Cities are the latest entities approaching the Treasury Department with their hands out, hoping for a piece of the $3 trillion bailout debacle. Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Atlanta are the first cities to beg for money, but many more can't be far behind. They'd be fools to not ask!

The reason the cities are asking for help? They say their tax revenue is down and their pension plans are ailing from the stock market drop. And their point is what? Isn't everyone feeling the pinch these days?

In times like these, all units of government should be looking for ways to drastically cut costs. Sinking more money into them is not the right move. These cities are crying bloody murder, saying they'll have to lay off employees and raise taxes. They may have to lay off employees, but I've always said that governments are overstaffed anyway. And raise taxes? No, that's not the only option. Massive spending cuts are the way to go.

Experts say the cities have little chance of getting any bailout money, but I'm not so sure about that. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is committed to doing whatever he wants to do with the money our lawmakers handed over to him, so anything is possible at this point. Where does all the bailout spending end? Your guess is as good as mine, but I think it's safe to say that there's going to be lots and lots of spending before the end is in sight.

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.

I recently handed in my 401(k) and health insurance, along with my corporate laptop, for a taste of the freelance lifestyle. This weekend I spent several hours happily trolling the aisles of Wordstock, a local celebration of writers and books, frequented (naturally) by writers galore. I was chatting with a friend who runs a quarterly magazine, offering ideas for one of her upcoming issues, when another freelance writer walked up. He, too, had recently left a "regular" job for the on-again, off-again world of freelancing.

"How's it going?" he wanted to know. "Great," I said, a little surprised at the realization. "I have too much work."

"Me too!" he said happily. "I've heard that a lot."

While it's certainly sad for workers who are offered the door in exchange for cheaper, less permanent freelancers, it's all good for those of us who have chosen this life with some deliberation. (Note to self: Always make the jump before everyone else figures it out!) We're here to fill in the blanks suffered by managers who have been forced to lay off so many employees that their work can no longer be accomplished by a dwindled staff, and those smaller companies seeking to expand without a lot of messy commitment in the way of payroll and benefits packages.

So it's a word to the wise: if you've been wishing to make the leap to freelancing, and not having the gumption, maybe now's the time. With a liberal administration coming into office, maybe you'll even get some relief on the health insurance front... at least, it's worth dreaming.

In a move that's sure to help parents of indecisive children, Toys R Us has just released its five toy trends for the holidays. The list is culled from data which Toys R Us collects from its stores throughout the world in order to determine what toys kids will want this holiday season.

Toys R Us doesn't just look at sales figures to determine these trends, the list also includes influences from the adult world. Bob Giampietro, the Senior Vice President of Trend and Innovation for Toys R Us, provided the following commentary on how some of the categories and toys made the list: "Children continually emulate and adapt based on what they see and hear in real life, and this is reflected in the trends we've recognized this year.".

The Toys R Us Toy Trends for Holiday 2008 include:

• $avvy Savers
• Adorable Animatronics
• Curious Kids
• Earth-Friendly Fun
• Music: My Way

While all of the categories should prove helpful to gift givers this season, the $avvy Savers category caught my eye, especially after Bob Giampietro linked the trends to current events. The $avvy Savers category focuses on toys that help kids save their allowance as well as budget for a big ticket item that they didn't get to unwrap on Christmas morning. I know I would have loved to get one of the items, a laser protected safe, back when I was saving up for a Super Nintendo!

Keep reading for 3 toys that aren't only fun but can educate your children about money. And also see the best discounts in the toy book catalog.

While expensive sporting event tickets are nothing new -- Super Bowl tickets last year reached over $4,000 in the resale market -- we now have this: For the first time ever Official Super Bowl tickets will reach $1,000... straight from the NFL.

The four-digit price tag is a jump from the now relatively affordable $900 charged for high end tickets at Super Bowl XLII last year. The NFL, never one to be aloof to the plight of the common man to watch the game is also offering a limited number of "cheap" tickets at only $500, a discount of $200 over last year's lowest prices.

The Full breakdown of seats and prices is below:

• 17,000 suites and club seats - $1,000 a seat
• 53,000 regular seats - $800 a seat
• 1,000 regular seats at $500!

It's pretty nifty that the NFL is offering these "cheap" seats in light of shrinking 401ks and a drooping DOW, but I can't help but feel like the discount on these seats will only add to the bulge in some reseller's pocket come game day. So far there is no word on how the 1,000 budget tickets will be sold, but let's hope that it is done via a lottery of some kind that precludes winners from reselling the ticket.

While I can totally get behind the notion of paying big bucks to see one of the biggest sporting events of the year, I can't help but feel like the money would be better spent elsewhere in viewing the game. If you and a friend go to the game in Tampa after you get tickets, hotel rooms and transportation you could have easily created your own mancave to enjoy Super Bowl XLIII...in a home theater that rivals the local cineplex.

What am I saying? If my beloved Dolphins ever make it to the Super Bowl I'll be there in a heartbeat, especially since it may be a once in a lifetime event.

There are few things sadder than being the last guy to buy into a trend. We've all been there: after thinking long and hard, you finally pick up a pair of parachute pants just as everyone else is starting to wear military-themed clothing, or you get that pair of oversized dark-rimmed glasses at the same time that all of your friends are trading theirs in for wire rims. Caught between the end of a fad and its return as a retro style, you are stuck out in the open, decidedly uncool, sporting a look that immediately seems dated and cheesy.

The latest example of this sad, sad subspecies is Ricardo Cardona. The head chef at Sofrito, an upscale New York eatery, he recently announced the arrival of his $1,000 paella, just in time to catch the plummeting fortunes of the stock market, the much-ballyhooed arrival of thrift, and a serious backlash against profligate spending.

Unlike the $1,000 bagel, the $175 burger, and other white truffle-laden delicacies, Cardona's paella doesn't really feature any outrageously expensive top-shelf items. Rather, it is filled with reasonably upscale ingredients, including black truffles, sea scallops, baby squid, baby eel, mussels, cherrystone clams, king crab legs, mini-chorizo sausages, octopus, lobster tails, prawns, and Spanish ham. While the ham, or jamon iberico, is a pricey item, it doesn't really have the cachet of white truffles, gold leaf, goji berries, or caviar, the usual suspects that crowd the ingredient lists of ultra-expensive dishes.

Despite the grim reality facing the consumer electronics industry, which saw a decrease in spending of close to 14%, the largest drop since the category has been tracked; video games continue to rake in the cash!

In fact back in June, when people thought we were well into a recession, my colleague Zac Bissonnette took the stance that things couldn't be all that bad since we spent 37% more on games than the previous year.

Personally I feel that strong home entertainment sales such as video games or movie rentals signal a shift in consumer spending, which reflects the current financial situation: Consumers are looking for high value diversions.

Now this is a bad omen.

Mother's Cookies, those pink and white frosted animal cookies we all grew up with (I favored the pink), has abruptly shuttered its doors.

An Oakland, Calif. institution for 92 years, this company experienced the gamut of corporate attempts at money making in the '90s and 00's. Its final incarnation, as Archway & Mother's Cake and Cookie Co. of Battle Creek, Mich., was a holding of private equity firm Catterton Partners, of (where else), Greenwich, CT. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the price increase of raw materials, and told workers to go home. It ceased all production as of last week.

According to SFGate.com, Catterton said in a statement it "took a number of actions to remedy" the company's financial crisis, "but these actions were not sufficient to overcome the losses and return Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. and Archway Cookies LLC to profitability."

One of those efforts was to seek financing. "But, as you know, the credit environment is very difficult now," said Meaghan Repko, a spokeswoman for the owners, in New York.

So now Mother's Cookies, source of comfort for millions for almost a century, is a victim of the credit crunch. Is this how the cookie is supposed to crumble?

This wasn't your mother's Tupperware party.

A few weeks ago I got invited to a party at a local mom's house. It was a "Jeans/sell your old gold" party. A woman with a truckload of out-of-season high-end denim jeans was coming to sell us $200 pairs of 7 For All Mankind and True Religion jeans for $50. Also: A man who would buy your old gold.

"Old gold?" I asked. Yes. Like old jewelry you've never worn old gold. "Dig through your drawers and you'll find something to sell," my friend told me. "Last time we had this party everyone bought jeans with the money they made selling their old gold." Apparently, as the economy tanks and the price of gold elevates, women all around the country are hosting these kinds of soirees.

Due to overwhelming demand, the US Mint has had to halt sales of its 24-karat gold buffalo coins. Sales of the solid gold coins have skyrocketed this year, as investors look for safe havens for their money. Though gold prices can be quite volatile in terms of dollars, there is no doubt that gold is indeed valuable. Gold won't declare bankruptcy, as so many major companies in so many major investing portfolios have done recently.

So if you want to invest in gold, you now have one less option. What are some other choices?

You can invest in gold futures, which are currently well below their high point earlier this year, but have been rebounding from a recent low point (but given current events, this fact may well be changing. Keep track before making a move).

Chalk this up as another opportunity for self employment created by the current housing meltdown. An entrepreneurial spirit in Stockton California started the Greener Grass Company, which for the right price will spraypaint your lawn a lushious green in order to increase the home's curb appeal. Nick Terlouw uses a converted insecticide sprayer and a water based dye to transform lawns from lame to lush in just a matter of hours.

While he is in his first year of operating he's already found a niche spraypainting the front lawns of higher end foreclosed homes for real estate agents who are ready to do anything to get a home to sell. While the banks aren't footing the bill for the service like they have for those offered by "board up" men, Nick sees a bright green future ahead as foreclosures and dry spells don't appear to be on the way out.

It's no surprise that consumers have been making cutbacks this past year in many area. I've written about how my wife and I were skipping out on tickets, and now it looks like others are doing the same. Even though Major League Baseball brought in record breaking attendance this past year, professional sports overall are suffering due to the current economic crisis.

With rising prices and shrinking disposable incomes it's no wonder that the NFL is expecting lower revenue this year. The commissioner even took the same stance as corporate America, toting the importance of cost cutting to league staff. The League already took action to change its labor contract in order to remain more viable in the future, and the price of an average NFL ticket rose almost 8% this year.

If like me you're a stay at home fan you may not think that these issues will affect you much. I mean you weren't willing to pay $67 bucks that an NFL ticket cost last year so why should you care about a $5 increase this year? Unfortunately the answer is both simple and complex thanks to the draconian broadcasting rules employed by the NFL.

Driving through my local Starbucks yesterday, I happened on a caffeinated rage between two drivers. Apparently, a female driver had turned in front of another car "skipping" him in line. The man in this car, a regular customer. immediately became irate and yelled obscenities and vulgarities out his window at the woman. This rant was picked up by the drive-thru microphone and broadcasted clearly both inside Starbucks and to the outside seating. The woman who had done the skipping quickly jumped into the fracas with her own string of foul language and obscene gestures.

Sigh. Now, I'm just trying to get a cup of coffee. I like my peaceful mornings. Is there really that much time difference if one car goes ahead of you? Does such an offense really require this much energy and emotion? It got me to thinking that maybe this is part of the fall-out from a sagging economy and growing anxiety. It is Economic Anxiety Disorder.

People are anxious: about money, portfolios, jobs, and mortgages. They are watching their hopes of an early retirement vanish along with the equity in their homes and their health care benefits. Our culture has morphed from one of pride to one of anxiety and blame. We have gotten crispy and cranky, ready to explode with the smallest frustration.

A lonely hearts website for married people claims that more women are signing up than a year ago and the economy is to blame. The website, IllicitEncounters.com, states women were joining the site at 55 people per day in 2007, but has risen to 142 as of last week. Reportedly more women are turning to adultery because the credit crisis had made their husbands "no fun," causing them to work longer hours, worry about losing their jobs and shun social activities.

Unlike "golf widows" or "fishing widows," these "downturn widows" report that the husbands are not happy and are too preoccupied to put much effort into their marriages. Seeking attention and wanting to feel special, they are accessing this encounter website to have new, exciting relationships with no strings attached.

A quick review of the site shows listings from married men and women bored with their marriages looking for excitement. And, of course, that is exactly what affairs are all about. It is easy to have excitement when there are no responsibilities; like mortgages, bills, taxes, and childcare.

When Target Stores put Mervyns on the block to sell in 2004, you'd think it would be a case of buyout-ee beware. Any entity willing to pick up the tab on a chain of failing department stores has its own best interests at heart, and is not riding in as a White Knight to save the day. But now the former owners of Mervyns are suing the private equity group that bought it for putting it out of business.

As detailed in the Wall St. Journal, (subscription required) the Mervyns team claims that Target set up the stores to fail when it cut a deal with a group of investors. The two-part transaction sold the stores and the real estate separately. The new owners then leased back the properties to the stores and effectively put them out of business with increased fees. Mervyns went into bankruptcy over the summer and will be shutting down a slew of stores.

As retail and restaurant businesses continue to fail in this sour economy, you're going to see a lot more of these stories cropping up, and probably a lot more hurt feelings. It's an economic lesson that most of us can learn something from, even for personal finances. When you are in economic trouble and seek help, the person or entity who kicks in cash to help you is likely going to take more from you in the end.

Mervyns was valuable mostly because of its real estate holdings, and so the equity group came in and took what it could from it. Mervyns failed, but that's not going to cause the owners to lose much sleep, because they can just rent out the properties to somebody else. The current mortgage crisis is being caused by similar thinking, as homeowners fail on their loans. The banks were willing to dole out bad loans because, in the end, they will own the property and can resell it for some value.

You may not have thought there was anywhere else for the airlines to cut back. But, no. To cut costs, they have actually figured out a way to alter time and space.

Turns out that flight paths as we know them are less-than-efficient, and there are a few methods to wring more economy from the way planes fly on established routes. The airlines are already at it.

Method One: Flights get a little shorter. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has estimated that in Europe, flights are about 30 miles longer than they have to be, mostly because jetliners have to avoid military airspace. Get the guys in green to ease up on peacetime airspace restrictions, and allow commercial pilots to make tighter turns (so hold on to those non-existent peanuts, folks). European flights could shorten by about four minutes if that happens. For the past year, American airlines have been permitted to use military airspace during peak travel periods like Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, but mostly to ease delays. It's not a leap to extend those permissions to help ailing airlines save a little more cash.