I am currently cutting back on credit card use ...

Filed under: Banks You've got to give this bank robber points for ingenuity and ambition. But, yes, yes, it's a terrible thing, and I hope he's caught. But still... a cautionary tale for anyone answering any classified ads where someone tells you how to dress and asks you to show up in front of a bank. Looking at it that way, knowing the outcome, it does sound suspicious, but I admit, if I had been in these unemployed persons shoes, I'll bet I'd have fallen for it, too. Why not? Who would think...? OK, so here's what happened earlier this week: A Craigslist ad featured a job opening for a road maintenance project in Monroe, Washington, and anyone interested should meet near the Bank of America in Monroe at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, wearing a "yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask... and, if possible, a blue shirt." About a dozen men showed up, and right about that time, so did an armored truck. Suddenly, one of the dozen men dressed in this yellow vest, goggles, mask and blue shirt stepped out of the crowd, blasted the guard with some pepper spray, took the money bag and then did a 100 yard dash -- with at least one bystander giving chase -- to a nearby creek. He escaped down the creek in an inner tube, and he remains at large. Meanwhile, the job hunters never did get their $28.50-an-hour job. Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across Americ a (Rodale). Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Food I've always been fascinated with how underground economies work due in part to my addiction to reading any story about prison escapes. I can clearly remember the mastermind doling out packs of cigarettes to keep someone quiet or acquire a critical piece of the escape plan. Indeed cigarettes were the de facto currency for prisoners, who cannot possess real currency, until smoking was banned in 2004. Since inmates can no longer barter with cigarettes they've turned to pouches of mackerel to fill the need for a common currency inside prison walls. Even though bartering isn't officially allowed inside prison walls, prisoners are expected to dole out a few pouches of mackerel when you get your haircut. The use of fish by prisoners to create their own economy is a reminder that virtually anything can be used as currency. Even outside prison walls we don't need to rely on government minted tender to complete transactions so long as there are willing parties involved. For all I know there's a subset of people in my town who would gladly accept Chuck E. Cheese tokens or Antartican Dollars for my daily needs . Continue reading Holy Mackerel! Fish make a slick currency in prison Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Fantastic Freebies Today's Fantastic Freebie is a subscription to Genre, a gay lifestyle magazine, courtesy of Nuwear. From the website: Nuwear is offering all our web visitors a free subscription to Genre magazine. Every month, the magazine throws a spotlight on the hottest, the freshest and the best-in entertainment, the arts, fashion, home design, automotive, technology, health and fitness, grooming and travel. Our readers are smart, stylish and tuned in. They're leaders. We engage them by looking at the world through their eyes and speaking to them in their own language. Loaded with intelligence, insight and an irreverent wit, GENRE is for the man who's a lot more than just out. Click here to fill out the form. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Food , Health Lately, I've been on an oatmeal kick. My kids and I can't get enough, especially after I started investigating the health benefits of whole grains and learned the easiest, most delicious way to get those grainy nutrients: soak thick-cut oatmeal overnight with a bit of whey, buttermilk or raw milk and cook it in the morning. It takes less than a minute the night before, and only a few minutes of active work in the morning, and I serve my oatmeal with fresh fruit in season, chopped-up nuts from local farmers, organic maple syrup, organic raw milk. Even though I'm using the luxi-est ingredients available and paying retail prices (often from the farmer's market, which is a pricey-but-sustainable choice), each serving costs me less than $1.50. Enter Starbucks and their "perfect oatmeal." For $2.45, I can pick two of three mix-ins -- dried fruit (sweetened with sugar), nuts or brown sugar. At $2.45 for what is essentially just a cardboard cup with some chopped-up grains, and with that smug name, I expected something great. After all, this whole line of foods is part of CEO Howard Schultz' mission to eat more healthy himself; his cholesterol and weight were deemed too high by his physician . Oatmeal does, after all, seem a sensible and quick alternative to other fast breakfasts, like doughnuts, Egg McMuffins, and the like. But Howie! What's with all that sugar? And what's with the instant oatmeal? I tried a bowl and was flummoxed. First: it wasn't that good, what with the instant oats and the skim milk. Not only would you eat a lot of processed sugar were you to choose either brown sugar or dried fruit on your perfect oatmeal, using instant oats removes a lot of the good nutrients. So you'll be messing with your body's metabolism (processed sugars and highly-processed grains trick your body into thinking it wants more, causing overeating and directly contributing to weight gain), in addition to paying more than you could if you made it at home. Make your own oatmeal is cheaper, better for you, and it will prevent you from thinking you need a pastry too... and a grande mocha... paying off huge in lower health costs down the road. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams , Career Who wouldn't want to make up to $5,000 a week from home stuffing envelopes? You wouldn't, since you're more likely to lose money by signing on for such a scam. As the economy takes a turn for the much worse, those make-money-from-home schemes start to sound awfully appealing. Targeted to senior citizens, stay-at-home moms and low-income earners, these scams have been going on for years but have been jump-started with the help of the internets. It's as easy as buying a few well-placed banner ads on existing, otherwise legitimate websites. Indeed, just Google "Work from home" and see how many ads pop up, promising that you can make "$240 by tonight!" Forbes Magazine gives a great rundown on the kinds of scams taking people for a ride these days. Work from home-related complaints ranked among the Federal Trade Commission's top 20 fraud complaint categories between 1997 and 2005 (the latest figures available), according to Forbes. In those nine years, some 37,333 complaints were filed to the FTC. Continue reading As economy tanks, beware these make-money-from-home schemes Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Borrowing , Debt , Simplification It's a credit crunch. A meltdown. A financial crisis! A banking collapse! While we're all panicking, what should we do? While Tracy Coenen points out that the credit crunch is overstated , I have to agree with Julie Tilsner, who suggests banning credit cards . But my plan goes even further: I don't want to borrow any money for anything. Not a major appliance "buy now pay in 2010!" plan. Not a new car. Not a home equity loan, a refinance with cash out, or anything. Having made all (or, well, many) of the financial mistakes a woman can make, I've vowed to only buy the stuff I can afford. If my dishwasher bites the dust (it did), I'll wash dishes by hand until I can find a good used machine for my budget or until my sister's erstwhile boyfriend installs the extra one he promised us. If my glass-top stove breaks (yep), I'll cook with the two burners whose glass wasn't totally shattered until I find the gas stove of my dreams on craigslist (anyone want to barter for homemade fig pear lavender jam?). If we need to get around town, we'll ride our bikes or the city bus. Need to go on a vacation? Need a new TV? No one needs these things. New school clothes? Goodwill. New roof? Guess I'd better start saving now. I've learned that borrowing money when you're broke is only going to make you more broke in the future. The stuff I earnestly told myself was an "investment" has turned out to be just stuff, much of which wouldn't even move for a few dollars at our family's yard sale. If only the nation's banks could learn that lesson. But they just borrowed money from their rich Uncle Sam. And you and I both know what happens when you borrow money from family... Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle , Transportation , Fantastic Freebies Interested in investing in green technology? Or do you just grocery shop like a savvy eco-lover? Either way you'll want to check out this freebie. Mantra Venture Group, a company that "facilitates investment in sustainable, commercially viable technologies," is offering a free tote bag in green or red . The company has a patent on converting carbon dioxide to fuel; whether or not you have the money to invest in that product, it's certainly an interesting venture and a snazzy bag that you can proudly store in your hybrid car or bike panniers. Every day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more! Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Entrepreneurship , Travel Last week I was up in New Brunswick, Canada and got a chance to try out a novel bear-viewing attraction. At the Little, Big Bear Safari, hunting guide, Richard Goguen has built a tower on his family land to watch black bears. The success of the operation makes me think that bear-viewing has some future as a way people in rural areas can make money off bears without hunting them -- as long as a few safety concerns are covered. Goguen built a road into land that once belonged to his grandfather in Acadieville, in northeast New Brunswick, about 150 miles east of Maine. In the late '90s Richard worked for a season guiding American bear hunters, but didn't like the killing. One day he took a hunter who had already been successful out just to take pictures of bear and moose. Both had more fun doing that than hunting and Richard decided then he wanted to start a bear-viewing operation. Richard built a trial six-person tower a decade ago, then a 15-person giant tree house in 2000. Having to turn people away, he expanded again last year to a two-story, two-staircase, wood and metal mesh tower that includes a wood-burning stove. They offer the tour every night and have his friendly forest ranger neighbors fill in when he wants a night off. Richard and his wife Vivienne, a multi-lingual Acadian couple, get busloads of German tourists and visitors from all over the world. The neighbors are proud so many people come to see their natural wonder. Continue reading Animals & Money: the budding bear-viewing industry Read | Read | Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Bargains , Home , Simplification , Wealth , Bankruptcy For months, I've been hearing rumors and tales about incredibly cheap housing in high-foreclosure markets. In Detroit, for example, a house that cost $65,000 in 2006 recently sold for $1, and it's apparently fairly common to find houses in the $300 range. As in the case of the $1.75 house that Joanne Smith bought in Saginaw, Michigan, many of these super-cheap foreclosures come with a tax bill that is in arrears, but even with the $850 in back taxes and cleanup costs that she will end up having to pay, she's gotten an incredible deal. Searching through various foreclosure listings online, I decided to check out some of the places where I've lived. In Roanoke, Virginia, where my wife and I briefly contemplated buying a home, the cheapest place I found was running about $1,000. Meanwhile, in Blacksburg, where my wife and I worked, even HUD homes used to run in the $140,000 range. Right now, "motivated sellers" and banks are dropping properties at fire-sale prices. Continue reading The $1.75 eBay house: Foreclosure bargains aplenty Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Shopping , Black Friday Every year around this time, our thoughts turn to holiday shopping as deals for Black Friday start to get leaked out to the press. The economy has made the discounting start earlier and earlier every year, and the Internet has made it possible for the scoops to come out instantaneously. So if you want to fill your shopping cart with the lowest priced items possible, you better start making your lists early, and we're here to help. You can keep up to date throughout the Black Friday shopping season for deals with our handy scorecard. Just keep checking back for updates and new deals, and click through for all the latest information. For more Black Friday deals, see our Black Friday 2008 Scorecard feature, and keep up with all the latest updates at our Black Friday section.Continue reading The tallies are starting to roll in on our Black Friday 2008 Scorecard Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Shopping , Technology , Black Friday Black Friday has traditionally been one of the busiest and most frantic shopping days of the year but with Christmas sales down in 2007 and the economy looking like a leftover fruitcake, many people are wondering if Black Friday can live up to past performances. To better grasp the severity of the situation I enlisted the help of Dan de Grandpre, the current CEO of Dealnews.com. Dan is one of the most qualified individuals I know to assist in this as he has over 12 years of deal hunting experience as well as the ability to keenly identify industry trends. The Dealnews.com CEO backs up his team's experience surrounding retail sales and promotions by boasting that Dealnews.com has saved visitors hundreds of millions of dollars. Black Friday needs only three things to be successful: retailers with amazing deals, willing consumers and money. Without any one of these items Black Friday ceases to be the spectacle that retailers and shoppers have come to know and love. In order to understand how the economy affects any of these three elements it is important to understand the relationship between retailers and consumers. Continue reading Will the economic crisis affect Black Friday? Predictions from Dealnews.com Read | Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Shopping , Black Friday It's only September and already the excitement over Black Friday is growing, especially after we covered Dealnews.com's predictions for Black Friday. It turns out those predictions weren't the first bits of information to trickle out! Ace Hardware's Black Friday ad began making the rounds on deal sites in early August. Even though the ad wasn't finalized, there are a few deals that look worth getting up early for. 58 piece socket wrench set for $9.99 Vehicle battery booster for $9.99 after rebate Stanley 19" plastic toolbox for $4.99 after rebate 18 volt Makita drill for $49.99 Unfortunately Ace requested that the ad be taken down on many sites earlier this month to avoid any customer confusion over the final ad, which will be available in November. Since Ace has asked for the ad to be pulled, there's no way to know if these deals will still be up and running on Black Friday. But if so, it seems a good indicator that Ace is bringing the heat this year. We can only hope that Ace pulled the ad to lower prices and add to the plethora of deals that are coming our way in November! For more Black Friday deals, see our Black Friday 2008 Scorecard feature, and keep up with all the latest updates at our Black Friday section.Continue reading Ace Hardware Black Friday ad leaked and unleaked! Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments