This is the fourth part of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here.

We continue to eat dust and stumble through piles of stuff. In spite of the inconveniences, I was starting to feel positive about the progress -- that is, until a large semi-truck pulled up to deliver the dome that goes over the tub.

Rick, our contractor, and my husband soon discovered the dome weighed close to 400 pounds. With daggers in their eyes, they asked, "And just how are we suppose to get this thing out?" Fortunately. I remembered reading on the website that the dome was actually quite light -- it was the packing that was so heavy. Grumbling and swearing under their breath, they emerged about 15 minutes later with a fiberglass dome to be temporarily stored in the living room.

Tom's Take: It always makes sense to add the cost of a few visits with your chiropractor to every home improvement budget.

If the trend in e-filing continues, the IRS expects more than 100 million individual taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically for the 2009 tax year.

More than one-third of those taxpayers will file by personal computer; the remainder will use a professional tax preparer or free file at an IRS site. No matter how you choose to e-file this year, following are some tips to make it as easy as possible.

Chances are, you filed your federal taxes electronically this year.

According to the IRS, about two out of every three individual taxpayers elected to e-file in 2009, up almost 6% from returns filed electronically in 2008. That works out to just a few million returns shy of 100 million individual returns, or 67% of tax returns.

It's a pretty incredible increase for the IRS e-file program which began just more than 20 years ago. In 1986, the first year of the program, just 25,000 refund-only returns were accepted in three locations, less than 1% of the returns filed in 2009.

How well is the government's loan modification working? WalletPop's four-part special report continues with profiles of some of those trying to get help. To read the overview, click here.

Kathy Partak went into loan modification armed with the powerful combination of knowledge and motivation. She had worked in the mortgage business, so she knew her rights and the right vocabulary to use. And she had a step-rate loan that was about to step up dramatically.

Add to that an on-the-job shoulder injury that left her unemployed and Partak figured she was a perfect candidate for modifying the loan on her three-bedroom home in Auburn, Calif.

But Chase Manhattan Bank denied her a modification, Partak said, telling her, "Unemployment is not a permanent hardship."

"Hopefully not!" said Partak, 42. "But it's one of the reasons they allow for on their paperwork of qualification."

This is the third part of a five-part series about how the writer and her husband, Charlie, tackled a major overhaul of their home and the pitfalls they faced along the way. To read the first installment click here.

The situation is deteriorating fast. A large part of the problem is our fault, we're falling victim to an all-too-common disorder in the industry called project creep.

It works like this: If we are going to put in a new hallway floor, why not rip up the carpet upstairs and do all the floors there, too? And if we are going to do the upstairs, then it only make sense to do the downstairs as well. Since we got such a good deal on the granite, why don't we put new counter tops in the kitchen? For that matter, why not get new appliances? After all, the plumber and electrician are already here. They can get things hooked up. Don't you think the whole thing will look lousy if we don't re-tile the kitchen back splash? Why not, it already has a hole in it from the plumber. And so on...

Jobs in the clean technology industry are growing twice as fast as the national average. So that's where the jobs are. Walletpop spoke with Ron Pernick, co-founder of West Coast-based Clean Edge and the author of The Clean Tech Revolution, to find out what these jobs are, how to land one, and, most importantly, how much they pay.

Here are some highlights from Clean Edge's recent report, Clean Tech Job Trends 2009, which I highly recommend you read if you want to know if this industry is for you. There are lots of resources for clean tech job trainings, education and job search engines, after the jump.

According to the report, jobs vary from accountant -- there's one we've heard before -- to wind turbine technician. From the report, here's a sample of jobs and their salaries:

• Hardware Design Engineer, Smart Grid $87,700 Mid-Level; requires Engineering Bachelor's
• Welder, Cutter, Solderer, or Brazer, Wind Power; salary: $50,300 Mid-Level; requires: High School/Associate's Degree
• Wind Turbine Technician, Wind Power; salary: $52,600 Entry-Level; requires: Bachelor's Degree
• Construction Superintendent, Wind Power; salary: $74,000 Senior-Level; requires: Bachelor's Degree
• Field Service Engineer, Wind Power; salary: $62,400 Mid-Level; requires: Engineering Bachelor's Degree

But can these jobs be outsourced?

Raising money for a good cause and eating your heart out is a pretty powerful combination.

In its 20 years, the Wall Street "Taste of New York" has raised nearly $30 million to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital continue its groundbreaking research and lifesaving care for children battling cancer and other deadly diseases.

The "Taste of New York" is the largest single fund-raising event held on behalf of St. Jude each year. The engine behind it consists of the restaurants that donate their time and food, and the Wall Street Committee that garners the support of companies and colleagues who sponsor the event and purchase tickets.

The event brings the financial community together, with committee members and co-chairs hailing from Goldman, J.P. Morgan, SAC Capital Advisors, AllianceBernstein, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Zweig-DiMenna Associates, and many more.

The money helps St. Jude continue its commitment that no child is ever turned away because of a family's inability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance.

How well is the government's loan modification working? WalletPop's four-part special report continues with profiles of some of those trying to get help. To read the overview, click here.

Public relations consultant Mark Bonacorso faced the good and bad news of divorce with resolve. The good: he got the 3,500-square-foot adobe in northwest Tucson. The bad: he also got the first and second mortgages and the $2,700-a-month payments.

He wanted to make it work, especially since his home was worth less than he owed.

At first, with business strong at his firm, Media Ink, this seemed feasible. Then, as the recession slowed work, forcing him to lay off his two employees in March, those payments became daunting.

Bonacorso was not looking for Bank of America, his lender, to cut his principal. He called hoping to reduce his monthly payments by combining his first and second mortgages, lowering their interest rates -- now 5.875% on his first; 7.625% on his second -- and extending the loan's term from 30 years to at least 40.

To give, or not to give a gift card? No matter how impersonal it may seem, this holiday season it's a proposition that will be hard to resist. Retailers are stepping up offers that include gift cards as bonuses or dangling free cards with purchases.

They're doing so for good reason: Gift cards will be the most requested gift during this year's holiday season, according to a recent report by the National Retail Federation. According to the NRF's survey, 55% of adults in the United States want a gift card this year. Retailers have definitely taken note. Research firm First Data expects retailers to use cards as promotional tools this season more than ever before.