This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

More than one reader has e-mailed me in the last month asking how much house I thought they could afford in our sinking housing market.

One reader, Chester (not his real name), lives in California, where home prices still seem in the stratosphere despite lowered prices. The other, Wilson (also not his real name), lives in the Washington, D.C., region, where demand has kept home prices relatively stable.

• Bing: Compare the cost of living
  

In both cases, I think the question of how much house you can afford is independent of the local real estate market and more a product of your spending habits and the local cost of living.

This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

Did you ever receive a gift card for a store where you never shop? Or have you ever had a gift card for a store that filed for bankruptcy? When a retailer files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, gift cardholders get in line with every other unsecured creditor.

What does that mean? It means you can kiss the value of your gift card goodbye. One solution is to run out and spend the gift card if you hear the retailer is in financial turmoil. But there is another solution.

This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar.

When I was young, my parents were adamant about turning off lights, and would be rather upset with me when we'd go on a two- or three-day trip and my bedroom light remained on.

My wife and I go through the house and turn off lights, sometimes even if we're just leaving for a couple hours.

• Bing: How much electricity do different appliances use?
  

Is this tactic worth the time invested in it? Let's crunch the numbers, but let’s first make a few assumptions.

This devil's advocate post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.

A few years ago, when the housing market was sizzling hot, everyone and their mother talked about how their home was a fantastic investment. They talked about how a home that sold 10 years ago had quadrupled in value over the last five and cursed themselves for not buying more.

I knew someone who owned four rental properties, all bought with adjustable-rate mortgages, and was making a "killing" on the rents and appreciation. I knew someone else who was looking at his paper riches and marveling at how wonderful homeownership was.

Then the housing market stalled. ARMs reset. People were in rough shape. Those who overextended learned something the prudent have always understood: As much as your home is a great place, it's not an investment.

Adding insult to injury, employers are opposing unemployment benefits claims in record numbers, The Washington Post reports.

Imagine being among the multitudes getting pink slips, applying for benefits that will help you keep your home -- and then getting notice that your former company contends you're not entitled because you were let go for misconduct or that you quit. Protests are being filed by former employers in more than a quarter of all new benefits claims, the Post says.

This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

One thing I don't like about typical gas-saving posts is that they give great tips you'll never use.

• Bing: How to save money on gas
  

They're great tips you will absolutely, without a doubt, 100%, take-no-prisoners ignore until you're blue in the face. You'll ignore them because you don't like the tips.

Here are four tips you'll ignore, and why you (and I) ignore them. Then I'll follow with some tips I think you won't ignore, because they're easy.

This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

I recently attended a party with some of my former high school classmates. Many of the other guests were artists. I don't know many artists, so it was fascinating to listen to their stories, especially about the economics of selling art during a recession. I learned a lot.

Later in the evening, I spent some time chatting with my friend Jonathan. He asked me about the blog. "What are you going to write about tomorrow?" he said.

"Well, I'd like to write about earning extra money," I said.

• Bing: Find a part-time job
  

"That's the topic for the podcast I'm doing Monday afternoon, and I think it would be fun to also post an article related to the subject. I've been picking the brains of these artists, hoping to find a story, but I haven't found one yet."

"I've got one," Jonathan said. "Let me tell you how my mother earns extra money."

This guest post comes from J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy.

And you thought today was going to be boring. This all started the other day when my girl MoneyMate Kate posted about some crazy jobs she's taken in the past (Italian ice truck driver, bone counter, substitute mommy). I was dying.

Once I began to compose myself, it got me thinking. I've done some pretty whacked-out stuff, too. But as I started writing this post, another thing occurred to me: If she's a frugal person with a frugal blog, and I'm a frugal person with a frugal blog, wouldn't it make sense that other personal-finance bloggers would have similar experiences, too?

So I reached out to my PF friends and readers on e-mail, Twitter and the Money Blog Network Forum (a great resource, by the way) and hit them up for the weirdest jobs they've ever done -- and holy cow, did i get some whammies.