By Colleen Rothe

As you stroll down your personal financial street, you can see that the New Depression is clearly in full force. But are you clear on which of your finance street’s offerings are just empty promises? Do you know where you can get some fast cash for real or what will just leave you high and dry? Will you journey down a money street of dreams or nightmares?

You know that bad part of town? The one you won’t visit after dark or alone? Well your personal financial street has the same kind of section. Here are the places you should not go if you’re looking to get into the black now:

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By Colleen Rothe

In our seemingly internet-centered world, it’s not really surprising that identity theft was number one for the ninth straight year on a list of consumer complaints. This fact and that ID theft will continue to be a hot spot of criminal activity, according to a report published by the Federal Trade Commission in February, mean the only way to protect yourself and your family is to get on the defensive.

The Hard Copy is Easy: The old school method of ID theft is still fairly common and has nothing to do with the Internet or computers. It’s your mailbox. Consider getting a post office box, that way your mail is under lock and key. Also, try to get financial documents sent to you electronically rather than via snail mail. The post office even recommends, even though they still offer the red-flagged service for free, not to leave outgoing mail in an unsecured mailbox. If you’re expecting a package, track its progress on the delivery service’s website, so you can time delivery and your pick up to minimize any unattended time. Lastly, if you travel, put a hold on your mail until you return. It is really simple. You can even do it online. Speaking of doing it online, another defensive move is to stop mailing paper checks. The post office hates to push business away, but they agree. Pay your bills online whenever possible.

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By Gene Ayres, Your Consumer Curmudgeon

It’s been six months now, since the man most of us voted for to bring change to America took office. And it seems that, for we, the American Consumers, the only change to be seen is pocket change.

And now, ever more ominously lurking on the horizon is the dark horse of the status quo, riding back into the fray to seize the day, with all the might and fury of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which they might just be. All four of the vested interests in maintaining the healthcare status quo have been heard from, loudly backed by their numerous billions, and ever more effectively because we are, after all is said and done, a nation of sheep who are easily herded with the nudging hook of marketing, advertising, misinformation, and Fox News.

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By Colleen Rothe

The New Depression is showing no signs of letting up. Jobless numbers in the United States are still high.

Many Americans are spending more money just to work – longer commutes, higher childcare costs, even having to pay for new educations or vocational classes to make themselves more marketable. But in order to handle these extra expenses, you’re likely going to need to cut back in other areas.

Kill the Standby: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average American household spends more than $250 a year on standby power. This includes all those “vampire” chargers for cell phones, computers, etc. Those devices are pulling energy even when we’re not using it. If there’s a big box half way on the plug, like a computer, or cell phone charger, part of the plug itself, it’s probably a vampire device and sucks energy even when not in use. Set up power strips, so when you turn off the TV, you turn it completely off. Flip the power switch on the power strip and watch your energy bills go down. Also keep your computer equipment off when not in use, and put your computer in sleep mode between work sessions. A side effect of killing the standby is that power plants produce less energy, and thereby less pollution. So, more money in your pocket and cleaner air in your lungs.

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By Colleen Rothe

If you’re like me, you absolutely hate throwing away food because it’s gone bad before using it.

In fact, a federal study estimates that nearly 96.4 billion pounds of spoiled food is thrown out each year. That’s 122 pounds per family tossed.

When I lived in Europe, I went to the market daily and shopped for the next day’s perishable foods each evening. My refrigerator when I lived there was the size of a large dorm room variety. In five years, I didn’t have anything go bad on me.

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By Gene Ayres, Your Consumer Curmudgeon

I live in Seattle, a city where people value their privacy. Unfortunately, there is a considerable degree of irony, even hypocrisy, in regards to all this obsession with privacy here in the land of Microsoft. Because as surely as the Internet has invaded our privacy, it has done so insidiously, and as of late, increasingly more openly so.

Here’s an example. As a writer, I hate interruption. To me, that’s an invasion of privacy. So imagine my surprise, and annoyance, while busily pecking away, or reading an article, or otherwise minding my own business, when a loud voice speaks up over my streaming online radio: “CONGRATULATIONS!” shouts the robotic male voice. “YOU HAVE JUST BEEN AWARDED A THOUSAND DOLLAR GIFT CERTIFICATE FROM WALMART!” (Provided, of course, that I give them all my personal information and buy a bunch of stuff with my Visa card). This came out of nowhere, and is even more intrusive than telemarketing or popups. So far (are you reading this, Microsoft?) there are no popup blockers I can find for such audio intrusions.

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By Gene Ayres, Your Consumer Curmudgeon

It’s hard to read the news these days, or hear it, without coming across a story that is downright discouraging. For me, it was front and center in the business section of the New York Times: The Camaro is back.

It’s like all that has happened in the last decade never happened at all: the tech bubble, the Bush election, 9/11, the energy crisis, the looting of our institutions and treasures, the oil and energy crisis, and finally, the global economic collapse.

I understand the sentiment: there is a large proportion of our populace (and hence, consumer marketplace) that yearns for, pines for, the Good Old Days (GOD, for short). They are angry and outraged that the Good Old Days ever left us (never mind that racism, sexism, and global paranoia were rampant, or maybe because of that), choose to blind themselves to change except backwards, and resist it to the core of their being. Sadly, our new President, who was elected on the promise of change, couldn’t wait to put those same people in charge of fixing things. How sad. How ironic.

So meanwhile, the Camaro is back. And perhaps small wonder.

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(More News You Don’t Want to Hear About) From Your Consumer Curmudgeon, Gene Ayres

Everyone’s heard of DuPont, of course (raise your hand if you haven’t, and our Hovering Fairy Godmother Department will take your name for future use).

DuPont is actually famous for gunpowder. Or at least making it popular (granted it was invented by the Chinese, but DuPont made it a bestseller). Pierre DuPont was an excellent chemist, as well as entrepreneur, back in the mid 1700s, and it was he who invented War Profiteering, later popularized by Krupp & Co., Big Oil, and all those arms makers like Remington. Who of course needed DuPont to make those guns actually shoot something, which of course was our precursor to the presently popular and highly profitable Eisenhower invention: The Military Industrial Complex.

Pierre’s descendents went on to subsequently:

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