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Sprint may not be beloved for its customer service, but Clark thinks they've done a good job of embracing cutting-edge technology in the mobile world. He's now able to get live TV on his Sprint cell phone -- much to the joy of his 9-year-old daughter who loves to watch Hannah Montana!

The only drawback is that Clark finds he's constantly in need of his charger because the TV function drains his battery.

Last year, Clark revealed how Sprint was experimenting with "femtocells" in select cities. Femtocells are essentially tiny cell towers you can put in your home to improve reception.

They should not be confused with "fembots" from Austin Powers!

Sprint now is readying a national rollout of a new femtocell product called Airave for around $100. Think of it as a home-based cell tower that -- for a connectivity fee of $4.99/month -- will use your broadband connection to deliver a reliable, crystal-clear connection. This should help Sprint customers who have spotty reception at their homes.

And it's just the next step in the evolution of the cell phone destroying the need for an antiquated landline!

There is now a federal move to cap the interest rates that payday lenders can charge at 36%. That would extend the protection against outrageous rates now enjoyed by military personnel to all civilians.

As surprising as it sounds, a wide-reaching 36% cap would nearly demolish the payday lending industry. They simply can't staff their outlets and give out money haphazardly at that rate of return.

Clark believes the industry really brought this on itself. If they had kept to interest rates of only around 50% or 60% -- and Clark uses the word "only" very loosely! -- they may not have attracted such ire. But instead, the payday lenders have been greedy, sometimes charging hundreds or even thousands of percent interest!

On a related note, Clark is disappointed that credit unions have only had limited pilot programs for short-term borrowing. He feels they missed out on an opportunity to provide a real community service to those who would otherwise be targets for payday lenders.

As always, resist the temptation to go to a payday lender. It's never the right move.

Clark is excited by the idea of installing fake grass for the purpose of conserving water. Today's fake grass is a far cry from the AstroTurf of yesteryear. In fact, you can't tell today's fake grass isn't the real deal; manufacturers even weave in some decoy weeds!

In Las Vegas, homeowners are actually paid to dig up their yards and convert them to desertscape. The stunner is that the Las Vegas Strip only uses 3% of the city's water. That's because casino owners are good capitalists and have used every possible water-saving technique in their buildings.

The Los Angeles Times now reports that California is offering a similar deal. Golden State homeowners are being encouraged to convert to landscaping that requires less water. But some local municipalities are fining homeowners when they make the switch. Talk about state and local governments working at cross purposes!

The Financial Times of London reports that over 80% of the wealthiest Americans have begun looking closely at their budgets and seeing what they can cut out. The business for "mys" -- as in, "my therapist," "my personal trainer," "my personal chef," etc. -- has been taking it very hard.

Likewise, over 80% of the wealthiest also said they passed up buying something right now until it went on sale. Over 50% report not buying a big-ticket item that they were planning to purchase.

So why should you care what the wealthiest Americans do or don't do? Simply put, the ripple effect of their spending is significant. It can actually lead to a further slowdown of the economy.

On the other end of the financial spectrum, Aldi is about to open its 1,000th store in the United States. Aldi typically stocks 1,500 items -- instead of the nearly 40,000 carried by a traditional grocery store. That allows them to keep costs low and pass the savings on to consumers.

It's been said that Aldi is the only retailer that Wal-Mart fears. In fact, Wal-Mart is poised to open a wave of small grocery stores to compete with Aldi. The real winners of this battle will be consumers as the 2 try to undercut each other in price.