Consumer prices fell by 1% in October, the largest drop in 61 years

This decrease in inflation was brought about by a 8.6% drop in energy costs, including a 14.2% drop in gasoline prices, as well as a 0.1% drop in core consumer prices, which haven’t declined in over 25 years.

Watch out for deals in the coming months. Analysts predict prices will fall even further in the future, as businesses seek to attract customers in the weak economy.

–Cody

This picture is taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.

A. She’s a rock climber. That’s legit, and I guarantee she can do more pull-ups then Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger.
B. She’s a national champion in rock climbing, which is likely more than can be said for you or me.
C. She gets paid to climb. She’s sponsored by The North Face (among others) and just got back from an all expenses paid, exploratory trip to China.
D.  She graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Colorado.
E. She’s prepping for the North American Continental Climbing Championships, which take place in Montreal in December.
F. She’s only 22 and is super nice.

If you’re not convinced by now, I don’t know what to tell you. Other than this: check out brass’ online exclusive of Emily for the full scoop.

–Jens

Being as intelligent (and handsome) as I am, I’ll scour the ads on Thanksgiving to see if there are any screaming deals on big ticket items I’ve had my eye on. This turns Black Friday into a day where I get in line just before opening, grab one super cheap item I’ve wanted for a while, have my uncle buy me a delicious fast food breakfast, then go home and go back to sleep. Or, if I don’t find anything up to my high standards, I just continue my Tryptophan coma from the night before. It really is a win-win.

So to help give you a jump on all the crazies, go to blackfriday.info, where they post advance Black Friday ads from major chains. Craft your battle plan well, because even though old ladies may appear frail, they usually have a low center of gravity and won’t shy away from going for the knees with their canes.

–Cody

This picture is taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.

Last month, Target Stores paid a $1.7 million civil penalty for overcharging customers in California. Inspectors found that cash registers did not always charge the lowest posted price. While inflated prices may be an exception to the rule, you never know when a glitch in the system, a missed pricing update, or an old-fashion human error can accidentally charge you more than necessary.

Remember to be your own inspector, confident that you receive every sale or coupon price you’re entitled to. If you think this kind of analysis over a few dollars is worthless, your cold heart has never fretted over a sock lost during a laundry run.

–Cody

This picture is taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned what people did with the $300-$600 checks they received from the government’s economic stimulus plan. As it turns out, 279,000 of these checks never made it to their respective owners due to incorrect addresses.

Thankfully, it’s easy to correct this mistake. Head to the IRS’s Where’s My Refund page.  Just remember that you need to have filed a tax return for 2007.

Time is of the essence, as Nov. 28th marks the last day you can request to resend your check. You can still qualify for your stimulus payment after the 28th, but it will come in the form of a tax credit on your 2008 taxes instead of as a separate check.

Once you’ve resent your information to the IRS, track your check on their Where’s My Stimulus Payment page.

When was the last time you were offered $300 for ten minutes of your time? Checking up on your stimulus payment is time well spent.

Check out this article at bankrate.com for more info.

–Cody

This picture is taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.

Personally, I think all us young people (hey, it sounds better than Gen-Yers) were just enticed by those I Voted stickers. Regardless, 2.2 million more of us voted this election than in 2004.

That’s a big enough increase to get the media to tell us that, “Young Americans can finally shake off their reputation for civic apathy.” Well, thank you. Overall, 24 million (about 54%) of us cast our ballots. Oh, and that old adage that your vote counts… well it really does–reports are saying that the youth vote helped swing the election.

All I really wanted to say was, “Thank you for voting.”

–Jens

This picture is taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.

It seems as if obnoxious department store displays of Christmas decorations are put out earlier each year. Whereas in years past it was unusual to see animatronic fir trees singing “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” before Thanksgiving, now it’s not unusual to start seeing Santa in the middle of summer. I used to find this annoying, but this year I see it as a wake-up call. If stores plan for the holidays this far in advance, why can’t we? By waiting till the last minute you set yourself up for undue stress, so I suggest planning ahead to take advantage of deals. From presents for your friends and family to special meals you plan to cook, setting up a game plan can help you save money and sanity as December approaches.

Make a list of items you’re sure you’ll need. Include a few present ideas for each of your special somebodies, and ingredients for special holiday delectables (spices like cloves and cinnamon are expensive without a sale, but I’ll spit out anything that doesn’t have them). This little bit of prior planning will give you extra time to look for sales, coupons and Internet deals. You can make a considered decision before making a purchase, rather that grabbing marked up goods at the last minute.

Making a list also allows you to make more informed decisions on purchases. In order to look for a sale on something, you have to know what the item is first. I’ve limited my list to gifts for family members. Friends will get stuff off heyitsfree.net.

Amazon.com offers free shipping on certain items if you spend over $25, and sites like dealagg.com, dodtracker.com and woot.com list different deals every day. So check often to see if the item you’re looking for can be had at a fraction of the cost.

With a little planning, this holiday season can be a thrifty one.

-Cody

Oh, and tomorrow is also Election Day. I guess that’s pretty important too (although for me, vacations come about once every four years, so it’s understandable why these two events are on par in my mind). I’m kind of excited I’ll be in New York for this historic moment, although I’m not entirely sure what to expect. Will there be riots? An out-of-control city-wide block party? A stock surge or an epic crash? I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

Either way, I know I won’t be the only one holding my breath. Across the entire globe, people are waiting to see how this year’s election plays out. According to a recent Gallup poll, one-third of the world’s population believes that the result of our presidential election will have a direct effect on their countries. Especially the Baltic countries in Europe (Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania), where two out of three felt that Tuesday’s results will impact them. Let’s just say that it’s a pretty big deal worldwide. I strongly encourage everyone to do their part and cast a vote.

–Erin

The picture is taken from this photostream and used with the permission of a Creative Commons license.

Regardless, you might have noticed that the U.S. financial system is having its own little horror show. There are more investment ghouls out there than you could toss a corpse at. But when the U.S. celebrates Money Halloween, so does the rest of the world. It seems that not only have we infected the world with subtitled and dubbed apparitions of Anna Faris and Leslie Nielsen in the disaster that is Scary Movie 4 (or really, any of the Scary Movies), but we also passed on the horror of a collapsing financial system.

Here’s a short sampling of how countries worldwide are reacting:

• Iceland. Its banking system completely collapsed and is now being rescued by loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Germany. The German government is bailing out its system to the tune of €500 billion.
• India. The government and the opposition party are in a conflict over how to remedy an economic situation that is bad and could become “truly horrendous.”
• Japan. They had avoided the horror at first, but are now being swept into the maelstrom. The Tokyo market has dropped by almost 50 percent.
• China. They were asked to help bailout other countries.

For more horror, check out Forbes update on worldwide financial developments and The Economic Times list of bailouts around the world.

But I don’t want to leave you on a total Debbie Downer swoon, so hopefully this picture of the Editorial Team in our costumes cheers you up.

–Jens

Here’s a quick breakdown on our monster Halloween expenses:

• $24.17–Average amount spent on Halloween costumes
• $20.39–Amount spent on candy
• $18.25–For decorations

Also, 18- to 24-year-olds end up blowing the most money on Halloween, and this year they plan to spend, on average, $86.59. Now that’s scary.

Maybe the current bloodbath on Wall Street or the barrages of irritating political ads are putting people in an unusually murderous state of mind, making this year’s Halloween the perfect time for blowing off a little costumed steam.    Watch out, it’s gonna be a scream!

As you can see, I am getting myself in the spirit by making frighteningly bad puns. Regardless of my pun talents (*cough* lack of), I am extra excited for Halloween this year. Cody has already hooked us up with some awesome cheap costume ideas. All I need now is an unhealthy amount of candy and a bloodied butcher knife, and I’m ready to party!

–Erin

The pictures are taken from photostreams 1 and 2 and used with the permission of a Creative Commons license.