I continue to be impressed with efforts the state government and other organizations in Ohio are taking to teach people, especially teens, about personal finances. Last week a local credit union taught teens about real life finances,which was an eye opening experience. Today the Ohio Attorney General announced that it would be running a video PSA contest for high schoolers, focused on making "Smart Money" choices.

Several suggested themes include:

• reading the fine print
• free isn't always free
• avoiding offers too good to be true
• building good credit
• preventing identity theft
• safe Internet shopping and networking

The winning public service announcement will be reproduced professionally at the Best Buy headquarters and aired throughout the state in 2009. Winning teams receive Best Buy gift cards as well as a recognition plaque and the winning school also receives a $5,000 Best Buy gift card for computer equipment. The contest is open through December 1st and the first 100 teams to enter receive a $25 gift card just for entering.

I love contests that can be won through storytelling. Telling true stories is, after all, my vocation. So for a moment I was thrilled with the idea of Best Buy's contest: tell a story about your family's traditions, and win!

Then I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and read more carefully. These are not my family's traditions. Perhaps they're yours? Winners in 25 cities who tell tales of Black Friday shopping with their loved ones will be crowned Black Friday VIPs and win a limo ride to Best Buy for themselves and three guests: at 4:30 a.m. on November 28!

Other prizes include a $1000 Best Buy gift card, "pampering" at the store, and a camcorder to record your shopping excitement. While it makes sense that Best Buy would try to generate excitement around Black Friday, I am melancholy at the idea of heralding the acquisition of electronic stuff as a virtue. This sort of American virtue is at the root of our current credit crunch and economic crisis; we've put the debt for purchasing wide-screen TVs, video game machines, and stainless steel appliances into our mortgages, and we're losing our homes and buying an indebted future. Is this worth celebrating?

I say "no." What do you say?

A few days ago, I wrote about a contest to help rebuild your credit. I've just heard about another contest, which not surprisingly also has to do with our sinking, sagging economy.

I have a feeling that business owners are going to love this idea -- and that's who the contest is aimed at, entrepreneurs -- although I'm sure nonprofits, churches, PTA moms and any individual who does a lot of printing will be interested, too.

PrintingForLess.com, a gigantic printing shop based in Livingston, Montana, is offering a contest this month, November and December, where any American resident 18 years old and older can win $1,000 of free printing. It's called the PrintingForLess.com Economic Stimulus Contest. Here's what you do: Send in your most innovative marketing strategies to flip this economic downturn into an opportunity.

Here's a sign of the times: a contest you can win that will offer you not a trip to Disney World, or a bunch of money, but instead, something we really need: free legal help to assist people in rebuilding their credit.

(OK, most sane people would choose the trip to Disney World and a bunch of money, as I'm sure the guy offering this contest would... still, it is something a lot of us can use.)

John Amorison is an attorney based in Woodbridge, NJ, who, to quote his blog, Legal Speak with John, "runs a full-service law firm -- divorce, litigation and business contracts, credit repair, debt consolidation and negotiation."

Still suffering from a holiday spending binge? You've got a few more weeks to tell your story of profligate spending and win a chance to get your credit cards paid off -- or at least up to $5,000 -- by Mint.com. The contest runs through March 31, during which time participants can enter a text story or upload a video at Mint.com. Along with the credit payments, the winning video entrant and the winning writer will each receive financial counseling so they do not make the same money mistakes again. Membership at Mint is not a requirement to enter the contest.

Mint is a web-based company that allows its members to enter all of their credit card and banking information and then automatically tracks spending, finds savings and helps with budgeting. In the wake of the holiday season, there are many people suffering the pains that come from looking at the mounting credit card bills.