By Colleen Rothe

An old-fashioned door-to-door salesman approached our home recently. He was selling magazines for a boys club organization in order to “keep them off the streets and off of drugs.” We politely declined, but we knew there was something “off” about this individual, despite his smile, manners and the urgency in his voice. Sorry to say, but we pegged him as a scam artist.

It’s unfortunate as well, that someone would cheat and steal in the name of doing something good, but it happens all the time. With the economy in recession, legitimate organizations are alerting their donors about ways to protect themselves in order to both keep their causes from being used as an unlawful focus as well as shield giving people from the bogus “gifting” scams.

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By Linsey B. Knerl

Life insurance is something we all know about. But what about credit insurance? If you've purchased a car and then bought supplemental credit insurance, you may be eligible for a refund of unreturned premiums.

What is credit insurance? It is quite simple, actually. Similar to the extra protection offered by some credit card companies, this particular type of credit insurance is offered to consumers who take out an auto loan to pay for a vehicle. The insurance covers them in the event that they die or become disabled and cannot make the rest of their vehicle payments. Other kinds of loans that may offer credit insurance include boat, motorcycle, furniture, or other merchandise.

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By Gene Ayres

I don't usually do product reviews, but this one is worth mention, due to increasing hazards to our food supply (and water supply) from pesticides and other sources. Many readers may have seen the story in The Seattle Times about the recently published list of “best” and “worst” fruits and vegetables, as determined by detected amounts of pesticide residue they contain when you buy them. This list was put on one of the Washington State websites, much to the outrage of Washington farmers, and quickly removed. But some of us might just want to know this information, and it is still available on the website of the Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org, which did the study.

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By Colleen Rothe

Reports hitting the mass media are bemoaning the delayed or almost non-existence of the “back-to-school” shopping season. But when our dollar is worth 10 percent less than it was a year ago, it’s hard for anyone, especially our kids, to get excited about going back to school.

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By Linsey B. Knerl

Wow! Is it just me, or is there beginning to be a lot more action in the class-action lawsuit realm? Just when I thought the settlements were limited to some high-profile products and services, a new “warming blanket” case hits the courts. Some of these are just plain odd, but if you are affected, it may be in your best interest to check them out.

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By Gene Ayres

Loyalty is a word often attributed to such concepts as patriotism, faithfulness, and trust. We are taught to think: “buy American,” presumably in order to support our country and its vital economy. This slogan persists even today in a global economy when such a concept is all but meaningless (for example, most Hondas and Toyotas sold in America these days are made in Tennessee, Alabama, and places where, to them, labor costs are low—is that ironic or what?). Given all that, how many corporations can you name that are actually loyal to their customers, their workers, or the best interests of “their” country? Not too many, as evidenced by the recent news that 38,000 foreign corporations doing business in the U.S. paid no U.S. taxes in 2005 and 1.2 million U.S. companies paid no income tax, according to the U.S. Congressional watchdog agency the GAO. And that situation has certainly not improved since then, and I'd love to have a look at the personal tax returns of the CEOs of those companies, for that matter, given the IRS has been ordered to stop auditing them. These companies (and their CEOs) pocketed $2.5 trillion in product sales that year to American consumers, who pay plenty in taxes, and basically foot the bill for all these freeloaders. Even worse, ¼ of these deadbeat U.S. corporations that paid no taxes were companies with more than $250 million in assets and/or $50 million in income (didn't I mention the ex-Cuban owner of U.S. Sugar gets that amount or more every year in price supports from the U.S.D.A.?).

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By Colleen Rothe

I’ve learned a lot of thriftiness from my father-in-law. In 72 years, he’s seen a lot of economic conditions. He’s also pretty wise to gimmicks that manufacturers and retailers try to wrench that extra dollar out of our pockets.

The latest and greatest has hit his favorite treat: ice cream. And when I investigated his claims, I found out that ice cream is not the only victim to this tactic to make prices for food and staples appear stable: shrinkage.

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By Linsey B. Knerl

Do you have an older home (built in the 20’s) or are using a type of attic insulation made up of loose particles? Chances are good that it is covered in a recent legal action. If you are affected, you can get it handled at little to no cost to you.

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By Gene Ayres

Possibly the biggest disparity ever in terms of the gap between actual quality and Brand Name recognition might be in the case of automobiles. We can probably thank Henry Ford for this. At a time when marvelous handmade machinery was being driven around like the Stanley Steamer (it used no oil, take note) Ford brought us cheap, affordable mass production, and cars (and life itself) have never been the same.

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By Colleen Rothe

If you are a hiker, you already know that there are scrumptious treats to be found along the trails. With today’s food prices, foraging could even be used to supplement the food stores in any outdoor active consumer’s cupboard.

You’ll need to check what’s what in your particular region, but berries, herbs, wild plants, mushrooms, etc. are all there for the taking. Some areas have no foraging rules, so be sure to know before you go. But, without a lot of effort, you could have fresh blackberries, huckleberries, apples, choke cherries, and the list goes on.

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By Linsey B. Knerl

Tires aren’t something to mess around with. In fact, they are often the main cause of dangerous and fatal car accidents every year. With a recent class-action lawsuit against Continental Tires, claimants are hoping to send the message of safety and accountability – loud and clear.

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By Gene Ayres

I have a niece, a very smart, pretty, sharp Asian Canadian 18 year-old girl who will be a university freshman next year. This girl is the marketer's dream girl, in probably a dozen ways. But the way I'm talking about is that she puts Brand Name as number one on her list of consumption-related priorities. She wants Brand Name products, them only, and she wants them now.

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