Is this a joke?

I took this photo about an hour ago. I was standing in front of a Starbucks and there's a Wamu branch next door to it. They were open for business and still taking mortgage applications apparently....

Sherwin-Williams' color picks for '09: yellows and greens

In keeping with my theme this week, the gang over at Sherwin-Williams has a few things to say about the directions to look for in the realm of yellow and green. There isn't a better palette on the market and these people know what they're talking about.

Yellow is enjoying a resurgence in fashion and it's started to show up more off of the runways. Yellows are getting brighter and more primary and at the same time, some yellows are taking on a greenish hue.

Greens are staying at the forefront too as a reflection of the current mania for anything that can be described as "green." Expect more sedate and mature gray greens and some occasionally bright jewel-toned greens. Stay tuned for more.

SW 7726 Lemon Verbena

SW 0060 Alexandrite

SW 6404 Grandiose

SW 6690 Gambol Gold

SW 6901 Daffodil

SW 6914 Eye Catching

Helpful household hints

Who needs Heloise anyway? Few things get on my nerves more than when I'm away somewhere with friends and someone leaves snack bags open to the elements. I usually travel with a collection of bag clips or more typically, wooden clothes pins, when I know I'll be staying with other people. No lie. Ask around. Anyhow, here's a brilliant, clip-less solution to the problem of rancid potato and tortilla chips.

How to Close a Bag without Using A Bag Clip

Mortgage mess

This little gem came to my attention through my pals over at Consumerist. The Dow Jones is in a downward spiral this morning as it comes time to pay the fiddler. Unfortunately, we're going to be the ones stuck with the bill as the market corrects itself. What ever happened to the good ole Republican idea about giving a hand up not a hand out? It went to the same place where their other pearl of wisdom went; that industries can regulate themselves. Anyhow, what's happening in the financial sector this week affects everyone whether or not you understand what's going on or not. Here's a PowerPoint presentation that explains it pretty well.

CDO Powerpoint SubPrime Primer - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: CDO Powerpoint SubPrime Primer

Smart savings plan

Check this out! My pals over at Consumerist ran this story and link last week. I'd never heard of such a thing before. The thing I'd never heard of before is a website called Smarty Pig. I am a huge fan of online savings accounts. I've been a loyal account holder at Ing Direct for a while now and I cannot endorse the practice of regular, planned savings loudly enough.

Last year, I took what ended up being the most expensive vacation I'd ever taken in my life. About a year before I left, I opened a new savings account with Ing that was dedicated to this vacation. I squirreled away small sums of money regularly and repeatedly and before I knew it, I was able to pay cash for that vacation. For a lot of people, the idea of goal-oriented savings was covered in adulthood 101. Well, I must have slept through that class or something because I figured it out on my own in my 40s. Better late than never though. Right?

As fond as I am of Ing Direct, Smarty Pig takes the idea of a goal-oriented savings plan and improves it by an order of magnitude or two. Smarty Pig pays 3.9 percent interest for starters, that's nearly a point higher than what I'[m getting from Ing. But that's not where the differences end. When you join Smarty Pig, you set up an account for a specific goal. Whether it's for a vacation, a new TV, or a kitchen renovation. Once you set that goal, your savings are locked away where you can't get at them until you reach that goal.

If you're new to savings (looking at the average debt load of most Americans, that's just about everybody), one of the hardest things to do is keep your hands off your money once it starts to accumulate. By locking it away, Smarty Pig removes the temptation.

Smarty Pig also gives you the option to make your savings goals public so that your friends and family can watch your progress. It defeats the purpose of learning how to save money, but those same friends and family can also contribute toward your goal.

So, if you're not a saver but know you should be, check out Smarty Pig. It's a great tool to learn how to save money and that 3.9 percent interest rate cannot be beat.