Last night, the Senate endorsed an amended version of the $700 trillion economic bailout plan, putting the pressure on the House to pass it by the end of the week. But how will it affect you, the recent grad?

As you've probably noticed, Wall Street is throwing up its hands and yelling, "FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The bailout plan didn't pass in Congress and the Dow Jones fell almost 778 points, a new record. It all sounds pretty apocalyptic, but as a recent grad, do you have anything to worry about

The Internet has developed a pretty advanced marketplace for disposing of stuff you don’t want and finding people who sell what you do want. But if people didn’t believe there’s always room for improvement

You may be of the mind the current meltdown in the markets doesn’t affect you because you don’t have any money anyway. Or maybe you’re just not interested. Both are perfectly fair reactions.

The Forbes 400 Richest People in America is now available for those who like to ogle old white men with silly amounts of money (the cut-off for this year’s list was $1.3 billion). But the real question for a recent grad trying to make the list by 40 is this

Rachel Solomon is the personal finance maven behind a number of articles on Gradspot.com, and she’s recently begun producing a series of money-related videos for SmartMoney geared specifically toward issues affecting recent grads.

If you’re still in college, you may notice fewer credit card companies offering you free Nalgenes if you sign up for some plastic. That’s because college are cracking down on credit-card marketing on campus to curb the trend of students graduating with massive debt.

Loyal readers know that we’re a broken record when it comes to personal finance: “Saving money is all about getting over the hump of denial. Once you make an honest appraisal of your monthly expenditures, making a few strategic cutbacks ain’t nuthin’ but a chicken wing.”

When you’re a recent grad with a miniscule income, a sublet apartment, and no bills in your name, convincing credit card companies to throw you a bone isn’t always easy. Combine those stacked odds with the fact that it takes an advanced