To Buy or Not To Buy

How closely do you monitor your personal spending?  Are you worried that every cup of coffee may break the bank?  Tim Hererra for the New York Times has some great advice and encouragement for you.  Check out his article, Here’s Some Money Advice: Just Buy the Coffee, and for more budgeting with “big picture” finance tips try their  7-day Money Challenge.

Just Where Are Your Tips Going?

The debate continues about the fairness of paying wait staff less than minimum wage based on their ability to earn tips.  Some states have already done away with this special exception to a federal wage law and are requiring restaurants to pay full minimum wage.  Opponents suggest that this will affect smaller establishments, but studies show that this increase could bring a large number of workers above the poverty and deter tip theft as well.

Wage Theft in Restaurants

They’ll Never Let It Go and We Wouldn’t Want Them To

10703889_10205493758089780_8847839229729015625_nDisney tends to make more off of the branded merchandise than the movie itself, wild huh?  “We create products that extend the storytelling — the emotional connection that the consumer has when they’re seeing the film carries on in the three-dimensional world,” says Josh Silverman, the executive vice president for global licensing. And they hit the jackpot in a big way with Frozen.  Spanning the ages and the sexes.  So, do you have an Elsa, Anna or Kristoff at your house?  Or would you secretly like to be one of the characters yourself?  I’m sure Disney can help you with that.

How Disney Turned ‘Frozen’ Into a Cash Cow