Kev wrote: Do we really all have the new sensibility now? Are the Jones’ out of fashion or out of style for good? I think the American consumer will come back, though never as bold as we were – at least not for a while.
I for one think thrift is going to be hip for a while. Just check out the style section of yesterday’s New York Times where there was a story about how less expensive labels like Ann Taylor, Talbot’s, Isaac Mizrahi’s new Liz Claiborne line for Macy’s have become suddenly alluring to the Prada shopper. And the story in today’s WSJ about the slowdown in global consumerism.
Are you actively shopping less? Because you want to? Because you have to? Lemme know….
Yesterday, Nicole Wong, a reporter for the Boston Globe volunteered for a layoff. Yes, you read that right. Despite the sorry jobs numbers that continue to hit newspapers like hers — another 669,999 applied for unemployment the week of March 28 according to today’s data dump, that’s a 12 percent increase over the week prior — Wong, who most recently wrote about travel but has in the past covered workplace issues in Boston and Silicon Valley took the fall so perhaps her colleagues wouldn’t have to. Here’s a bit of what she wrote on her facebook post that then made it’s way to Poynter, where I found it:
This wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve loved working with all of you, learning from all of you, and having fun alongside all of you. I’ve loved covering the travel beat for the past 1.5 years, and I would have loved to continue reporting on that here for years to come. But I realized — after weeks of talking to worried coworkers and overhearing them fret to whomever happened to be on the phone — that at least it should be less of a hardship for me to find a job since I’m more mobile than my colleagues who have spouses, kids, mortgages, and more. (This is probably the first time I’m relieved to not even have a boyfriend or a house!)
More…
This morning on Today’s Tax Hotline the phones were ringing off the hook with calls from people asking Jean and the other Enrolled Agents their last-minute tax questions. I was chatting with Jean after the segment and she said that lots of people called wondering how to figure out how much to deduct for donations they’ve made to places such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army.
While I like to get good deals at thrift stores, I also like to give back every once in a while too by making a donation. Gaining some extra closet space doesn’t hurt either…Crocs, gladiator sandals…what was I thinking? Luckily, there are resources out there to help determine how much you can deduct from your taxes after you make a donation. More…
Taxes
April 15th is quickly approaching, and as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we spent over three hours answering your tax questions this morning as part of Today’s tax hotline. Here’s a video of just a few of the callers we helped today:
