Betcha didn’t know about this one: turns out that in some department stores, such as Macy’s, you can get an additional, stackable discount of around 11% if you’re a citizen of a country other than the United States!

Macy's International Discount Card

Of course, you HAVE to be from another country, and not just show up with a fake name and accent … “Helo, mein neim iz Gunter, eym from Deutchland … Pleez geev me sum diskountz” ain’t gonna work.  The easiest way to accomplish this would be to bring one of your foreign friends with you when you’re renewing your wardrobe.

After all, if you’re spending several hundred dollars on some businesswear, why not save some money by essentially getting your tax reversed?

Macy's International Discount Card

I came across this little thing when I took my legitimately foreign-born, foreign-residing parents to Macy’s and coyly asked the salesgirl about any “other discounts” that we could apply to our $500 total.  She smiled and said, “well, yes, as a matter of fact, there is one thing you can do, since I couldn’t help but notice these folks you’re with are not from here“.  Then there’s a small matter of actually wanting to support your local government via paying the sales tax …

This year I waited until the last day to file my 1040, which is pretty stupid considering we’re getting a refund. It should include last year’s stimulus, which we’ve never gotten due to some complications with filing (IRS apparently never received my 2007 return even though TurboTax swears they did). That’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way, and from now on I decided to file paper, not bits and bytes, keep meticulous copies, and send with proof of sending.

Well, the income tax we did pay during the year apparently went to fund the wars.

Income Tax Fiscal Year 2009

So, between the human resources and wars, where’s the money for, you know, what we THINK taxes pay for, like police, roads, firemen, schools, etc?  Easy — all that other life-supporting stuff is paid out of our local and property taxes, which last year amounted to about $5,000 where I live.

This is not any kind of a call to action, but I’m inviting you to think about where your taxes go.  And now some featured stuff …

Finding a good bank account is not as easy as it once was. Some banks will offer good certificate of deposit rates but in today’s economic climate, you have to be sure you can find a sturdy financial institution as well.  Bromoney blogs about the latest bank rates and offers ratings on the banks with each post. They also give reviews on the best credit card offers with a full breakdown of the rewards and rules that go along with the cards.

Call me what you will, but this is the second year I am boning up on my gardening skillz and planting a garden, Victory Garden-style. I think things are going to get much worse in the economic sense, and I have a big enough yard to support a bunch of fruits, vegetables, and flowers for decor. By the way, although flowers are not immediately consumable as food, I decided to plant those anyway — they cheer me up!

I have already planted radishes, onions, basil, rosemary, bell peppers, parsley, cilantro, pickling cucumbers, squash, cherry tomatoes … marigolds, petunias, crocuses, daffodils. Still have to plant Roma tomatoes, more cucumbers, currant bushes, climbing roses, maybe a lime tree.

We’ve also trimmed the tree that’s been hanging over part of the yard, so now there’s plenty of sun for tomatoes.

So why am I doing all this? I want to be prepared for the impending collapse in the quality of life in the US as we know it. I’ve lives in many countries, multiple cultures … NEVER have I seen the excesses that I’ve witnessed during the last 8 years — someone’s gotta pony up to pay for them.

At least I’ll have a tomato to chew on when the time comes.