The chances that Beefy T you're wearing was made in the USA are about to get slimmer.

Hanesbrands announced Wednesday that it's closing four of its plants in its home state of North Carolina, as well as three in Central America, as a cost-cutting measure.

In brief, the apparel company plans to lay off about 8,100 workers in four countries and to create about 2,000 new jobs at its sewing plants in Thailand and Vietnam. Giving a nod to the fact that outsourcing has become accepted practice in these tough economic times, Hanesbrands CEO Richard Noll said in a statement that the closures and layoffs are "a critical plank in our strategic efforts to reduce costs."

According to USA Today, the costs in question were incurred in 2006, when Hanes spun off from Sara Lee. While analysts lauded the move, saying the marriage of underwear and baked goods was about as comfortable as an ill-fitting thong, Hanesbrands took it in the shorts with $250 million in related charges. Since the company still has to cover about $46 million of these charges, Hanesbrands has more consolidation planned for the near future.

By the end of next summer, its last large knit-fabric textile plant in the U.S. will be shuttered, along with a sewing plant in Mexico. These closures will be balanced somewhat by the opening of a textile plant in China, which will supply fabric for workers throughout Asia. Investors reacted to the news by giving Hanesbrands' stock a slight wedgie: Shares fell 10 cents after Wednesday's announcement.

Choosy mothers should probably choose Jif if they want to scrape more peanut butter out of a standard-size jar. According to CNN, competing sandwich spread Skippy is among numerous brand names that have quietly shrunk the size of their packaging as a means of passing on food inflation to consumers.

While the Skippy jar remains the same height and diameter as it did when it contained a full 18 ounces of peanut butter, a deeper indentation on the bottom accounts for the loss of 1.7 ounces. Meanwhile, the most significant change Jif has made to its packaging is on the label, where large type alerts consumers to the fact that this jar is still 18 ounces strong.

Late on rent? Loan shark breathing down your neck? Can't fill your car with gas to get to work on Monday? Assuming all available funds and traditional sources of credit are tapped out, here are 25 (legal) ways to raise cash in a few days. We list them in order from least to most desperate.

When my friend Michael, an inveterate couch surfer, turned up on my doorstep a few years ago, my boyfriend had just moved out, and I was wanting company and needing extra rent money. Thus Michael took up residence on the couch my ex had recently vacated, and I went about adapting to having a roommate who I didn't want to see me naked.

Aside from having to close doors and don a bathrobe more often than I was used to, my new living arrangement worked pretty well--for a while. Michael was paying rent and lending me a supportive shoulder. We had agreed when he moved in to check in with each other after a few months to make sure there were no major problems, and when we did so, there weren't. So Michael stayed on ... and on ... and on, and I commenced to kicking myself on a daily basis for not having set another check-in (or would that be check-out?) date. When he finally did move out after about a year, our friendship had been sorely tested.

The biggest lesson I learned? Sharing living expenses can put more cash in your pocket. However, If you ask someone to move into your spare room--or onto your couch--draw up a lease agreement, even/especially if your prospective boarder is someone you know. Have conversations about how to share living space, particularly if, as in my case, you only have one bathroom. Make sure to outline kitchen privileges, including whether or not you want to share food.

I was unprepared to be a landlady, and I wouldn't do it again in my current living space. If I ever move into a house with a granny unit, I might consider renting it out--as long as the unit has its own kitchen and bathroom.

All 25 ways to raise quick cash.

Late on rent? Loan shark breathing down your neck? Can't fill your car with gas to get to work on Monday? Assuming all available funds and traditional sources of credit are tapped out, here are 25 (legal) ways to raise cash in a few days. We list them in order from least to most desperate.

I had two parking spaces and one car. My upstairs neighbors had two parking spaces and three cars. So when Joe asked me if he could park his truck in my "guest parking" space, good-neighbor math indicated this was the best course of action.

A couple months later, I found myself on the other side of the equation, in desperate need of a small loan to see me through until payday. I knocked on Joe's door, put on my best "cuppa sugar" smile and made my request. Joe handed me a couple sawbucks, saying, "Don't worry about paying me back. Consider it rent for the parking space."

With those words, a beautiful, mutually beneficial relationship was born. Joe and Rebecca continue to use my extra parking space and so no longer have to park their third vehicle on the street, where it was broken into several times even before the current rash of catalytic converter thefts and gas siphoning. I, in turn, get occasional bump-up to my wallet for doing something I would have done for free anyway.

My building manager has no problem with this arrangement, since it's up to the tenants to control who parks in their allotted spaces. And when I do need my extra space for guests, Joe or Rebecca graciously cede the spot. There's no contract necessary since it's an informal arrangement: I generally ask for "payment" when it's, say, the day before payday and I want to go out to a last-minute dinner with friends.

I'm not sure if our handshake deal would work for others, especially among neighbors who don't already know each other. If trust has yet to be established between the two parties, a more formal contract might be necessary. In my case, though, it's been a nice benefit to getting to know the folks upstairs.

If you own some prime parking real estate, you could put some cash in your pocket and get some exercise by renting out your spot and parking further away. If you car is less convenient, perhaps you'll drive less, saving money on gas, too.

All 25 ways to raise quick cash.

When Ashley Overhouse's parents found out that the cost of her first year at the University of California-Santa Cruz would be almost 8% higher than they'd thought, she says they had an understandable reaction: "They freaked."

Ashley's parents aren't alone. As tuitions and fees continue to rise both in California and nationwide, there is increasing pressure on college-bound members of the class of 2008 and their families to fill the gap between what they can get in federal and state financial aid and what a higher education will actually cost them.

To finance her freshman year of college this fall, Ashley has secured a $5,000 Cal Grant, two scholarships and two loans from UCSC. Even with all this in place, she's still looking at ways to cover costs. "My scholarships are for $400 and $1,000," Ashley says. "That'll pay for my books."

Wanna get away? With all apologies to Southwest Airlines, it's not looking like the travel industry is going to get a boost from Bush's economic stimulus package: Only one in five of approximately 1,000 respondents to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll said they were likely to use part or all of their rebates for vacation or travel, and 64% said they were not at all likely to do so.

That's not stopping hotels across the country from trying to tempt Americans to stimulate the economy by indulging their wanderlust. Until May 13, travelers who book a vacation package to cities like New Orleans, New York, Vegas and Nashville through Expedia's Explore America can save up to 30% on hotel stays. But you've gotta go between May 23 and Sept. 5.

If you're looking for lodgings by the beach, a slew of Virginia Beach hotels are offering their own economic stimulus packages. Among these are a "Romantic Weekend Getaway" at the Cavalier Hotel, where for $159-$319 per night through June 19, couples can get a room and indulge in complimentary champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries, then take a free one-hour bike ride to work it all off.

If your vacation is more of a family affair, get thee to the Clarion Resort Beach Quarters Resort for its "Virginia Beach Break-Away Package": two nights' stay, tickets to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, tickets to the Virginia Zoo and dinner at Pi-zzeria for $399 through June.

If you are among the lucky few who can take advantage of these deals, I enviously wish you bon voyage. I'll be thinking of you as I'm using my rebate to pay for past credit indiscretions and thumbing hungrily through old vacation photos from my boom years.

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

My brother-in-law recently wound up paying a lot more than he expected when he left my nephew's Toyota Tacoma in the Oakland Airport's long-term parking for the weekend. When he returned from his trip and turned the key in the ignition, the truck let out a roar that would deafen even the most hardened Harley driver, and David knew he'd joined the growing number of victims of catalytic converter theft nationwide.

Thieves have taken to removing catalytic converters, which help control emissions, from the underside of parked vehicles. The converters contain trace amounts of platinum and rhodium--which go for about $2,054 and $9,278 per ounce, respectively--and can be sold on the black market for a couple hundred dollars each. Victims, however, pay much more than that for replacement parts: My brother-in-law shelled out almost $2,000 for a new converter for my nephew's truck.

While David has pledged to use only short-term parking at the airport from now on, that precaution might not be enough. For one thing, trucks like the Tacoma and SUVs like the Toyota 4Runner--the vehicle David owns and drives to the train station each morning--are among the hardest hit since they sit high off the ground, making their catalytic converters easy to remove from underneath. For another, those who are of the mind to slide under a vehicle with hacksaw in hand don't seem to be picky about where they strike: Reports of catalytic converter thefts have come from day care centers in Memphis, carpool lots in Michigan and car dealerships in Ohio.

Since this is a crime of opportunity--and since thieves are grabbing every opportunity they can--prevention is tricky. Seems the best way to avoid becoming a victim is to drive low to the ground. Or maybe just ride a Harley.

Since co-authoring The Three Trillion Dollar War with Linda Bilmes, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has tried to help American taxpayers wrap their heads around just how much our government is spending on the conflicts and subsequent occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan by doing some comparison shopping.

"Try filling your shopping cart with what the cost of the Iraq War could buy: health care for every American? A new home for every subprime borrower now facing foreclosure? An Ivy League degree or two? You haven't even gotten started," Stiglitz said.

To illustrate Stiglitz's assertion, the folks at True Majority and Brave New Films launched the Three Trillion Dollar Shopping Spree, where consumers can fill their carts with $3 trillion worth of virtual items that could save the world or just make their own lives easier.

I've noted before that my experience buying food at dollar stores has been dicey at best, not so much because they sell off-brands but because they often sell old off-brands, items so far past their expiration dates as to present gastric health hazards. Also, a lot of this so-called food has very little food in it; the list of ingredients reads like a chemistry experiment. Apparently, though, a couple chains have stepped up to the dinner plate since I last ventured down a dollar store grocery aisle and are offering "many healthful, name-brand and even organic products" at deep discounts.

Leading the way are 99 Cents Only Stores. The chain, which has more than 250 locations across the country, has produce specially grown for its stores. Foods that are canned, dried or otherwise prepackaged make their way to the stores' shelves if the manufacturer has discontinued or produced too much of an item, or even if the packaging has been changed.

Armed with this knowledge--and a copy of The 99 Cent Only Stores Cookbook--I might be inspired to try food shopping there again. Starving artist Christiane Jory, already a dollar-store devotee, was moved to do so when she saw a woman who looked like she could afford better buying wine at a 99 Cent store. Jory decided to develop the recipes for the cookbook as a means to feed herself and her fellow impoverished friends.

I've learned two important wine-tasting lessons in recent weeks:

1. If you find a wine you really like at BevMo's 5-cent sale, get as much of it as you can (ill) afford. I was stoked to find that my local BevMo was offering the 2006 Tapiz Malbec as a selection in its "buy one bottle, get a second for 5 cents" sale. I first bought this Chilean wine, which normally sells for $15.99 a bottle at BevMo, on impulse and was more than happy with how it paired with my impromptu picnic of hard cheese, pears and crusty whole-grain bread. The Fincas Patagónicas winery, which considers the malbec its signature wine, suggests pairing it with Chile's national dish, asado, and has even posted a recipe for same on its website.

Sadly, I never got to try this pairing with the pair of bottles I procured from BevMo. One went to a friend as a thank-you gift, the other to a party where it was quickly consumed by other people, who damn well better have appreciated it. I went back to my local BevMo to restock, but it they were sold out. (The 5-cent sale ends April 20, and there are some pretty good dregs left, so stock up fast.)

A corollary to this lesson: If you want to ensure that you get a taste of the bottle you brought to the party, open it yourself and take the first swig--etiquette be damned.