Recession

In this tough economy, the cold hard truth is that many of us are having trouble staying afloat amid our growing mortgage payments. With that in mind, here's an article from our friends at Wise Bread on the options you have.

Of all the changes you might make to live more cheaply, the most fundamental is finding a cheaper place to live. Sadly, it's an option that's largely closed to people who are underwater on their mortgages. Unless they have cash to cover the difference between what their house will sell for and what they owe, they're pretty much stuck. Here are six options for people in that situation.

RELATED: How to Check if Your Mortgage Statement Is Correct

Except for option No. 1, you'll definitely want to get legal advice well in advance of actually doing any of these. Situations differ and the rules are different in different states. In particular, the option to just "walk away" from a mortgage is not available in every state! There are tax consequences to doing that, and to several of the other possibilities. A consultation with a lawyer could save you tens of thousands of dollars.

With that proviso, here are the options I could come up with:

1. Suck it Up

If your house still serves as shelter and you can still afford it, there's no particular reason that you can't just go on living in it, pretty much without regard to its value versus what you owe on the mortgage.

This may be the most expensive option: You can't take advantage of the cost savings of moving to a cheaper place, plus you're putting significant amounts of capital into an investment that might never give you a good return. Still, as long as you can make the payments, this is probably the default option, and it's not necessarily a bad one. Eventually — no matter what happens to the real estate market — you'll be above water on the mortgage. (In fact, eventually you'll pay off the mortgage and own the house free and clear.) Continue reading for more tips.

After zooming in and out of Winter Las Vegas Market earlier this month, I was delighted to discover that Winter 2012 was the strongest market recorded from the past three years! According to The Editor at Large, Winter Las Vegas Market officials reported booming attendance among retailers in all categories, interior designers, and international buyers.

Robert Maricich, CEO of International Market Centers, parent company of World Market Center Las Vegas, elaborated on the implications of the busy market season. "Given the depth of the recent recession, our success speaks volumes about improving consumer confidence and a resurging economy," he said. "According to our statistics, the recession is officially over in the eyes of the furnishings industry. The energy at Winter Market was palpable. Buyers were buying, and ultimately, that's what counts."

Check out The Editor at Large article for statistics rounded up from the five-day Winter Las Vegas Market.

I love renting bikes when I am on vacation. It's a great way to incorporate exercise when traveling and an easy way to test out the waters if you're thinking about buying one. But bikes aren't the only fitness-related things you can rent, which is something I learned when visiting my favorite outdoor gear store, Sports Basement.

While I was waiting in line to make my purchase I was surprised to see someone renting all the essentials for a weekend of camping: tent, stove, sleeping bag, and even trekking poles. When I spoke to the salesperson, he told me that more and more local gear stores are renting equipment because it encourages people to hit the outdoors without having to make a major investment up front. I was also happy to find out that national chains like REI, Sports Authority, Eastern Mountain Sports, and Sport Chalet also rent gear. But if you're nowhere near a sports store, don't fret, you can also rent gear online or by phone from LowerGear, who will ship the equipment to you. Besides camping equipment, most stores rent gear for snow sports, tennis, water sports, and cycling. In general, the rental prices are up to 90 percent off what it would cost to buy the same stuff.

I'm pretty stoked about the idea of renting gear and am already making plans to rent a two-person kayak with a friend. It's a great way to get in shape without having to commit yourself to a huge investment, especially for sports that have a limited season.

Looking for an alternative to CareerBuilder and Monster? You might want to listen to what superstar marketer Charlie Hoehn has to say. If you're sick of getting rejection letters and would like to start getting called by companies who want to hire you, free work is the answer. Charlie says free work isn't what you think it is — it's not an internship. Instead, it's freelance projects that you pick to work on, which does not entail running around getting coffee for people.

Another great piece of advice from the marketing guru who worked with Tim Ferriss is that resumes are passé, because your employer will definitely Google you to see what's out there so you need to start developing your online presence. Watch the video below for more of his tips:

In the May issue of Vanity Fair, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz collects some shocking statistics in his thought-provoking piece, "Of the 1%, by the 1%, For the 1%." According to Stiglitz, the top one percent of Americans, including business tycoons, congressmen, and banking execs, secure nearly a quarter of the country's income a year and controls 40 percent of the nation's wealth. On the other hand, the working man, with only a high school diploma, has seen a 12 percent decline in his income in the last 25 years. America is a beacon of income inequality, Stiglitz says, and while rich Republicans bemoan the reach of an oversize government, this is the same government — with all its partisanship and gridlock — that enables this economic disparity.

To see Stiglitz's ideas to help close the economic gap, read on.

Before the recession, we were living in a happy bubble, in which real estate prices kept on rising (or so we thought), and Wall Streeters lived like fat cats. Then everything came crashing down — the economic bubble burst, the housing market collapsed, and the big bankers landed on their feet. The truth is, America isn't the same anymore. We have a national debt of over $14 trillion and what once were solid pillars of our nation, like education and social security, are being sacrificed for budget cuts. Yes, we are slowly recovering, but we're living in a different time now. Suze Orman addresses these changes in an interview with Time magazine.

No More American Dream. According to Suze, the American dream was the idea of "bigger, better, newer," and a mentality of "how do you buy stuff without any money?" Credit cards were as easily accessible as candy, and consumer debt kept piling up. But now, Suze says "the old American dream really is dead," because it's incredibly hard to get a loan, mortgage, credit, and jobs. Reality isn't pretty, but it's something everyone faces.

Money Dictates Your Education. You can't go to the best school you get into and worry about paying it off later, says Suze. That's because you don't have the stability of a job offer anymore so if you don't get a paying job after college, you can't afford to pay off your loan. The personal finance expert advises to pick a school based on a loan that you know you can afford to pay off. And yes, this might mean no four year college for you.

Nix Loans to Family. A loan to your family is "either a gift, or it's not," says Suze. That's because your loan will be your family member's lowest priority among other financial obligations like credit card debt, student loans, 401k payments, and more.

The recession was a shock to everyone's systems, and as a result, more people have picked up frugal habits. According to a New York Times article, consumers have stuck with those thrifty ways post-recession.

One of the bigger saving trends is extending the life of products. For example, people are taking longer to upgrade cars and gadgets like phones and laptops; even daily hygiene products like toothpaste and shampoo are being used to the last drop. And this isn't just a temporary behavioral shift. Nancy F. Koehn, a professor at the Harvard Business School and consumerism expert, believes that this attitude will be permanent or long-lasting, because of insecurities about how reliable the government and major companies are in a financial crisis.

It seems like people are straying away from the shiny new things and opting for the necessities route. What about you? How often do you upgrade your gadgets?

Wow, on top of all the unique aftereffects of the recession, here's another one: 38 percent of people have postponed divorce or separation plans due to the recession, a survey by the National Marriage Project at University of Virginia finds. Not only that, but another 29 percent said that the economic downturn has "deepened their marriage vows."

Don't forget, though, there's also research out there that shows the recession is bringing about fewer marriages. In fact, 2009 saw an all-time record low in the number of registered marriages in a whopping 100 years. This really drives home the fact that marriage isn't a union that should be based solely on love — it's also about finding your money mate as well. It's important to be very honest with your partner about finances, and it makes things go a lot smoother if you're on the same page about issues such as debt, spending, and saving. These are thorny topics that will definitely pop up during your relationship, so make sure to address them early on. Remember, there are plenty of ways to bring up this touchy subject, and tax season is the perfect time to talk about dollars and cents with your other half!

Has the recession affected your relationship in any way?

The recession has brought about many things, one of which is a series of TV shows that highlight the downturn in the economy. There's a new one on the block: the brains behind Jersey Shore have come up with "Repo Games," according to CNN. It's a game show hosted by repo men and will feature contestants who are about to lose their cars due to faulty payments. The participants will have to answer five questions, and if they get three out of five right, they'll be able to get their car back. To top it all off, their car will be paid in full.

It can be a great deal for those who have fallen behind on payments (if they win), but it seems slightly cruel to make a quiz show out of what must be a very stressful ordeal. What do you think of the show — would you watch it?