Tag Archives: consumer research

Summer Survival with Bored Kids

Activities-to-Fight-Summer-Boredom-MainPhotoAs they say, “Insanity is hereditary – you get it from your kids.” That is never truer than the summertime. So, your kids have been out of school nearly a month…have you gone crazy yet? Spoiler alert: it’s coming.

Never fear – MindField Online presents ten links to help keep your little darlings occupied and out of your hair!

Did they miss any? What kinds of things do YOU do? Let us know over at the MindField Facebook page!

Independence Day by the Numbers!

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redwhiteyouBy this time next Friday, we will still be on the front end of the long Independence Day weekend – though, sadly, not as long as last year, when it fell on Wednesday! So, are you staying home (more of us are) ? Or taking a trip (fewer, and spending more) ? Either way, there’s a price tag on your “4th Fun” – because this is America, dang it!

Continuing a long MindFieldLive tradition, it’s Independence Day by the Numbers!

$300: Average spent on holiday parties

$39: Average spent on fireworks

40 million: Number of us taking a July 4th trip this year. Down 300K from last year

613: Average miles traveled per trip

$747: Average amount families spend per trip. Same as last year

3 million: Number of us flying – up 10%

84%: The percentage of travelers going by car, vs. plane

$3.60: Average price of a gallon of gas. Up 11% from last year

BTW, if you ARE entertaining at home, here’s an article that tells you how to save some bux!

What are YOUR plans this year? Hit us up on Facebook, and have a great weekend!

Source, Source, Source,

Facebook and Blog Fans Speak!

megaphone-kid-croppedHappy Friday y’all! Any big Father’s Day plans? Cookout maybe? Have fun!

It’s time once again to feature comments from satisfied MindField Online panelists, collected from our Facebook and blog comments. (Interesting that we heard from a lot of dudes this time!) You will find them at our “Panelist Feedback” page. Here’s a sample from Mary…

Mary says: I have been with MindField for over 10 years. They are one of my favorite survey panels. They are quick to pay and I love the new cashout options, i.e., PayPal, Amazon gift cards. I love their product tests I’ve done so many for them I can’t count. Just saying thanks again, MindField Online!

10 years! Thanks Mary! So take a look, and have a great weekend. Give Dad a hug for me!!!

(photo: southerncrescentsolutions.com)

Famous Brand Deathwatch, 2014

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R_I_P_gravestone_TTime to pour a forty on the ground for some famous brands. It’s the annual product deathwatch from 24/7 Wall Street! Say goodbye in 2014 to:

  • J.C. Penney: their identity crisis has been painful to watch, so America stopped watching.
  • Nook: when was the last time a friend told you about their new e-reader, and it WASN’T a Kindle?
  • Martha Stewart Living Magazine: a shame – she’s SO darn likeable!
  • LivingSocial: Groupon ate their lunch  – at 50% off!
  • Volvo: the public has lost its taste for this Swedish meatball
  • Olympus: adding to the list of single-use electronics killed by the smartphone.
  • WNBA: this is still around?
  • Leap Mobile: never heard of them, but apparently the last one standing in the game of mobile merger musical chairs.
  • Mitsubishi Motors: heading to the scrap yard right behind Suzuki.
  • Road & Track Magazine: the owner also publishes Car & Driver, and doesn’t feel the need for two titles anymore.

See any of your favorites here? Probably not – lack of popularity is a big issue here. Any brands you USED to use and then abandoned? Why did you leave? Was it me? It was me.

Anyway, much more cause & effect at the original article, so you know what to do!

(photo: blogs.realdolmen.com)

Memorial Day 2013

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Mem Day

Memorial Day soapbox time – bear with me.

I was all set to do one of those “(Holiday) by the Numbers” posts, where we talk about how much we will spend on travel and hot dogs and new lawn mowers this Memorial Day. But my Google search uncovered this instead: a website that accounts for EVERY serviceman killed in conflict since the Revolution. We (I) sometimes tend to forget that honoring these men and women is the entire point of the holiday, as opposed to having Monday off and drinking beer.

MindField Online wishes to thank service members past and present and their families, and to honor those we have lost. As Americans, we don’t always agree on the value of this or that conflict, but you can’t deny the courage of those who put themselves in harm’s way. So, please take some time to visit MemorialDayFoundation.org.

And have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend!!

(photo: hellskitchennyc.blogspot.com)

101 Consumer Secrets!

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conrep

Don’t worry; I won’t make you read all 101! The latest edition of Consumer Reports has a nice roundup of 101 tips ‘n’ trix from their writers and editors. These cover household items, money and finance, electronics and more. Here is a sampling from the electronics pile:

  • Drop your phone or camera in the water? Don’t freak out and run out to buy a new one.  Try letting it dry. You can even put it in a Ziploc bag with some rice.
  • Don’t turn off your printer. Standby mode really doesn’t use much power compared to restarting. Also, if your printer must recalibrate every time, that wastes ink.
  • Just like the dumb commercial says, a full hard drive is a slow hard drive. There’s an actual mechanical process the PC uses to find your info, and it takes time. So, clean up your hard drive, get an external drive or store things on a Cloud.
  • PC or Tablet? Never thought of it this way: PCs and laptops are good at CREATING content. Tablets are good for CONSUMING it.
  • WiFi: Get a wireless hub for your house. You will save on your data plan in a big way. However, when you aren’t near a WiFi hub, your device will waste power searching for a signal, so turn it off when you are out.

That’s just a sample – there are only about 95 other tips at the original article! Next time we will sample a few more. Do you have any useful tips? Let us know!

Steamin’ Hot Cashout News!

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Starbucks-2

Hey, check it out! Your cashout options just expanded AGAIN. Starting this week, you can choose to cashout with a Starbucks eGift Card. Just go to your Member Home page, click on Cashout Now, and choose Starbucks. Or, pick any of our other cashout options: Amazon.com gift card, Walmart gift card, Sam’s Club gift card, PayPal or boring old check! The Starbucks option should be available beginning this week.

In other news, Live Now! survey announcements on the Member Home page – once only available to folks who linked their Facebook and MindField accounts – are now available to everybody! Back when we were getting up and running on Facebook, the link was a good way to promote it. Now, the link is just a thing that most people do anyway, so why not take down a barrier? Convenience, right? Remember, Live Now! announcements – just like email invites – use your member profiles as a starting point in the qualification process. That’s why we encourage you to keep those profiles fresh!

We hope you enjoy the new features. Now, can I get a latte to go?

This Year’s Prom Theme? Going Broke (Again!)

prom-limoTime for an update on a story from last year. It seems that, despite a continuously brutal economy, one area we aren’t cutting back on is our kids’ high school prom.

Visa says American families who have teenagers will spend an average of $1,139 each on the prom, a five percent boost, or roughly $60 dollar increase compared to the average amount spent in 2012 of $1,078.  KARE 11 News

What are we spending?

  • Northeastern average: $1,528
  • Southern average: $1,203
  • Western average: $1,079
  • Midwestern average: $722

And it appears, once again, that the brokest among us spend the most.

Visa also says one troubling statistic is that parents surveyed who fell in the lowest income brackets (less than $50,000) plan to spend more than the national average, about $1,245. Parents who make over $50,000 a year plan to spend less than that, an average of $1,129.  KARE 11 News

It’s madness. I see two culprits: TV shows like “My Super Sweet 16”… and parents that can’t say “No.” One bright spot: kids appear to be paying about 40% of the bill, with mom and dad coughing up 60%

BTW, the article also explains ways to cut some of these outrageous costs, so check it out!   What are your thoughts?

(photo: lipartyrides.com)

Slash Your Grocery Bill!

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Tip #17: Instead of Hundreds, try eating only Fives and Tens!
Savings Tip #17: Instead of Hundreds, try eating only Fives and Tens!

A while back we talked about stretching your food budget by eliminating food waste. And of course, it’s common sense that cutting back on dining out can save you plenty.

But, what if you have already made these cuts, and you’re still feeling the pinch? Take a closer look at your grocery habits!

There’s a pretty interesting article at Money Talks News called “16 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half.”

Here are some highlights:

  • Buy Discounted Meat: If you’re like me, you plan to eat pork chops, and then go buy them. Instead, see what’s on sale, and then plan your menu around that. This might not work if (like me) you can only cook 4 things!
  • Meatless Monday: Not as a moral or political statement, because YAWN. Just to save money! At my house, we have a big salad at least once a week.
  • Only Buy Food: At a Publix or Kroger or whatever, things like laundry detergent can be crazy expensive. Save that for Walmart!
  • Buy Generic: Store brands, yo! You can save up to 30% on things like pasta, salt, etc.
  • Embrace Inconvenience: If it comes in snack size, you don’t want it. Buy the big box of pretzels and some baggies. Cut your own fruit salad. Spend your life combing through circulars for coupons. Convenience is pricey!

There are 11 more tips of varying awesomeness at the original article, so check it out!

Tax Time 2013!

no-stress-tax-tips-600Standby for our annual, obligatory “Last Minute Tax Tips” post!

You might be thinking: How can it be tax time? There’s still snow on the ground! Well, you better hitch up the sleigh, because Uncle Sam waits for no man, snowman!

Anyway, the web is full of hundreds of articles on last minute tax advice, all of which I will share now and here are a few to ponder.

And FYI, in recent years, Tax Day has been postponed for the weekend, or due to some holiday. But this year, Tax Day goes Old School, i.e., April 15. Yay, tradition!

So, as a humble public service from your humble public servant (me) here are the links to everything you need to know. Have a good weekend!

Forbes     •     CBS News     •     Investopedia     •     US News Money

Fox News     •     TurboTax     •     Money Talks News

Wall Street Journal     •     Yahoo Finance     •     Detroit Free Press