Bargain hunters

Published 11:38 pm Sunday, November 7, 2010

Bargain hunters

The recession has forced Americans to abandon carefree recreational shopping and carefully target how they spend their money, says a research firm that tracks spending at some 70,000 stores.

So instead of thinking, “If I buy this $175 jacket, I’ll need those $150 shoes to go with it,” shoppers now tell themselves, “If I buy this $175 jacket, my food budget for the rest of the month will need to be 49 cents a day.”

Royal wall: What’s weirder than your mom on Facebook? Try Queen Elizabeth II on Facebook.

In a break with Facebook ways, the royals aren’t accepting friend requests, and their status has been permanently set to “Dignified, suitable and appropriate.”

Eat your broccoli: A group called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has declared the McDonalds Mighty Kids Meal, an 840-calorie combo of a double cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milk, the worst fast-food meal marketed to children.

In response, McDonalds unveiled a new marketing campaign in which Mighty Kids Meals will include free Lipitor samples.

— Mark Carlson, Herald staff