There are some ads for Citibank out now which annoy me nearly as much as those AIG ads I posted about a little while ago. In the ads -- arty productions, with up-to-the-minute indie rock soundtracks -- an assortment of everyday people pass on their little money-saving tips to friends. One guy tells an officemate he's started biking to work. A woman in an elevator suggests buying only solid colored wrapping paper -- "it's good for every occasion." Another woman confesses that she takes those little shampoo bottles from the hotels she stays at. "We all have to spend," a confident voice asserts, at the end of the ads. "So let's be smart about it."

Go here to see one of the ads.

Excuse me?

So this is Citibank's response to financial-crisis-cum-economic-meltdown that it helped to inflict upon the rest of us? To take $45 billion in bailout money -- and then to tell us to save our freaking shampoo bottles?

You know what doesn't cost very much, when you add it all up at the end of the year? Shampoo. (See if you can even find the "Hair, Dental and Shaving Products" category in the infographic here:

You know what does cost very much -- I mean, aside from that $45 billion bailout? The amount of money Americans spend on credit card interest and fees. Heck, the typical American family pays out $1600 a year in credit card interest alone. The best way to spend smart? Don't do it with a credit card! (See here for advice on how to break free from the tyranny of the little plastic cards.)

If the Citibank ads haven't yet sated your hunger for stupid money-saving hints, here are a few more, free of charge:

1) Make rugs out of old socks.

2) Turn your old shoes into planters.

3) Assemble your own envelopes out of old magazines and scrap paper.

4) Transform your old teabags into colorful greeting cards.

I got 45 billion of 'em.

--David Futrelle