ClarkHoward.com - How to buy a new car
OCC.gov - File a complaint against your bank
CanningAcrossAmerica.com - Get info on canning your own food
CouponMom.com - Get free coupon strategies

Auto-buyers have lost all brand loyalty when they go to purchase a new vehicle, according to CNW Research.

Historically, it was almost a given that people would buy the brand they were already driving. Yet only one in five shoppers this past year replaced a vehicle with the same brand they previously had in their driveway. This is an unprecedented development.

Our loyalty to a particular nameplate has been broken. People want the best deal and the best vehicle for their money. This has been a disastrous development for auto marketers. The Detroit newspapers report that manufacturers are putting the blame on their ad agencies and firing them. But the real problem is that the market is too competitive and the quality of vehicles too good.

That's turned us into free agents with shifting allegiances. Our free agency puts continuing pressure on manufacturers to keep delivering quality vehicles at affordable prices.

But remember, you must be a non-emotional shopper and do your homework. Follow our step-by-step guide for tips. And be sure to consider multiple models from multiple brands to suss out the best deal.

An oldie but baddie scam has become active again in the home-selling market.

During an open house, criminals may work in tandem with one distracting your realtor while the other rifles around the house looking for jewelry. The criminals may arrive separately within minutes of each other or they may come as a couple.

The Washington Post reports that in one instance at least $43,000 worth of jewelry was stolen during five open houses in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Clark's rule is avoid the problem in the first place. When you list your home, be sure you also rent a safety deposit box off the premises where you can stash away jewelry or other valuables. Any important financial papers can be stored in a locking cabinet at your home.

Of course, most people who go to an open house will be honest potential buyers. But you still have to protect yourself from the small number of people who aren't. Prevention is not only the best cure here, it's the only one.

Americans are more versatile and adaptable than we're given credit for. Some of us who have been forced to get by on less have even taken to planting and gardening to grow our own food!

But what do you do if you have a bumper crop in your backyard? One option is to can your own fruits or vegetables. Dow Jones reports that sales of canning equipment are up 30 percent this year. CanningAcrossAmerica.com is one web resource for canning devotees.

Most people, however, won't make the effort to practice the dying art of canning. That's why Clark says being smarter about how we buy our groceries is important.

Buying the store brand instead of the name brand -- a practice known as brand substitution -- can really help fatten your wallet.

Changing where you shop can also be important. Aldi prides itself on offering shoppers the opportunity to save up to 40 percent on a typical grocery bill.

Beyond that, you can also use CouponMom.com to learn free coupon strategies that will help maximize your savings each time you shop.

Want to stay mentally sharp even in old age? Start surfing the Internet!

A team of UCLA researchers presented that revealing finding during the Society for Neuroscience's recent annual meeting. The researchers looked at a group of subjects (with an average age of nearly 67) who were not initially Internet savvy. After just two weeks of basic web surfing, the subjects' MRIs showed remarkable brain activity.

Simply getting on the information superhighway actually made them smarter!

"Their brains showed activation in portions of the superior and medial frontal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus," The Los Angeles Times reports. "Those are regions of the brain key to decision-making, working memory and interference resolution -- the skill of fending off distracting intrusions and allowing necessary ones while 'bookmarking' one's place in a task to return."

So ladies and gentlemen, start your search engines!