SavvySugar

Fake Receipt Generator: Brilliant or Baffling?

SavvySugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:01:01 -0700

Nobody can have their steak and eat it, too, right? The creators of expenseasteak.com would disagree. The site's ethically questionable Maloney & Porcelli's Expense-a-Steak Headquarters tool allows you to enter any amount of money, and then generates several receipts that add up to your total. When I entered the amount $274.22, seven very real looking receipts popped up from a variety of merchants like "Office Supply Hut" and "The Panini Experience."

If you're asking yourself why anyone would want receipt knock-offs, then you're probably not familiar with expense reports. The reports are submitted to your company's accounting department after a business-related trip, and typically include copies of all receipts for which you want reimbursement.

The genuine appearance of the receipts is pretty incredible, but I can't imagine having the chutzpah to submit fake receipts in hopes of pulling one over my accounting department. What do you think of the Expense-a-Steak generator; is it brilliant or baffling?

Have You Ever Lied to Get Money From Someone?

SavvySugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:13 -0700

Family Finds $10,000 in Organic Crackers Box

SavvySugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:15:36 -0800

Holding onto money is everyone's goal these days, yet one honest California family was eager to give back the envelope filled with $100 bills found in a box of crackers. Whole Foods is notorious for costly groceries that eat up our paychecks, but the Rogoff family unknowingly left the store $10,000 richer.

Instead of depositing the found money into a bank account, the Rogoffs called the police to report the booty found in a box of Annie's Sour Cream and Onion Cheddar Bunny crackers. Police suspected the cash to be part of a drug drop until they heard from a Whole Foods manager calling on behalf of a customer claiming she left her life savings in a box of mistakenly returned crackers.

The woman no longer trusted banks and chose the box of crackers as the hiding place for her savings. Lucky for her, Whole Foods accidentally restocked the box of crackers rather than throwing them away and the Rogoffs did the ethical thing and didn't keep the cash as their own. Would you have made the same decision?

Source

The Most and Least Honest Professions of 2008

SavvySugar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:30:22 -0800

Bankers just can't seem to cut a break this year - besides enduring an extremely tumultuous work environment, people are judging those in the banking profession as being less honest than previously thought. The group lost 12 percentage points from last year's annual Gallup poll that asks for respondents to rate the honesty and ethical standards of various fields, dropping bankers from their spot among the most well-rated professions in 2007 to a neutral rating.

Poll respondents evaluated the professions as having very high, high, average, low, or very low standards, and here are the results from the 2008 survey. Is your profession reflected in the ratings?

Top-Rated Professions For Honesty and Ethics

Accountants
Funeral directors
Clergy
Policemen
Medical doctors
High school teachers
Druggists or pharmacists
Nurses

For the list of the least-rated professions, read more.

Least-Rated Professions For Honesty and Ethics

Labor union leaders
Lawyers
Business executives
Advertising practitioners
Stock brokers
Congressmen
Car salesmen
Telemarketers
Lobbyists

The Office's "Let's Get Ethical" Episode Tackles Time Theft

SavvySugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:00:50 -0700

In the "Business Ethics" episode of The Office, Holly holds the type of business ethics seminar that could only take place at Dunder Mifflin. She starts the group off on a light note, reminding them that it's wrong to make personal calls during business hours and that spending a half hour at the water cooler is technically time theft, but Michael quickly ups the ante and offers "complete immunity" to anyone who shares their darkest workplace indiscretions.

Michael kicks off the troubling tell-all by admitting he didn't work for five days after discovering YouTube and watched Cookie Monster sings "Chocolate Rain" about 1,000 times. Oscar announces he occasionally takes long lunches. Mindy reveals she downloads pirated music to her work computer. The big HR crisis moment comes when Meredith admits she's been sleeping with a supplier in exchange for discounts and Outback Steakhouse gift certificates for six years.

I can't imagine many of you have ever pulled a Meredith, but I'm giving you full immunity (I promise I don't know your HR director): What would you say is your worst time theft offense at work?

Source

What Would You Do? $500 For Dinner That You Didn't Eat

SavvySugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:30:21 -0700

Group dining situations can introduce uncomfortable money moments from time to time, but I can't imagine being put on the spot for a $500 dinner bill like Tonya Bowman. She told her story to LifeWire, and it doesn't have a happy ending.

Tonya was invited to help celebrate her new acquaintance's birthday by attending a group sushi dinner. She only ordered rice, miso soup, and tea, and when the bill came the birthday girl toasted the seven guests saying, "Thank you all so much for my lovely birthday dinner. I really do appreciate it. You guys are great. Here's to you!" The bill's total was $3,450, which comes out to $500 per person when split evenly.

Instead of saying that she didn't feel obligated to pay as much because she only ordered a minimal amount of food, Tonya put $50 on the table and left the restaurant. The acquaintance sent Tonya an email asking that she repay the $450 that she had to put toward her birthday dinner because she had wanted to use that money for a spa day. Tonya never sent her a cent, and they are no longer acquaintances. How would you handle a situation like this?

Source

Are You Disgusted With This Gold-Digging Great-Nephew?

SavvySugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:00:48 -0700

A husband and father of two wrote to CNN Money's Do the Right Thing column, ultimately asking if he was nuts or if his wife was the crazy one. The guy's wife is disgusted with him for pushing their daughters to build a closer relationship with his elderly, childless great-aunt in hopes she will leave her fortune to them. He thinks it's a win-win situation: His great-aunt gets company and attention, and the girls will (hopefully) get a sizable inheritance.

The column's authors tell the guy he's wrong for faking affection and that his daughters deserve better moral guidance from their father, and they remind him that things aren't always as they seem. After all, his great-aunt could very well have plans to leave her money to charity.

Are you disgusted with this gold-digging great-nephew, or do you think he's correct in calling it a win-win situation?

Source

Should a Wealthy Student Accept a Full Scholarship?

SavvySugar — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:34:28 -0700

Money and ethics often go hand in hand, and this weekend Kiplinger featured a reader question involving these two very connected things. It doesn't involve anything scandalous like money laundering or embezzlement, in fact it's about something as innocent as education. She asked if her millionaire cousin's son should accept the full academic scholarship he was offered by their state university.

This question was interesting to me because I'd really never thought about it as an issue - if a student earns a scholarship then why wouldn't he accept it? The response to the question mentions that the family should make a donation as repayment to the school. What's your opinion?

Source

Girl Scout Sells 17,328 Boxes of Delicious Cookies

SavvySugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:03:41 -0700

Anyone who has ever spent time as a Girl Scout knows what a big deal cookie season is for the troops and also understands that selling 17,328 boxes of cookies is an impressive feat for one girl. Fifteen year-old Jennifer Sharpe sold this many boxes by setting up shop on a street corner with her mother, every day. My first thought: How many badges did she get for selling so many boxes?! Badges are for Brownies, baby - this girl and her troop get to go on a 10-day European vacation! The trip will be paid for with the $21,000 the troop raised in cookie sales.

European vacation aside, this girl is a great example of perseverance and work ethic. How many of us had our parents take boxes of cookies to work and have their hungry colleagues buy out your stash of Peanut Butter Patties? The best part is that Jennifer has grown as a person because of her experience. Her mother said,"It's made her really confident. I remember when she first started selling, she was very shy and quiet and you had to push her out to talk to customers, but now she's right out there, first to the door." I see a savvy businesswoman in the making!

Should White House Guests Pay For Their Own Meals?

SavvySugar — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:30:45 -0700

Times have changed. On two recent occasions, CEOs of prominent corporations were asked for their credit cards to pay for a White House lunch to which they were invited. Surely they expensed the mid-day meals to their company accounts, but the instances have made news because they're without precedent.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki explained, "From time to time, White House guests are asked to reimburse for their meals in order to ensure there is no conflict or appearance of a conflict. That is consistent with our tough ethics rules, and we will continue the practice when appropriate."