Taking shopping habits to the extreme

“It’s just a different way of thinking.”Michelle MacKenzie was talking about the switch from shopping at Target or Safeway to buying clothes and toys at the thrift store and food at the farmer’s market. But the eco-conscious mother of two might as well have been talking about buying only American-made products, or eating only locally grown food, or deciding to buy as little as possible. Or she could have been speaking for anyone who has decided, for one reason or another, to put her money where her mouth is.

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The thief remains at large. Consumerist recommends that if you want a sex toy that badly and can't afford it, you should save up your money rather than break into a store with your vehicle.

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If you have any broken, ugly jewelry lying around in a drawer somewhere, you've probably taken notice of a company called Cash4Gold that promised to pay "top dollar" for your not-so-precious precious metals.

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The first surprising part of this story is that the Boston Police Department has a Twitter feed. They use it to post breaking police-type information that's useful to the public, such as roads closed due to car accidents, crime data, big arrests, etc.

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Maybe AmEx is secretly keeping the Blue cash to pay back TARP funds.

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Within only a couple of hours of our posting some gross-out videos of bad Domino's employees last night, our readers Amy Wilson and whyerhead managed to track down the location, call the store directly to alert the manager, and send the address to Domino's corporate.

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Online brokerage site Zecco somehow failed to predict that surprising customers with multi-million dollar trading balances for April Fools would encourage their customers to make actual trades with their newfound riches.

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"[The pilot] said, 'Do you see that over there? That's your luggage,'" Tadel recalled. She looked out the plane's window and saw a man with a hose and a big plume of smoke.

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Here are our favorite disgusting stories of 2008. You're welcome! It should go without saying that some of these are really, really nasty. You've been warned.

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Stuck in a $14,300 debt hole, reader Trixare4kids was able to dig herself out using tips she learned about on Consumerist.com. Let's learn how she attacked her personal finances and learned to live frugally, and did it all in 20 months.

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What part of "circumcision" was unclear? That's basically what a Kentucky man and his wife are asking of two doctors who cut off the man's penis while he was under the knife. The doctors say they discovered cancer and made an emergency decision.

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Is Walmart channeling Kurt Vonnegut? When Walmart unveiled its new logo last week, there was only one thing we thought of when we saw that logo.

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It's down to the final four worst companies in America, folks. The bracket has been updated and the next round will begin on Monday, Congratulations to the four companies that made it this far, You've really achieved something! Who do you think will win it all?

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Didn't you hate not having access to credit when you were 6? Today's kids don't have to suffer like you did. Meet Bennett Christiansen of Aurora, IL. He's got a shiny new Bank of America credit card with a $600 limit.

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The number of people filing for bankruptcy continues to increase, as bad mortgages and the rising price of [insert noun here] squeezes every last penny out of debt-laden consumers.

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Consumerist has provided us with a list of seven tips related to the Apple Store shopping and service experience.

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I went into my nearest ATT store and there were two CSR's behind the counter- I asked for an 8gig Refurb iPhone thats being sold for $249 and the kid said sure and walked me over to the desk.

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These receipt checking stories keep coming in and they just keep getting weirder. Reader Patrick was shopping at a Memphis, TN Walmart to buy a firearm, some ammunition and some groceries.

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Reader Matt has launched the dreaded EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) on Home Depot—attaching a copy of a formal complaint that he filed with the Metropolitan Police in Washington, D.C..

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Comcast has been fined $12,000 for having crappy customer service by Montgomery County, Maryland..

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The LA Times says that the State of California is seeking a $12.6 million dollar fine against Blue Shield for 1,262 violations of claims-handling laws that resulted in 200 people losing their insurance.

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While we can't disagree with the strict literal interpretation of the message, perhaps Walmart should consider printing it on a wallet, rather than on panties meant for teenage girls. The whole prostitution angle is clouding the message of fiscal responsibility.

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When I received the modem and start up disc, none of the codes would work for my computer, nor my housemates. I called Qwest and was told that it was because I had a MacBook.

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It can be hard to get a straight answer out of airlines sometime about the real reason a flight is delayed. For some reason, though, they're more straight up about their packages than their passengers.

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Greg Miller, the son of Bette Miller, the woman who is in a dispute with Bank of America over a $5,000 bond bought in 1984 from Rainier National Bank, has written in to tell his side of the story. Here's his letter.

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Supplies from the U.S. are often found to be contaminated with harmful weeds and soybean disease, while some don't match Chinese quality standards, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in a statement published on its Web site.

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