Weird & Wonderful

By Michele Lerner
Daily Finance

There's a classic Larry David moment on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" when he realizes he only has big bills and won't be able to tip the valet parking attendant at a hotel. He swears he'll pay when he has a smaller bill, but clearly the guy doesn't believe him.

The moment resonates with many people -- probably because something like it has happened to them.
It turns out that nearly everyone has had cringe-worthy moments when it comes to cash, and they happen in all manner of interactions -- between strangers, friends, co-workers and even family members, according to a new CouponCabin.com survey released Wednesday.

Nearly half of the survey's respondents (48 percent) said they have avoided someone or a particular situation that involved money because they knew it would be uncomfortable.

Painful Plastic Problems

The number one "most awkward money moment," according to the survey, was having a credit card declined. Forty-one percent of respondents said that it was the most unpleasant money-related experience of all. Even worse, it's a tough one to avoid unless you know that you're near your credit limit and check on your credit card's availability before you use it.

Other situations that people said made them squirm:

• Feeling pressured to donate to a charity on behalf of a co-worker, family member, or friend. (Mentioned by 34 percent of respondents.)
• Saying no to giving money to a panhandler or beggar. (29 percent)
• Feeling pressured to chip in on a group gift at work, like for a baby shower or wedding shower. (25 percent)
• Sharing salary/wage amounts with co-workers. (25 percent)
• Splitting a dinner bill or check with a large group of people. (17 percent)
• Figuring out a gift to get a partner for special occasions, like a first anniversary or a first birthday together. (14 percent)

I cheered for the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. It was the year the Maple Leafs were supposed to win the Cup. Doug Gilmour appeared to have the will all his own to haul Toronto out of the cell of infamy they had been trapped in since last capturing a championship in 1967.

The team's captain set Toronto club records for points and assists in a season, was nominated for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, and won the Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward. As the playoffs progressed and the Leafs took on the guise of a team destined to end a quarter-century of disaster, the city became a torrent of energy and enthusiasm. Everyone had a story about the run to the NHL semi-finals, whether it was a pair of tickets scored at the last minute or a serendipitous encounter with Wendel Clark outside of Maple Leaf Gardens.

Daily Finance

"If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right."

That's the excellent and descriptive title of a paper published last year in the Journal of Consumer Psychology by the University of British Columbia's Elizabeth W. Dunn, Harvard's Daniel T. Gilbert, and UVA's Timothy D. Wilson.

The paper, which summarizes decades of study on the subject, notes that "money allows people to do what they please, to live longer and healthier lives, to buffer themselves against worry and harm, to have leisure time to spend with friends and family, and to control the nature of their daily activities -- all of which are sources of happiness."

Unfortunately, money is "an opportunity that people routinely squander because the things they think will make them happy often don't."

So how do you make sure to spend your money in order to to maximize your happiness? Follow these eight steps:

By Matt Brownell
Daily Finance

The fast food industry's obsession with bacon has reached new heights of excess. Sonic announced on its Facebook page Thursday that its summer lineup of ice cream shakes would include one made with peanut butter and bacon.

Combining those flavors isn't as crazy as it might seem. If you ever have a chance to sample an Elvis Presley -- a peanut butter and bacon sandwich -- we'd urge you to seize the opportunity. And believe it or not, this isn't the first time bacon has made an appearance in a national chain's ice cream shake: For its annual "baconalia" event, Denny's offers a maple bacon milkshake.

Sonic, then, is simply building on the works of these bacon pioneers.

By Matt Brownell
Daily Finance

Sick of all the terrifying and sad headlines that have dominated the news these last couple of weeks? So are we. As a partial antidote, check out our Retail Police Blotter, a semi-regular roundup of all the weird crimes that went down at the nation's retailers and fast food joints.

The good news for Canada's four playoff-bound NHL teams is they are guaranteed to have a second-round presence. That's because the Ottawa Senators will face the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round, a matchup that came as a result of Ottawa's 3-2 victory over Boston on Sunday night in the league's final game of the regular season.

This summer Starbucks is rolling out the latest experiment in American gluttony that's sure to put the Double Down or the Doritos Locos Taco to shame.

It's called The Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino (see photo on right) and it's reportedly coming to the menu as a kick-off to summer on April 30. It features three kinds of caramel with caramel syrup, dark caramel sauce and a caramel crunch topping, that's akin to creme brulé, all mixed in. You also have your choice of milk and if that amount of caramel isn't enough for you for some reason, you can still request the requisite caramel drizzle over a healthy dollop of whipped cream.

The overboard decadence of it all makes us think it was once a custom order from the "Secret Menu" -- featuring flavours that start out only in a savvy customer's imagination and then are faithfully recreated by an understanding barista.

In honour of the coming Caramel Ribbon Crunch, we thought you'd be mesmerized by these equally decadent flavours from "The Secret Menu" that will test the skills of your local barista.

SLIDESHOW: The 10 Most Decadent Starbucks Frappuccinos

The Pantone folks have put their 50 years of expertise in colour into an infographic that gathers together the defining colour trends of the past five decades. From the Psychedelic 60's to the Expressive 00's, the palettes are a distillation of what was cool in design, fashion and home decor for half a century. Plus there's some info on top colours mentioned in social media and a collection of famous logos in a rainbow of colours. Jump to the next page to see the graphic in all its technicolour glory.

By Bruce Watson
Daily Finance

Gazing out at the park-like greensward that is a modern American cemetery, it would be easy to imagine that the American way of death is an environmentally friendly business -- but nothing could be further form the the truth. From casket manufacturing to funeral embalming, cemetery maintenance to flower disposal, the entire process is saturated with dangerous chemicals and heavily reliant on fuel-guzzling transportation. However, a growing number of companies are working to make the process less costly and more green. So if you're interested in leaving the Earth a little healthier than it was when you arrived, here are some of the best options:

By Muneeza Iqbal
Daily Finance


Bentley Christie runs a small farm in his suburban Canadian backyard. But unlike most backyard farmers, he doesn't raise chickens, nor does he plant fruits and vegetables. Instead, he harvests crops of wriggling red worms.

To hear Christie tell it, a worm farm is a pretty ideal small business. It doesn't require much space because a pound of worms -- about a thousand creepy-crawlies -- needs only a square foot of surface area. They live in bins that are easy to make at home, and they're relatively self-sufficient, too, since they eat food scraps and don't need to be cleaned up after.

Christie sells many of his worms for fishing bait, animal feed and natural fertilizer, but an increasing number are purchased by people who use them at home for composting kitchen garbage.quality bedding."