This was an interesting article on Yahoo Finance: http://ping.fm/Il9f0
It's sad that you have to be cautious even when trying to find a job not just when you're buying something.

Why Rent Not Buy

This article gives 5 reasons why renting is better than buying a house:

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/5-reasons-renting-still-beats-buying.html

With the housing market the way it is now, equity is a very fluid concept. So while people think they're not throwing away money by buying a house, they really might be if they purchase a house for $200,000 and end up selling it at $25,000 or losing it altogether when the bank repossesses it. There are a lot of other expenses on a house (upkeep, taxes, etc.) that can use more money even when the value of the house continues decreases. I hadn't thought about the neighborhoods changing before, but it was a good point. A house that was once in a great neighborhood with great equity could over just a few years become a house everyone is afraid to live in because the neighborhood's become dangerous.

10 things we overpay for -- article

Check out this article on how to save money:

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106701/10-Things-We-Overpay-For

The article discusses "inexpensive alternatives" to paying more or everyday items. Although these are good suggestions, sometimes I need one or two 'guilty pleasures' like a Starbucks coffee once in a while or going to the movies. However, cashing in on these alternatives, especially the ones you are not picky about, can save a lot of money. Money you could use to buy the guilty pleasures you don't want to live without. Also, many of these expenses are higher priced because they are convenient. If you're in a hurry, making a cup of coffee takes more time (and money if it makes you late to work, etc.) than stopping by a drive-thru coffeehouse. So I think, like everything in life, balance is needed.

Organize Your Life by Using Everyday Items

Check out this link to a RealSimple.com article on organizing. It gives some cool ideas for using everyday things to simplify your life.

http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/get-organized-everyday-items-10000001106576/

The Philtower houses some really trendy loft apartments. Live in the trendy Philtower loft apartments in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. These New York style lofts offer the finest in downtown Tulsa living while helping you save gas if you work downtown. Rent includes electricity, gas, water, trash collection, and wireless high-speed Internet. http://www.philtower.com

Save on Favorite Splurges - SmartMoney.com Article

Below is an interesting article about how to hold onto the little luxuries amid a sinking economy. As the article notes, it is very difficult to let go of everything that's not a really basic need. And sometimes you feel like treating yourself after a hard day at work. But this article suggests some ways you can treat yourself without totally regretting it later or, worse yet, taking the item back to the store.

Check out:

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106623/Save-Hundreds-on-Your-Favorite-Splurges

Tulsa's A Very Affordable Place to Live

Tulsa is not only a cool, cultural place to live, but MSNBC.com ranked Tulsa Number 3 on their 5 Cheapest Places to Rent. Oklahoma City ranked number 2.
Check out the article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23172597/.

Downtown Tulsa or Brookside - Melting Pot of the Metropolis?

I once thought it was just downtown Tulsa, but Brookside has also become the melting pot for the area. It's really amazing and bizarre actually how such a variety of personalities could successful cohabitate in such a small area. On any given day in both Brookside and downtown Tulsa you can see business executives Starbucks latte in one hand talking with the bluetooth and on the same side a homely person of extremely little - if completely non-existent means - talking to their paper sack. You would think that these two very different people, from very different worlds would stay as far away from each other as possible, on either side of the "track" so to speak, but no, they go to the same QTs, one going in for the morning paper and the other outside, sitting on that yesterday's paper, hoping for enough change to ride the bus. I don't know what this phenomenon says about our society or even our town, but it is interesting and often quite entertaining.