My introduction to funny money probably came with my first vistt to Chuck E. Cheese. In addition to its extensive collection of arcade games, creepy animatronic figures, and ball cages filled with questionable substances, the suburban pizza behemoth minted its own money.

Cast in gold-toned metal with a grinning rodent on one side and "In Pizza We Trust" on the other, Chuck E. Cheese tokens were a revelation to me. I was amazed that a company could, seemingly without any oversight, produce its own currency. When I left, I pocketed a couple of the coins, and they formed the beginnings of what was to become a small collection of funny money.

Some of my non-traditional currencies, like my Grey Fox bucks and my Floydian hours, simply involved being in the right place at the right time. After all, while Floyd, Virginia's experiment in homemade money began with the best of intentions, it didn't last very long. Similarly, the fake cash that gets printed at some bluegrass festivals generally gets a few days in the sun before it reverts to its component parts, namely funny pictures printed on pretty paper. Even so, I've kept my eyes open for Calgary Dollars, Disney Dollars, Toronto Dollars, Liberty Dollars, and other regional currencies.

It seems that Sean Combs, the entrepreneur-turned rap singer-turned-fashion-designer-cum-man- about-town (also sometimes known as P. Diddy or Puff Daddy or Diddy or variations on same) is grounding his private jet because of the extravagant cost of fuel.

I'd call it a Sign O' the Times, but that's the title of a song from another singer with an ever-changing name (Prince).

According to this item on Perez Hilton's celebrity gossip website, it costs about $250K for two round trips between New York and L.A. Combs, who juggles a Hollywood career with a thriving clothing business and other ventures in New York, thinks that's just too much. This from a multi-millionaire, (number 33 this year on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list) who's famous for, among many other things, his annual White Ball, in which the (very) rich, (very) famous and (very) beautiful show up to an elite location for a night of glamor and partying, clad only in white.

Beijing took some heat in the press for sweeping its streets of the homeless before the Olympic circus came to town, but China's government isn't the only one trying to banish the disadvantaged from places where visitors tread.

According to the main Atlanta newspaper, the Journal-Constitution, cops have been trawling the streets this month dressed as tourists, hoping to catch panhandlers in the act of rustling up money. As of last week, 44 beggars have been arrested.

One of the police commanders in town explains that the frequency and intimidating style of local begging has gotten so bad that it's annoying tourists and scaring them away. And because most tourists who feel accosted by beggars don't return to town to testify, the city had to resort to using officers posing as tourists so that there would be someone around to tell it to the judge. The decoys are even rigged with hidden cameras.

Atlanta, which passed an ordinance three years ago that banned verbal panhandling in a restricted downtown area near the Georgia Aquarium, is far from the only city to place limits on begging. In the Peachtree City, beggars can usually get by silently holding a sign that asks for cash. But ask "aggressively" -- the interpretation, like the one for obscenity, is fluid -- and it's a crime.

Elizabeth Edwards is on the cover of the latest People Magazine and offers a candid interview inside of the anguish, pain, and decisions that she faced after learning of her husband's affair with a former campaign aide, Rielle Hunter. Recognizing that she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness that could leave her three children without a mother was reportedly a factor in her decision to stay in the marriage.

Children are one of the reasons that women stay in a marriage where a husband has strayed, but it shouldn't be the only reason. Women's income generally drops an average of 16% while a man's increases by 23% according to the NY Times. They often don't have the earning power of their spouses or may have been out of the workforce due to the demands of child raising.

Recession? What recession?

If you're one of the beautiful people who shop on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, you're not seeing the effects of $4 dollar gasoline or higher food costs. None of that is putting a furrow into your already Botox'd brow. Because the weather is sunny here and the shopping is divine.

There's no slowdown in sales here, folks. Move along. Nothing to see.

I suppose for sheer entertainment value, it's worth knowing this sort of fact: that there are people out there so wealthy...beyond wealthy...that no amount of economic turmoil affects them. Hard to imagine the global credit crisis not crimping the portfolios of the financier class, but then I'm sure they've socked away a few pennies for a rainy day.

Which I suppose is a good thing, if you look at it. The spending of the ultra-wealthy helps drive the economy (and at this point, it can use all the fuel it can get). Some reports say the wealthy are cutting back spending as well. But a survey cited here looks at those with an average income of $200,000. That's not wealthy. Any third year associate at a white-shoe law firm makes that. It's the gentry I'm talking about. The moguls and superstars and legacy families. The multi-millionaires and billionaires. And their families.

These people don't need to cut back. Which will at some level keep some juice flowing into the economy. Somebody has to sell those wives their $120,000 Hermes Matte crocodile Birkin Bags. Somebody needs to service the wealthy. And I guess that's where the rest of us come in.

The brightly colored Crocs were all the rage a year or two ago. Originally designed for gardening, their popularity quickly spread to toddlers, teens, teachers and other professionals. It was not uncommon to see Crocs at the mall, at work and even in church. But now, the company that couldn't keep up with demand has Crocs piling up in warehouses. The stock price has fallen dramatically from its heights earlier this year, when it was trading around $75, and the stock plunged nearly 51% in July after the company lowered its second-quarter guidance. There is even a new escalator warning cautioning folks not to wear Crocs on escalators. Apparently a few people have had exposed toes stuck in the steps.

What happened to Crocs? They simply were a victim of success. They became so popular, they are no longer unusual or unique. No one stops to ask you where you got them or if they are comfortable, because they are everywhere and they also probably own a pair. Crocs changed from being "cool" to being "dork."

It's not all that uncommon to hear about once wealthy athletes on the brink of .... gasp.... Budgeting. Evander Holyfield became a recent poster child for wasting a ton of money, and who doesn't know about crybaby Latrell Sprewell who (sob) lost his yacht and is losing his house?

Holyfield's $10 million house is in foreclosure. How sad that he'll lose the 109 room mansion. And he's not the only one suffering. He's supposed to pay $3,000 for the support of one of his children, but he's not paying that either. He's got nine children that the public knows about, so you can bet there are others going without child support too.

During Holyfield's boxing career, one fight brought in $34 million. There were surely many millions from other fights and endorsements. Where did it all go?

Blogger Brian Cuban details other financially-challenged athletes, including quarterback Johnny Unitas, boxer Mike Tyson, and figure skater Dorothy Hamill. So what makes celebrities so prone to ending up in financial ruin? Cuban says that for the most part, it's not stupidity or scams.

What's the value of the eight gold medals swimmer Michael Phelps just won at the Beijing Olympics? According to his agent, about $100 million over his lifetime. His agent says he's been fielding about 50 phone calls a day from people wanting to court Phelps and ultimately get him to endorse their products. Book deals and movie deals are being pitched as well, and it's clear that Michael's life (and his wallet) will never be the same.

Phelps is being offered all sorts of free things like pizza and dental work. (Does he need free stuff if he's instantly become a multi-millionaire?) And there are those pitching bobbleheads and other novelties with his name on them.

He currently has an endorsement gig with Speedo, who offered him $1 million if he won seven gold medals. Michael's endorsements prior to this Olympics were bringing in $3 to $5 million a year, but that amount will surely skyrocket. A sports management expert seems to think that Nike would pony up $40 or $50 million to get Phelps on their team.

Let's hope that Michael has good representation that can help him get the best deals possible. Then let's hope that he lives up to his iconic status and is a good role model for children. He's an amazing athlete who has accomplished so much, and it would be wonderful for him to be a positive inspiration to Americans for years to come (while also getting filthy rich).

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

The pool industry is a'hurtin. Not a lot of new home building going on these days, which means nobody is putting in swimming pools anymore. And now, the individual pool man is feeling the pain, too. At least that's what an article in the Los Angeles Times says.

Pool men, those guys who drive around with pick-up trucks full of Chlorine and sweeper poles, are having to raise their prices to keep up with the increased cost of gasoline. Southern California swimming pool owners are increasingly responding by firing them...and maintaining their pools themselves.

A smart move? Maybe. But how much is your time worth?

A while back, my wife and I passed one of the major landmarks of adulthood: we took out life insurance policies.

While we had both had life insurance before, it was provided by our employers; this, on the other hand, was something that we paid for all by ourselves. While we didn't contract for spousal-murder/film noir levels of insurance, the money should keep our daughter and the surviving spouse covered for a while if the worst should happen. If, by lucky happenstance, we make it to the end of term, we have the option of cashing out the policies and taking a long, long trip.

Recently, I learned about another possibility: if we should manage to live into our sixties, we have the option of selling our life insurance policies. Some companies, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, purchase life insurance polices, often for as much as 20-30% of the death benefit. As this far outstrips the premium repayment that my wife and I were thinking about, it is a pretty attractive option. Some sites, including Policysettlement, offer estimates on the value of extant life insurance policies.

A while back, I read about Walter Scott, a New Zealand man who decided to sell his soul to the highest bidder. After his online auction was taken down, he was contacted by Hell Pizza, a New Zealand pizza chain. Recognizing the publicity value that could be gleaned by this stunt, the chain offered Scott $3,800 for his soul. He agreed, and his soul now belongs to Hell (Pizza, Inc.).

This isn't the first time that a soul has gone up for sale on an internet auction site. In 2001, Adam Burtle, a student at the University of Washington, received a $400 bid for his soul before eBay yanked his listing. A few years later, Hermant Mehta offered his soul for sale, again on eBay. Basically, he agreed to visit whichever church the winner chose. Ultimately, Jim Henderson, a minister from Washington state, won the auction with a $504 bid. Mehta donated the money to the Secular Student Alliance and wrote up his soul-selling experiences in a book, I Sold My Soul on eBay.

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's First Family of Personal Finance, answer your money questions every Friday.

Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question.

Here's the plain truth: The single best step you can take to living the retirement of your dreams is to contribute the maximum amount allowed to an IRA. Unfortunately, too many people ignore this rare gift from Uncle Sam.

We hear from readers all the time about why they don't contribute to retirement plans, and it's usually because they don't know where – and how much – to contribute. Let's clear up some of that confusion with our answer to the following WalletPop reader question.

Dear Ken and Daria,

Can a working and a non-working spouse both make IRA contributions?

-Jim

Making the most of your IRA is a key part of successful retirement planning. Get answers to all your questions about IRA rules, Roth IRAs, rollovers and more at Dolans.com.

Jan Dietrick, general manager of Rincon-Vitova Insectaries Inc. recently received a call from Fox TV. They were looking for 5,000 maggots immediately for a new reality TV show, "Truth or Consequences." They had to be clean maggots, according to Ms. Dietrick. "I was informed that the contestants had to eat them." She responded to the request and got to work. "We'll wash them, put them in deli containers, and have them ready for you in the morning," she informed the network.

The bug industry is growing these days -- and reality TV is just the beginning. The boom in organic gardening has turned bugs into big business. According to the Wall Street Journal, The Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers, a trade group that represents the 30 biggest insectaries in the land, estimates that about $200 million in commercial bugs are sold each year with the demand growing about 10% annually. And that does not include the order for millions of ladybugs that were poured over the actress Thandie Newton in the film "Beloved."

While I'd be hard-pressed to describe my Aunt Linda as rational, her love of Elvis borders on complete insanity. Even now, thirty years after his death, he still stands high in her pantheon, somewhere just south of God and just north of George W. Bush. Let others differentiate between Army Elvis, black leather Elvis, fat Elvis and Hawaiian Elvis. She loves -- nay, venerates -- them all.

While Linda's Elvis mania disturbs me on a deep, almost primal level, it also has given me a clear glimpse into the world of the Elvis junkie. Consequently, I wasn't all that surprised when I discovered that his famed "peacock jumpsuit" recently sold for $300,000. This is the largest amount of money ever paid for an Elvis collectible and, probably, the largest amount of money ever paid for a hand-embroidered piece of polyester double knit. Prior to this, the most expensive piece of Elvis memorabilia was his 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II, which went for $295,000. The most expensive costume was his "aloha cape," which sold for $105,250.

Between the ever-inflating dollar and the King's never-deflating fan base, I don't imagine that this is the last Elvis record I'll see broken. While it's a little late to get in on the ground floor with Elvis memorabilia, one sometimes hears rumors of vials of Elvis sweat being sold on the black market. Of course, if you really want to get close to the King, you can always try his recipe for fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. Although he's only driven through Memphis, he once visited Miniature Graceland.

Jamie Lynn Spears (sister of Britney) is on the cover of the latest edition of OK! Magazine holding her newborn daughter, Maddie. Looking beautiful and rested, she is quoted as saying "Being a mom is the best feeling in the world." A teenage icon, Jamie Lynn is the star of Nickelodeon's "Zoe 101," and idolized by millions of young girls. Pregnant at 16 and a mother by age 17, Jamie Lynn is described in the article as living in "domestic bliss."

Great message for the kids. Maybe it works this way for wealthy celebrities, but for most teens the happily ever after ending doesn't happen. In real life, teen pregnancy traps women in a cycle of low paying jobs and poverty. In fact, teen parents are nine times more likely to live in poverty long term.