From BundleHQ: Where are America's big-spending ladies? Plus: How to negotiate

It's tournament time! Have you done your bracket yet? Perhaps more importantly: how much will you spend on your pool? (Note: BundleHQ does not endorse gambling and reminds users that college athletes are amateurs, playing for the love of sport.)

You don't ask, you don't get: Stephanie Miles' story about Vanessa, who negotiated cheaper rent, reminded me about Adam Galinsky, who studies negotiation (among other things) at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. And he's amazing: over dinner in Chicago a few years ago, he explained to me how he had recently negotiated for a higher salary, more resources, a lighter workload and new office furniture. His tips? In addition to keeping your alternatives in mind, he said: make the most extreme first offer you think you can without alienating your opponent (see: you don't ask, you don't get); name your number first (thus providing an "anchor" for the ensuing discussion); and be prepared to make concessions (which creates goodwill).

Not buying it: To scan Bundle recently, you'd think men were just throwing around money. Spending on cars in Vegas, phones in Boston, hobbies in Honolulu (even accounting for income). Maybe it's because my mom didn't let me have Barbies, but I refuse to believe that women aren't outspending men in some perhaps unexpected categories in some parts of the country. Let's go forth and find them.

Question of the day: In the spirit of Galinsky: what's your most successful negotiation?