Californians like me will see less money in their next paycheck because, like it or not, we're being forced to give an interest-free loan to the financial basket-case of a state we live in. As of November 1, California is withholding 10% more in income taxes from residents' paychecks. The move is expected to reap $1.7 billion that will be used to plug the holes in the state deficit and keep some money in its rapidly-dwindling coffers.

So officially it's not a tax increase. California will repay the extra withholding in April when it calculates tax refunds -- those getting a refund will get a larger one while those who owe taxes will owe less. And state tax officials who say the increase will hardly be felt by workers. A worker earning $51,000 with no dependents and one withholding allowance will see his weekly withholding rate go up $4. (The Sacramento Bee has a chart of withholding increase scenarios for some single and married taxpayers.) Still, with nine weeks left to go in 2009, that $36 could come in handy for a holiday present or a utility bill.

Last Christmas, I got a Starbucks gift card for $50 from my boss (a nice gift but with a semi-intentional hint that caffeine may help me do a better job).

I used it up within a month but when a barista tried to lure me into getting the Starbucks Rewards Gold card, I wasn't even tempted. Paying a $25 annual fee upfront for the right to 10% discounts on coffees didn't seem like a deal when I didn't know if I'd have the money for the remaining 90% of the cost of my once-daily lattes.

Guess I'm not the only one who felt that way, and Starbucks got the hint. It recently announced it is consolidating its Starbucks Card and Gold Card reward programs into a free, easier-to-follow customer loyalty program called "My Starbucks Rewards" that launches Dec. 26.

This year, you got paid for tossing out the clunker car. Next year, you'll be rewarded for getting rid of the energy-inefficient washer or fridge. Many states will be sponsoring a "Cash for Appliances" program, similar to "Cash for Clunkers" in that you'll be paid for doing a big spring cleaning of your old appliances and buying those labeled with the Energy Star seal.

This is part of the federal government's economic stimulus plan -- it set aside $300 million in rebates for buying energy-efficient products, and state governments had to send detailed plans to Washington by earlier this month to explain how they would give that money away. So unlike Cash for Clunkers, each state is in charge of its own Cash for Appliances program.

California, for example, will focus on rebates for just three standard appliances. It will give $100 for the purchase of an Energy Star-approved clothes washer, $75 for a refrigerator and $50 for a room air-conditioner. Those rebates are in addition to any additional rebates offered by the state utility company supplying your electricity and the appliance manufacturer you buy from. The program is supposed to start in early spring.

Have you ever wondered if that blogger is really a flogger pushing a product or service just a little too hard?

Starting December 1, bloggers promoting any kind of stuff from a company must admit if they got cash or gifts to do so. This means blogging will be goverment-regulated for the first time. The new rules don't apply to you if you tried the new Italian restaurant down the street and go onto your own personal blog to rave about how it was the best meal ever. They do apply to you if the restaurant gave you a big discount, a free meal or other goodies just to spur you to rave about it in your blog. This means bloggers must follow the rules, care of the Federal Trade Commission, that every advertiser already does now, making information they give about products more accurate for those of us reading them. (Uos WalletPop bloggers have to follow traditional journalism rules when it comes to our posts -- we don't take cash or gifts from companies to write about them, we just write the cold, hard truth and our honest opinions.)

Looking for work, any kind of work? Have you considered direct sales? My friend Shira did. I got a Facebook announcement from her over the weekend: "I've decided to become an Avon Lady!"

"Wow, those are still around?" I asked myself. Sure enough, Avon sales reps are worldwide, and the company touts the job of selling its cosmetics as an easy, breezy way to do business. You can earn up to 50% commission, work from home and be your own boss. You could even be the next Debbie Davis, an English woman who turned to selling Avon cosmetics five years ago after losing her job and was just crowned Britain's top Avon lady for earning more than half a million dollars (U.S.) a year.

My mother-in-law is divorced, newly retired and wants to enjoy her Golden Years. Because she just turned 62 and owns her house, she considered a reverse mortgage to turn her home equity into a steady income stream every month.

But after I gave her the highlights of a new report from the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) that said, in short, reverse mortgages have the potential to start another subprime-style financial crisis, she decided to look elsewhere.

Walletpop's Mitch Lipka posted in July how the FBI issued a warning about reverse mortgages and the number of scam artists eyeing them greedily.

I do some tutoring in Spanish and essay writing for high school and community college students, and my heart goes out to them for what they're facing right now -- constant tuition hikes, a scramble to get the student loans and classes they need, and the fear of graduating with a load of debt and no job prospects whatsoever.

So when I came across this Washington Monthly article on a company that only charges $99 a month for online courses in entry-level subjects, I sent it to a few students to get their take. Here were a few of their comments:

"Sounds like this could save me and my mom a lot of money."

"If this article is right, I'll learn more this way than by sitting in a hall with hundreds of other students."

"Are these really accredited courses? Hell, with the help my school is giving me with getting into required courses, I'll try anything!"

Just like the Great Depression shaped the financial mindset of our grandparents and great grand-parents, so the Great Recession right now is doing a similar thing to teens and twentysomethings.

They don't trust banks, don't plan to invest in the stock market, they don't even want to get insurance. Microsoft funded a study done by KRC Research that surveyed 500 "Milennials" ages 18 to 29 about their take on personal finance.

Their trust in the U.S. government and the financial markets are shot but unlike their parents, who usually have some experience with investing in stocks, mutual funds and retirement plans, this younger generation doesn't want to touch those with a 10-foot pole.

This post is really targeted to the self-employed and non-insured among you. (You lucky still-employed workers with health benefits, you're excused for now.) I just want to offer this interesting op-ed piece by Chicago-based health care writer J. Duncan Moore, Jr. as food for thought, because he gives good reasons for why it's not worth having health insurance -- and how it's possible to profit without it.

I have individual coverage by Anthem Blue Cross, who, without any notice, just upped my monthly premium 21 percent. To afford the payments, I moved from a $2,500 deductible to a $5,000 deductible last year. A month after that move, Blue Cross upped my premium 15 percent. My "who needs this crap" attitude was stoked after reading Moore's point of view.

After losing his job and seeing his $447-a-month COBRA coverage about to expire, Moore decided not to get an individual plan. His reasoning: he's a healthy person who eats right, sleeps enough and has no family history of major diseases. So, Moore decides, "Why shouldn't I create my own network and find providers who would give me a discount for paying cash?" Putting his plan into practice, he went to his doctor for a checkup. His visit was billed at $100 but discounted to $65, and routine cholesterol tests were marked down from $195 to $110. "I wrote two checks on the spot. There was no paperwork, no correspondence, no phone calls, no arguing about deductibles or co-pays, for me or for the doctor's office. And the doctor got his money immediately."

This is where he tips into a part of U.S. health care that is changing and needs to change: patients knowing the price of medical treatments upfront. " Most doctors don't like to cite a price in advance, but as the U.S. health system moves toward asking patients to pay a greater share of the bill, doctors are going to have to become more responsive to their patients' cost sensitivities."

As my husband is training for the Border Patrol right now (the reason: steady job and good government benefits in a bad economy) and we'll be moving to West Texas at the end of the year, I took particular interest in this just-released report from the Government Accounting Office about the cost of border security. Its findings aren't just relevant to Border Patrol staff and their spouses, it should interest every taxpayer.

In a nutshell, it will cost $6.5 billion over the next 20 years to maintain the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, despite the fact that $2.4 billion has already been spent to build 633 miles of fence along the southwest border, there's no way to evaluate cost-wise whether the fence has helped to control the flow of illegal immigrants.