Of course you already use Google to look up movie times, settle trivia disputes or stalk, er, "research" former flames on the Internet. But the world's most famous search engine can also help you save some dough. Here are five money-saving Google features you might not know about:

1. Google 411

I only learned about this one when my uncle — who lives in Pakistan, no less — emailed to tell me about it. More

Money market funds have long been a refuge for investors seeking safety and liquidity. But ever since the market meltdown, money funds have been under siege. Last September Reserve Primary Fund, which had invested in suddenly worthless Lehman Brothers commercial paper, "broke the buck"—that is,  allowed its net asset value to fall below a $1 per share. That led to panic, as frightened investors began pulling their savings out of these funds. In the end, the federal government stepped in to offer a temporary guarantee for the $3.6 trillion in money fund assets.

The panic subsided—and the federal guarantee expires in two weeks—but the regulatory scrutiny is still underway. The Security and Exchange Commission has proposed money fund rule changes that include higher credit quality and shorter maturities. But the most controversial notion, which is not in the proposed rules but was offered up for public comment, is a so-called  floating NAV, which would mean that a fund's net asset value per share would be free to move up and down, instead of being pegged at $1 per share. More

If you're looking for ways to cut your expenses, take a look at Money's September cover story, "Cut Your Spending by $500 a Month." I admit to being a little biased here, as I was one of the contributors to the story.

As such, I can tell you that coming up with money-saving tips that actually work is tough. Not all of my ideas made it into the story. And frankly, not all of them really deserved to. Here are some of my ideas that I or or my editor decided were too silly, stupid or trivial to make the cut. Bear in mind that I actually do all these things.

• Water down your shampoo. From personal experience, I can tell you that Pert Plus not only lasts longer but works better when it's watered down a bit. I don't know the scientific principle underlying this discovery, but using this tip can save you literally hundreds of cents a year.
• Stop buying so many shoes. You know who you are. You can only wear one pair at a time, unless you wear them on your hands, too. How many shoes do you need, anyway?
• Buy pet toys in the human toys department. Pet toys can be ridiculously expensive. Instead of buying a couple of tiny balls for your cat to chase for $3.99, buy ping pong balls for a buck. Or just wad up pieces of paper. Cats don't care. They'll get bored with whatever you buy for them within a few minutes anyway. Ungrateful jerks.
• Listen to tapes. Once upon a time, in the age of boomboxes and Walkmen, tapes were the hottest selling music format around. Now that they've been kicked to the curb, first by CDs and then by digital downloads, no one seems to want them anymore — which means you can find perfectly fine tapes for fifty cents or a dollar at any decent thrift store. If you've still got a working tape deck, let your analog freak flag fly. Sure, you can't easily skip tracks, but who needs to skip tracks when you're listening to Slim Whitman's Greatest Hits, like I am right now? Slim Whitman rules!
• Don't get tattoos. They're expensive going on, and even more expensive coming off. If you want to impress that rocker chick at the bar, draw something on your arm with a Sharpie before introducing yourself to her. It doesn't matter if it looks convincing. She's not going to be interested in you anyway.
• Don't buy groceries until you've absolutely run out of everything, and are reduced to eating nothing but pickles for lunch. To be honest, I'm not actually sure this will save you money. It's just how it always seems to happen in my apartment.
• Stay behind the times. Wait until books come out in paperback and until movies come out on DVD. Don't buy the latest electronic gizmos; see if you can mooch gently used digital cameras and not-all-that-lightweight laptops from your friends and relatives when they upgrade to the latest models. Don't bother changing your hair or clothing styles until people giggle and point at you whenever you leave the house. Speaking of which …
• Never leave the house. Doing stuff outside the house tends to cost money, so avoid the outside world whenever possible.

Hey, at least none of my tips are quite as stupid as those in this list from Cracked.com. Got your own bad good good bad ideas? Leave a comment and let the rest of us learn about it.

Are you drooling over the new iPhone 3G S, anxious to get your hands on Apple's latest creation this Friday? If you plunk your money down for the shiny new toy, maybe you need to take another look at your finances.

At least that's what suggested by the blogger who runs Free From Broke, which he bills as "A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks." In a recent post, FFB collected his observations on 25 traits of the "not-so-well-to-do." I had a laugh going through his list. He argues that, individually, the traits aren't bad per se, but if you spot too many in some people, there's a good chance they're blowing through cash they might not even have. And number 7 on his list is always buying the latest cell phone.

Some others:

• Subscribing to too many premium cable channels ("When you mention that it’s expensive they insist that it’s cheaper because of a package.")
• Always buying the latest gadgets and newest computers ("[They] go through computers like my two year old goes through diapers!")
• Not having an online savings account ("…they don’t trust online banking, or so they claim. Yet they seem to be able to use their computers to shop online without trust issues, hmm.")
• Eating out often and expensively ("It’s great going out with these people because they are quick to pick up the tab and/or leave a ridiculous tip.")

He makes some sense to me. The temptation to buy every latest technology is strong, but giving into it ofen produces a short-lived high — and only leaves you wanting more. And unless you've got a healthy disposable income, keeping up is not easy on the wallet. Some of his other assessments seem like common sense (buying holiday gifs you can't afford is never going to be a financially sound idea), while others discourage indulgences (hey, I like my HBO).

What do you think? Is FFB's list right on, or does it just boil down to the most basic rule: Don't spend what you don't have? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

One of the infinite ways in which you can divide up the world into two types of people is savings behavior. People are either diligent savers or they aren't; likely, you know where you fit in without being told.

But other than the habit of savings, how are savers and spenders different from one another? Recently, I saw some research from HSBC Direct which sheds some light on the subject. In a survey of 1,000 people–two-thirds of whom had household incomes of at least $100,000–the bank found a few interesting differences between the 22% of the population that the bank designates as "active savers" and the not-so-active rest of us. (Click on each of the charts below to see larger-sized versions with more information; in all of them, the red bar signifies active savers while the blue one represents not-so-active ones.)

• Active savers start early. Seventy-three percent of them say that their parents taught them the value of saving money, compared to 56% of the so-so savers.
  

  When learned to save

  Non-savers had a greater  likelihood of being "scared straight" into saving by a bankruptcy or significant debt.

• Active savers are less hedonistic. Maybe that's obvious. But I wanted to point out that active savers are more likely than sluggish
  

  Why people save

  savers to put money away for retirement and a general sense of security, while they're much less likely to sock away funds for a vacation.

• Active savers know their limits. When asked what would improve their current financial situation, they're less likely than their counterparts to say they they could reduce their expenses.
  

  Improving finances

  Hey, they've already reduced them, and they know it.

• Active savers are happier with their current financial situation. Now, are they happy because they're savers, or are they savers because they're happy?
  

  Saver lifestyle & finances

  I don't know. But if you're not an active saver, why not join the club and see if it improves your mood?