This is a guest post from Michael of Financial Ramblings.

Editor’s Note: I was chatting with Michael the other day when he told me his story about buying a suit at a major men’s retailer. He told me how he walked in expecting it to be your typical retail experience, that is you pay what’s listed, but discovered that it was closer to buying a car. There’s a lot of wheeling and dealing involved and I was surprised so I asked him to share his story – being able to negotiate the price of a suit is something the stores probably don’t want you to know!

A couple of weeks ago I had to dress for success. Actually, I had to dress because of success. I was receiving a work-related award and I was expected to wear business attire.

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As we mentioned a while back, we’re buying a home and it’s a very exciting time for us. It wasn’t always so exciting though and if you’ve ever looked for a home, you’ll agree. The actual task of finding a house you like can take a very long time and there are no guarantees you’ll ever find one you like. I’ve heard horror stories, they were horror stories to me anyway, about people having to look at a hundred homes before they found one they liked… only to lose out on it because their offer wasn’t good enough.

A hundred houses. If you spend a minimum of half an hour inside, that’s still 50 hours. That’s more than a standard work week. Add in travel time and you’re probably pushing 80 hours. Two solid weeks. It’s incredible.

Here’s the secret… it’s up to you to be efficient.

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Insider trading has been going on ever since the stock market existed. Everyone is looking for an edge and no one is willing to play fair. Martha Stewart did it and was treated to several months in one of our nation’s fine institutions. Raj Rajaratnam did it and was sentenced to 11 years in prison and penalties of over $150 million. Heck, someone you know has probably done it.

Some are brazen about it, others are a little more secretive. I first realized how prevalent it was when I read Trading with the Enemy, an anecdotal book written by Nicholas Maier as he worked at Jim Cramer’s hedge fund. The story that struck me most was how they’d get news stories before they hit print and used it to their advantage. It’s not necessarily insider knowledge about a company but getting it a few minutes before the rest of the world, even if it was a third party, is a big advantage.

So, as for insider trading, if you want to learn how to do it, this is what you need to do to get away with it.

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Yesterday, Miranda wrote a post that talked about how marketers are using zip codes to reach new customers. It made me think about the research we’ve done when looking at real estate investments (we dabble a little here and there). One interesting tool I wanted to share with you is ZipSkinny. You give it a zip code and it gives you a ton of demographic data including race, age, gender, but it also includes social and economic indicators. It’s all taken from the 2000 Census, so it’s a little dated but still works quite well I think.

This is probably a light version of what marketers use but probably not that different. 49.3% are in the same home for 5+ years. 28.9% never married, 55% are married, and 9.3% are divorced. You have household income breakdown, occupation (in some broad categories), and even unemployment and poverty. It’s amazing what is available on census alone.

I had two questions – have you ever researched data like this and does it bother you that marketers are using it?

(Credit: Eric Fischer)

Every few months, I receive coupons for baby formula in my mailbox — despite the fact that my only child is now 10 years old. I also receive the random copy of America Baby. And, until recently, I had no idea why Family Circle started showing up at my house monthly.

Now, though, after reading stories on CNN Money and NBC News, I suspect that these are attempts at marketing based on my ZIP code.

You probably already know that information in your credit report is used to market items to you. Credit card issuers, personal lenders, and insurance companies all use information garnered from your credit report to send you marketing mail. But your ZIP code can also provide information to marketers that use “big data” to get information about you and your habits.

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Statistics are tricky whenever people try to guess their underlying cause but it doesn’t make it less fun. A recent Gallup poll results showed stock market investment by U.S. adults is at its lowest percentage since Gallup has started asking (1998). It’s been on a steady decline since 2007 (65%) and this year it stands at 52%.

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One of the most frustrating things in life is being unemployed. This is especially true if you want to work, but you are unable to find a job. Even though the unemployment rate is falling, many people still find it difficult to land a job.

Many states administer unemployment benefits to help support those who can’t find work. If you don’t have a job, it might be worth it to see if you qualify for unemployment benefits.

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We haven’t covered it much on Bargaineering (you might have guessed given the increased interest in credit scores), but we’re buying a new home. We submitted an offer a little while ago and after a little back and forth, it was accepted. We’re buying a house about ten minutes south of where we live now and while we aren’t excited about packing up and moving, we are really excited about the home itself.

Bargaineering was around when we bought our first house and we chronicled the entire process. A lot of it is mundane, downright boring if you’ve already done this yourself, but at the time it was all new to us. Getting pre-approval, while much easier then, hasn’t changed much except for how much paperwork you need to submit. Back then you typed a few numbers on a form and you were in! That’s why I didn’t write much about the process this time around – it wasn’t that much different and it wasn’t a completely new experience for us.

That said, in the last eight years, some things have changed…

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