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BiddingForTravel.com - More help using Priceline

The run-up in price for a barrel of oil has created terror in the travel biz as more and more people opt for "staycations." That's when you're off from work yet you stay home to save money. To offset sluggish sales, some chain hotels and independent proprietors are offering free gas -- a 35-year old tactic not seen since the first energy crisis in 1973. Clark recalls that Days Inn locations actually had their own gas pumps on premises! SmartMoney.com reports that Hilton, Holiday Inn and Marriott are among the chains reviving this promotion at select locations only.

Want to save even more? Hotels that once snubbed Hotwire are giving the website their inventory as bookings soften. Look for deals on 4-star hotels because Hotwire inflates its ratings. You may even find some steals on accommodations in elusive New York City. Some people don't like Hotwire because the site doesn't disclose where you'll stay until after you pay a non-refundable deposit. Check BetterBidding.com to vet the hotels you're likely to get and TripAdvisor.com for user-generated reviews of the hotels. Finally, try using Priceline if you're willing to do the work of bidding. Visit BiddingForTravel.com for additional resources. Clark finds that he saves about 50% on car rentals and between 30% and 45% on hotels when using Priceline or Hotwire.

Many employers match what employees contribute to a 401(k) plan up to a certain limit. Well, Clark extended the same offer to his teen daughter about 4 years ago. He calls it "the daddy match" and he puts a dollar into her Roth account for every dollar of her pay she saves.

It's no secret that getting a teen to start saving early will help insure their financial security later in life. Clark loves pointing to a chart that shows a teen who starts saving at 15 and puts aside $2,000 for 7 years will have more than $1 million at 65. That's assuming a return on investment of about 8%, of course. Money has a strong ally in time. Most financial models show that your money doubles in value every 9 years.

Syndicated financial writer Umberto Cruz recently crunched the numbers and found that a 20 year old who puts $2,000 in a Roth for 10 years will have just under $500K at retirement time. And that's with never having to save again! If you wait until you're 30 and save at the same rate, you'll only have $370K at 65. So the message is clear: The earlier you start saving, the better off you'll be.

The same thinking applies to your car purchase. The Wall Street Journal reports that if you buy a Toyota Camry instead of a BMW and invest the money you saved, you'll have about $26K after 10 years. Do it all over again 10 years later and you'll have about $100K in 20 years. This is proof that an isolated decision today can make a huge difference down the road.

It's been 12 years since Clark had his first call about ID theft on the show. Back then there was no name for the crime; now it's become routine. The Identity Theft Resource Center reports that in the first 90 days of this year, the personal info of 8.5 million Americans was stolen from company, government, hospital, university and bank databases.

ID theft is out of control because banks don't know who they're doing business with anymore. Sadly, the parties that can do the most are doing the least. Banks, credit card companies, retailers and credit bureaus don't care about the damage ID thieves can do to your life. The police departments, meanwhile, have too many other responsibilities to address ID theft.

Doing a credit freeze is the only way to protect yourself. You'll get a secret code that you can use to thaw your credit. That way, even if a criminal steals your identity, they can't do anything with it because they don't have the secret code. The credit bureaus intentionally make the process of applying for a credit freeze difficult. Clark has compiled a guide to help you navigate the process.

Clark recently read an article that took a unique angle on the foreclosure epidemic. The Wall Street Journal reports that animal shelters are being overrun with pets that are abandoned when families face foreclosure and have to leave their homes.

Meanwhile, Maryland has passed some tough legislation aimed at correcting the mortgage crisis. First, they've moved to eliminate pre-payment penalties. The federal government will say you can't do that, but Clark is in the support of the state on this issue. He hates pre-payment penalties, which are often attached to sub-prime loans. Second, Maryland has criminalized the kind of lender behavior when they write loans that they know you can't pay. Of course, this won't help out the millions who are already in a rough spot. Finally, they've also criminalized mortgage rescue fraud. That's where elders are conned into sub-prime loans on houses that may already be paid in full. Seniors sign over a house in return for a promise that they'll be allowed to live there until they die. Then they get an eviction notice several weeks later.

Clark is pleased with Maryland's actions, but where are the feds on these issues? Where's Eliot Ness? The sad fact is that the president himself appointed Roland Arnall -- a guy who made a killing on sub-prime loans with his company Ameriquest -- as an ambassador! Meanwhile, Christa recently read a Boston Globe story about a mortgage broker who was apprehended after hiding out in a hotel. This particular broker fabricated tax returns and falsified bank statements to help people get jumbo mortgages. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!