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Grad School: Higher Degrees of Debt
Anne Kadet
Tough Customer
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Destination Supermarkets
WSJ.comWhen the weather heats up, New York becomes a café town. All over the city, diners hunker down curbside in their quest for $30 pasta plates and diesel fumes. Sheep! They don't realize the best kind of café isn't on the street—it's in the ...
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Cashing In on Vacationers
WSJ.comWhen New Yorkers host guests from out of town, the options can feel horrendous. Sure, you can give mom the bed while you sleep in the bathtub, but then you end up squiring her around town sporting faucet dents in your forehead. You can book ...
The New Muzak: Scent Marketing; Kadet: What's that smell? Companies using scent marketing say it's the sweet smell of success.
SmartMoney.comThe folks who run the MRI unit at Florida Hospital Celebration Health are doing everything they can to make a body scan feel like a day at the beach. The changing rooms look like cabanas, beach sounds waft from the speaker system, and the ...
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In Poverty for Impoverished
WSJ.comSeen one way, Manhattan is just a giant cash-extraction machine. You leave the house with a pocket full of money and all day long, while you're minding your own business, some awful force drains your wallet and redistributes your cash—who ...
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Comforting the Wealthy
WSJ.comI like to wander around Stinky Bklyn, the Cobble Hill cheese shop, just to marvel at all the gourmet treats I can't afford: $80 bottles of olive oil, organic white truffle honey, Intelligentsia coffee. But recently, as I passed the cash ...
Treadmill Desk Puts the Work in Workout; Kadet: In the age of e-mail, a treadmill desk makes a daffy kind of sense.
SmartMoney.comLast year, Bruce Peterson was in a bind. His mom had died, forcing him to confront his own mortality. His Paterson, N.J., paper-cutting-machine business was still recovering from a printing industry meltdown that forced him to lay off a ...
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The $4,000 Spring Cleaning
WSJ.comI can think of a zillion fun ways to blow $4,000. I'm dreaming about a fancy, four-week vacation—with a personal porter to carry my iPhone. Or 388 stacks of pancakes at Café Luluc. Maybe a house in Detroit. Or how about...a really, really, ...
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Buying Into Mob Mentality
WSJ.comAs mobs go, it wasn't especially scary. In fact, the gang gathered in front of the Tea Lounge in Park Slope may have been the cuddliest in world history: women in long hair and soft sweaters, men in high tops and pastel hoodies. At 1600 ...
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Hospitality Highs and Lows
WSJ.comQuick: What's the top-rated hotel in the city, as determined by the millions who post reviews on TripAdvisor? No, it's not the Plaza, the Four Seasons or even the Mandarin Oriental. It's the Hotel Casablanca. You know, the ...
SmartMoney Magazine; Working 9 to 5 -- at 75; How the fastest-growing group in the American work force is changing what it means to be "retired."
SmartMoney.comAfter Ailika Thomas woke up from a snooze, her husband brought her coffee in bed. It was 7 p.m., and the 73-year-old was facing a long, moonlit drive from her rural Indiana home to Chicago; Dean wanted to make the journey as easy as ...
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At 'World's Smallest Store'
WSJ.comI was drifting down Christopher Street one evening, puzzling over how to handle an unpleasant situation, when I noticed a sign on a sidewalk sandwich board: "World's Smallest Store. Free Advice."
A New Kind of Millionaire Matchmaker; Kadet: The man behind some of the biggest celebrity-endorsement deals.
SmartMoney.comA celebrity product endorsement is like a marriage. Some matches just make sense: We all believed that Bill Cosby was nuts about Jell-O pudding, and clearly the pudding loved him back. But too often, the pairing feels very, very wrong. Was ...
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Lining Up for the Jobs Ride
WSJ.comThis time of year, Coney Island has a dreamy, forsaken feel verging on the post-apocalyptic. The rides are still. The smiling 10-foot waiter atop the shuttered clam stand offers a frothy beer to an empty boardwalk. It's so quiet on ...
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The Art Scene, Then & Now
WSJ.comThe art market craters, the rents keep climbing, but decade after decade, they keep coming: newly minted art school grads. They move to New York because, well, what else is there to do?
Job Hunting: When Parents Run the Show; As 20-somethings struggle in a tough economy, their moms and dads are writing their resumes, tracking them on LinkedIn, and even going along for the job interview.
SmartMoney.comJanine Guarino-McKown has every right to feel proud of her daughter Megan's resume. Compared with the clumsy work history presented by your typical recent college grad, it's a polished, professional and effective document: a ...
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Gamblers' New Game
WSJ.comFor decades, no politician could ignore the people's mournful lament: Sure, New York offers the world's finest food, art and nightlife, but what about digital gambling? Why is there no place in the city where a decent, ...
You May Never Wait on Hold Again; Kadet: New apps offer to wait on hold for callers -- and the end of phone rage may be near.
SmartMoney.comImagine a world where no caller is put on hold. Mothers could spend more time with their babies. Scientists could hang up the phone and cure cancer. And we'd all feel more relaxed. Not getting a human on the phone is a perennial top ...
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Among the Objectivists
WSJ.comIt's not easy being a libertarian Ayn Rand buff in New York City, a town where even the rich people are communist sympathizers. At the PTA meeting or the charity gala, you're almost always the only soul standing up for freedom of ...
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Behind That Healthy Glow
WSJ.comNew York doesn't have much of a tanning culture. We'll leave the "fresh air" and "sunshine" to the outdoorsy freaks inhabiting other parts of the country. We prefer our fun indoors, and it shows. No matter what ...
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Retail's Grand Ambitions
WSJ.comAt the Javits Center this week, I caught a fresh-faced salesman giving his zillionth demonstration of a new shopping technology. Using a can of Pringles and a box of Pasta Roni, he showed how shoppers equipped with his company's app ...
What's the Allure of Dollar Stores? Kadet: Dollar stores are booming, but what's really driving their popularity? Hint: It's not the prices.
SmartMoney.comWhile your mind was elsewhere -- fretting over the lousy economy, perhaps -- chances are a Family Dollar store opened in your neighborhood. Or a Dollar General. Or a Dollar Tree. And it's probably packed with folks stocking up on ...
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Ponying Up for Forever
WSJ.comOne of the spiffiest addresses in the city has to be Hillside IV, in Brooklyn's Greenwood Heights neighborhood. With its modern steel-and-glass facade, it rivals any of the ultra-contemporary condos gracing the Meatpacking District, ...
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A Local in Times Square
WSJ.comEvery year, when out-of-towners ask me about New Year's Eve at the ball drop, it's my big chance to inform them that, actually, most New Yorkers steer clear of Times Square all the time. It is, after all, a tourist destination. I ...
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Santa's Take on Holidays
WSJ.comPerformer and professional clown Glen Heroy plays all sorts of characters: Sir Elton John, Truman Capote, Uncle Fester. But during the holidays, Mr. Heroy is a NYC Santa, making appearances at tree lightings, office parties, fund-raisers ...
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Massaging Away the Holidays
WSJ.comMike Indursky, president of Bliss Spa, lives near the chain's SoHo location, and every year he marvels over the holiday shopping scene on lower Broadway. "It's insane!" he says. "People are smashing into each other, ...
Hoarders' Latest Turn-On: Lightbulbs; Kadet: With a pending ban, some Americans are hoarding incandescent lightbulbs.
SmartMoney.comKaren Beseth is all about energy conservation. She shuts off the lights when leaving the room and sets the thermostat at 67 degrees through her small town's blustery winters. But there's one concession the DeWitt, N.Y., insurance ...
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Don't Mention the 'Curse'
WSJ.comSince Peter Sibilia and Damien Vizuete launched Sadie's Kitchen in Cobble Hill a few weeks ago, they've been getting an earful from the neighbors. The restaurant is on a residential side street, so everyone seems to be taking a ...
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Holidays at the Pawn Shop
WSJ.comNew Yorkers have amazing options for holiday shopping. We've got charmingly overpriced neighborhood boutiques, designer shops on Madison, endless tchotchke bazaars crowding the parks and big, dumb chain stores lining Fifth Avenue. But ...
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Holiday Shopping; Retail staffing cuts will mean trashed stores, grouchy shoppers and lines out the door.
SmartMoney.comOh, holiday shopping. It recalls the bombing of Dresden. The jumbled stores look like they've been blitzed, and the sales clerks appear shell-shocked. At some shops, the experience is about as merry as a combat tour, except ...
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Finding Fido
WSJ.comWhen I was ready to adopt a new hound after the passing of the great Louis Hiegel, I knew I'd be getting another rescue dog. Abandoned canines are always more "interesting" than their mama-loved-me cousins, and adoption ...
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Giving Little Guys a Shot
WSJ.comLast Saturday was Bank Transfer Day, a communist plot (or grass-roots effort, depending on who you ask) designed to get folks moving from big, greedy banks to small, fuzzy banks. And all over the city, tellers were busy. One friend, who ...
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Giving Pedicabs a Shot
WSJ.comThe other day, a businessman braving the storm in his windbreaker was desperately trying to hail a cab on Sixth Avenue when he was approached by grinning pedicab driver. "It's raining! It's rush hour!" said the driver. ...
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Busking in the Underground
WSJ.comI don't know what pleasures await you on your daily commute, but if you ride the F train, you're probably familiar with the world's loudest Norteno band. Like cowboys from hell, these merry gents in 10-gallon hats reliably ...
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The Occupy Economy
WSJ.comSay what you want about the assorted professionals, philosophers, bums, radicals, students and wage slaves comprising Occupy Wall Street, but they've managed to pull off the impossible. In the center of one of the world's most ...
Amazon Prime Made Me A Shopping Machine; The latest shopping technology makes it almost too easy to spend.
SmartMoney.comI used to be such a frugal lady. Then I subscribed to Amazon Prime, an online-shopping service that offers unlimited two-day shipping for $79 a year. Before Prime, I went to Amazon.com for the occasional book. Now, I'm a shopping ...
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Front Line on Lines Front
WSJ.comMy pal Sheila, who is 64 going on 18, emailed with a tempting offer: If I wanted a sneak peak at the delights of middle age, we should attend the FabOverFifty Beauty Bash convention in Chelsea. For just $75, I'd see plastic surgery ...
What Smells So Good? The Dog; The latest doggy indulgence: thousand-dollar pet perfume.
SmartMoney.comThe Promise: At $750 to $1,000 an ounce -- more than twice the price of Chanel No. 5 -- Les Poochs V.I.P. Parfum is one of the world's costliest perfumes. The kicker: It's for dogs. The unisex scent, which comes in a heavy crystal ...
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Going to the Dogs, in Style
WSJ.comWhen dropping my dog at the kennel, I've always had a sneaking suspicion: The animals are having more fun on their vacations than we are. No lines at the airport, no security pat-downs—it's all eating and napping and fighting. ...
Insurance for Everything; In a shaky economy, obscure insurance--including coverage against kidnapping, divorce, and having twins--is a rare growth industry.
SmartMoney.comIt's already been quite a year. So far we've endured wars, riots, nuclear meltdowns, crazy weather, a bipolar stock market and a failed apocalypse. Is it any wonder that one of the few bright lights in this asthmatic economy is ...
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Protection, to a Point
WSJ.comAllstate's recent subway ad promoting renter's insurance couldn't have been more direct: "Renters are 50% more likely than homeowners to be burglarized. Protect your things from MAYHEM now."
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The 9/11 Economy
WSJ.comBack in August, I called Gary Madden, the general manager at the North Fork winery Lieb Family Cellars, to learn what had prompted the vineyard to offer a 9/11 Anniversary Commemorative Merlot for $19.11. We arranged to talk later, and when ...
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High-Value Rust on Wheels
WSJ.comAn old, broken bicycle is a sorry, sorry thing. Tom Waits knows—he wrote the saddest song in the world about those rusty old skeletons: "Somebody must have an orphanage for/All these things that nobody wants any more." Well, that ...
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Yes, It's Still A Drugstore
WSJ.comIf there's any institution that embodies the difference between the old New York and the new New York, forget Times Square and Bryant Park. Consider, instead, Duane Reade, the local drugstore chain that once turned buying a bottle of ...
The New Office Guru: The Productivity Coach; Can a productivity consultant really shave hours off your work week?
SmartMoney.comLast year I got a fantastic new assignment that doubled my workload. When my boss suggested I take it on without dropping any of my old chores, I laughed and laughed. He laughed too. Ha-ha-ha! But he was serious.
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Hairy Week for Wall Street
WSJ.comIt was a slow week on Wall Street—for Wall Street's barbers. As the market careened up and down and up and down, some of the city's bankers had no time for their bi-weekly trims. Some canceled their appointments, and walk-ins were ...
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Slices Priced to Sell
WSJ.comOne of the interesting challenges of New York living is what you might call the decent-standards tariff. In order to enjoy housing, shopping and services considered average in other parts of the country—clerks that deign to acknowledge your ...
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Proving Ground: Manhattan
WSJ.comPop quiz! What new West Side structure occupies seven acres, cost $220 million and offers free Wi-Fi? No, it's not Phase 2 of the High Line—it's a car dealership.
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No Place for Holly Golightly
WSJ.comOne night last week, I woke at 2 a.m. in a cold sweat. Here it was the middle of July, and I had forgotten to rent a summer house in the Hamptons!
Is America Ready for the 'Smart Toilet?'; For the kitchen and bath industry, the toilet is the final frontier.
SmartMoney.comDavis & Warshow, the high-end Manhattan bath-fixtures showroom, is the kind of place that sells flat-panel TVs for your shower, bathtubs deep enough to drown a killer whale in and sinks so precious they're displayed in glass cases ...
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This City Is Bananas
WSJ.comFruit vendor MD Ali can hardly keep up with the demand for bananas. As soon as he frees a bunch from its plastic wrapper, crazed commuters at the corner of 35th and Sixth grab for his 35-cent specials. Most buy more than one—Mr. Ali offers ...
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In the Swim, for a Price
WSJ.comHot summer weekends are always action-packed for Hotel Gansevoort lifeguard Manny Tavarez: That's when the folks he diplomatically refers to as "non-guests" try to crash the roof-top pool.
Are Charity Walks and Races Worth the Effort? Fun runs and walkathons have been a fund-raising hit for non-profits. But critics say too little of the money makes it to the finish line.
SmartMoney.comOn a crisp autumn day in Richmond, Va., the view from 25 stories up was absolutely horrifying. Jeff Sigmon, a 51-year-old commercial-property manager, was about to rappel down the side of the city's second-tallest skyscraper, and he ...
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An Amusement Peak
WSJ.comLast fall, I took a trip out to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. The total for the rental car, park admission and a Flash Pass, a device that enables one to skip to the head of the ride lines and garner the bitter hatred of ...
The Middlebrow Hotel Perk: No Fees; Why affordable hotels are doling out freebies--even as high-end properties charge for everything from Wi-Fi to breakfast.
SmartMoney.comThe Hampton Inn in Midtown Manhattan is hardly the Big Apple's most glamorous hotel. The lobby isn't much bigger than your living room, and the "business center" is a single computer. Breakfast consists of Cheerios and ...
How Walkathons Became Big Business; Businesses, non-profits, Aunt Sophie – everyone loves a fun run.
SmartMoney.comEvery summer weekend, it seems, torrents of walkathoners proudly parade through cities and small towns with their charity logo tee-shirts and water bottles. And if it seems like these events are multiplying, you're onto something. ...
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These Prices Are Insane, Really
WSJ.comLike most everything in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, the Shell station at the corner of Atlantic and Henry is super-special and unique. But it's not the user experience that makes it so distinctive—it's just your typical New York ...
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Tip the Iceberg
WSJ.comOn a recent morning at Lower East Side bakery BabyCakes, there were not one but two tip jars set by the cash register. "Tip Your Answer," suggested a sign. The options: "Blogger Convention" or "Star Trek ...
Fare Play: Investing in a Taxi License; Owners of taxi medallions have seen their prices soar in recent years.
SmartMoney.comAnyone who's spent 50 bucks on a 30-minute cab ride to the airport can't help but suspect that someone somewhere is raking it in. But drivers' salaries average just $21,500 a year nationally. The real money is in ...
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Friendship by the Hour
WSJ.comI brought my friend Sheila to a rooftop party last Saturday, and was so glad to have her along. She gamely gulped a mint julep Jell-O shot, scarfed down pigs-in-a-blanket and kept up a steady stream of chatter, recalling the time Hunter S. ...
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Really Cleaning Up
WSJ.comI still remember the first time I had my apartment cleaned by professionals, because it was last week. Coming home afterward was a bizarre experience. It was my apartment, but it wasn't my apartment. It was the apartment of a much ...
Extreme Multitasking: Surviving the Superjob; A majority of Americans have taken on extra duties at work, often without more pay. How the up-and-down economy has redefined multitasking.
SmartMoney.comDenver pastry chef Eric Dale took on a new role -- maintenance man -- and saw his hours soar after his boss, Jen Jasinski, realized he was handy.
Pawnshops Go Upscale and Online; With more middle-class borrowers looking for cash, pawnbrokers are cleaning up their image.
SmartMoney.comWhen Jim De Lisa's chain of six furniture stores went belly-up midrecession, the New Jersey father of five found himself in a fix. He was suddenly unemployed and broke, and his credit score, he says, was "in the crapper." ...
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'Superjobs': Why You Work More, Enjoy It Less
WSJ.comBusinesses expect a lot more out of their employees these days, as a visit to Rioja, the top-rated Denver restaurant, can demonstrate. If you like Rioja's hazelnut tortamisu, thank pastry chef Eric Dale. And if you happen to pop your ...
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Tips for the Terrifying
WSJ.comEntrepreneur Bruce Verstandig divides his time these days between his diamond wholesale business and his sex-toy website. But as a college student in the late '70s, he drove a cab. And he was a helluvah cabbie. He kept his car ...
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Where Locals Know Best
WSJ.com"I know better Greece! I get you a better deal. And give you better service." That's what I wanted to hear. Pharos Travel, an agency tucked into a residential side street in Astoria, Queens, doesn't look like much (wood ...
Google Plays Tour Guide; Google's walking tours are free, but will they send you anywhere worth seeing?
SmartMoney.comGoogle knows everything, and it has served me well over the years, in my search for everything from old friends to new clothes. So when I learned that Google offers automatically generated, self-guided walking tours of nearly every town on ...
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'An Awful, Awful Thing'
WSJ.comFor folks in the suburbs, April showers bring daffodils. For New Yorkers, they bring piles of disposable umbrellas made in China. I must have three or four at home—those black, generic fold-ups that cost $4 at the deli (or $3 on the street, ...
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The Brunch Exceptions
WSJ.comIn the West Village, the zombies get a late start. They appear around noon in their sneakers and sunglasses, blinking in the sun before lurching off to the usual gathering spots: Tartine, Elephant & Castle, the Little Owl. If the crowds ...
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Big Dreams For Ferry, Interrupted
WSJ.comThree years ago, Jacques Guillet went down to the Manhattan Municipal Building for a closed-bid auction. He wasn't hopeful: He had bid on city property before, and was always outgunned. But this particular morning, fate tapped his ...
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Buying Pieces of the Action
WSJ.comNow that Timmy Nangano is retired, he has free time. When he isn't hanging out at the car auctions or shopping the local garage sales, he's chatting with Snippy, one of his hyper-loquacious parrots. You can also find the former AC ...
Credit Card Security: Too Much of a Good Thing?
SmartMoney.comThe young clerk's sympathetic smile hardly made me feel better. My debit card had just been declined at a local boutique, and she was clearly welcoming me to the world of financial dingbats who can't keep track of their account ...
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On or Off the Treadmill
WSJ.comI recently stopped by a joint on 14th Street where I dined by the fire on organic chicken and roasted vegetables. Afterward, I watched a little TV, relaxed in the lounge with a magazine and asked the concierge to help me with my shopping.
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Banking With Strangers
WSJ.comIt's a dilemma every New Yorker faces: It's late, you need cash, and the only option is the sidewalk ATM. It looks harmless enough: a sad little R2-D2 of a machine with a toy-like interface. But it clearly doesn't belong to ...
Latest Subject of Online Ratings? Your Co-Workers
SmartMoney.comJeremy Liew is "wicked smart," the "epitome of a strategic thinker" and a "charismatic guy." He's also "socially awkward" and can be "a bit harsh."
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Uncovering Penn's Charms
WSJ.comIf there are two New Yorks, they are surely epitomized by our two Midtown train stations. Grand Central seems to embody everything we love about our city: history, magnificent architecture, great food. Then there's Penn Station, with ...
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Cupids for Hire
WSJ.comJust in time for Valentine's Day, Jack Rabbit's love life is picking up. The 41-year-old East Village recruiter just went on a slew of dates with women he found online. And the best part, for Mr. Rabbit (this is not his real name, ...
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Intrepid Dining at 'C' Level
WSJ.comYukihito Yahagi is an exacting and fussy man. If you order a brioche at Thé Adoré, his charming French tearoom near Union Square, you can have jam on the side. But if you order a scone, no jam for you. "Scones already have a ...
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A First Wal-Encounter
WSJ.comWal-Mart has long wanted in to New York City, and this time it's serious. For the Arkansas retailer, which already has 4,300 US stores, New York is a bit like the moon: forbidding and devoid of Nascar fans, but the final frontier for ...
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Attaining Area Code Chic
WSJ.comLike everyone on the planet, I take pride in most inane bits of self-trivia. Take my cell phone number. It sports a 718 area code, and that makes me feel like Spike Lee, Archie Bunker and Barbra Streisand rolled up in one. When I give out ...
The Truth Behind Those Web Dating Stats
SmartMoney.comOnline dating sounded like such a great idea. You could relax at home every night munching pizza on the sofa and throwing Doritos at the dog. And all your romantic dreams would still come true because, yes, the ideal man or woman was ...
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Stretching $29 to Its Limits
WSJ.comThe cost of a seven-day, unlimited-ride MetroCard just hit $29, and the online squawkers are predictably upset that the threatened fare hike has become a reality, calling it "abusive" and "ridiculous." One math whiz ...
Can You Really Go Cash-Only?
SmartMoney.comYou can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. The old line readily applies to women, men, lawyers, cell phones and, many would say, banks. When they're not freaking us out with subprime shenanigans and bailout ...
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An Evergreen Economy
WSJ.comIs it just me, or are there more lumberjacks selling Christmas trees on the sidewalks this year than ever before? Walking around New York these days is like strolling through the Black Forest, only with fire hydrants and parking meters. The ...
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Scoping Out Snooze Spots
WSJ.comWhen I woke up in the buzzing lobby of the Hilton New York on Sixth Avenue, I discovered I wasn't the only sleepyhead tempted to doze in the cavernous waiting area. The suit next to me was complaining about his skimpy night's ...
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Well, Isn't That Special?
WSJ.comHoliday shoppers who stop by Rain or Shine, a cheery shop near Grand Central, had better like umbrellas. Yes, along with an assortment of canes, that's all the store carries—hundreds of bumbershoots and parasols, ranging from $35 ...
How Charities Get You to Give
SmartMoney.comEVERY YEAR, WHEN my favorite radio station stages its dreaded on-air fund-raiser, I hold my donation for the morning when they announce the two-for-one matching grant. This year it never materialized. Turns out, lots of charities are ...
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A Program for Poor-aholics
WSJ.comCan't earn enough dough to pay the rent? A tiny but growing fellowship of New Yorkers might suggest that the problem isn't the economy. The problem is you. You may have a disease—a compulsive addiction to low-paying work. And they ...
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The Networking Game
WSJ.comIt was billed as the largest business-networking event in New York history—a free meet-'n'-greet afternoon "extravaganza" at the Javits Center, offered by the NYC Business Networking Group. More than 800 "business ...
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Cabby Capitalism
WSJ.comI remember the first time I heard a cabby brag about his genius medallion investment. In just five years, the value of his city-issued taxi operator's license had tripled, to $300,000. "Boy," I thought. "I really should ...
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Feeding the Costume Craze
WSJ.comThe modest storefront on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights used to house a Jennifer Convertibles. Then it went dark. Now, it's a thumping den of iniquitous self-expression. As dance music pounds through the speakers at Ricky's ...
Chasing Lost Brands
SmartMoney.comWhen Chuck Moxley couldn’t find his favorite coffee creamer—International Delight’s cinnamon hazelnut flavor—he went on a mission. First, the Chandler, Ariz., fund-raising consultant tried to find a supply online. Then he attempted to ...
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Sidewalk Impressionism
WSJ.comThe most beautiful thing about shopping in New York? You don't even need to bother with stores. Everything imaginable—Korean barbecue, furry florescent socks, crack—sells right on the street. And that includes art. Of the city's ...
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High Price for a Bargain
WSJ.comHere's my idea of the perfect shopping trip: I walk out my front door and look up. Suddenly, a beneficent eagle swoops by and drops a shopping bag in my arms. Inside: a new fall wardrobe. Done!
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What Angels Do for Fun
WSJ.comHow does this sound for an investment pitch? You write a check for $50,000. In exchange, your dollars fund a series of risky, often revenue-free New York start-ups headed by kids, the majority of which will go belly-up before they make a ...
The New Web Watchdogs
SmartMoney.comJust about every shopper scans the on-line product reviews posted by fellow consumers—they’re seen as more trustworthy than the salesperson’s opinion. But it’s hard to believe everything you read. After all, the average product rating is ...
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Sleeping With Strangers
WSJ.comIt took a minute upon waking to remember: There was a stranger asleep on my couch. We'd met the night before, on a street corner in Brooklyn Heights. Elisabeth was a performance artist from Dresden who interspersed her chatter with ...
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Embracing a Seasonal Ritual
WSJ.comIf you didn't have a cheap air-conditioner sitting in your window at the start of the summer, you probably have one now. Thanks to the season's three-month heat tsunami, even New York's most die-hard AC avoiders—the folks who ...
Avoiding the "Overqualified" Label
SmartMoney.comJob seekers dread being told they’re “overqualified.” But with unemployment among middle-aged and older workers near a three-decade high, there are a lot of lengthy résumés landing on hiring managers’ desks. Here are some ways to convert ...
Looking for Work -- at Age 70
SmartMoney.comFew applicants have more impressive résumés, but for 71-year-old Al Maurer, being the oldest person in the room can be "a little scary."
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Food for the Great Unwashed
WSJ.comThis weekend isn't just the unofficial end of summer, it's the end of Restaurant Week. And a mighty long week it's been. This year, for the second summer in a row, the city's tourism bureau extended the promotion from ...
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Anne Kadet
Anne Kadet is a senior writer and Tough Customer columnist at SmartMoney magazine. Her MetroMoney column appears Saturdays in the Greater New York section of the Wall Street Journal.She lives in Brooklyn.
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How to Pay for a Wedding
With most couples waiting to marry and three quarters of marriage partners living together first, many celebrants are paying at least part of their wedding bill.
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How to Teach Kids about Money
It’s never too early to start talking dollars...and sense.
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How to Manage Your Grocery Bill
Your grocery bill is your biggest weekly household expense, so keeping a lid on it will go far to stretch your dollar.
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The Stealth Wedding: Saying 'I do' in a Public Space
A new wedding trend trades "walking down the aisle" for a walk on the wild side.
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The Reignited Tech Sector
Technology stocks have rebounded and are once again the darling of the market. Can the resurgence last?
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Why a 'Balanced' Portfolio May Not Work
Arends: That 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds your adviser is pushing might not work.
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The Corner Office
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General Dynamics Changes Tactics
The defense contractor faces a tough enemy: potential cuts in defense.