Free Republic

Frugality. That's been the buzzword of the Great Recession.   Sliding home values, stumbling stock portfolios and a shaky job market brought with them a consciousness about spending that many of us misplaced during years of consumer overindulgence. Americans responded to the crisis by buying less, clipping coupons more and increasing savings to 4.8 percent of disposable income in December, up from near zero before the recession.   In the past year, blogs about frugality went viral. Everyone from Oprah to President Obama joined the frugality parade.   Now a new term is marching through the blogosphere: Frugality fatigue. But...

Barbra Streisand Saves Dieting Dollars Barbra Streisand is dieting on a budget – she and her husband James Brolin have turned to Jenny Craig to lose weight. "Oprah hired a personal nutritionist, but Barbra wants to save money, so they’re getting their meals from a Jenny Craig center,” a source told the New York Daily News. Both Streisand and Brolin have packed on pounds of late, according to the Daily News. The diva told Diane Sawyer on "Primetime Live” in September: "I’ve been eating like a pig” and "I hate exercising. It’s torture for me.” But she added: "I’ve paid...

SALEM, Mass. -- A sausage vendor has given two Salem boys trying to make a buck selling lemonade a lesson in cutthroat business techniques. Police shut down the lemonade stand on Salem Common after the sausage man complained that the boys didn't have a permit and were taking customers away from him. Lt. Scott Englehart said police had no choice but to enforce the rules. But he said it's "ridiculous that little kids can't sell lemonade." Jarrod Clowery is the sausage man. He said he regrets ever calling police because now all he gets are icy stares from people around...

Afraid Microsoft's anti-spyware will muck up your hard drive, erasing your digital photos, music collection and work files? Don't worry, you've got a $5 rebate coming your way in this worst-case scenario--enough to buy five songs on iTunes. That is, if you read and take advantage of Microsoft's legal promise. According to the AntiSpyware Beta end-user license agreement (EULA), Microsoft will reimburse direct damages up to $5 for problems associated with the new downloadable tool that wards off spyware, adware and any other "potentially unwanted software." "It also applies even if Microsoft knew or should have known about the possibility...

As Boston police hackney officials and Democratic National Convention hosts prepare to meet cabbies tomorrow to work out a discount voucher plan, one irate driver is exploring a Federal Election Commission complaint. Cab driver Bill Ford, an independent driver who says he's voted for more Democrats than Republicans, objects to what he considers a forced donation to the Democratic Party. The plan now being discussed would require cabbies working the airport to accept discount vouchers and multiple riders. Estimates on the value of the vouchers have been placed at $10 or more, but cabbies said compared to their regular multiple-rider...

<p>STONYCREEK, Pa. -- The return of the mourners who lost family members in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 was put together with grand planning, ceaseless effort and relatively little corporate financing.</p> <p>The last part, the meager corporate help, isn't how organizers planned it.</p>