Wal-Mart Offers Day After Thanksgiving Prices in Early November

It seems as though holidays start a little earlier every year. In my neighborhood, Halloween decorations went up in mid-September.

This past weekend Wal-Mart decided that, given its sales over the past quarter, it would need to give extra big Christmas discounts on gift items, like electronics.

So, two days ago, the store rolled back prices on electronics and other gift items by 15 to 30 percent.

The deals sound pretty good – if you're in the market for things like plasma TVs, digital cameras, and cell phones. A 42-inch high definition Panasonic plasma television was reduced $500 to $1,294. A 37-inch Polaroid LCD TV was reduced to under $1,000.

Company executives said prices on 100 popular toys were reduced from 15 to 50 percent a couple of weeks ago, and promised more prices would be reduced soon.

In some ways, this is holiday therapy for the retail industry. You've just got to wonder what the day after Thanksgiving will look like.

Election Day 2006

Over the weekend, CNN put together a fact sheet of things you probably didn't know about folks running for office today.

Here's one fact: It's a football lover's election: Lynn Swann, the former star wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is the Republican candidate for governor in the Pennsylvania race.

Democratic candidate Heath Shuler, who played for the Redskins, Saints and Oakland Raiders, is running for North Carolina's 11th District. And, Nebraska Republican Representative Tom Osborne, who lost his state's GOP gubernatorial primary this year, also played for the Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers and was the former head coach of the University of Nebraska football team.

But if you like money and you're a reality show junkie, there's only one race to watch.

Fired by Donald Trump, Raj Peter Bhakta is running as a Republican for Congress in Pennsylvania's 13th district. I'm sure the words he's looking to hear now are, "You're hired!"

Be sure to exercise your right to vote today. Checking Survey Shows Costs are Rising

The BankRate.com fall survey of checking fees is out and the news isn't good for consumers looking for a deal.

Bounced check fees hit a new high, in the semi-annual survey, and now stand at a record $27.40. ATM surcharges, which is the fee charged by ATM owners if you don't have an account with them, hit a record high for the third consecutive survey. The average ATM charge is now $1.64, up a dime from a year ago.

Banks are requiring you to put more money into an account to get it started, whether or not they're paying interest on your money.

The BankRate survey found that the average minimum required to open an account and earn interest shot higher from about $430 to $615, a 43 percent increase.

But the average minimum amount to open up a non-interest bearing account also rose 21 percent, from $72 to $87.

It takes money to make money, and now it's going to take more.

Scam Speak: If you hear these words, run the other way

How do you know you're being scammed? There are few time-tested techniques crooks use to part you with your money:

Here's the first: "Just wire the money." With so many ways to pay electronically, it's a wonder that Western Union is still in business. But with wire transfers, there is no way to stop payment. Crooks like that.

Next, "Cash this check." How many times on the show have we talked about fake cashier's checks? Enough said.

Anytime some you don't know writes or calls you from a foreign country with an easy money proposition, it's a scam, whether it's England, Nigeria or Latvia.

If someone says to you, "I can guarantee you a return of 10 percent" it's a scam. No one can guarantee the return on an investment. Not even the titans on Wall Street.

Remember, if the deal were really that good, they wouldn't be sharing with you. They'd tell their mother.

You Can Still Sell Your House Fast and For More Money Even In A Slow Market

I know it's hard to believe you really can sell your house quickly. But after watching my friends Kathy and Jonathan sell their condo within 3 weeks, for almost list price, by themselves, I know you can do it too.

First, you have to know that Kathy and Jonathan live in a building with 4 condos, and two were already on the market when they decided to list theirs. They started by "staging" their home to make it look perfect. Next, they priced their house at the same price or just under, the other two units in the building. Jonathan built a simple website and loaded up a ton of great photos of the condo. He sent an email with the website link to everyone he knew and asked them to pass it on.

They also signed up with a For Sale By Owner company that got their property listed in the local multiple listing service.

Three weeks later, they accepted a great offer.