The fine art of splitting a check.

Here’s a timely article, considering how many of my friends have birthdays around this time. It’s not easy to bring up the topic when you think others at the table aren’t contributing their fair share, while you’re concerned you’re might be paying more than you’re share, at the same time you’re trying not to nickel-and-dime the issue.

The Secret to Ben Stein’s Money is saving, saving, saving. Take his advice.

While everyone knows an MBA who has been laid off, there are no hard numbers capturing the national picture.

This article comes just as I’ve set the wheels in motion to begin my MBA. I’ve enrolled in the University of Phoenix online program, so I can continue working and get my degree at the same time. I can check into class when it’s convenient for me. It sounds like a great plan. Despite what a lot of people say, human resources tend to think there’s no disadvantage to getting an MBA online.

In any case, my company is paying for it almost entirely, so there’s no good reason not to do it.

Back to the article. Nothing new there, just a story about a woman who had to change her goals due to being laid off like many others. Once a six-figure salary earner, now unemployed, she finds herserf forced to change her lifestyle.

Here’s a quick article about a woman who was determined to succeed. It’s unfortunate that they stressed sales. I don’t enjoy sales.

“It’s 1929 all over again,” said Talbott, a former Goldman Sachs vice president. “This is big Depression-type stuff.”

This article visits a worst-case scenario that some people think the market may realize. Once again, the point is made that while the housing market has never declined as a national average, prices have certainly declined locally. There’s a nice chart on the page that shows how long it took for homeowners to recoup their investments when they bought their house at the top and watched their value drop as much as 23%.

Lenders are giving huge incentives for customers to take on longer auto loans—six or seven years. At the same time, the average age of a car when traded in is less than 5.5 years. This means that people generally trade in their cars while still owing money. Another result of these longer loans is that people will owe more than their car is worth for a longer time:

As many as 40 percent of new cars buyers over the past six months have been “upside-down” on their trade-in, according to data from the Edmunds.com.

There are more good quotes in the article about people wanting—and taking—more than they can afford. Flexo’s advice: Buy what you can afford and keep it until it dies. If you take care of a car it can last two decades. The total cost of ownership can be incredibly low.

Buying a house isn’t right for everyone. If it seems like everyone else around you is jumping on the real estate bargain, but you aren’t, don’t sweat it. How can we buy a house? Once again, the possibility of real estate prices not continuing to go up as much as they have been is brought up.

If I had a dime for every article on personal financial issues for couples (married or otherwise), I would be rich. This article shows an example of a newlywed couple determining how to invest $20,000 previously not in a diversified portfolio.

The article cites MSN’s previous articles on finance for couples. Romance can wait; first, talk cold, hard cash identifies the problems couples have when they’re not thinking along the same lines financially. The second article cited isn’t too different from the first.