sgusers的部落格

Source: Standard-Examiner, Ogden, UtahAug.新蒲崗迷你倉 27--For those of us looking to pinch our pennies, there's some good news and some bad news this week.The good news: Ogden was just named the second-best place in the country for niggards like us.The bad news: Enjoy it while you can, fellow tight-fisted skinflints. Because, odds are, next year Ogden goes back to being just another average city for the miserly. More on that later.The personal finance website Kiplinger.com just released its "10 Best Cities for Cheapskates" rankings, and little ol' Junction City was named first runner-up, behind cheap champ Omaha, Neb.How did the folks at Kiplinger come to this surprising decision? I was going to guess "coin flip," but apparently there's a little more involved in these annual rankings.It's a measure of prosperity and affordability, according to Kiplinger."Low costs plus fat paychecks can add up to big savings in Ogden," proclaims the website.Ah, yes. Those fat paychecks we're so well-known for here in Ogden. I don't know about you, fellow worker bees, but I frequently find myself in complete and utter awe of my fat paycheck. Indeed, I'm almost tempted to label it "morbidly obese."Basically, Kiplinger looked at cities where incomes are above the average and living costs are below it. Ogden's median household income is $62,340, 18.2 percent above the national average. And its cost of living is 10 percent below the rest of the country.Other factors plugged into the equation were the abundance (66) of "nearby" public libraries and museums -- which often offer free or nearly free things to do -- as well as the total number of Dollar General stores within 10 miles of downtown. (Two, in case anyone's keeping score.)It probably didn't hurt that one of our Scrooge-like sisters, Salt Lake City, clocked in at No. 7 on the list.Yes, but what does all this mean? It meansmini storagethat for tightwads like me, Utah is definitely Cheapskate Central.And yet, sadly, the odds are quite high that none of this will last. We know this, because in doing a little research we came across Kiplinger's 2012 list of best places for cheapskates. And the results were rather revealing. Believe it or not, only one city made the list both years.Last year's top spot went to St. Louis, Mo. This year, the Gateway to the West was still there, but it dropped all the way to No. 9. In every other case, cities that made the 2012 list were nowhere to be found in 2013.Seriously? In just one year, nine towns that were rated among the 10 best places for misers -- El Paso, Texas; Springfield, Ill.; Kalamazoo, Mich; Spokane, Wash.; San Antonio, Texas; Eau Claire, Wis.; South Bend, Ind.; Jonesboro, Ark.; and Wichita, Kan. -- effectively dropped off the radar, replaced by nine completely different cheapskate towns? (Omaha, Neb.; Ogden; Des Moines, Iowa; Columbus, Ohio; Raleigh, N.C.; Cincinnati; Salt Lake City; Austin, Texas; Cedar Rapids, Iowa)Curious, to be sure.This can only mean one of two things:1. There really is that much fluctuation from year to year in cost of living and median income among the states.2. Kiplinger simply pulls these rankings out of its assets, and tweaks the weighted factors to spread the love from year to year.Whatever the reason, I fear that 2014 isn't going to be a particularly banner year for us niggards in the Ogden area, as we fall out of the rankings and are replaced by some other seemingly randomly selected city.Hopefully we'll still have our fat paychecks to console us.Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272, msaal@standard.net, or follow him on Twitter at @Saalman.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at .standard.net Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage