Money Questions and Answers

Unusual Money Habits of the Uber-Rich and Powerful

How would you spend money differently if you had millions of dollars in the bank or stock market? Would you drive a nicer car? Would you eat out at five-star restaurants all the time? You may be surprised by the money habits of the rich and successful that you can emulate.

Or would you continue living as frugally as you did before you acquired millions of dollars?

Being a millionaire or billionaire doesn’t always entail owning the largest mansions, going on luxurious cruises all the time, and owning multiple yachts. Recklessly splurging is something a lot of lottery winners do, but those who worked their way to the top have some quirky financial habits that make them seem eerily normal.

Unusual Money Habits of the Rich and Successful

To give you an idea, here are some unusual money habits of rich and powerful people:

Lady Gaga’s Coupon Obsession

Lady Gaga is worth $275 million, but even with money to burn, she is well-known for her obsession with coupons. The multimillionaire singer and active Twitter user once tweeted to her 64 million fans: “Why do people look at me like I’m crazy when I use coupons at grocery [stores] or try bargaining at retail?”

No matter how much money you have, clipping coupons and scouring the sales racks for great bargains are fun and frugal-minded moves to incorporate into your shopping routine.

Michelle Obama’s Fashionably Frugal Wardrobe

Politics aside, one thing we can all admire about Michelle Obama is her ability to rock chic and affordable styles and brands like Gap and H&M while she was the First Lady. Known for being the most stylish FLOTUS in recent years, Michelle Obama always surprises people with her frugal fashion choices.

She wore a $34.95 H&M dress for her 2011 interview on the Today show or wearing a $39.99 dress from Target for a press event in 2012. No matter how much money you have, affordable wardrobes never go out of style.

How to Save on College Student Expenses on Campus and Earn More Money

by Guest Contributor

The following is a guest post on Money Q&A by Andrew Rombach, who manages the scholarship website, scholarshipfly.com. Would you like to write the next one? If you would like to write an article for Money Q&A, please visit our Guest Posting Guidelines page. You are spending too much money on your college education. Unless you’re the world’s thriftiest student already – and chances are you’re not – it’s a fact that you’re not saving as much money as you could be. You’re spending too much money on college student expenses. Save on College Student Expenses on Campus Below are a few of the biggest categories where students fail entirely in picking cost-effective options, aside from opting for in-state tuition. These failures keep students … Read more

Top 3 Ways Not To Let Too Many Investing Choices Overwhelm You

by Hank Coleman

Do Not Let Too Many Choices for Investments Overwhelm You

Did you know that there are thousands actively traded mutual funds in existence? Investment companies are adding more every week too. Between stocks, bonds, actively traded mutual funds, index funds, ETFs, Roth IRA, and the like, investors have more choices than ever. Have you ever become overwhelmed with too many choices? Has it made you hesitant to start investing? It shouldn’t hold you up investing. Three Ways Not To Let Too Many Choices For Investing Overwhelm You Mirror The Stock Market Researchers have conducted several in-depth studies over the past few years that have shown that stock pickers cannot consistently, year in and year out beat the overall stock market rate of return. So, if you can’t beat them, you might … Read more

3 Reasons Not to Avoid Buying a Starter Home

by Hank Coleman

Recently, Consumer Reports reported that 75% of first-time homebuyers are planning to skip buying a starter home. Many future homeowners want to skip a step and purchase the home of their dreams. But, this can be a mistake. Buying a starter home can help future homeowners save more money for a larger home in a better area in the future. For many years, buying a starter home was the normal path to homeownership for young individuals and couples. But, that trend seems to be dying out. You Should Not Skip Buying a Starter Home Here are a few reasons why avoiding a starter home might not be a good idea. Starter Homes Are Stepping Stones Don’t look at buying a … Read more

Infographic: The History of Binary Options from Binary Options Robots

by Guest Contributor

The popularity of binary options has soared since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval in 2008. The phrase “binary options” now receives 110,000 monthly searches in Google, only 20,000 less than “forex trading”. And, now you can trade with binary options robots. There have been several regulatory issues along the way: this summer France and Belgium prohibited all advertising of binary options products. Israel has emerged as the center of binary options: in 2014 The Time start-up incubator reported that 15 Israeli trading companies were posting annual revenues in excess of $10 million, and 3 in excess of $100 million. Check out the infographic below, courtesy of Binary Options Robots! They provide hands-on robots embedded with sensors, actuators, and … Read more

How Much Money You Could Save Shopping at Amazon vs Jet.com?

by Hank Coleman

What Is Jet.com? And Which Is Better - Amazon vs Jet.com?

Walmart recently strengthened its position in the online battle for retail customers with its acquisition of the ecommerce website Jet.com. Together, Walmart and Jet are aiming to strike a blow to Amazon’s dominance in the online marketplace. But, which is better – Amazon or Jet.com? What is Jet?

This new partnership not only affects the businesses, of course. But, it affects us, too. I’m a huge fan of Amazon Prime and Amazon Prime Now. So, I was curious about the differences between the two online shopping sites.

Whether you’re a staunch Amazon Prime supporter or you’re currently on the fence about proclaiming your loyalty to well-established Amazon or up-and-coming Jet, there are a few significant differences between the two sites that could affect your wallet for better or worse.

Amazon vs Jet.com

Memberships

Jet initially charged membership fees when it launched a little over a year ago, but a few months afterwards, Jet surprised everyone by eliminating the $50 annual fee. Now, Jet members get free, 2-day shipping on most items (as long as your order is over $35, and there is a nifty dollar counter on the right-hand side of Jet’s website to help you track how close you are to the minimum order amount).

Amazon, on the other hand, charges $99 per year for its Prime membership (or $49 for the Amazon Student program). Not too many people seem deterred by the cost, as Amazon currently has over 54 million Prime members using its services.

Prime members get free, 2-day shipping (even same day shipping in some areas) on Prime-eligible items (almost anything sold or fulfilled by Amazon itself), as well as other unique membership benefits like music streaming, exclusive TV shows, movie streaming, access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (with hundreds of thousands of e-book titles) and cloud photo storage.

Jet is still relatively new in the online marketplace, which means its offerings for customers are slim compared to Amazon’s menu of options for Prime members. However, Jet is already showing signs that it will tackle other areas currently dominated by Amazon – such as grocery delivery services – which means that Jet could be a viable alternative for folks who don’t need all the bells and whistles that come with an Amazon Prime membership.

Price

When Jet first launched, Jet’s prices beat out Amazon in many categories. As a smaller company taking on a giant, Jet continues to pull out all the stops to attract new customers, including a “TRIPLE15” promotion that takes 15% off your first 3 orders on Jet.com.

Jet also boasts that customers can “Watch prices drop as you shop!” Customers are able to choose lower prices by opting out of free returns, using debit cards to pay for orders, and ordering multiple quantities of single items. The different price options are displayed to the right of the product images, and the more you buy, the more you save on the price-per-item.