The days of summer are quickly winding down, which means kids are dreading the return of school days and parents are dreading back-to-school bills.  They come around every year, but this fall, you can follow a few tips to save on clothes, backpacks, and other school supplies.

Excerpt from FRONTLINE's website : In "Secret History of the Credit Card," FRONTLINE® and The New York Times join forces to investigate an industry few Americans fully understand. In this one-hour report, correspondent Lowell Bergman uncovers the techniques used by the industry to earn record profits and get consumers to take on more debt.

"Ahead of its time this is a cartoon animation that's been up on the web since 2006 and is all about the credit crunch crisis. Credit card spending and loans from banks are in their trillions of dollars and something has to give. We no longer spend what we have earned, we spend what we havn't earned on the back of house price rises and yet more loans.

Excerpt from the Movie's Website :

"In America's earliest days, there were barn-raising parties in which neighbors helped each other build up their farms. Today, in some churches, there are debt liquidation revivals in which parishioners chip in to free each other from growing credit card debts that are driving American families to bankruptcy and desperation. IN DEBT WE TRUST is the latest film from Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector," director of the internationally distributed and award-winning WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception), an expose of the media's role in the Iraq War"

Most of us work our entire life because of either necessity or pleasure.  We might love what we do, or maybe we just love the paycheck we receive every month. Regardless of our individual circumstances, it’s important to save money for our retirement.  The average retiring age in America is about 62 years for women and 63 years for men. Knowing when to retire is a personal decision that is based on your economic standing. If your finances allow you to retire at a young age and live well for the rest of your retirement years, then maybe you can afford to do so. Unfortunately for most of us, we have to be very careful with our savings and analyze each decision thoroughly, for they will impact the quality of our retirement years. 

As we mentioned in a previous article, the U.S. economy is being threatened by a recession.  Some people are able to predict or notice the signs of a possible recession, but the rest of us don’t really see them until they become part of our reality.  According to Gerri Willis from CNN Money, there are several signs that can tell us that the economy is going through a weak period and may fall into a recession.  Here are some indicators that can be clearly identified by consumers.