Soon after my wife and I decided to move to the big city, I realized that I would have to leave my beloved washer and dryer behind. On the bright side, though, I discovered one of the wonders of urban living: drop-off service.

For a small amount of money (in my neighborhood, it's $0.65 per pound), someone else will wash, dry, and fold your clothes. Given that my wife, daughter, and I generate between 20 and 30 pounds of laundry per week, this ends up being a fairly cheap luxury.

A few months back, however, I switched to a lower-paying job and began looking for ways to cut fat out of the household budged. One of the first things to go was the drop-off service, as I realized that I could wash my family's clothes for roughly half the price that Lula, the Albanian lady at the drop-off service, charges. Feeling self-righteous and fiscally responsible, I began toting my family's clothes to the local laundromat.

The City Café Bakery in downtown Kitchener, Ontario serves hot coffee, bagels, croissants, tarts and brick oven pizza with a quirky, outgoing staff and a neighborhood atmosphere. However, it does not have a cash register.

According to Bakers Journal, owner John Bergen, a former ceramics designer, wanted to open a bakery where he could "walk in anytime and it's a place where I can belong." For Bergen, that kind of business would involve simplicity and the honor system.

Bergen says. "What irritated me about going into [other bakeries], for example, was waiting in line for something as simple as getting a donut and a coffee. So the thought was, someone can pour his own coffee, grab his own bagel, cut it himself, throw the money in, and walk out. We don't touch 60% of the transaction."

Customers order their items, tally up the total and put their money in a fare box from an old bus. To make things simpler, prices are rounded off to the nearest quarter with taxes included. They do not take credit cards.

Every six months they check the numbers, and only once did they come up short. But, Bergen believes that customers are more likely to overpay than underpay. "Some people come in and want a $2.75 loaf of bread," he says, "but they see we're busy so they throw $3 in and walk out." The City Café Bakery also discourages tipping and they don't answer their phone, so that customers won't have to wait for service while an employee is on the phone. Woo hoo!

But, how's business? According to Bergen, every week the City Café Bakery dishes out 3,000 bagels, 1,300 croissants, 1,000 desserts, and an untold number of pizzas, sandwiches and loaves of bread.

Not too shabby.

B. Brandon Barker also writes for Political Machine.

[Thanks to Kottke.org]

Drink this up. Despite what the marketers of bottled water have almost convinced us of, there remains little scientific evidence that drinking eight cups of water a day does anything more for your health than make you pee a lot.

A piece in last week's Health Section of the New York Times cites a new study in the June issue of The Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, which reports that researchers can't even find where the "at least eight cups of water a day" rule came from.

"Under normal circumstances," Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a co-author and a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania told the Times, "drinking extra water is unnecessary. I want to relieve people of the burden of schlepping water bottles around all day long."

Scrolling through Forbes' new slideshow of America's Fastest Dying Industries can easily get the mind wandering on a Big Lebowski tangent. Okay, maybe that's a stretch. But, the fact that our nation may suffer a dearth of bowling alleys and beer seems a little disconcerting.

As part of this new feature, in conjunction with AOL Small Business, Forbes lists 10 U.S. industries that will most likely see a drop in output, revenue and employment in the next four years.

According to Forbes, the industries that had the foresight to adjust to change and diversify are doing the best. "While technology is changing the face of many industries," writes the magazine's Joshua Zumbrun and Brian Wingfield, "the firms within them are often doing quite well." AT&T and Verizon, for instance, are not worried about their outdated "land lines" since their wireless subscriber numbers are surging.

Health Savings accounts are a great tool for preparing for medical expenses, both planned and unplanned. After a knee surgery last year tapped out our HSA, we bumped up our monthly contributions to try quickly build up to a useful amount. After putting the increase in place we promptly forgot about it and adjusted to the slight decrease in take home pay. Despite being forced to drop the amount contributed by the yearly caps the balance and the contributions have remained untouched and out of mind for several months.

Last week we got a bill for about $400 from the local hospital prompting me to call up and find out what our HSA balance was. To my surprise the balance was more than double what I expected! I had forgotten that we had bumped our monthly contribution months ago up and that in the meantime our employer had made a contribution which led to a significant balance. I quickly made sure the money was actually mine and faxed in the request form .

That's it, no muss no fuss and we didn't have to put the payment on a credit card or string it out for months at the hospital. As an added bonus our hospital has an incentive to pay early, so we save 5% on the total bill. When it comes to savings of any kind, the best method may be to, "set it and forget it".

At the risk of branding myself as a Pollyanna (does anyone still know what that is?), I think there may be a silver lining to a recession. No one wants to see people lose their homes or suffer the stresses that come with a downturn in the economy -- but some of our values are in desperate need of recalibration. Hard times can do that.

I have a fantasy. For those of you who have read my posts before and know where I come from as a child therapist, the fantasy probably won't surprise you. Imagine this.

The parent(s) have reviewed their financial situation and decided they will have to make some changes. Last summer the kids went away to camp for a month and the other month took three lessons each. The rest of the time, they mainly fought over the computer and ate cupcakes and cereal in front of the television.

Kids may well count the days until summer vacation, but their parents are dreading it.

That's because when school's out, camps are in. And we've got to find a way to pay for it somehow.

Time was, summer meant three months of running free, finding ways to kill hot summer afternoons at the community pool or with friends or in your backyard campsite. Those days are over.

Finding a good mechanic can be a particularly daunting task. I have been trying to find a new mechanic near me for quite a little while now. This task has been a little more difficult for me as my dad used to be a full time mechanic, handling all of my repairs. Now that he has switched jobs he doesn't have access to many of the tools needed to do advanced work on our 2005 Equinox. Thisrecent purchase spurred the search for a trustworthy and loyal mechanic.

The way I see it, you have 4 options for finding a reliable mechanic in your hometown. If you disagree or want to add to the list use the comments box below.

1. Use reviews on Cartalk.com - Click and Clack run a weekly call in show about car problems, often spiced with laughs and a DIY approach. Their website also offers a "Find a great mechanic" feature which pointed me to several local repair shops worth checking out.
2. Ask your co-workers and neighbors - Have lunch with a co-worker you trust and get along with, find out where they take their car. If they seem happy with the service give the place a try. Same goes for your neighbor, though if they recommend "Cousin Jim's auto repair and taxidermy," you may want to make sure the shop is properly equipped and staffed with trained employees.

The Daily Deal for Sunday, April 27, 2008

I went into work Friday and set my lunch box down next to an advertisement that caught my eye right away. It claimed that you can turn used cell phones into real money. After researching the offer a little bit, I've determined that it sure looks legitimate to me. Pace Butler Corporation claims it will buy your used cell phones for cold hard cash.

The company website is clear and simple. The process works in four easy steps. Just gather the cell phones that you want to sell, print out a prepaid postage shipping label, box the phones up and ship them, then get a check. The company states that your check will be issued within four business days.

Many of the phones on their payment list will only garner you a few dollars, and some only pay .50 cents. However, there are models which will get you as much as $50. You can check out their payment values on this list (PDF file). Just a few of the higher paying models are Motorola's Q9m and Q9h, each paying $50. If you have a Nextel i580, that model pays $30. The LG CU515 and CU575 each get you $35. There's a whole range of the Blackberry 8000 series which will net you anywhere from $10 to $50 apiece.

Nowhere on the website did I see mention of cell phone condition as a requirement for payment but I assume that they want the phones to be all in one piece. They also offer assistance with cell phone collection drives and will help you with cell phone collection fund raisers. If you just want to find out where to send your dead cell phones to keep them out of the landfill, they have a link to help with shipping 3 or more phones for recycling.

I think Pace Butler is really in step with responsible consumerism and assuming that it's completely legitimate, I believe this whole concept is an extremely timely idea.

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:

A few weeks ago, I wrote a short post about the return of gold prospecting; the rising value of gold has inspired would-be miners to pan for the precious metal, file prospecting claims, and generally do their best to re-create California's 1849 gold rush. Gold fever has even worked its way into suburbia, where gold parties have made it possible to convert one's own jewelry into cold hard cash, even as one sips wine and munches on cheese and many people are selling their collections of gold teeth and bridgework.

Of course, the problem with gold parties is that selling one's old gold jewelry by weight fails to take into account the artistry of the metalwork or the value of any jewels, which can greatly increase the price of a trinket. Besides, gold parties aren't all that useful if one has non-gold jewelry. While silver and other precious metals have also increased in value, they haven't enjoyed the amazing inflation that has made gold so precious.

Another problem is the fact that jewelry often has powerful emotions attached to it. We give jewelry during periods of heightened emotion, and the gifts tend to retain a lot of those emotions, even after the relationship has gone south. Good or bad, it can seem a little callous to simply throw away these relics of boyfriends and girlfriends past.

Ideas for reducing the cost of driving, such as carpooling or buying smaller, more efficient cars, have gained popularity. One concept however, may be getting far too much positive publicity. It's the risk-your-own-life practice of drafting. Sure, it's used in every NASCAR race on the circuit. But while it could save you in gasoline usage, it could also kill you in a split second.

Drafting is accomplished by tucking your vehicle in behind a larger vehicle while moving at highway speed. The tactic is most often employed behind the trailers of eighteen-wheelers. By moving to within 100 feet or less of the lead vehicle, drivers take advantage of the swath that the lead vehicle cuts through the air. The vacuum pocket behind the truck reduces air resistance and the "wake" of the truck closes in behind you helping to propel you along. However, my two brothers-in-law, who are professional drivers, will tell you that there's nothing more nerve wracking for a truck driver than when a car moves in so close behind that it can't be seen in the truck's mirrors. It's simply a recipe for disaster.

The problem is, for the maneuver to be effective at all, you need to be too dangerously close to the lead vehicle. Any successful drafting attempt eliminates your safe reaction time. If the lead vehicle needs to stop in a hurry, about all you'll have time to effectively do is to open your eyes very wide and then noisily go splat. If the truck kicks up road debris, it will be on you before you can blink.

Kiplinger 's Personal Finance writer, Stacy Rapacon has provided us with five safe ways to save money on fueling your car. Stacy's ideas don't involve risking your life or compromising the safety of other drivers. Additionally, Kiplinger's can help you to get ahead of the game by steering you into cars with the best fuel economy ratings.

Remember, saving money a few pennies on gas is a foolish bargain if it puts you or others at risk. You can't spend the money you saved on gas while resting in your grave.

While there are lots of opinions pro and against the Economic Stimulus Package checks (hitting your bank account beginning May 2!), the fact is: they're coming no matter what you think. We all have heard the prevailing skepticism as to whether $300 - $3,000 a family will do anything to help the failing dollar or to create jobs; in the end, who knows? But we have some ideas about how we could spend together to create the change we want to happen. And we'd be remiss as a personal finance site if we didn't come up with some ways you can truly stimulate your own personal economy.

Let's start with a couple of Don'ts. Don't use your rebate check for conspicuous consumption -- TVs, DVD players, large bottles of Champagne, imported Kobe beef, a trip to Cancun. Don't use it to create a greater need for fossil fuels; not as a down payment for a new car (if your very survival depends on a car, at least get a used one), or to trade up to a bigger gas guzzler, or for a power mower, or to put a new hot tub in. Do this and you'll help stimulate us into the worst possible direction.

Here's a better idea. Do try to spend it locally on something that will benefit your financial future! I've been reading a lot of smart people's musings about this (and coming up with some of my own), and have identified some areas of absolute crisis in our economy. Our country's farmland is being stripped by the wrong-headed over-production of corn and soy (in complete ignorance of sustainable farming practices). Our limited fossil fuel resources are being frittered away unnecessarily so we can continue to cling to our isolated, wasteful car culture. Our healthcare expenditures are reaching a panic point, while we are eating ever-more-expensive, ever-more-damaging food. Life as we know it is not sustainable, and no one seems to have the willpower to reverse the societal tide.

Doing something radical with your Economic Stimulus Package check can be both fun and good for your own financial bottom line. You'll end up with more money left after your pay your bills, you'll be healthier, and you may just spur a tiny bit of social change. At the very least, it can't hurt you. Here are some ideas:

Sallie Mae is a huge student loan company, and often times it can be difficult to get routed to the correct department to straighten out your loan issue.

Earlier this week I shared a simple plan for using your congressman to resolve student loan issues at any company, but today I'd like to share a way to get satisfaction if your issue is with Sallie Mae. The executive customer service department at Sallie Mae is known as the "Consumer Advocate Unit" and from my experience, is staffed with small group of knowledgeable and friendly people.

Both our congressman and our attorney general referred us to the consumer advocate unit, where we were given one point of contact. If this person was out of the office, whoever took our call would literally walk over to his desk and grab our file in order to help us out. On more than one occasion they called another lender on our behalf to arrange for the consolidation of loans away from Sallie Mae!

You can reach the consumer advocate unit at (888) 545-4199. Please use this number responsibly, and remember these people are empowered to help you. Treating the caller with respect and kindness, no matter your previous experiences with Sallie Mae, will greatly benefit you in the long run.