WalletPop

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

The good news about the recession is that there are bargains to be had for the adventurous shopper. The bad news is that many people are not able to afford them.

Times are tough and the economy is slowing. The National Bureau of Economic Research has not officially pronounced that the U.S. is in a recession -- technically two consecutive quarters of negative Gross Domestic Product Growth. GDP rose 1.9 percent last year and is expected to decline in the first quarter by 0.1%, according to Morgan Stanley.

Yet some economists, including David Wyss of Standard & Poor's, argue that a recession is already in progress. He believes that the economy is half-way through the slowdown, which he expects to be mild as recessions go. "It's still going to hurt," he said in an interview. "Recessions always do."

Indeed, signs of a recession are all around us. People are doing without a full tank of gas. They are watching their pennies at the grocery store. They are learning to do without things that they thought, until recently, they could not do without -- including $10,000 summer camps. Many are watching their homes decrease in value at an alarming rate and foreclosures have hit records.

In WalletPop's Recession Watch series, bloggers documented some of the new trends brought about by the economic slowdown. For example, some young adults are moving in with their grandparents. Businesses of all sizes are merging to save money. Others, such as a karate dojo, are adding quirky new side businesses, such as selling balloons.

Here are some other additional signs of looming recession:

Listeners tuning to oldies radio stations aren't the only ones who are California Dreamin'. The 1965 Mama's and Papa's song could also be an anthem for car thieves.

In 2007, four out of the top 10 regions for car theft were in the Golden State, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). This year Modesto, California topped the list, knocking the area of Las Vegas and Paradise, Nevada, to second place in the ranking of the most vehicle offenses per 1,000 residents.

The auto theft problem in Modesto has police stumped. The city of 208,107 is at the epicenter of the nation's subprime mortgage crisis, but the problems predate that, according to Sgt. Craig Gundlach, a department spokesman. "If we knew, then we wouldn't be up there at the top," he said, adding that the city is a "high intensity area for methamphetamine (use)."

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, one reason why car theft is rampant there is because car owners do not take the necessary precautions. "Most car thieves are amateurs who steal cars for transportation, i.e., 'joy riding,'" the department says on its web site. "The Las Vegas Valley is no different than any other large metropolitan area, but with its added 32 million-plus tourists annually, the problem can be magnified."

To be sure, plenty of other regions face problems with car theft -- many of them on the West Coast. Rounding out the NICB's list for top 10 metropolitan statistical areas for vehicle theft are San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos, California; Stockton, California; San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, California; Laredo, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, Arizona; Stockton, California; Yakima, Washington; and Tucson, Arizona (AOL Money & Finance has a slideshow of the top 20 regions).

Insurance is a necessity of modern life. Face it, there is, as yet, no way to guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to you or that you will live forever. Oftentimes, though, people forget that simple fact and discover all too late that they did not adequately protect themselves.

The good news is that getting proper insurance coverage does not have to be expensive. Even the most pricey insurance is a pittance compared with the costs that could be incurred if you lack sufficient protection. Below are 10 types of policies that are worth the money:

Life insurance
This is especially important if people count on your salary to pay the bills, whether it's your spouse or your kids. "Many people put off getting life insurance," said Jeanne Heisler, a New Jersey agent. "It's very inexpensive, especially if you are young." Single people may not need the coverage if they have enough money to cover their funeral expenses and pay off their debts.

Homeowner's insurance
Banks require that people get this coverage before they agree to underwrite a mortgage, since it protects homeowners from damages caused on their property to other people. The key for homeowner's insurance is to make sure that there is enough to cover the replacement value of the home, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Personal items such as furniture, sports equipment or clothes are also protected under these policies from "insured disasters" such as a fire or hurricane.

When it comes to weddings, people usually spare no expense for what in theory is supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. That's changing in the current economic slowdown.

According to an unscientific yet enlightening survey done by the National Association of Catering Executives, people are starting to keep a closer eye on their spending for the big day. Roughly half of caterers saw a decline in overall wedding spending, 51% saw an increase in Friday and Sunday bookings to avoid pricey Saturday night affairs. and more than 60% noticed people cutting back on luxury items. Most caterers haven't seen an increase in outright cancellations, though, which isn't surprising given the social stigma that would create.

Consumers, though, will watch costs in other ways such as reducing the number of guests they invite, cutting back on the hors d'oeuvres, or having a lower-priced bar, according to Daniel Briones, the group's president. Caterers also are also responding to increasing numbers of consumers that drive harder bargains to get the party they want at the price they want, he said.

"There is a greater competitiveness among those who sell wedding events," he said, adding that people can save 30% by scheduling their affair during off-peak times. "(Consumers) are pushing for greater flexibility."

So the lesson here for people planning the big day is to ask lots of questions, because you might like some of the answers you get.

Freelance writer Jonathan Berr edits the blog Ketchup and Eggs

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.

If words like "Leksvik", "Malm" and "Hemnes" don't sound like an exotic type of pickled herring to you, chances are you are an Ikea shopper.

You also are probably an Ikea shopper if you are in your first apartment or live in a neighborhood where it's important to be trendy on a budget. Maybe you like the store's merging of cool Scandinavian design with functionality and the yummy Swedish meatballs in the cafeteria.

Regardless, you probably like the chain's "impossibly low" prices. I know I did when I worked there during the chain's early days in the U.S. I was there in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. when the store opened its doors for the first time. Throngs of people came in to gawk at the ultra-hip home furnishings. I was in the plant department even though I didn't know anything about them. However, I think I correctly advised one customer that his plants probably kept dying because he kept them on the radiator.

The prices are pretty reasonable on most things. Anyone looking for a real bargain can occasionally find them in the room where returned goods are kept though they are sometimes damaged. Ikea does run occasional promotions such as a $150 gift card with the purchase of any mattress. But anyone looking for real bargains, though, has to wait for the once a year twice a year sales.

Stores knock off 20 to 60% off selected merchandise. The company also has done clever promotions where people can "rent" Christmas trees and return them to the store to get recycled. Sometimes customers get cash back and gift cards.

The deals, though, are almost as sweet as Swedish lingonberries most of the year.

When it comes to insurance, people often think that it's better to be safe than sorry, but often wind up spending more money than they should on coverage they don't need.

Besides wasting money, consumers sometimes don't buy enough coverage that they do need – and don't realize it until a disaster such as a flood occurs. Consumers also pay too much in premiums by keeping their deductibles low, even though they could afford the out-of-pocket expense if they filed a claim.

"The basic rule of insurance is to cover your big risks in life, and those would include your life, your health and your home and your car if you have one," said Greg Daugherty, executive editor of Consumer Reports, in an interview. "You can insure just about anything that you want."

People can take simple steps to save money on insurance, such as shopping around for the best deal. Companies also give discounts to customers who buy more than one type of coverage from them. The key thing for consumers to do is to make sure that they have coverage that's both comprehensive and geared toward covering catastrophic events that would cause economic hardship, such as the death of a spouse.

But the more exotic types of insurance are probably not a good idea for most people because their coverage isn't comprehensive and does not include situations that are catastrophic enough to cause severe economic hardship, according to Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America. Here are a few of the more common types of insurance that Hunter and other experts believe people should avoid:

Actor Nicholas Cage is the latest celebrity to run afoul of the IRS.

According to Forbes magazine, Uncle Sam is accusing Cage of using a company he owns to wrongly write off $3.3 million in personal expenses including limos, meals, gifts, travel and his Gulfstream jet.

"In just-filed U.S. Tax Court lawsuits, the 44-year-old actor--using his legal name of Nicolas Coppola -- is disputing a personal IRS bill for $814,000 in taxes and penalties from 2002 to 2004, while his Saturn Productions of Los Angeles is fighting a demand for $988,000," the magazine said. "The feds hit Cage both ways, denying Saturn a deduction for the disputed expenses while taxing Cage individually on the perks as salary and `constructive dividends.'"

Cage's business manager, Samuel J. Levin, told Forbes the expenses were proper. The Tax Court may feel differently about the matter.

Maybe Cage should employ the legal team that got Wesley Snipes recently cleared of serious tax evasion charges. Snipes managed to convince a jury that he believed he wasn't required to pay income taxes because he didn't think he had to pay taxes. Nonetheless, Snipes owes the government $17 million in back taxes plus interest and penalties.

Cage is going to face a hefty legal bill, so he might want to unload some of his many properties such as a castle in U.K. and a multi-million dollar mansion in Rhode Island. I also have a suspicion that a "Face/Off 2" may be in the works.

--Freelance writer Jonathan Berr edits the blog Ketchup and Eggs.

I bet Mark Twain, who called golf a "good walk spoiled," would have liked bowing because everybody likes bowling. The same can't be said for golf.

The New York Times recently painted a pretty depressing view of golf business. For instance, the total number of players has declined or remained flat since 2000 and the number of people who play 25 times a year dropped by one-third between 2000 and 2005, according to the paper.

This is a sign of the times.

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the swankiest casino in Atlantic City, recently got a slap on the wrist for allowing underaged gambling.From the AP:

For more than a year, the teenager lived the life of a high roller at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of gambling chips, and earning more than $1,000 worth of free
merchandise and services for the level of his Blackjack and poker play.

But what the casino didn't know - and didn't ask about for more than a year - was that he was only 19, two years below the legal gambling age in Atlantic City.

For that reason, the state Casino Control Commission on Wednesday hit the Borgata with the largest fine it has ever levied for underage gambling: $105,000. ...All told, the commission handed out $231,000 in fines to three casinos for letting underage patrons gamble or drink on their premises.

This is an unbelievably lenient fine. Didn't anyone think to check this kid's ID before they lavished perk after perk on him? The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted a flack from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement as saying the youth had "extensive contact with Borgata employees." Either the workers didn't know or more likely didn't care that he was underaged.

Studies have found that between 86% and 93% of youth had gambled at least once in their lives. Casinos draw young people like moths to a flame, and since penalties are so lenient there is little reason for them to take underaged gambling seriously.

From the home office in Burlington County, New Jersey, I give you my top 5 rules for home business success. They are in no particular order and have been created through an arbitrary process of my own devising and if you don't like them take them up with my boss, who also happens to be my wife.

1. No kids -- I don't care who you are or what you do, you aren't going to get any work done as long as there are off-spring roaming your house. Heck, it's even tough to be productive with a dog or cat. Send them to daycare or have a relative come to your home to watch over your bundle or bundles of joy.
2. Hygeine -- One of the great freedoms of working from home is that you don't have to dress up in fancy work clothes. Nonetheless, you must resist the temptation to work all day in your pajamas and fuzzy bunny slippers.
   

Like moths to a flame, the illegal sex industry will flock to this summer's political conventions in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
The Rocky Mountain News summed up the situation thusly: "Political tricks may not be the only ones turned during the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August." Indeed, one helpful poster on the mile high city's Craigslist site headlined their ad bluntly , "So, You Want to be an Escort, But You Don't Know How" though it does say that "flakes and drama queens" need not apply.

Strip clubs are also expecting great business from the conventions. The paper quoted one Beverly Chastain, a door girl at a local gentleman's club, saying that reservations should start picking up this month. (Speaking of "gentlemen," did the code of chivalry discuss shoving money into a woman's G-string?)

Folks in the Twin Cities are also putting their Midwestern entrepreneurial spirit to the test in time for the GOP convention. I found one poster on Craigslist advertising what he -- odds are that it is a male -- called a "great opportunity for escorts." In a move that I'm sure will fool the vice cops, the poster emphatically states that his company is NOT a front for prostitution though he does say "what you do during your time is of a personal choice between consenting adults of legal age."

Clears that up, doesn't it?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, or Easter Bunny, and it's impossible to "recession-proof" your 401(k), because no sector is immune from an economic slowdown. You can, however, take some reasonable precautions to limit the damage.

For one thing, stay the course. Unless you are in dire financial straits, don't cut back or quit contributing to your retirement fund. The stock market is your friend over the long term, though over the past few months it hasn't been much of one. Make sure that you are well-diversified and don't be afraid to get out of funds that aren't performing well and seem to have little chance of recovery. Furthermore, avoid the temptation of doing anything rash like liquidating your 401(k) because of worries about the market, since the tax consequences are severe.

Figuring out why a fund is performing poorly isn't difficult given the huge amount of financial information on the web. Remember, historically some sectors in the stock market such as health care and consumer staples such as Coca-Cola do well when the economy slumps. IBM and other companies with large overseas business also are being helped by the weak dollar. There are losers, such as financial and industrial stocks. Even tech companies, including Google, are in Wall Street's dog house. No company, though, will escape the recession unscathed, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves

The stock market's wild gyrations over the past few months have frightened even hardened Wall Street investors, so it's understandable that individual investors are petrified. But the difference between pros and amateurs in the investing game is discipline. They look at their portfolios the way that a boss looks at their employees, and they get rid of poor performers. Under no circumstances will they fall in love with stocks or out of love with them. The same goes for funds.