SeatGuru.com - Find the best seats on the plane
Kayak.com - A travel search engine
SIPC.org - Securities Investor Protection Corporation
HearUsNow.org - Post gripes about your telecommunications company
EvaluateLifeInsurance.org - Estimate "true" investment returns on any cash value life insurance policy (the typical cost is between $70-80)

Clark has been reading a new book titled High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families. Author Peter Gosselin's story dovetails very neatly with Clark's talk of the recent generational shifts that make our current economic slowdown more painful.

It's no secret that there's no longer a "lifetime contract" between employers and employees. We "rent" them and they "rent" us. Gone are the days of pensions after a lifetime of work or the promise of employer-provided healthcare in old age. To complicate matters, people have long since stopped paying cash and now live on borrowed money.

These factors in combination make for an explosive mix that creates financial insecurity. Gosselin talks about being on a wire without a net. Think about your own life: Are you without a net? If so, are you prepared for the consequences that can come if you lose your job?

Here's Clark's advice to get things back on track in your life:

• When it comes to a house, buy with a down-payment. Go for a 30-year fixed rate loan to keep things simple.

• With cars, limit your loans to 42 months or less -- or risk being upside-down in your car.

• Do not use debt for lifestyle; it only creates obligations, not opportunities.

On the other side of the ledger, are you saving? The average American family is spending more than it takes in. But, again, what happens when you lose your job??

Clark has news about a new hip trend in frozen treats that has entrepreneurs going crazy.

Years ago, frozen yogurt was the hottest thing. More recently, it's been Cold Stone Creamery as a franchise opportunity. But Cold Stone has proven to be a big debacle.

The latest "in" thing is tart frozen yogurt. This craze started on the West Coast and is now sweeping the East Coast. The Washington Post reports that people camp out the night before a new tart frozen yogurt store opens up. However, Christa sampled some and didn't enjoy it.

So here's a special warning to entrepreneurs about jumping into the latest "can't lose" opportunity. While early adoptees may profit, the second and third waves of people who get on board often wind up losing money. Just because it's hot, that doesn't mean it's an automatic money maker. It might just burn a hole in your pocket.

Back-to-school sales offer a great opportunity to pick up a computer. These sales typically start on July 5 and continue on through early September.

If your idea of a back-to-school sale involves clothing, pencils, pens, and notebooks...well, today the "notebooks" are more likely to refer to a notebook computer than to the kind you write in!

Promo pricing makes this an especially good time to buy a laptop. The price point is still around $399 as it was last summer, but what you get for that price has improved greatly since last year. In addition, you typically won't have to jump through hoops for a rebate just to get a price of around $399.

Beware that Macs, however, are still just as pricey as ever -- including the very popular MacBook Air.

This year, the choices are more confusing in the PC world. You can either get a full-size 15-inch laptop or a mini-laptop that weighs about 2 pounds with a 9-inch screen.

The mini-laptops should go for between $400 and $600. Asus, Dell, HP, Acer and Everex all make their own versions.

Whatever you do, don't let the salespeople con you into buying an expensive laptop for $1,000 or more -- unless you're looking for a Mac. You can get all the functionality you're likely to want at around $399.

Are you fed up with customer no service? One of the best ways to fight back is through the use of technology. YouTube, blogs, Twitter and message boards are being used to turn the tables on unfeeling companies. Those same companies now routinely monitor "new media" sites and respond to people who are complaining.

Meanwhile, Consumer Reports came up with HearUsNow.org exclusively for beefs with communications companies.

Clark thinks about Sprint's new CEO Dan Hesse who wanted to return a customer focus to the company. So he went on TV and gave out his e-mail address to customers. What a deluge he got!

As companies get larger, they get dumber. Employees kiss up to management, instead of kissing up to the customer.

Clark also believes more CEOs need to come down to earth and start eating with their employees (not in separate dining rooms); eliminating their own preferential parking; and losing the designer suits as status symbols.