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People buy computers this time of year in big numbers. This year, we’re likely to see more market share move to laptops rather than desktops. The result of both is that a lot of old computers are sitting in closets, garages and unfortunately on trash piles. There is no national requirement for how to recycle items, so it’s been left up to those in the business. If you use HP products for example, you will spend between $12 and $35 to recycle various items. With Apple, it’s a minimum of $30 if you haven’t bought anything from them. It's free if you have, but recycling items from other companies costs money. Just remember that you should always try to delete everything on your hard drive before you dispose of it. If that information gets into the wrong hands, you could be in trouble. Or, there are software programs out there that will “wash” the hard drive.

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What about cell phones? Many people are buying new ones these days. So, what do you do with your old phone? Clark keeps his old phone “in reserve.” But if you want to turn yours in, most of the cell phone companies have recycling programs. Some others to check out are on Clark’s site. Just click here.

Who is in favor of our government getting larger? Probably not you, right? Everyone talks about reducing government involvement and government spending. But a recent report from a professor at NYU shows that the number of people who are working for the government is at an all time high. The number of people who are getting paid with your tax dollars – either directly or indirectly – is just under 15 million. That’s about one out of every 20 employees. Four years ago it was 12 million. And we all know that federal spending has gone up over the years. Our government is huge! If we’re going to start controlling our spending, we need less of a sugar daddy in Washington. The only way we’re going to get this under control is with tight limits on spending. What politician is actually willing to do that? Colorado has done something about spending with its TABOR law. We need the equivalent of a TABOR at a national level. Clark would like to see someone run for office on that platform.

Clark is sick to his stomach about something he read in Consumer Reports. The trusty magazine recently wrote that more than half of the car loans people took out last year were for longer than five years. That’s outrageous! What happens to you when you take out a long term car loan? You will most likely be upside down on it for the life of the loan. Also, the longer the loan, the more chance you’ll be out of warranty when something goes wrong. So, what’s a reasonable length car loan? Consumer Reports says 36 months or less. Clark is willing to give you 42 months. But do not go beyond that! People take out these long loans because they want to get payments down to what they can afford. If you must go beyond 42 months, don’t buy that car. Get a used version or just accept it that you can’t afford it and get something else. You want to keep your payment affordable so you can pay it off instead of just paying on the interest.

Have you heard about “Operation French Fry?” Sounds a bit hokey, we know. But the sting was actually very effective in catching criminals who were stealing your money. Operation French Fry was a multi-agency sting targeting high-end restaurants, where servers were skimming money off customers' credit cards. The servers were swiping the cards through an attachment they plugged into the regular swiper and sending your information to criminal rings. The rings then used the information to buy goods all over the world. The servers were paid for each person’s information and they made millions very quickly. It’s a good idea not to let your card out of your sight these days, especially at restaurants. Skim your own card if you can. But if that’s not possible – and it’s probably not in most places - just be sure that you never pay for a meal with your debit card. If you charge a meal on your debit card, you may not get it back. In addition, you may wrack up numerous bounced check charges if the account has been compromised. With credit cards, you can get the money back through a chargeback. These skimming scams are getting bigger, especially in restaurants. So, be careful!