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Nowadays, you meet so many people who are out of work and who have probably been looking for a job for a really long time. When these people find a job, the first thing out of your mouth is probably a heartfelt congratulations. Too bad that, for some people, the start of a new job is just as financially stressful as the period of unemployment before it. As reported by the New York Times, many recently-employed Americans have had to settle for positions taking a good deal less money than they were making before.

Too many Americans remain on unemployment insurance, said President Barack Obama last week. The president admitted that the continued state of the economy is troubling, and also that far too many people in this country remain jobless despite their best efforts otherwise. As the nation titters about the likelihood of a backwards slide into deflation and continued recession, the President clearly wanted to show his concern and dedication to the issues most troubling to Americans in these difficult times.

The bad economy has made all sorts of interesting changes to the American lifestyle. We know some of the biggies – fewer jobs, smaller paychecks, fewer luxuries, the rise of “frugalista” culture, et cetera. Over the weekend, it seems that we discovered yet another interesting effect of the Great Recession. The American birthrate has fallen for the second year in a row. It seems that money troubles have given some U.S. families pause when it comes to starting their families or expanding existing ones.

Weddings in this day and age can be divided into two distinct categories – the drive-through ‘I do’s’ in Vegas / the backyard hoedowns (like mine), and then the massive June-fantasy ceremonies like you see in bridal magazines. For the first category, we have faith and crossed fingers. For the latter, we have wedding insurance.

According to the U.S. Treasury, two billion dollars from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) will be sent to the seventeen states “hardest hit” by the real estate crisis. The funds are meant to jump-start programs aimed at unemployed homeowners who are having trouble paying their mortgages. The so-called Hardest Hit Fund was established by President Obama this past winter to support sinking homeowners in those areas of the country plagued by the worst housing and job markets, in light of the fact that most foreclosures taking place these days are being executed on middle-class – read: responsible – homeowners who are troubled because of joblessness. The money is drawn from the fifty billion dollars that Congress approved to spend on the Making Homes Affordable program’s mortgage modification section.

The results of the latest car insurance survey are in, showing what cars and trucks in the United States are most and least likely to be stolen. Do you have to be concerned about a thief making off with your wheels? Read on to find out. The Highway Data Loss Institute of Arlington, VA, which is an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, recently ranked several well-known vehicles by their likelihood of being stolen.

When Bardwil was arrested and booked, he claims that a member of New York’s Finest stole his beloved chunk of diamonds and emeralds. He got his insurance company, Chubb Indemnity Insuranec Company, to sue the city for having allegedly “”breached, failed and violated its duties and obligations as (custodian) of property entrusted to its care” by not returning the massive belt buckle o’ jewels to Bardwil’s possession. The company had paid out the claim on Bardwil’s buckle, and is pursuing the city for the chunk of change they forked up to continue holding up Bardwil’s pants.

Nobody likes to admit that they are wasting money, but so many of us do it anyway. Not all money wasting is created equal, of course. There is the garden variety frittering away of precious dollars and cents on needless purchases like fancy clothes and tech gadgets. Then, of course, there is the much more insidious type of money wasting… the kind that you don’t even realize that you are doing until it’s too late.

The Federal Housing Authority has been assisting Americans in buying homes for the better part of a century. The Authority hosts several programs that help both first-time and repeat homebuyers to obtain financing on the properties in which they are interested through a series of state and federal initiatives. For example, the FHA offers a first-time homebuyers program that allows buyers to get into a house with as little as three-and-a-half percent down, and includes closing costs and other side expenses in the cost. It also offers assistance to buyers looking to purchase “fixer upper” residences and Americans over the age of sixty-two who need housing assistance.

Conservatives and pro-life factions lobbied hard for abortion to be categorically excluded from the massive health care reform that President Obama has been working on for virtually his entire time in office. For those who condemn abortions, the idea of these procedures being even partially paid for with federal money is abhorrent and unacceptable. Obama caved to the demands of pro-lifers in order to get the massive measure passed in Congress, but now there is renewed furor on the topic.