so on — shows you could conceivably double the price of the car by adding extra equipment. Indeed, Audi’s PR department loaded their press demonstrator A7 with enough kit to bump the car’s price up to £68,000.

Even factoring in its high cost, the A7 is still a cracking car. As Ferris Bueller once said: “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”

Price: £48,010.
0-62mph: 6.3sec.
Top speed: 155mph.
Economy: 47.1mpg.
CO2 emissions: 156g/km.

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The previous Jetta was thought of as a Golf with a surgically attached boot, but with the new Jetta, that would be selling it short. For one thing, its smart looks and neat proportions tell you that it was designed as a saloon from conception, and while the underpinnings are mostly those of the Golf, it is longer between axles by 73mm, which gives it noticeably more rear legroom.

Besides, it feels different behind the wheel to a Golf, with less friskiness to the handling. Around corners, it feels like a downsized Passat, more reassuring and stable than engaging.

And yes, comparisons to the Golf are fairly misguided, for the Jetta’s real rivals are mainly from Japan. Price-wise, the basic Jetta 1.4 TSI, for instance, goes for S$107,800 with COE; which might give pause to those pondering say, a S$105,988 1.6-litre Mazda 3. Of course, the Volkswagen offers more sophistication under the bonnet, with a frugal 1.4-litre turbo engine driving the front wheels through a seven-speed, twin clutch automatic. Its 122bhp output is enough to yank the Jetta from 0-100km/h in a brisk 9.8 seconds.

Despite that, the Jetta will average 16.6km per litre if you’re sufficiently light-footed. Equally frugal is the S$124,300 Jetta Sport which we drove. Its 1.4-litre engine returns the same fuel consumption figure, but it has a supercharger/turbocharger combo that gives 160bhp, enough to shave 1.5 seconds off its 0-100km/h sprint time.

It’s the best-equipped model, uniquely equipped with keyless entry and engine starting as well as Satnav, but the bulk of sales will probably come from the turbo-only Jetta 1.4 TSI. Providing Golf engineering in three-box form, after all, is likely enough in itself to tempt buyers from the Japanese mainstream. The 510-litre boot is no token effort – apparently, you can fit four golf bags with ease. That’s something the Golf – or any hatch – would struggle with. JULIAN LOW

Volkswagen Jetta Sport

Engine: 1,390,cc turbocharged in-line 4, 160bhp & 240Nm

Performance: 221kmh, 0-100kmh 8.3 seconds, 6.0L/100km

Price: S$124,300 with COE

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Do you wish you could have a great Halloween celebration without howling in fright over the sight of your empty wallet? Whether you’re planning a small family get-together or throwing a bash for the entire neighborhood, careful planning is key.

Dressing up is part of the fun of Halloween, but purchasing costumes from a specialty shop can be very expensive. Save money by using items from around your home to create costumes. For example, an old party dress can be a princess costume for a little girl with the addition of a wand and tiara. A flannel shirt, overalls, and a straw hat can be a farmer costume for a boy carrying a stuffed cow or pig. For adults, focus on costumes that feature a play on words. For example, a woman wearing a white dress with a pipe cleaner halo and smudges of dirt on her face or leaves in her hair can be a “Fallen Angel.”

Face painting is a great way to create frugal Halloween costumes, but it can be expensive to purchase makeup kits. Make your own face paint by combining the following ingredients and applying with a cotton swab or paint brush:

For more frugal costume ideas, review the article Cheap Halloween Costumes at LoveToKnow Costumes.

Obviously, the best way to save money on Halloween decorations is to make them yourself. The LoveToKnow Crafts articles Craft Projects for Halloween and Craft Decorations for Halloween have ideas for easy decorations you can make.

If you’re not into complicated craft projects, keep in mind that spray paint makes it easy to create dramatic yet frugal Halloween decorations. Paint twigs from your yard and put them in a thrift store vase with a few silk flowers black to create an interesting centerpiece. Paint rubber spiders, snakes, or insects silver and arrange them around the edge of a serving tray or your punch bowl. Add a few carved pumpkins and some spider webs purchased from your local dollar store to complete the effect.

When throwing a Halloween party, it’s helpful to set a firm budget for food before you go shopping. Otherwise, it’s too easy to start throwing things into your cart without considering the total cost of your meal.

Hot dogs are easy to prepare and sure to be a hit with young partygoers. Homemade pizza or chili may be options to consider as well, since these can be made in separate versions for children and adults.

For dessert, popcorn balls and caramel apples are fairly inexpensive Halloween treats. A Halloween dirt cake is also a good choice for a budget-friendly sweet treat. Halloween cupcakes are cute, but can be time consuming to create if you’re not an experienced cake decorator.

When you’re carving pumpkins for decorations, don’t throw away the seeds! Oven-roasted pumpkin seeds make for a delicious and healthy snack. If you don’t think your guests will enjoy munching on the seeds by themselves, incorporate them into a snack mix that also includes dried cranberries, mini chocolate chips, and unsalted peanuts.

Don’t blow your entire party budget on beverages. Use drink mix and ginger ale to make a Halloween punch instead of serving expensive sodas to your guests. Float an icy hand made from a disposable glove in the bowl for a spooky finishing touch. If punch isn’t your thing, try a spiced apple cider “witches brew” instead.

A successful Halloween party doesn’t need to involve blowing your monthly budget on costumes, decorations, and food. By planning ahead and using items you already have around the house, you can entertain your guests in style while keeping your out-of-pocket expense to a minimum.

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Investor Warren Buffett has donated another $1.5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, part of his plan that began in 2006 to donate 99 percent of his wealth. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Buffett donated on Thursday 19.34 million Class B shares of his insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc to the Gates Foundation.

The Duke and Duchess have left the building!

Wrapping up their North American tour, Prince William and Kate boarded a London-bound plane at LAX on Sunday afternoon. And for the journey home, the royals didn’t charter a private plane — they flew commercial!

PHOTOS: Their star-studded night out in Hollywood

William and Kate (plus their entourage and security) took a regularly scheduled flight on a British Airways jumbo jet. The royal group of 14 flew first class (seats 1A – 1K) on a flight with everyday passengers as well. Sadly, the newlyweds didn’t get to wave before going onboard.

PHOTOS: Recap all of Kate’s ravishing royal tour looks

Another unexpected detail of their final day? Fashion icon Kate, 29, only donned one outfit for three engagements (a private charity event featuring Reese Witherspoon in Santa Barbara, a visit with kids on Skid Row in downtown L.A., and war vet event at Sony Studios). The Duchess wore a navy and white crochet top and a white pleated skirt from London store Whistles. This time, Kate’s look was frugal; the blouse was from Whistles’ 2007 fall collection!

PHOTOS: Get Kate’s style for less

Just before that flight, William, 29, gave his parting remarks at Sony Studios for Service Nation: Mission Serve, a program honoring members of the armed services. “As this is my last opportunity before we leave this afternoon, I would just say, on behalf of us both, how grateful we are to have been welcomed so warmly in the Golden State and the City of Angels. Thank you so much.”

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The average British family lives in a semi-detached house, owns a silver Ford Focus and tucks into spaghetti bolognese once a week.

An unofficial census into the everyday lives of Mr and Mrs Average shows a typical family spends a frugal £76 a week on groceries, £12 on booze, and dines out twice a month… but is curled up in bed by 10.39pm at night.

Researchers quizzed 2,000 families who said their favourite entertainment was TV and once a month they go on a family outing. But paying for DVDs and trips to the cinema costs £15 a week.

Boss Mary Turner of home energy service Alert Me, which commissioned the study, said: “Our results show families are fairly conservative with their spending.

“Forking out £76 on a weekly grocery shop for a family of four is fairly frugal, although a typical family has more than one car – very unusual 20 years ago.”

The typical family has tea at 5.54pm but only eats together three nights a week. They are also creatures of habit, often having the same menu every week.

On Mondays, many families have spaghetti bolognese, pasta bake on Tuesdays, chicken pie on Wednesdays, cottage pie on Thursdays, and takeaway fish and chips are still a Friday staple.

The study also found that it’s mums who do most of the chores. Which may explain why they go to bed at 10.39pm, tired out from all that housework, and why many typical households have two rows a week.

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With a few exceptions, Silicon Valley’s young millionaires are rejecting traditional status symbols such as fast cars, yachts, and luxury homes and instead are pouring their wealth into social causes and start-up ventures, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Compared with the tech boom of the 1990s, which ushered in an era of conspicuous consumption, today’s entrepreneurs “are trying to be smarter and more frugal,” says Dave McClure, a tech investor and former PayPal executive. Dustin Moskovitz, the 27-year-old billionaire who co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg, told the Times that he flies coach and is saving money to fund his philanthropic foundation. Like Zuckerberg, Moskovitz has pledged to give away his wealth during his lifetime. Zuckerberg, who has listed “minimalism” and “eliminating desire” as interests on his Facebook profile, donated $100 million to help improve public schools in Newark, New Jersey, in 2010.

Alice Marwick, a researcher with Microsoft who wrote a doctoral dissertation in media studies about social status among the Internet set, found that the new generation of Silicon Valley millionaires seeks status just as much as their predecessors did — but in different ways.

“This is not a community that values good looks, visible wealth, or having a hot body. Those are not the ways that they distinguish high status from low status,” said Marwick. “Technology millionaires don’t hobnob with celebrities or buy a fancy car. They travel to Thailand or they fund an incubator. These things are just as expensive, but that’s the classic hacker ethos that prizes the mind, not materials.”

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