CouchSurfing.com - Free worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit
IRS.gov - Free tax filing service for those who qualify
NAPFA.org - Find a fee-only financial planner
GarrettPlanningNetwork.com - Find a fee-only financial planner

We've had a train wreck in higher education with the cost of tuition going up way beyond the rate of inflation. The increases have been extraordinary because colleges are usually semi-closed institutions that are not affected by capitalism. But now even wealthy families can't always afford college for their children. So Harvard and other elite schools have developed new sliding scales for tuition based on family income. Harvard's income cutoff is $180K/year, which would cover 95 percent of all families in the United States. Families won't be expected to pay more than 10 percent of their income regardless of overall tuition costs. The bulk of the costs will be paid by the school's huge endowment funds.

The top 5 percent of Americans will still have to pay big bucks to go to school, but the idea is that top schools shouldn't be just for the filthy rich. Princeton, Penn, Swarthmore, Dartmouth and Duke are also doing these sliding scale plans. It used to be that you couldn't go to an elite school without scholarships. The only alternative was to borrow oneself into oblivion. We've had calls from people with more than $100K in student loan debt, which is an incredible handcuff as your start your professional life. Also, many of the traditional scholarships were red light/green light based on your income. This new model is more like having a rheostat in your home that gently adjusts between the two extremes.

Clark is not thrifty, he's cheap. But there are some lines he won't cross. For example, he will not bunk with a stranger he's never met. Yet his responsibility on this show is to bring you ideas to save you money. So if the shoe fits, wear it. CouchSurfing.com is a site that allows people to meet others around the world and stay at their homes. It's like crashing at a friend's pad, but you don't know the friend! This site -- with its MySpace-like interface -- makes hostels seem expensive. Clark admits he wouldn't have done this even in his young, mostly broke days.

Show staffers Joel and Kim have been having animated discussions about the possible dangers of CouchSurfing.com. Joel says he has stayed with people he didn't know before, but he didn't meet them through CouchSurfing.com. He does, however, tentatively have plans to try out this site and see how the experience goes. Kim, meanwhile, found an article on ABC News that reports CouchSurfing.com has been around for 5 years and only had one minor safety incident in all that time. While it is not a dating site, the article also reports that there is one known baby that's come about as a result of a CouchSurfing.com connection.

RIP-OFF ALERT: File this one in the "News of the Weird" bin. An Internet-based virtual world called Second Life has spawned rip-off artists who scam users out of very real money. Second Life is a virtual community where you create a new you and live out a second identity in a digital world. Scammers got into Second Life and set up a virtual bank. But it's not real, right? Well, here's the rub: They got people to deposit real money with the promise of large returns. The Chicago Tribune reports the scammers made off with $75K.

This whole strange episode is an early warning signal that even in your play area on the 'Net there are people who aren't playing at all. Folks are more likely to let their guard down in Second Life. But this is no different than going on vacation and getting your wallet or camera stolen because you didn't safeguard it. Clark also says to be wary anytime you're promised huge returns; it could be a classic Ponzi scheme. Beware when words like "guaranteed" are thrown around. The only thing that's guaranteed is that your wallet will get burned. Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau has put out an alert that's particularly timely: As people have financial hiccups because of the slowing economy, they're more likely to be susceptible to a variety of "Get Rich Quick" schemes. For example, Clark recently took 2 calls on currency exchange scams. Be sure to avoid this one.

Clark wants to update you on your friends at the IRS. There's some good news that pertains to the earned income tax credit which allows people who don't owe any federal tax to get a credit when they file. 20 million people are eligible for the EITC, but only around 5 million take advantage of it. You usually have to have kids to qualify for EITC, and your income can be up to about $40K. But if you don't have kids and you made an exceedingly low income, you may still be eligible. The EITC will give you up to $4,700 back in your pocket. You may also want to check IRS.gov to see if you meet the income requirements for free filing.

On the flip side, there's bad news for rich folks. The wealthy are being audited at near-record levels. Those who earn $100K are more likely to be audited than those who don't, while those who earn $200K are twice as likely to be audited compared to those who earn $100K. If you make $1 million or more, you have about a 10 percent chance of being audited. While that may not sound like a lot, the cost to comply with a field audit is in the tens of thousands -- even if you're completely innocent.