There's no telling how many companies are cracking down on abuse of employee discount policies, but one company that recently announced doing so is GM. The logic is simple: Passing the employee discount to a non-employee costs the company money. GM says that the employee purchase program can save a buyer from $1,000 to $9,000.

Imagine an employee buying a car for her uncle using the employee discount. There was clearly a significant savings (the reason why the employee and family member did this in the first place) and GM loses a sale of a car to a legitimate customer which might have been profitable. Multiply this situation by hundreds or thousands, and it's easy to see that GM has lost a lot of money.

Certainly GM is not the only company that struggles with this issue. I'd venture to guess that it has a firm policy about the discount, but hasn't strictly enforced it in the past, when the economics of the car business were better.

According to his website, Tom Hopkins is one of the top sales gurus in the world: "His first book, How to Master the Art of Selling, has sold over 1.6 million copies and been translated into ten languages." He is known as "the builder of sales champions."

So it's fair to say that the techniques he suggests are probably employed by a good number of successful real estate agents. Here's a sample of his "advice" for real estate agents looking to increase sales, from his book Mastering the Art of Selling Real Estate:

"If there is a charge to refinance the property prior to the maturity date, don't call it the prepayment penalty. Who wants to be penalized? No one. Call it the prepayment privilege."

I understand the it's the real estate agent's job to put his best foot forward but, to me, that language is incredibly misleading. The truth is that everyone who buys a house has the privilege of prepaying; a prepayment penalty just adds a special cost for doing so. This tricky euphemism has no basis in reality.

Okay, it's not really a scam... but it does involve a bit of psychology used against the shopper... How often have you gone to the store for a much-needed item only to be faced with a sign that says "Two for $5"? The first thing I always wonder is whether I can get one for $2.50, or if I have to buy two of them to get that sale price.

That's what the store is hoping you wonder, and that you'll buy two just to be on the safe side of the sale. It's all marketing and psychology, and quite often, the sale price is valid whether you buy one or two. The store is trying to move volume. So instead of telling you that your personal care item is on sale for $2.50, they are going to offer you a "two for" deal. The hope is that you'll buy two instead of the one you were planning on buying.

It seems to me that I see these signs more and more often, so I'm suspecting that the psychology works in favor of the stores. Here's the thing: If you're going to use up one pretty quickly and then go to the store to buy another, it probably makes sense to scoop up two right away since they're on sale.

But if it's an item that you use sparingly, don't bother to get two. You've got your money tied up in a second item that you won't need for a long time, so it just doesn't make sense. It's actually more budget friendly to wait and buy the second one closer to when you actually need it. Besides, there's a good chance it will be on sale again before you'll need that second one. So keep your money in your pocket a little bit longer and don't end up spending more than you planned by buying that second one when you don't really need it.

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 daily deal for Saturday, April 19 2008 is $9 to $15 kids swimsuits at CWDKids.com, which carries casual children's clothing from well-known manufacturers. The swimsuits and wet suits are available in infant and children's sizes. The maholo print tankini (shown) comes in sizes 4 to 14 and is reduced from $34 to $15.

It wasn't clear from an email from the company showing a handful of bathing suits that there are dozens of other swimsuits and loads of cute, quality summer attire on sale. On the home page, click on "Our Biggest Summer Sale" and dozens of sale items will appear.

Daily deal for Tuesday, April 15: This 65 piece collection from Ulta is beyond a great deal! It's Ulta's own brand, which is normally a great value and has tons of colors to choose from. I don't know if the $175 value assigned to this set is real or not, but at the regular price of $18.74, you know it's impossible to go wrong. Add to that the current coupon which gives you 20% off any one item at Ulta.com, and the cost of this set is only $14.99

What you get: 36 Eyeshadows, 4 Cheek Colors, 1 Bronzer, 11 Lip Colors, 6 Lip Glosses, 3 Lip Plumpers, 1 Eye Shadow Base, 1 Lip Pencil, 1 Eye Pencil, 8 Double Sided Shadow Applicators 1 Blush Brush, and 2 Lip Brushes.

Extra 20% off is available by using code 92366 at checkout.

Whimsical children's' retailer Land Of Nod is holding its Spring Cleaning Sale, with up to 80% discounts on kids' bedding, furniture, decor, toys and more.

It's a great time to stock up on seasonal items: the Ain't No Mountain High Enough toboggan is marked down to $49 from $129. It would look great under next year's Christmas tree.

Easter baskets, winter holiday crafts and Valentines are also on sale. Heads up to those who read my post on Budget Birthday Party Going for Kids: these designer duds piggy banks (phthalate-free) make a novel birthday gift or party favor for children age 3 to ten, especially accompanied by a roll of nickels, dimes or quarters for their opening day deposit!

So I'm depositing some money in a bank. It's not my bank. It's my brother's. I've borrowed a little money the day before, and now I'm paying him back. And the teller asks if I'd like to play the bank's scratch-off contest and possibly win a ton of money.

I tell her that I'm not a customer, that I'm depositing money in my--

She interrupts, tells me that's not a problem. So do I want to play or not?

"Sure," I say, shrugging, figuring I'll kill ten seconds while I learn that I'm not a winner of a quarter of a million dollars or whatever the pay-off was.

Some deals only come around once or twice a year, but offer savings that justify the wait. This post is part of our series on such 'don't miss' sales.

Would the men kindly avert their eyes for a moment? Or just focus closely on the model to the right. Thanks.

OK, ladies. Don't deny it. Victoria's Secret has us right where it wants us. A sexy-but-accessible brand name, it lures us with the one-two punch of retail: It is both practical AND frivolous. We all need new undies and bras from time to time. And we all want to wear pretty little lacy things under our clothes.

It's no wonder we all wait patiently for its vaunted semi-annual sale. Held each year in January and May, just as we're getting a little bored with the bras in the drawer, the store brings out its signature pink bins, and fills them with cute underthings at up to 70% off.

Quality lingerie is pricey, and Victoria's Secret is no bargain for its mid-range quality. All the more reason to shop the sales, during which underwear is $3.99 and bras are marked down to start at $12.99.

Watch for announcements and listen for buzz as the sale approaches. Keep in mind that they start almost a full month online before hitting the bricks & mortar store.

We now return to our regular posting. You can tune in again, men. Guys? Hello...

Some of us have smart shopping-OCD. We're so obsessed with getting a bargain that we undervalue our time, and will spend 20 minutes to save 20 cents. That I suffer from the illness became obvious to me when I tested the patience of some friends while I compared unit prices on sugar free iced tea mixes at the grocery store.

I'm not alone, however. Jean Chatzky, recently wrote that she spent a full workweek trying to save a few hundred dollars on a new television. Chatzky offers a wonderful formula for estimating the value of your time, and deciding whether comparison shopping for Tic Tacs is worth doing:

Say you make $100,000 a year. Remove the last three zeros ($100), divide the number in half and you get your approximate hourly rate, in this case $50. Unless you're "making" that much by shopping for your TV or constantly combing the Internet for slightly higher CD yields (or whatever your time-suck happens to be), you're losing money.

Here on WalletPop, we love offering money-saving tips but it's important to keep this in mind: Depending on your financial situation, some of these tips may be too petty to be worth your time. Being a "smart shopper" may actually be costing you money!

I'm starting to admire the marketing team at White Castle. First, they turn Valentine's Day to their advantage by offering candlelit dinners to couples, and now, according to a story in MediaPost, they're taking Daylight Savings time, this innocuous if disruptive moment in our lives, and they're creating an advertising opportunity.

On Sunday morning, during the young hour of 1 a.m.-2 a.m., right before the time change, all White Castles will offer two free hamburgers to each customer who drops by.

It's a no-brainer. They know the relatively few who will take them up on the offer are likely to order a soft drink or a few other items off the menu, off-setting the cost, and by doing this, they'll get hungry-for-copy writers like myself mentioning them in the media.

I was FLORed. (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.) Late last night I placed an order for a few dozen FLOR carpet tiles for my living room, the 'Morning Coffee' pattern in 'Decaf' (reddish orange) and 'Espresso' (dark dark brown). The shipping cost, via UPS Ground, from the Georgia warehouse to my home in Portland, Oregon was painful, though, $39 for my order; I would have ordered a few extra tiles in some other colors and textures, but that would have tacked another $13 on my order. I shivered, and pressed "buy."

This morning, bright and early before the sun was up here on the West Coast, I got my shipping confirmation. Speedy! I thought. Then around 9 a.m. I got another email, this a promotional offer. "Free Shipping for a Limited Time!" the subject read. Ohhh... ouch!

I spent several minutes feeling peeved, and then I thought: why not just call? I dialed the customer service line and was connected to a friendly representative who happily processed a refund for my shipping. Giving me plenty of time to enjoy my morning coffee.

If you, too, are in the market for some FLOR tiles, now's the time! The free shipping code is BP887W, and the email didn't say when the promotion would end.

Valentine's day and President's day sales are long gone, and usually, shoppers must wait until St. Patty's day or beyond for big bargains. Not so this year because this Friday is February 29, making 2008 a leap year. Not surprisingly, some retailers, restaurants and savvy marketing types are taking advantage of the quirk in the calendar.

An article in the New York Times, "Leap Year Day is Special and Marketers Know It," mentions a few of the most tempting promotions. For example, if you are one of the estimated 200,000 Americans whose birthday falls on February 29th, you can get a free lunch at Boston Market on Friday. And Papa John's is introducing its new perfect pan pizza with the slogan, "One Giant Leap for Pankind." The pizza chain is offering three pan pizzas for $29.29 all week. Leap year babies get to try out the new pie for free on the 29th.

Other sales available online: Circuit City is offering customers 29% off certain items.

The Daily Deal for January 14, 2008 is yet another fantastic post-holiday catalog sale. For some great after-Christmas deals, check out the Garnet Hill website. This luxury-goods catalog is having its annual sale and clearance on clothing for women and kids, and bedding and home products. Get a merino v-neck striped sweater for women for $18, marked down from $78; or some adorable flannel pajamas for kids for only $18 (Monday only). The much-coveted women's boiled wool mules in pink, sky blue and rose are marked down from $62 to only $28 (a real bargain).

The sale ends Tuesday, January 15.

In an earlier post, I noted a few items that are probably cheaper in a city than in your hometown. Looking around a little more, I realized that I only scratched the surface. Here, then, are Five More Things That Are (Probably) Cheaper in the City Than Where You Are Living

1. Clothing: Even apart from thrift stores, discount stores, clothing banks, and so forth, clothes are still much cheaper in the city. As with anything else, it comes down to competition. There aren't a lot of small towns that can support more than one or two quirky boutiques, but a good-sized city can support dozens, if not hundreds. In this environment, clothes prices tend to be lower. Granted, this won't make your life any easier if you have your heart set on a Gucci overcoat or Prada banana hammock, but if you're a little flexible and not a total brand whore, a little time and energy should help you find what you're looking for at far below what Nordstrom's, Hecht's, or Lord and Taylor are laughingly asking.

On a side note, thrift stores in the city tend to have a much better selection than in the country. The best thrift
shopping I've ever seen was in Menlo Park, California, which is part of the suburban sprawl surrounding San Francisco. In addition to the cool midrange shirts I found at amazing prices, I came across a Versace suit in a Salvation Army thrift store and my wife discovered a pair of Manolos in another joint. Unfortunately, the prices were steep, but I found an awesome silk and worsted wool suit that I bought for $20.