CDs. Certificates of Deposit. They may offer low interest rates than you've grown accustomed to, but at least they offer some return on your money and are a lot less risky than the stock market right now.

Yes, that's right. Putting money into CDs is probably one of the safest things you can do with your cash amid protracted economic uncertainty and volatility in both the stock market and the banking sector. If you shop around a bit, you can find rates as high as 8% depending on the length of deposit. A good source for comparison shopping on CD interest rates is bankrate.com.

CDs usually carry a fixed interest rate and can be opened at your bank or online for as little as $500. There are three, six and one-year CDs that pay interest at the end of their term. If you open a CD online, banks often offer a higher rate of interest. Another plus is that CDs, as bank deposits, are secured by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.).

Don't miss the rest of our series on Underrated In America!

Be sure to check the FDIC coverage of the issuing bank. Given, the recent wave of bank mergers, it's a good idea to double-check to ensure that your deposits are protected. CD accounts are insured up to $250,000.

Opening a CD account or two is certainly a better idea than tucking your greenbacks under the mattress!

Americans spent more than $2.3 trillion on health care last year. That's more than $7,600 per person -- and it's going to get worse! The government projects that in less than a decade, you'll spend 20% of your annual income on health care.

Health care has been a major theme during this year's Presidential election, and we're paying close attention to the Presidential candidates' plans for how they will fix our badly broken health care system. But let's be honest here: The odds of any real change happening anytime soon are slim to none, so let us help you deal with this budget buster. We're going to show you how to save big bucks on your health care costs right now.

Neal Templin's Cheapskate column in today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required), is a reminder that restlessness -- and the cost of relocation -- doesn't come cheap.

Templin and his wife are making their fifth move in 17 years. In their situation, it's work related. Still, even with the fringes of a corporate relocation, the costs add up. "You spend thousands fixing up the home you sell and thousands more fixing up the home you buy," and that doesn't include the costs -- both in time and money -- that most of us don't consider. Things like transferring automobile registration and insurance, finding new resources, or enrolling in new schools may demand more time and stress than money, but it all counts.

In "The Millionaire Next Door," 1998, Stanley and Danko described research they had done into the characteristics of millionaires. It turned out that millionaires often don't look like millionaires. They don't necessarily drive a Mercedes or even a relatively new car. More interesting, millionaires tend to stay put. They stay married and they don't move all that often. They tend to keep what they acquire. They also don't spend much time on home projects. They don't fritter their energy away, the use it to make more money.

We may be beginning to emerge from decades of bigger is better and more still isn't enough. Maybe we'll become less restless.

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?

If you read the papers fairly regularly, you probably know that Starbucks is closing 600 of its stores. There are a lot of reasons for this, as The New York Times recently explained, including high gas prices, high food costs, and a generally lousy economy, which, if the stock market today is any indicator, isn't going to be improving any time soon.

All of this equals fewer people drinking coffee.

But The New York Times also pointed out that Starbucks had a plan to grow exponentially. In 2004, it announced that it would double its speed of expansion and reach 15,000 stores in the United States, twice its current 7,000 stores.

Everyone has the list: the list of what we can and can not live without. And in these days of $4 gas (it's nearing $5 already where I live in Southern California, by the way), we're all dusting off these lists to see where we can cut costs.

I recently discovered an obvious category I can cut out of my monthly nut: My newspaper subscriptions.

Why should I pay for any newspaper I can read entirely online for free? I'm already paying the phone company for high-speed internet, which enables me to read everything online in the first place. This is like paying twice.

There are a lot of companies out there on the Internet, just dying to save you money. So I thought I'd update everyone on some of those web sites that I suspect most of you probably haven't heard of.

DotHomes.com -- Two entrepreneurs started a home-selling web site right about the time the home market is collapsing. Smaaaaart. Or maybe it is. People need all the help they can get these days, and there are several neat features to this. For starters, you can look for homes around the world and not just the United States. Then there's the fact that many sellers have video tours of their homes at DotHomes. And one of the really nice features for the seller is that it's free to put your home on here. And it's free for the buyer, too, of course. So how do you make money, I asked Douglas de Jager, one of the founders. They're still working on that, he admitted, saying: "We don't make income. Income spoils people."

The American Electronics Association released a report last week as part of Earth Day celebrations making a strong case for telecommuting. The study found that if all employees in the U.S. whose positions allowed it worked from home two days a week the demand for gasoline would drop by 1.35 billion gallons!

The report also addresses many of the concerns managers have with their underlings telecommuting, dispelling several, and providing additional reasons for companies to support working from home. The strongest reasons other than cost savings are that working from home improves both employee retention and productivity.

For many employees, the technology to enable telecommuting is already available. Possibly one of the biggest hurdles is the need for a secure connection to the work network, known as a VPN, but in recent years these have become more common. Off the shelf solutions such as LogMeIn and GoToMyPC provide secure connections and are easy to set up, providing a link to a computer already on the network. This leaves just the need for a laptop, miscellaneous office equipment and a high speed Internet connection to complete the telecommuter's home office.

I would love to be able to work from home for a few days a week at my day job as a database administrator. I currently commute about 40 miles round trip, and while I carpool, I am still spending a nice chunk of my monthly take home on gas. In my case, the technology is all in place, and as for home office equipment, I'd be willing to use my own technology to work from home a few days a week. Unfortunately working from home is still looked at warily by my employer, though given the green initiatives in place at work; this report may be just what I need. I guess I'll be doing a mass emailing in the morning! I think I'll need support from the president to get this one green lit.

What do you all think? Do your employers allow you to telecommute? Why or why not? Let's hear from you.

There's an old Arab proverb that's rather chilling -- when you think of the hard lesson that must have been learned for someone to come up with the saying in the first place: It is wise to bring some water, when one goes out to look for water.

Water, of course, is something a lot of Americans -- including myself -- take for granted. Most of us have good plumbing, and our tap water is clean, or at least we're pretty sure it is. We'll take long, hot showers without thinking twice about it, and I'm sure many people in countries with low water reserves think that the idea of using a hose on a lawn -- a bunch of grass -- has to be the most wasteful and sinful idea to ever come down the pike.

So when the City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, our nation's third largest water utility, sent me some spring season tips on saving water, saving money and helping to preserve the environment, I didn't need any convincing to pass them onto WalletPop readers.

It may seem like a stereotype that belongs solely to women, especially stay-at-home moms, but guys clip coupons, too. In fact, I do it all the time.

I'm very methodical about it, too. Every Sunday, almost without fail, I clip out the newspaper coupons and think very carefully whether we actually buy the item, need the item now, might need the item later, would never buy this product in a million years and would buy the product but only because I have a coupon. I go through the whole process, usually in a comfortable spot in the house while watching TV. It may only take 10 minutes, but it's a very elaborate saving money strategy that I've come to enjoy. I finish this weekly ritual by stacking the coupons in neat little piles and placing them in a very safe, special drawer in my office.

Here's a great way to save money and have fun at the same time: Cook with a friend. I started cooking with my girlfriends a few years ago, and found it was the perfect way to catch up with a friend while I stocked my freezer with dinner for my family, treats for my kids, and baked goods for an impromptu brunch.

The other day, my friend Alison and I made vegetable stew with rice at my house. While our kids played happily, we pooled our ingredients and took turns peeling, chopping and stirring. Within an hour we both had a delicious dinner for the night, and enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Then Alison had the idea to take the leftover leeks and make a yummy leek and potato soup as well. Another meal to check off the list.

Cooking dinner can often be a tedious chore -- especially with kids underfoot -- but do it with a friend and it becomes a fun get-together. Plus we saved a ton of dough by buying in bulk, then sharing our ingredients and making at least three meals together. Several months ago, Alison had the idea to turn this fabulous notion into a Yahoo site and now a website. It's a great way to set up cookie and appetizer exchanges and get some food in your freezer for a later date. This year, a group of friends and I pooled our time and efforts and made granola and biscotti as teacher gifts -- a huge hit, and also a money saver as well. Check out Cookingwithfriendsclub.com for fantastic recipes you and your friends can cook together.

In a recent post about the massive increase in personal bankruptcies, Zac Bissonette commented on the seeming disappearance of personal responsibility. A corollary to this is the apparent dissolution of self-control. Here's an example:

An acquaintance of mine often complains that he is living from paycheck to paycheck. In spite of the fact that he makes a very healthy salary, he seems incapable of putting aside any money, and regularly wonders why he is always broke.

One day, as he talked about this, I noticed that he was gesturing with a Starbucks cup. Specifically, he was gesturing with a Venti Starbucks cup. From previous experience, I know that his Starbucks cup was full of one of the carbo-loaded, sugary, creamy Starbucks creations that costs $5 or $6. I also know that this is one of two Starbucks beverages that he drinks in the course of any given day.

Keep in mind, by the way, that his employer has a nifty, space-age drink machine that allows the user to choose from a wide variety of coffees and brew an individual cup in seconds. The boss also offers free soy milk as well as a wide selection of regular milks and creamers, not to mention all of the most common sweeteners. This stands in stark comparison to my current employer, who has the same cool machine, but charges 50 cents a cup for coffee and only offers the cheap, crappy synthetic creamer. Honestly, my boss would charge for toilet paper if he could figure out a way to retrofit the dispensers.

Free coffee...lucky bastard...

The world is treated to immense media coverage every year on the day after Thanksgiving. Americans line up at store entrances and websites to score bargains galore as retailers get set up for the largest volume-selling day of the year. Bargains are found in plenty of places and in plenty of categories. Once December concludes, though, many of us go through the gambit of paying higher prices than we should for the rest of the year. You don't have to!

Whether you're looking to purchase a new flat-panel television, laptop computer or living room couch, become accustomed to always (always!) checking the right sources to ensure you are receiving the best bargain possible.

A few favorites of mine, FatWallet.com and GottaDeal.com, feature so many resources to the regular Joe about bargains it will make your head spin. Want to know who price matches who and where those factory rebates can be best applied to give you the ultimate bargain any time of the year? Both websites will treat you to a bevy of forums and feedback areas that will, with a little research, make you the most informed shopper you can possible be.

Now what to do with your savings? Ah, that's the other side of the coin. I say, take the difference between what you would have paid and what you did pay and invest it. The problem with most bargain hunters I've seen is that they use savings to just buy more stuff. Only buy what you need, find the absolute best price you can (and save shipping and/or local taxes if the purchase is online) and pass the savings into a money market, CD, interest-bearing savings account or even open up an index fund if you have a few thousand saved after a year of bargain shopping.

Check out our sister blog, BloggingStocks for great ideas about how and where to invest.

I'm always on the lookout for cool ways to save money -- and buying coupons on the internet might seem pretty strange. But it's also pretty cool. TheCouponClippers.com is a family-run website that sells coupons: you can get hundreds of coupons for hundreds of products. They often have more than 1,000 copies of each coupon available, and the expiration date/terms of the offer are clearly listed.

The minimum order is only $3, but with shipping and a 50 cent processing fee, the site is probably only worthwhile for ordering lots of coupons. But if you find yourself buying the same products regularly (and who doesn't?) you can probably save yourself a ton of money here. The prices per coupon are pretty reasonable -- 50 cents off Dawn Direct Foam costs 5 cents -- if you live in an area where coupons are doubled, that will give you a return on investment of 2,000%. Warren Buffett, eat your heart out!

For my coupon-saving opportunities, check out MyCoupons.com, which has a pretty cool list of special promotional codes for various retailers: Shoes.com, Kohls and Victoria's Secret, to name a few. They also have a pretty cool coupon blog.