The Chronic Consumer

If you’re the kind of person who has ever dreamed of owning your own business, but don’t really have a new or totally original concept to bring to the market, then opening a franchise might be your best option. Franchises still allow you to be an entrepreneur, and are great investments because you can capitalize on an already established name and business model.

Now, have you ever wondered what the top franchise opportunities in the U.S. are these days? Well, according to an article I read, they are (in order):

1. 7-Eleven
2. Subway
3. Dunkin’ Donuts
4. Pizza Hut
5. McDonald’s
6. Sonic Drive-In
7. KFC
8. InterContinental Hotels Group
9. Domino’s Pizza
10. RE/MAX

Of course, since these are big-name franchises, you’ll have to spend top dollar (more than $1.1 million for KFC, for example) to buy in.

There are plenty of other franchise opportunities for lesser known brands that have more reasonable start-up costs, but the success rates are probably a lot lower as well.

You know what would be great? Sample or trial-sized packages of diet pills! There are so many weight loss supplements on the market today that I can barely wrap my head around the pros and cons of each. A lot of them sound really good, but there’s no way to try them out without spending $40-$60 or more on a full-sized bottle. I certainly can’t afford to do that for every supplement I want to test, so I usually end up not buying anything.

I don’t know about you, but I’d be perfectly willing to pay $10 for a week’s supply of Lipovox or whatever. That should be enough time to give me an idea of whether or not the supplement can help me, and I’d be able to make a better decision from there. Too bad this scenario is not likely to happen!

I’m not in the market for a new cell phone right now, but that doesn’t stop me from looking. That’s why I’ve recently been checking out the new Motorola Krave ZN4.

The Motorola Krave ZN4 is the company’s entry into the touch screen phone market, with the iPhone as the obvious competitor they’re aiming to take down. Will it happen with the ZN4? Well, if early reviews are to be believed, probably not.

Apparently, the Krave just doesn’t deliver the kinds of features or performance of the iPhone, though it’s definitely a more cost-effective alternative. Plus, I think the Krave looks kind of cool, what with its clear flip-top screen protector that’s actually responsive to touch.

This first generation model might not dig into iPhone’s profits very much, but subsequent generations could have a chance — if several improvements are made.

A few days ago, I wrote a post about how envelope budgeting has helped my family meet our financial obligations. It seems, however, that one of the things I said in my post has stirred up a bit of controversy with a few readers.

I’ve gotten several emails telling me that we shouldn’t be spending any extra cash left over in the envelopes at the end of the month, but instead should carry the balance forward, put the money into an emergency fund, or deposit it all into savings.

These are actually good points, so I appreciate the fact that you guys have brought up the issue. The reason we’re able to spend the leftovers is that we already make provisions for an emergency fund and for savings, and don’t feel that we need to keep putting every extra cent away. Yes, we could carry balances forward — and we sometimes do just that when we think we’re going to spend more the next month. But for the most part, we feel comfortable enough with our financial health to have a little fun.

So while your concerns were valid (since you didn’t know the whole story), I hope my explanations were satisfactory. Trust me, it’s not as though we’re burning through our guaranteed issue life insurance policy payment or our retirement savings when we spend this extra dough! I’ve found that budgeting is always more successful when you allow for fun purchases, and I’ll continue to follow this philosophy.

Remember how a couple days ago I said I wanted to try a diet supplement that a couple friends have had some success with? Well, just as I was about to make the purchase, I saw a different product called Relacore that sounded a bit more appealing. Relacore is an all-natural herbal supplement, and lots of people have said that it helps reduce stress along with eliminating belly fat.

Before I buy it, however, I do want to get some input from someone who has used it. Did you have any success? Was it worth the money? Did you feel better while taking it?

If you’ve got any feedback about Relacore — good or bad — I’d love to hear it!

I just received an email notification that FansEdge.com is having a sale on all NFL jerseys right now. For a limited time only, you can save 10-15% on all men’s, women’s, and children’s NFL jerseys — all teams and all styles are included in this sale.

There’s no coupon code to include; prices already reflect the savings. I didn’t notice an expiration date for the sale, but FansEdge.com tends to end their specials pretty early, like within a week or even a few days, so I’d recommend buying quickly if you’re interested.

I haven’t purchased a new NFL jersey this year, but have been thinking about getting a Tony Romo replica. He’s become one of my favorite players, and I think the Cowboys have cool jerseys anyway. The one pictured above is on sale for $53, so I might just go ahead and get it!

Is it too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving dinner? Probably, but I am making a commitment to be totally prepared well in advance this year.

You see, I have a terrible problem with procrastinating, especially during the holidays. As a result, I often end up having to run out to the store the night before Thanksgiving to get a bunch of ingredients and fixin’s that I need for cooking duties the next day. No wonder I always end up with a splitting headache before dinner is served!

So this year, I’m already working on stocking the pantry with dry or canned goods that I’ll need for Thanksgiving. All of these items are going on their own shelf, and I’m not going to touch them until the big day. I already have a couple jars of cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing mix, pumpkin pie filling (no, I don’t make “fresh” pies), and even the wine that we plan to serve.

Of course, most of the food I need for Thanksgiving dinner will have to be bought a few days before the holiday, so there’s still a chance that I’ll get caught procrastinating. But at least I’ve given myself something of a head start here!

Shortly after making my last post about the new MacBook Pro, I realized that there’s no way I’ll be able to afford a laptop like that anytime soon. In fact, Jerry and I decided that for budgeting purposes, we need to get another two years out of our laptop, so we went shopping for new accessories and upgrades that will make it more useful.

We bought a new video card to accommodate streaming videos and games, a new mouse to replace the broken one, and a screen protector to cut down on scratches.

These upgrades should help us get through the next two years without feeling like we’re stuck using an ancient machine. At that point, we’ll start shopping around for a new model.