Last year, as we turned the corner on Halloween, we noted the growing popularity of “Singles Day,” that online shopping extravaganza that has become…
Singles Day and Holiday Readiness (updated)

Last year, as we turned the corner on Halloween, we noted the growing popularity of “Singles Day,” that online shopping extravaganza that has become…
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” we wrote as 2016 became 2017, citing a Guardian article that had proclaimed our previous year…
In last fall’s Labor Day survey, we wrote that the unspoken rule was to put white clothing away until Memorial Day…
Summer travel always brings with it a shifting list of do’s and don’ts, in terms of what to pack, where to go, what to expect if you’re queueing up for a TSA line, etc. It’s also been a good way to mark how people are feeling…
Who knew that a better deal on credit card rates and fees was simply yours for the asking? Well, evidently everyone who picked up a telephone and dialed up and asked for it…
As the above-linked summary states, “spending for St. Patrick’s Day is expected to reach $5.3 billion, an all-time high in the survey’s 13-year history.
In payments news, we see that the Fed has issued a progress report on its previously announced “Strategies for Improving the US Payment System”…
Normally we like the holiday weeks to have more “genteel” posts, with a little holiday history, and some prognostications…
And… we’re back! Still in mid-holiday season, and yet perched between Thanksgiving and that last round of Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year celebrating.