Clarkhoward.com - Cheap food preparation guide
OptOutPreScreen.com - Stop pre-approved credit offers or call 888-567-8688
DMAChoice.org - End junk mail
CatalogChoice.org -You’re your mailbox of unwanted catalogs
Expedia.com - One of Clark’s favorite rental car search engines
BNM.com - Another of Clark’s favorite rental car search engines
Alamo.com - Car rental deals not offered on other multi-search sites
Dollar.com - Car rental deals not offered on other multi-search sites
Thrifty.com - Car rental deals not offered on other multi-search sites

People are constantly looking for ways to stretch their money in the wake of rising food prices. During sweeps week on TV, one of the big stories was about ways to save on groceries. Clark’s already shared ideas about couponing, brand substitution and more at the supermarket.

But people who know how to cook can save even more. Recipe websites that teach you how to make easy meals from cheap ingredients are becoming increasingly popular. Suddenly, cheap is chic!

To Clark, “cooking” simply means putting something in the microwave and changing the temperature of it. The Los Angeles Times, however, reports many recipe blogs have seen their page views more than double in a year. These are the kinds of sites that were routinely being ignored during better economic times.

Christa has long used sites like Epicurious.com and Recipe.com. But now there’s a huge network of stay-at-home moms who share their money-saving ideas on the web. See below for Clark’s guide to the cheap food preparation blogs!

Just remember that even if you can’t figure out how to make a masterpiece worthy of Julia Child, simply making food at home costs a fraction of what it takes to eat out. For those who can't cook, you can always be like Clark and buy your favorite frozen meals on sale. He recently picked up a slew for $1 a piece. They’re not anymore unhealthy than his normal fast food fare, but instead of $4 he’s just spending $1/day.

Clark wants to share a “free insurance policy” that will help you protect your credit. It involves opting out of those pre-approved credit offers. Best of all, it’s free, simple, fast and efficient. You can eliminate more than 90 percent of those pesky offers you’re being bombarded with if your FICO score is 700 or above.

Simply go to OptOutPreScreen.com or call 888-567-8688. Be aware that you’ll be required to give your Social Security number. That’s how credit bureaus track people, so it’s a necessary part of the process. Opting out of these offers is especially important if you move and your mail goes to an old address, or if you have a jointly shared mailbox.

Meanwhile, you also can eliminate other kinds of junk mail for free at DMAChoice.org. In fact, you can even choose to get more junk mail if you want! But who would want that?

Finally, there’s a site in beta that can help cut down on the number of catalogs you receive. The address is CatalogChoice.org, though Clark’s not exactly sure how well the system is working yet.

CLARKONOMICS: Your favorite penny-pincher walked to the studio today. It’s something he likes to do several times a year when the weather is nice. Clark lives only 5.6 miles from the studio and the cost to walk is free. In fact, Clark saved about $6 today by not operating his car…and he got exercise. It’s like his own Declaration of Independence from high gas prices.

The futures market is showing oil at $140/barrel. Less a year ago, we forget that oil was under $50/ barrel. There has been a massive run-up in price, especially for airlines and other transportation-based businesses.

Most people aren’t fortunate enough to be able to walk to work like Clark. But there’s always something you can do to fight back against the high prices at the pump. For example, Honda will be rolling out a huge new fleet of affordable hybrids in 2009. The payback should be very quick for buyers; the hybrid version of a car will only be about $1,900 more than the traditional gas engine version.

Nissan, meanwhile, is launching a battery-powered car in the next 2 years. They’ve partnered with NEC to make a new battery for plug-in hybrids and electric cars. It will be beta tested in forklifts, so beware if you’re an operator!

The point is there are real solutions coming. Oil was previously so cheap that we could almost be forgiven for not being more energy smart. But to paraphrase Winston Churchill, “The American people are finally getting around to doing the right thing after trying nearly everything else.”

RIP-OFF ALERT: The FTC has announced the largest-ever bust of telemarketers as part of its “Operation Tele-PHONEY.”

Here’s the scoop: Scammers were trying to sell people all kinds of things over the phone, from advance fee loans to big savings on Rx to magazine subscriptions to household products for seniors. Though they were many independent telemarketers, the common thread here is that they all sought to get your checking account information. Once they had it, they would bill you and try to empty out your account.

The banking industry continues to have zero security in place for drafts on your account. A legitimate person trying to cash a hardcopy check will be put through the ringer at bank. But if you just have an account number and present a draft, they’ll pay it no questions asked. This is a true Achilles’ heel that can easily be exploited by criminals.

The takeaway is simple: Never give out your check routing number over the phone or on the web. Pay via money order if you’re dealing with a collection agency. Sure, you may pay a nominal fee to do so, but this is the only truly safe way to settle up your debt.