As a young adult, I had my wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon. When I received the bill, I was shocked at the cost; over $400 per tooth. When I returned for the follow-up visit the next week, I mentioned the bill to the surgeon.

"It seems like a lot of money," I exclaimed. "Why it only took you about 10 minutes per tooth."

The dentist smiled and said, "That is exactly what you are paying for. If you want me to take an hour or more to remove each tooth, I can do that. In fact, most anyone can do that. But there is value in a 10 minute extraction."

Good point. I never forgot it.

True value is never based on time or even effort. It is based on intellectual property, ability, and the value of the service to the customer. Each item needs to be carefully evaluated when you are pricing your products, services, or time in the marketplace.

• Evaluate your intellectual property. This is the sum total of education, experience and expertise in your field. Most of us severely underestimate this value mistakenly believing that "everyone" knows this or "anyone" could do that. The accumulated knowledge after years in a discipline has tremendous value and establishes you as an expert. List your areas of expertise and include them in your resume, marketing and sales pitch. Make sure you differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace.
• Appraise your ability. Are you among some of the best at what you do? Can you accomplish quickly what it may take someone else extra time? One of the consultants I work with can evaluate the efficiency of corporate operations very quickly and make recommendations for money and time saving improvements. Organizations are willing to pay a lot of money for her time because she can accomplish in short order what it would take a team of consultants months to do. People that have high ability make what they do look easy (think of Tiger Woods). But that does not mean that it is. Make sure that you have an accurate appraisal of your abilities for pricing.

It goes without saying that buying holiday gifts for everyone on your list can add up... really fast. And this season, you're probably feeling even more pinched. If you have credit card debt and are concerned about losing your job or even your home, you've probably already cut back. Why rack up more debt buying holiday gifts?

This year, a lot of people are in the same boat so it's time to get creative: How about giving the gift of your time or services to family and friends?

For example, give elderly relatives who live nearby a gift certficate for a homecooked meal or two, assistance with a time-consuming or otherwise overwhelming (at least to them) domestic chore like cleaning out the garage, offer to wash their car or give lessons in how to use a computer and the Internet. For friends and family with kids, offer your babysitting services; it could be a one-time only offer or a series of three childcare sessions spread throughout the year. If you both have kids, do an "even" swap and call it the gift of childcare.

My father died when I was 21 and I was hired as a full-time university instructor when I was 28. In the intervening seven years, my health care consisted of one or two visits to a cheap sawbones and a well-thumbed copy of Prescription for Nutritional Healing. Overall, I was fairly lucky: apart from two wisdom-tooth extractions, a case of acid reflux, and a broken hand, I didn't have any problems that vitamins, cigarettes, and a decent exercise regimen couldn't take care of.

While I look back on my twenties as something of a narrowly-averted accident, I also realize that I was in a very large minority. According to Time magazine, 30% of 19-29 year-old Americans don't have health insurance. Luckily, many major insurers, including Humana and WellPoint, have begun offering ultra-cheap insurance plans (Wellpoint's "Thrill-Seeker," "Part-time Daredevil," and "Calculated Risk Taker" plans seem particularly appropriate for this demographic). Beginning at as little as $30 per month, these plans don't really offer much in the way of preventative care, and their deductibles are extremely large; in the case of Humana's cheapest plan, a $30 premium is paired with a $7,500 deductible.

On the other hand, speaking as someone who definitely dodged the bullet, if I had known about $30 per month insurance, I definitely would have taken it. As it is, I just thank my lucky stars that I didn't need any surgery!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. While an admitted picker, grinner, lover, and sinner, he's wondering if he can classify himself as a thrill-seeker, part-time daredevil, and calculated risk taker.

Selling a home in today's market is a challenge, but going it alone as a "For Sale By Owner", adds a whole new set of issues to the equation. I began looking into the FSBO market after a good friend asked my opinion on several online sites that offer service to for sale by owners. After looking closer at many online solutions, I decided that I couldn't give valid input without getting a Realtor's take on the FSBO market.

While the Internet is busy leveling the playing field in many industries, selling your own home isn't quite as easy as selling your old comic books on eBay. There are disadvantages and risks to going it on your own. In order to find out about the hazards and issues associated with selling your own home I spoke with a Kari Nisler Hafeli of Marcie & Associates Realty, Inc. in Ohio.

The first thing Kari stressed was that selling homes is her full time job, and that having a professional with years of experience and knowledge is a big plus. Even more important is the exposure that you gain from using the Multiple Listing Service, a tool that agents use to list and find homes. When you use a Realtor your home is listed on the MLS for all to see. Although it's possible to contract to have your FSBO home appear in the MLS, it does cost money.

Often times getting the best deal on groceries involves making several trips to different stores in order to get the lowest prices on everything you need. However there is an easy way to avoid the hassle of going to multiple stores; price match your groceries! While many stores seem to have so many catches that the poster advertising price matches looks like someone's last will and testament, my local grocery stores will price match just about any item they have in stock. The deal gets even better when you factor in the gas and time savings that you gain from going to one store instead of four!

The simplest way to begin your price matching plan is to grab a copy of your local paper with the week's shopping circulars, be sure to grab the coupons while you're in there since you can tack those on after the Before you go through the trouble of arranging your price matching make sure the store you intend to go to does price match; in my area Wal-mart and Meijer both match local prices. Once you find out which store have the cheapest prices be sure to note the store and the amount on your shopping list. If you plan to price match numerous of items and don't want the clerk or your fellow shoppers to put a piece of celery in your back you should also mark the pages in the ads in order to speed up the whole process.

It's really that simple to save money on grocery shopping by price matching. The only real catch that you will run into is that you can't price match store brands. Depending on the store this may also include meat and produce departments since the price match is intended to offer the same price for the exact same item. Since we do most of our shopping based on what is on sale we don't do a whole lot of price matching but in my college days I didn't dare venture into a Wal-mart without an ad for Meijer!

As a longtime subscriber to Newsweek and a frequent reader of Time, I've been appalled at the rapid diminishment of both magazines. Issues once running to well over a hundred pages, full of international news, have shrunk to a shell of their former selves. The latest news from Silicon Alley Insider adds another note to the death knells.

The blog reports that 111 Newsweek veterans have accepted a buyout to retire from the mag. This reinforces my conviction that it has given up on comprehensive, detailed reporting in favor of People Magazine-type copy, heavy on Brittany and such pseudo-entertainment. I've also noted a drop in advertising quality. Where once any consumer company worth its salt would place ads in these two giants, we see ads for products once reserved for late night cable television and supermarket tabloids.

Fortunately, my favorite news magazine, The Economist, continues to provide wide-ranging, authoritative news. As far as Newsweek and Time magazines go, I'd jump on a buyout of my subscriptions if I had the opportunity.

In a recent New York Times column written by Marci Alboher, The Leisure Economy: How Changing Demographics, Economics, and Generational Attitudes Will Reshape Our Lives and Our Industries, author Linda Nazareth predicts that in the near future, as more baby boomers retire, we're going to see "leisure envy."

In a nutshell, Nazareth said: "I see us moving to a society where more people have time. Right now, baby boomers and people a little younger are working flat out and driving their kids everywhere, and they are proud of it. If someone asks you how you are, you have to say, 'I'm really busy.' I argue that the boomers are the most competitive generation we've ever seen, and they have made it fashionable to be busy."

She believes that as they retire, baby boomers will drive a trend of a new type of leisure where it'll become fashionable not to be busy, to have the money and freedom to not have to work every moment. That's where "leisure envy" will come in, of course, since the baby boomers who aren't prepared for retirement will likely be working into their 70s, 80s and beyond.

In any case, I hope she's right about relaxation becoming hip, because if it becomes fashionable to work a little less, then maybe I'll wind up, oh, I don't know, reading The Leisure Economy instead of writing about the fact that I'm too busy to read it.

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).

I'm not a guy prone to violent thoughts. Really. But, you know, for the last few hours, I haven't been able to get my email to work.

Fortunately, just as I was about to take a hammer to my computer, I realized that it wasn't really a problem with my PC, but a problem with the email server software program thing-a-ma-jig that I use (OK, I'm not a computer expert either). Once I realized that, I went to a back up email server program thing-a-ma-jig that I have, and now I have email, and all is well.

But in between all of this, I fantasized about throwing my computer into the trunk of my car, and in an ode to The Sopranos, I figured I'd shoot the monitor and dump my hard drive into a lake.