Tracy Davidson

Outlet malls may sound like a shopper’s delight and you may be able to find deep discounts on coveted brands, but not all deals are equal and some aren’t actually a deal at all. “The fact that it’s at an outlet doesn’t necessarily mean that the merchandise is cheap,” said Max Levitte, founder and chief [...]

Seasoned deal hunters know that it’s not just about where you buy, but when you buy. As retailers put out new product lines and attempt to clear out old stock during the course of the year, prices on various items rise and fall. Last November we took a look at which items tend to dip [...]

Apple (AAPL) and Netflix (NFLX) have been chummy since last year, but that may be about to change. It is all but confirmed that Apple will enter the TV market with a line of next-generation high-def televisions later this year. Analysts and fans alike have been dreaming out loud. An iPod-like touchscreen remote control would [...]

Uncle Sam isn’t the only one looking to collect from taxpayers this year: A rapidly growing number of Internet scammers are also using the guise of the IRS to siphon money out of consumers’ pockets, security experts say. “Approximately 155 million people are filing tax forms annually between now and April 15,” says Robert Siciliano, [...]

Dollar stores are luring a lot more consumers these days. While it’s no surprise these discount retailers gained popularity during the economic downturn, their rock-bottom prices aren’t the only reason for their still growing appeal: Dollar store chains have undergone major makeovers in recent years, sprucing up their dingy digs and adding more compelling merchandise. [...]

Toni Nadal, the uncle and coach of current world No. 2 tennis player Rafael Nadal, once explained to a journalist a lesson he’d drawn from life: “Victory does not feel so good as losing feels bad.” “When you have a son,” Nadal elaborated, “you are happy. But it’s no comparison to the sadness you feel losing a [...]

M-I-C… See your cable bill grow. K-E-Y… Why? Because Comcast (CMCSA) just signed a pricey new content-licensing deal with Disney (DIS). The family entertainment giant and the country’s largest cable provider are teaming up for a juicy long-term programming deal. It will give Comcast subscribers access to a ton of Disney-owned content delivered across more [...]

Everybody knows the basic rules for saving money on food. Don’t eat out. Ditch the steaks in favor of ground beef. Stick to the staples, like milk and potatoes. But a recent USDA report shows that, in 2011, some traditional money-saving guidelines proved useless as food prices went through the roof. On average, increasing global [...]

An infotainment revolution is coming to cars and, yes, there’s an app for that. Just as apps have transformed smartphones and tablets, car console screens are the next frontier. While thousands of apps are available for download for personal devices, automakers have so far allowed only a select few to show up while you are [...]

There’s only one thing more common in January than maxed-out credit card bills: fast-food bargains. The fast-food business typically takes a dive in January as folks who overspent on holiday gifts opt to eat at home on the cheap. So it takes special lures from the fast-food giants — from Taco Bell to Pizza Hut to Wendy’s — to [...]