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Why We Are So Bad at Buying Happiness

Why We Are So Bad at Buying Happiness

"Those who say that money can't buy happiness aren't doing it right."  Have you heard that joke before?  Well, it turns out that there is more than a kernel of truth in there. People are generally bad at buying happiness because: 1. We buy to keep up with the Joneses / ...

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Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

Hair, Hair, Everywhere – the Recession Edition

I wrote a hair post in both 2007 and 2008, so I suppose it's only appropriate to continue the tradition in 2009! This post is dedicated to recession's impact on hair budgets. The recession is a major reason why I've been neglecting my hair a bit during these past several months: ...

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Experience, Not Stuff

Experience, Not Stuff

Experience, not stuff: I've decided to make this my mantra to live by. It'll be hard, because I like nice things (ex: shoes), but guess which of the following I remember the most? (a) A $100 leather jacket purchased in Buenos Aires, that I've worn ONCE in 3 years. (b) A $45 hour-long horse ride on ...

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What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

What Sex And The City Taught Me About Love, Life, and Money

Sex And The City: The Movie is coming out in May! I am so, so excited, and I'm betting that many Sex And The City feel the same way. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda - you ladies have been missed! (By the way, I love the photo below - head-to-toe ...

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5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

5 Year Travel Plan: Making Your Travel Dreams a Reality

I've been struck by a bad case of the travel bug lately... I haven't been out of the country since 2007, which seems like a long time. CB and I are saving for Galapgos, but we also want to travel quite extensively in the intervening months before our Big Galapagos ...

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Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate School: (When) Should I Go?

Graduate school is a significant undertaking both in terms of time and money. During the last few months, I've felt some pressure from concerned family members about going to graduate school. I know they only want the best for me, but I'm glad I followed my gut instinct and ...

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Should Parents Pay For College Education

Should Parents Pay For College Education

A college education has, for a large percentage of society, become the de rigueur entry-level degree. "Should parents pay for college education" is a question where the answer is always, "it depends." In today's economic climate, I imagine that many parents are having the difficult talk with their kids ...

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Free GMAT Study Resources

Free GMAT Study Resources

Taking and prepping for standardized tests isn't cheap, fortunately, there are many free study resources available online. I've taken advantage of most of these resources when I was preparing for my test last year. Hopefully you will find them helpful as well. Free Online Study Materials The GMAT Uncovered by ManhattanGMAT: A ...

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7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

7 Steps In Overcoming Rejections In Job Search

Rejections during job search are disappointing, to be sure. Nobody likes to be told that they were qualified candidates, but the management has decided to go in another direction. In this environment, however, rejections are common-place through out the job search and interview process. After the initial disappointment wears off ...

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How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

How to Host a Dinner Party On a Budget

Hosting a dinner party is always fun, but right now I need my get-togethers to be budget-friendly as well. Remember when I made crab cakes? That was for a group of 5 or 6 friends. The crab cakes were delicious and everyone loved them, but, crabs are expensive! Two pounds ...

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Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Pure Altruism - Does it Exist?

Every time the holidays come around, feel-good human-interest stories surface. This is a time to give to others, help those in need, and realize that the world is not as cutthroat or as competitive as we may believe. But is it true? Can people be purely altruistic? The authors of Superfreakonomics (the ...

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The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

The Price of Addiction To Argentine Tango

It's happened. I fell for the sultry dance, hard. (I even made its own category!) I leave class with a big smile on my face. I read Argentine tango forums and blogs. I fall asleep thinking of boleos and molinetes. I'm not sure how my wallet feels about the possible financial ...

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Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

Old Cars: Unsung Heroes of Personal Finance

New Cars are shiny, gleaming, loaded with the latest technology and features. New cars get the big commercials on TV, where they swerve confidently in snow storms, zoom down idyllic country lanes, and maybe even dance a little to the sound of a state-of-the-art in-car sound system near a trendy ...

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Disney World Recap

Disney World Recap

I realized that I haven't really talked about my Disney World adventure (aside from the Dining Plan review) on this blog yet... and well, that oversight must be rectified! If you have any specific questions about Disney World, please ask away and I'll do my best to answer. We Got To ...

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Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job Fairs: How to Prepare So You Stand Out

Job fairs can be a great opportunity for applicants to interact with many different companies. But if you don't prepare adequately, job fairs can be a disaster. Last week, I attended a job fair - prior to the event I debated whether I should go. I had heard the horror ...

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How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

How To Practice Safe and Responsible Credit Card Use

Wait, you mean you never had a credit card education class in school? Okay, me neither. The quality of education these days! But there's no reason that high schools or colleges shouldn't offer a class like this. After all, credit card education isn't an awkward topic like the other type of ...

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Spamalot: The Creativity of Spammers

by WellHeeled on October 20, 2009

Like most blogs and sites, this blog gets a lot of spam. Layers and layers of it. I’ve noticed that spammers have been making an effort to try to get their links through. It’s gotten to the point where I just want to shake them by the shoulders and say, look, you’re spam. Man up! Don’t hide behind false flattery or pretend questions or facetious advice. Just. Admit. It.

I offer you some examples:

1. The Pretend Question:

I’d like to know where I could get good ringtones for the iphone other than creating them on itunes. Is it possible to get them directly from AT&T like you can with any other phone? Is there a 3rd party website where you can get them from at good quality? The problem is that i’m having trouble with the itunes “create a ringtone” feature so I’d like to find another alternative. Please help!

________________

buy unlock iphone (link disabled)

Okay, this sounds like a legitimate question, but not if you already have the handy dandy answer at the very end of your comment! And definitely not if your email is a nonsensical combination of letters and numbers.

2. Attempt at humor:

have a nice joke. Why do bicycles fall over? Because they are two-tired.
___________________________
ciagra generic Houston (link disabled)

Ah hahahaha. Because you are so hilarious I am going to let you spam my site. Wait, no. (Although, I like corny jokes, so, um, I might bust this one out sometime).

3. The Flattery Angle:

Are you a professional journalist? You write very well.

Wow! I’m excited a reader thinks so highly of my writing… but.. wait a minute! I see your website. Spammer!

You May Also Want To Read :

{ 1 trackback }

Civility Doesn’t Cost A Thing | Well-Heeled, with a mission
October 29, 2009 at 12:42 am

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Carrie October 20, 2009 at 4:21 pm

i’m not opposed to editing out the links from otherwise good comments

Reply

Kim October 20, 2009 at 4:31 pm

This cracked me up. I’ve gotten a few spam emails lately, from people offering to write guest posts on my blog. Uh-uh, spammer! I can tell your email address is wacko. And yes, I will judge you on your poorly-written spam-sounding email.

Reply

J. Money October 21, 2009 at 6:47 am

Hahaha.. I’m so stealing that joke.

Reply

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com October 21, 2009 at 8:01 am

I’ve gotten a couple of spams where they actually ask real, relevant advice on my posts, and/or have read my posts and have made some pretty good comments!

Unfortunately, I had to spam them.

Reply

Investing Newbie October 21, 2009 at 10:27 am

You really are a good writer though.

And I am about to tell my boss, friends, and quite possibly the world that joke. I wish my spammers were funny. They don’t even have coherent sentences. It’s usually along the lines of: asdifhaidhfasdhfaui;afdial

Maybe it’s a hidden joke…

Reply

Red Lipstick Style October 21, 2009 at 3:09 pm

I haven’t had a spammer yet, In fact, I didn’t realize blogs got spammed. That’s not good.

Reply

aj October 22, 2009 at 9:49 pm

I have the same issues as well. It is really annoying.

Reply

A October 23, 2009 at 12:03 am

I get a lot of spam that looks like legitimate comments except for all the random links… so I take the links out. Why not? :)

Reply

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