Did this week rub you the wrong way? Or the right way? Every Friday, we keep score
-$63: The East Coast, Atlanta, Houston: seems only Hawaii was spared this week's epic snowstorm. Sadly, snow days are no longer what they used to be. But then again, neither are those hand-wringing, zillion-dollar estimates of what snowstorms cost.
-$39: More from the health care reform battlefield: California’s Anthem Blue Cross announced it will raise premiums 39% this year, on top of even larger rate hikes last year. If that's not a persuasive argument for reform, maybe insurers' guidelines for rejecting policy applications in Texas and Florida will be more convincing. (OK, drum sufficiently beaten.)
+$46: It's not you, credit card company, it's me. (Actually, maybe it is you.) Either way, the number of new credit cards is down 46% over the past year. Sadly, this drop-off hasn’t encouraged credit card firms to send out any less mail.
+$2,683: Tax day is right around the corner, and it seems some people will believe anything to get out of paying taxes. No, Wesley Snipes, taxes are not voluntary. Nor can you claim Fluffy the cat as a dependent. Silver lining: the average tax refund isn’t half bad, and if you file electronically, you should get it within three weeks.
-$9: In its first two days this week, Google’s new social-networking tool Buzz had 9 million posts. Oh, I'm sorry, were you not among the select 1 percent to get an invite? Don't feel too bad: Privacy-wise, the the Buzz is a big buzzkill. Plus, do you really want your local McDonald's to invite you to lunch?
-$103: Spending less on your valentine? Good news: aphrodisiacs don’t have to be pricey. Neither do sports cars, though their aphrodisiac quality is highly audience-dependent. And if you're feeling really frugal? Well, there's always divorce.
This week's total: $2,515. Not enough to bankroll an Oscar this season. I could get 0.3 seconds of Julia Roberts’ time for Valentine's Day. Oh, honey, I hope you won't be disappointed if it's flowers this year.
Did the winter storms knock out your cable? Cut you off from the world? To fill in the gaps: Last week's This Week
