Carnival of Shopping #5
Well, it's just a carn-tastic week here, isn't it? Well let me be the first to say welcome, and I promise that our clowns probably aren't serial killers!
Mr. Cheap Stuff has a useful list of restaurants that give you a little something nice on your birthday--from Chili's (free song? What, they normally charge for that?) to "various strip clubs" which, if I recall correctly, usually hand out little Bible tracts.
Omiru's readers say that velvet jackets are in, although personally I think that girl would make a plaid polyester trash bag look good.
Good old Matt Hutter has some big-box retail secrets that you might not be aware of unless you're Daryl.
Jennifer at Suite 101's Luxury & Resort Travel has a nice stable of travel gift items, and won my heart with a single well-crafted phrase: "Like many coffee aficionados, I don't merely dislike a bad cup of coffee, I'm practically insulted by it."
Speaking of travel, Starling from The Business of America is Business (also, plastics) has a post up about the shopping craziness that is Dubai. A coworker here recently returned from a trip there, and he couldn't find enough synonyms for "insane capitalist explosion" to properly convey his impressions of the place. There's an indoor ski resort with three slopes. They're building a chain of islands shaped like the continents. By some accounts, 20% of the cranes in the world are there. I think I can sum it up in one word: DUDE.
Personal Finance Advice calls attention to Consumer Reports saying that people will waste $1.6 billion dollars on extended warranties this holiday season. I agree that they're generally not worth it, unless you're like my friends and me, for whom "roof-testing" things is a perfectly valid way to spend an afternoon, and a toolkit isn't complete without a sledgehammer, hacksaw and blowtorch. Here's a hint: practice saying "Seriously, this thing just exploded" with a straight face.
The Simple Dollar has a witty, well-researched article on how to make the most out of the online shopping process. If I were a complete corporate whore, I would say something like, "The suggestions are great--I'd add 'use Become.com' to the list!" but I'm not, so I won't. Go ahead, shop on Froogle for all I care. Just don't be surprised when your package arrives and instead of a nice sweater for your Aunt Millie it's FULL OF BEES.
I'm just sayin'.