When you think of electronics, you don't normally think of the dollar store but I found five cool gadgets that impressed me, considering that each one was only a buck. Well, maybe I'm easy to impress. See what you think.

• Hand-held game system with eight different games. The games have blocky black and white graphics but it would serve to entertain a kid in the backseat of the car on a long trip and it's better than shelling out up to $130 for a Nintendo DS or $170 for a PSP.

• Folding travel clock/calculator with 16 different time zones. Okay, so our cell phones do everything but serve lunch but this is still a neat little gadget for a buck. It makes a great desk accessory.

T-Mobile is rolling out a new feature in the next few weeks called "Family Allowances" which lets parents control just about every aspect of phone usage. The plan starts out at $2 a month and covers up to 5 lines on your account. The new feature comes on the heels of feedback from 30% of parents who identified their primary concern was getting a surprise bill.

The Family Allowances program will let parents set the number of texts, downloads and minutes on their children's phones using an online tool, as well as limiting the times of the day that the phone will work. Parents can put their minds at ease with the ability to set up always-allowed numbers which will permit their children to reach them at any time.

While the "Family Allowances" feature is aimed at helping parents curb kid's desires and their inability to follow the phone usage limits imposed at the dinner table, there is also a cool way that "adults" with less self control can use the feature to manage their own usage as well. We've all heard of freezing your own credit card to ward off the temptation of overspending. Well, if you can't stop your urge to download ringtones or curb your text messaging, you can set up an allowance for yourself so that you don't go over your plan amounts. Since you'll have to wait until you're in front of a computer to bump up your limit, you'll have likely overcome the urge to purchase the new "I Kissed a Girl" ringtone you thought was sooo sweet last night.

You may be less irate about your cell phones calls dropping out when you learn about a new statistic making the rounds about the on-the-job deaths of cell phone tower climbers -- those who amble up to the top of tall structures to fix mobile phone infrastructure. The job may just actually be one of the most deadly jobs out there -- if not the deadliest job, according to comparable industry statistics.

The job of cell tower climber isn't on the government's current official list, which last came out in 2006, and likely won't be on the next one because it doesn't break down to that many specifics. But the Wall St. Journal's "Number Guy," Carl Bialik, went through the numbers and found that the cell tower climbing job was quite dangerous in terms of fatalities rates, at least as reported by Wireless Estimator, an industry trade publication. The numbers have gone from 10 deaths in 2004 to 18 in 2006, which translates to a rate of 183.6 deaths per 100,000 (although the industry itself, at about 10,000 workers, is much smaller than that).

That would rank cell tower climbers at the top of the list according to rate of death, which in 2006 was toppped by fishers and fishing related workers at a fatality rate of 147.2 deaths per 100,000, and followed by hunters and trappers, aircraft pilots, loggers and steel workers.

As for total dealth as reported in 2006, the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 5,703, and construction workers topped the list with 1,226 fatal work injuries.

Being at the top of the list of most fatal jobs is, of course, a designation that no industry wants to have, so now that this story is out, the next step is to see what the cell phone industry plans to do about it. In 2006, coal mine deaths were up significantly because of the Sago mine disaster and all sorts of safeguards went into place. So the ball is now in the court of the major cell phone carriers, but a little instigation never hurt any safety effort...

For more career information, see AOL Careers.

In a worldwide survey cellphone maker Nokia found that only 3% of people have ever recycled a cell phone and nearly half had never heard of such a thing. That's pretty pathetic after the huge efforts by manufacturers, retailers, governments, environmental groups and charities to make sure cellphones don't end up in landfills, where they leak lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.

If all the 3 billion cell users worldwide recycled one phone (and on average we've gone through five), we would save 240,000 tons of raw material and cut the greenhouse gas equivalent of 4 million cars, Nokia Director of Environmental Affairs Markus Terho said in a statement. Some 85% of Nokia phones can be recycled. Some recycled cell phones go for parts and materials; others go to seniors or people in developing regions that might otherwise be cut off.

The big problem is that people just don't know what to do with their old phones. The survey of 6,500 people in 13 countries showed only 4% just threw them away. About 44% just kept them in a drawer with their other dead electronics. One fourth of us give them to somebody else and 16% try to sell them.

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

Dear Ken and Daria,

Is the only way to get a new cell phone plan at a good price to extend my contract? Is there any other way to purchase a cell phone at a discounted price?

-Lauren

Cell phones, gas, food... our everyday expenses can really add up! Visit Dolans.com to save big bucks on common costs with Ken and Daria's money-savvy tips.

Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question.

Cell phones have been integrated into our daily lives for a while now and with cell phones being used by 82% of U.S. households it isn't surprising that they are becoming wallets.

Blaze Mobile Wallet is a program and service which works with several cell phone companies to provide a connection to your credit and debit accounts, allowing you to track spending as well as pay for items using a small sticker on your phone.

The contactless payments are compatible with the PayPass payment systems, which have been popping up at stores nationwide. Blaze costs $5 per month and $20 to get a contactless payment sticker, but these costs may be well worth it if you can avoid even one overdraft fee by having your banking info on your cell phone.

The money management system built into the Blaze Wallet has some really cool features, which should make managing your money not only easy, but available wherever you are. The program allows you to hook your account into your bank and other accounts which allows you to check balances and transactions as well as transfer funds between accounts. Blaze also provides a way for parents to give their kids digital allowances straight to their cell phone for use at PayPass locations. Users of Blaze will also be able to make payments directly to other cell phones if the person is using Blaze, letting you pay a friend back for dinner at the really cool cash only restaurant you just hit up.

Not satisfied with having already shod nearly every human foot in America, Crocs Inc. is setting its sights on your cellphone. Or camera. Or MP3 player. Its new $15 Crocs-o-dial are little shoes that hold an electronic device that you attach by strap or lanyard to yourself.

Seems like another overreach for a brand that has tried to nuzzle its way into clothing, high-priced shoes, retail stores, fake shoe laces, winter boots, and just about everything that could be made of Crocslite, its amazingly comfortable, smell-resistant foam. As Zac Bissonette pointed out this week on BloggingStocks, the company is starting to seem a little desperate. The stock once hit $70, but is now trading at about $11.

I myself suffered from Crocs mania for about a month last summer. I bought some Mary Janes and they were the ideal dog run shoe. (No treads on the bottom mean nothing gets stuck on your shoe). Then I decided to wear them to a bar. I felt ridiculous. I felt like I may as well have been wearing one of those sweatshirts that has some garish painting of a wolf or soaring eagle. Totally uncool.

I haven't had a landline phone at my home for over 6 years. Why? Because I don't need one! It's a total waste of money when I consider that I hate talking on the phone in the first place, and that my cell phone serves all my needs. Why pay for something I will never use?

I'm not alone. A survey conducted late last year found that 16% of households have no landline, and another 13% of households have a landline that is almost never used. All of these consumes are using cell phones instead, of course! Younger and lower-income consumers are more likely to have only a cell phone when compared to other consumers.

Do you feel sorry for the traditional phone companies who are losing our business? I don't. We've been abused long enough. Locally, AT&T has been consistently raising rates and fees for everything under the sun and it's no longer economical to have a landline. So they don't get my money.

Sure, wireless companies are equally as guilty of offering us poor service and high prices too. Then you add on all the early termination fees and mystery charges on your bill, and you realize all phone service providers are in the game to get as much money from you as possible. I'll pay as few of them as possible, thank you very much.

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.

Last month I shared my quest to save money by reviewing our cell phone bill. I found that we could get unlimited texting on all of our lines without any increase in our monthly rate. This was a huge deal since my sister was as familiar with text overages as the Cookie Monster is with cookies! Due to the amount of texts already sent I decided to do something I should have avoided, I switched plans mid billing cycle. Most places this wouldn't be a huge deal, but Verizon's billing system is arranged to maximize confusion for users and profit for the company.

Since the switch occurred mid month Verizon pro-rated the text message plan on my sister's phone. Normally this means I get some money refunded and it only appears that I was ripped off on the bill. This time however was different. Even though the plan she was on was for 1,500 text messages and we switched to an unlimited plan Verizon decided that the allotment of messages at the time we switched was 913, which just happened to be 403 below what she had already sent resulting in a huge overage.

Sometimes the sound of one's voice is inadequate to express all the emotions humans experience. Luckily, a new invention patented by a German firm will enhance your cell phone presence with scent.

The scent chip, developed by ConVisual (they may need a name update, huh?), reproduces around 100 different smells. Of course, those on the receiving end of the call will also need the chip, to decode the eau d' squawk and create its facsimile. The tech could be available as soon as 2010.

100 different smells may seem a small selection, but this is, in fact, 25% of the 400 different odor molecules the nose is capable of detecting. The brain is able to define millions of different scents within varying combinations and quantities of these 400 molecules. If the phone can reproduce even a small fraction of these combinations, how long before our callers each have their own assigned scent tones?

This smells like trouble to me.

The Daily Deal for Sunday, April 27, 2008

I went into work Friday and set my lunch box down next to an advertisement that caught my eye right away. It claimed that you can turn used cell phones into real money. After researching the offer a little bit, I've determined that it sure looks legitimate to me. Pace Butler Corporation claims it will buy your used cell phones for cold hard cash.

The company website is clear and simple. The process works in four easy steps. Just gather the cell phones that you want to sell, print out a prepaid postage shipping label, box the phones up and ship them, then get a check. The company states that your check will be issued within four business days.

Many of the phones on their payment list will only garner you a few dollars, and some only pay .50 cents. However, there are models which will get you as much as $50. You can check out their payment values on this list (PDF file). Just a few of the higher paying models are Motorola's Q9m and Q9h, each paying $50. If you have a Nextel i580, that model pays $30. The LG CU515 and CU575 each get you $35. There's a whole range of the Blackberry 8000 series which will net you anywhere from $10 to $50 apiece.

Nowhere on the website did I see mention of cell phone condition as a requirement for payment but I assume that they want the phones to be all in one piece. They also offer assistance with cell phone collection drives and will help you with cell phone collection fund raisers. If you just want to find out where to send your dead cell phones to keep them out of the landfill, they have a link to help with shipping 3 or more phones for recycling.

I think Pace Butler is really in step with responsible consumerism and assuming that it's completely legitimate, I believe this whole concept is an extremely timely idea.

The combination of cell phones and driving is a hot button issue these days, and well it should be. My research indicates that cell phone- related crash statistics are sketchy at best but it seems that almost everyone agrees talking on a cell phone while driving can quickly lead to tragedy. I have a cell phone and it remains turned completely off and in its case when I'm driving. Other people have different opinions on the subject and I'm not here to chastise them for their choices.

What got my gander up today, and caused me to call my local police dispatcher was that I witnessed one of Park Falls, Wisconsin's finest, talking on her cell phone while on duty, driving, and one handedly navigating a dangerous curve.

Admittedly, you'd have to be pretty dumb to try to use your cell phone as a modem for browsing the internet.

But an $85 thousand Canadian Dollars punishment does seem a bit harsh for less than 2 months of service. And yet that's exactly what happened to Piotr Staniaszek, a 22-year old well-tester from Alberta.

According to Globe and Mail, "Equipped with a $10 unlimited mobile browser plan, Mr. Staniaszek believed he could use his cellphone as a modem for his computer and started spending a lot of time on the Internet, downloading high-definition movies and other bandwidth-hungry applications."

The young man was charged on a per-kilobyte basis and, after he complained, the company reduced the bill to "just" $3243.

There's no question that he bears the responsibility for this snafu -- After all, he was trying to beat the system by getting unlimited internet access from his home included with a $10 per-month mobile browsing plan. And the bill isn't some mistake -- he used a huge amount of power with a phone that wasn't meant for that purpose.

But shouldn't the company have noticed something was wrong? Shouldn't the company have flagged a problem long before the bill climbed to $60 thousand, the amount of the first bill he received for the service?

The cell phone company did the right thing by reducing the bill to less than 1/20th of its original size. Mr. Staiaszek should take this case as a $3243 lesson in trying to beat the system, and move on with his life.