Sick Economy Humor

Today's Top Tips

It sure is a topsy-turvy economy and I’m feeling a bit like this hamster right now, flung around by the Wheel of Mayhem. Here’s three items to help us all survive.

Watching your back at the ATM
While I’m starting to get “fraud fatigue” from all the many items warning us about identity theft, phishing, password pirates, etc., I do usually read the latest item and then cross my fingers it won’t happen to me. These cautionary tips from the Wall Street Journal’s handy The Wallet blog help arm us against ATM fraud. (And, no, I don’t mean the $3 that my neighborhood BoFA bank recently charged me to take out $60.) Who knew that a slow ATM may not mean it’s tired at the end of the day, but rather that the machine has been tampered with? And other necessary warnings…

If only I had some frequent flier points
In my 10/6 posting I shared how to sign up for fare alerts. This New York Times article tells you that Yapta.com, one of those fare alert services, now offers a way to track if a frequent flier seat opens up on your plane. If the fallout in travel happens as predicted during this economic storm, this could really prove useful, for both those with frequent flier miles and the airlines who want to fill seats. Read which airlines Yapta will work with at the outset to offer this service.

Taking advantage of eBay (shoppers)
Think it would be cool to turn your kid’s castoffs or yard sale or thrift store finds into a nice side income? The Natural Mom blog directs you to the eBay Toy Selling guide which tells you how to make surprisingly good money selling “hot” toys. I, for one, am not an online auction junkie but keep hearing that it can be a real way to scare up cash in a scary economy. I don’t have any “hot” toys lying around unused (except my Nintendo Wii Fit) but do have lots of holiday-given gadgets and tableware still in their original boxes. It’s not like selling a mint Spiderman action figure, but maybe worth some money? (But is it worth my time?)

Laughing’s better than crying

"The U.S. Mint announced this week they are redesigning the penny. Have you seen it? It looks exactly like the old dollar." —Jay Leno

Sick Economy Humor

Today's Top Tips

Happy cheap holidays!
Some good, perhaps obvious, advice for enjoying a more frugal Christmas. The advice within got me to apply for one of those cash-back credit cards after thinking about it for years. We already got burned by the new card, though: its payment date was 2-1/2 weeks earlier than our old card and we didn’t realize it til too late! The $35 surcharge and ding to our credit rating make the initial $50 cash back a bittersweet victory.

Yes, you can cut your Internet and phone costs
This article from The Detroit Free Press cites a couple of good sites that could offer savings, such as MyRatePlan.com which shows you the wireless companies' best deals (an oxymoron perhaps?). But it’s the 40+ readers’ comments offering lots more advice that makes clicking on this one worthwhile. I keep making a note to myself to check whether I’m eligible yet to opt out of my current wireless contract. And now I know there’s better deals out there…

Living on less really pays off
In this recent article from one of my favorite information sites, Bankrate.com you’ll find out how to do more with less. Says Jeffrey Yeager, author of "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches,” in the article, “The two most important assets you can have in the current economy -- and it's not gold, and God knows it's not stock and it's not your house -- but in my opinion, the two greatest assets you can have are no debt and, maybe most important, the ability to live very happily on very little.”

The article’s four steps (with explanations) to living on less include: 1) identify goals; 2) chart assets and liabilities; 3) make a choice; and the always unpopular (at least at my house) 4) clean house.

Laughing’s better than crying

"Americans say they are planning to do a lot of their holiday shopping this year at warehouse stores like Costco. Because, folks, nothing says Merry Christmas like 90 rolls of toilet paper."—Conan O’Brien