As for the book, it’s written by top personal finance writers at Wise Bread, as well as some notable guest writers  from Zen Habits, Get Rich Slowly, and The Simple Dollar. It’s pretty safe to assume it’ll be an excellent resource and at $1o you won’t break the bank to get access to thousands of money saving tips. You can purchase the book from the site (and even get a free gift!).

Last week, Bank of America launched a new Bank of America Home Loans division, which is essentially a re-branded Countrywide. Along with the launch, however, the bank announced its ‘Clarity Commitment,’ intended to help consumers better understand the terms of the loan they are committing too. (here’s a press release about it)

While I definitely think this is a positive step forward, I’m skeptical about its execution. Banks are certainly not known for making things clear, especially when it comes to home loans. I envision this ‘Clarity Commitment’ document-which is a one-page overview including information like your interest rate, terms and “other details of the loan in plain language”-may still require some explanation from a bank representative, which sort of brings us back to square one. Click on the thumbnail to see a screen grab of the Clarity Commitment (from the site), which may reaffirm my point, as the actual language on the document is too light and small to make out. Hmmmm…

Nevertheless, banks thinking about making things clearer and easier for consumers is absolutely a good thing. Hopefully other banks will take a clue and start thinking about making things clearer and easier for consumers.

It might still be early, but if you’ve had experience with Bank of America Home Loans, why not write a review for others on SmartHippo?

The tax deadline just came and went, and if you’re lucky enough to get a good refund–you might be tempted to splurge on something extravagant. While I definitely won’t stop you, here’s a few resources that might help you think twice about what to do with the extra money.

• My Pretty Pennies actually asked readers what to do with some extra cash and decided on savings and debt repayment–and wrote about the rationale, if you need some motivation to make the same tough, but smart decision.
• Or, it might be a good time to start up your emergency fund. No Credit Needed answers a reader question about the importance of starting an emergency fund while on a debt reduction plan.
• And finally, Finance Your Life has 7 Strategies for Spending your tax return.

I’m no expert, but my advice is to save or pay off debt with most of it, but save a little to buy something for yourself. You’ve probably earned it! Enjoy!

Here it is:

So here is the situation- you’ve lost your job and you are flat broke. No money left in savings, checking, or in your retirement accounts. You own a home, but you are more than 90 days late on your payments. Is it better to have the bank foreclose on the home- or should you file for bankruptcy?

The answer as always is- it depends.

The first big question to ask before deciding on foreclosure or bankruptcy (both pretty gloomy options)is: what other choices are there? Each of these options are incredibly expensive, and they should only be looked at as a last resort. You don’t want either of these, and either do the banks. Contact your lender to find out if they offer loan modification, forbearance (where they hold off on requiring payments while you find a new job), or a re-negotiation of loans in default. Generally the customer service individual you talk to on the other end of the phone won’t be able to offer these options, so you may need to work your way up the chain of command. Ask to speak with someone that can help provide alternatives to foreclosure. In addition, find an accredited counseling agency to help you negotiate; this is an inexpensive way to find a skilled advocate that knows how to speak the bank’s language. If there is any possible option that allows you to stay in the home- take it.

Another option is what is called a “short sale.” In this scenario the bank will voluntarily take the house back- and then sell it to the highest bidder. You are then responsible for paying the difference, but banks may not even take action to get that back- you no longer have any major assets they could go after. The bank may not be willing to do a short sale if you are too far upside-down in your home.

What if you have to choose between a bankruptcy and foreclosure? A foreclosure will remain on your credit report for 7 years, while a bankruptcy will be there for only 10 years. Either way, you have taken an axe to your credit rating, and especially in the current economic climate- a bank won’t lend you money for a car or home for some time. The one benefit of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is that all of your debts are forgiven, as opposed to foreclosure where you lose the home, but are still responsible to pay your debts. The whole purpose of Chapter 7 is to wipe the slate clean, and give you a chance to start over. You should note you will be starting from zero with bankruptcy- meaning zero credit. With a foreclosure you at least salvage some credit, allowing use of credit cards, and possible other loan options. Freedom to continue using some credit is a definite advantage foreclosure has over bankruptcy. It all depends on your personal situation.

For those who have just hit a streak of bad luck- you’re not alone. Remember, it’s easy to ruin your credit rating, and while it’s hard to build it back up- it can be done. But rebuilding your wounded credit rating is a topic for another article.

Adrian Dayton is an Attorney and PR Consultant in Buffalo, NY  He can be reached at atdayton@gmail.com or on twitter @adriandayton. Adrian is currently awaiting the release of his first book The Year of 12 Virtues: Old World Virtues to Save the Modern World. You can learn more about it at adriandayton.blogspot.com

I’m very happy to announce that one of those hippo hunters, Greg Robleto, is also our grand prize winner! It wasn’t a huge surprise, in addition to tweeting about the contest, he also blogged about it, which scored him an extra five entries into the grand prize draw. Also, he did manage to pick up one of the prizes at the show, and even ran his own contest with that–very neat idea!

Since we had some gift certificates left over we gave Greg some instant gratification prizes including a gift certificate for the T-shirt Outlet and Sunglass Warehouse, along side the big prize of a $400 CD he can use to save up for whatever he wants. The reason we chose a CD as the grand prize is that times are tough right now and as much as we all love winning great stuff, I think we can all appreciate a little bit tucked away for later use.

We did a brief three-question interview with Greg to find out how he liked the contest and what he plans to do with his savings.

1. How did you hear about the Hide a Hippo contest?
I think I saw a RT (retweet) from @sxsw about the content, and then followed a link to smarthippo.com for more information.

2. Why did you decide to play?
I am a sucker for scavenger hunts so I immediately had the itch to play, but I really made the point to play to support the campaign. I thought it was a very smart means of building brand awareness for SmartHippo. I think a lot of people try too hard and spend way too much, or dismiss the possibility due to the economic climate or other similar factors and don’t bother trying. I liked that this content was lean, easy to participate in, and maintained stickiness (each day I was wondering where that hippo was).

3. What do you plan on using the $400 CD for?
If it’s a CD that requires one-year to mature it may be perfect for making sure I can get to SXSW again next year. More than likely, though, it will go towards my wife and my goal of getting into a new home, so either towards the new house, or fixing up the current place so it’s more likely to sell.

Thanks Greg! Now if you do use the savings towards a new home, I hope you know where to look for your mortgage! ; )

We hope to run more SmartHippo contests in the future. To make sure you hear about them, follow @smarthippo on Twitter, or stay tuned here!

But we still want to get some buzz, and who doesn’t love a good contest? Therefore, I’m happy to  announce the Hide the Hippo Contest. This online/offline contest will take place at SXSW AND on Twitter with the hashtag  #hippoSXSW. Each day a toy hippo (pictured below) will be hiding somewhere in Austin (at a SXSW venue) and @smarthippo will tweet clues about where it is until someone finds it. You may also get bonus clues by following @georgefavvas and @krusk.

Two ways to win…

At SXSW
If you find the hippo, tweet @smarthippo right away! We will meet up and I’ll give you your fabulous prize! Don’t worry if you forget all this, the hippo has all the details too.

At home
Can’t make it to SXSW? We feel for you, and that’s why we want to give you a shot at winning too!  Every time you tweet about the contest (using the hashtag #hippoSXSW), you’ll get an entry and after SXSW we’ll randomly pick a winner. Write a blog post, and you’ll get 5 entries.Help spread the word and you can win!

What will you win?
At SXSW you’ll get your choice gift certificate for the following generous contest sponsors:

• SmartyPig.com
• Tshirtoutlet.com
• HandbagHeaven.com
• SunglassWarehouse.com

Each prize is worth at least $50. The grand prize is a $500 Certificate of Deposit! We know how tough it can be to save up in our current economy, so we’re going to give you a little boost. Don’t worry if you’re not a US resident–if you win, we’ll have an equally awesome prize for you.

I hope you’re as excited as we are! Help spread the word, and we hope you win! Don’t forget the hashtag #hippoSXSW and you can also use this URL: http://tinyurl.com/hippoSXSW

Get started now! Tweet this!

UPDATE: Want to know how many entries you’ve accumulated? Watch the Hide the Hippo Twitter leaderboard, remember each time you tweet with the hashtag #hippoSXSW you’re entered. Leaderboard is updated once daily.

And now for the small print: Contest is open to anyone; but void where prohibited. For Twitter players: One entry per tweet per day (up to five total, for the five days of SXSW) and five entries per blog post. At SXSW, prize will be awarded immediately upon returning the plush hippo, unless other arrangements are made. SmartHippo reserves the right to change or alter the rules if deemed necessary.  Grand prize draw will take place the week of March 16-20.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

• Facing foreclosure? Make the lender produce the original mortgage (via Everybody Loves Your Money)
• If you’re on a tighter budget, you may enjoy these 10 tips for successful meal planning (via Bargaineering)
• Look for new sources of income, for example, make money by blogging. (Free Money Finance)
• If you have an extra room, consider renting it out (Five Cent Nickel)
• And finally, counter-intuitive ways of lowering your spending (MoneyNing)

We’ve launched a brand new site–however if you go to it, you probably won’t even notice. Most of the changes are behind the scenes, but doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be excited about them. For starters the site is running *much* faster, so if you’ve had any frustrations with it in the past few weeks, it’s all resolved now,

The big news though, is our rate engine. Previously when you searched rates on SmartHippo, you would see rates that were either posted by lenders who are members of the site, or just regular users who post what they were quoted. Now, in addition, we have the rates of over 200 lenders fed into our system, so you can be sure you’re going to find the best rates.

Check it out on SmartHippo, or view the news release for more info.