20 Tips to Help Stay Within Your Holiday Budget

We admit it: much advice about holiday shopping is rather simplistic and preachy. Like diet and exercise, holiday shopping is something we all feel comfortable bleating about - even if we aren’t following best practices ourselves. But with so much money at stake, it never hurts to refresh on the fundamentals of intelligent, budgeted holiday shopping. Keep these 20 tips in mind and you’ll escape the holidays without a heart attack-inducing credit card bill in January.

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The Top 12 Internet Scams of the 2000s

Throughout human history, one eternal truth has emerged: where there are hordes of people, there will be scams. Rarely has this been so evident than on the Internet, which offers special advantages (namely lack of face to face contact) to scammers that no other medium can. When the only barrier between your bank account and an unscrupulous con man is a glass monitor or laptop screen, it’s no wonder Internet scams have become one of the largest sources of crime in the young 21st century. Today we will look back on 12 of the top Internet scams of the 2000’s and what makes them so attractive to their targets.
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Where’s the Money? Top VC Firms in the US

Where’s the money? Here’s a look at where the most active VC firms in the US are and the biggest deals have been made. Venture funding increased during the third quarter over the first two quarters of 2009, but is still down 33 percent from one year ago.

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12 Outrageous Wastes of Taxpayers’ Money

Most have heard the saying that no one takes care of a rental car like they take care of their own. Why not floor the gas pedal or track sand into the car - the reasoning goes - if you’ll never see it again after this week? In many ways, this is a perfect analogy to government waste. No matter which party is in power, spending other people’s money rarely compels one to be as prudent as if they were spending their own. Combine this with the typical politician’s time horizon (the next election) and it’s easy to see why so many government projects and initiatives have been swallowed by waste over the years. Here are 12 of the most outrageous examples.

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7 Overlooked Benefits of the Recession

Nothing is easier than identifying problems during recessions. In fact, one might argue that what is truly difficult is avoiding mention of these problems, which are shouted from the rooftops daily by politicians and journalists. (Many of whom harp on problems even during prosperous times.) Still harder is calling attention to the overlooked benefits that economic downturns can bring. In this recession as in others past, opportunities have opened up for consumers, investors and businesses positioned to capitalize on them. Typically, these opportunities require seeing the recession as it specifically relates to you, rather than the all-encompassing malaise often seen by others. Here are 7 of the most appealing recessionary opportunities.

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