As we are hours away from approaching the New Year, National Employment Law Project announced this week that they will be increasing minimum wages in 7 states. The nearly 650,000 workers amongst Colorado, Montana, Washington, Arizona, Ohio, Vermont and Oregon will all be getting a small raise to add to their salary.

Those states receiving the increase will notice a 9 to 12-cent raise per hour starting Saturday. With theses increases, Vermont will retain the lowest at 9 cent, raising their minimum to $8.15 while Washington takes the lead amongst the states with 12 cent, raising their minimum to $8.67.

This raise couldn’t come at a better time for Joe Martinez of Denver, who’s often earned minimum wage for the type of jobs that he works.

“The prices of everything are going up – food, rent, electricity,” Martinez, 55 said on his lunch break Wednesday. “I know it’s not a lot of money, but any extra money will help, you know?” – Associated Press

“Regular increases in the minimum wage that helps workers keep up with rising living costs are critical during tough economic times and directly benefit workers and state economies,” said Christine Ownes, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.

Some may feel the raise just isn’t enough, but will better than nothing. Most can agree that increases like this will help thousands of minimum wage workers afford to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

Minimum Wage Starting January 2011.

Arizona, +0.10 to $7:35

Colorado, +0.11 to $7.36

Montana, +$0.11 to $7.35

Ohio, +$0.10 to $7.40

Oregon, +$0.10 to $8.50

Vermont, +$0.09 to $8.15

Washington, +$0.12 to $8.67

Southern California CEO of the Better Business Bureau, William G. Mitchell resigns from his position after 26 years. This announcement was made after ongoing investigations regarding the “Pay for Play “ scheme, in which the BBB would allow companies to pay for their grades. Bob Richardson, company director stated that Mitchell had resigned due to medical issue after undergoing open-heart surgery a few months back.

With the new grading system going nationwide in 2009, ABC News launched an all out investigated on the BBB last month and revealed that higher grades were given to paying accredited members. Prior to this, companies would only receive either Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grades basic on their complaints. Those who refused to pay their annual fees usually paid the consequences, by receiving a lower grade. After more investigations, ABC News also revealed that the BBB gave good grades to non-existing company such as Hamas, which is known to be a terrorist organization.

Mitchell has also been highly criticized for his A rating system along with his unpronounced salary. In 2008, according to tax records, Mitchell earned a total of more than $400,000 far more than the head chapter of the BBB and the national president.

The national organization of the BBB announced last month after undergoing much scrutiny regarding their grading system, stated they’re no longer giving higher grades based on membership dues status. True or not, we’re going to have to wait and see.

With the thought of how easy it would be to obtain a good grade with the BBB, you have to question and wonder how many more unethical companies out there are paying for their grades. This raises a big red flag, leaving trustworthy companies out to dry.

Was Mitchell’s recognition due to his poor health or bad business conduct? That leaves us with the BIG question, can the BBB be trusted? Watch the video and judge for yourself.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

With the holiday season passing, most of us ended up with unwanted gift cards to stores we don’t usually shop at.  The problem with this is, you can’t return them. Chances are, these cards will likely go unused and collect dust before they expire. Now there’s a way around it. With the gift card industry booming in the last several years, you can now sell, trade, and buy unwanted discounted gift cards on sites such as Plastic Jungle, Swap-a-Gift, and Card Avenue.

Most of these sites will give you up to 90% of the face value. This works for any kind of gift cards, although some will pay out more then others. From my knowledge, the best pay out goes to gift cards from: Walmart, Best Buy, Macy’s, Sears and Starbucks. Keep in mind, they take and sell many more.

Even if you don’t have any cards to sell, but are interested in purchasing, I recommend you take a look at their terrific deals, up to 30% off, although the more popular cards are discounted less. For example, you can purchase a Walmart $100 gift card for $88 ( 12% ) savings. You can also get 10% off cards such as Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Gap. With these type of savings why not shop SMART.

Did you over spend this holiday? Most of us probably spent a little more than we can afford. Saving money should be upmost important with the economy being the way it is. Here are five simple steps to start the New Year and save.

1. Don’t spend money by avoiding new purchases. Before purchasing something new, ask yourself do you really need it? If the answer is NO then put it back. This simple practice will leave you with more money in your pocket every month.

2. Bring lunch to work and cook at home. Most struggling American’s don’t realize with the simple task of bring your own lunch to work you can easily save $100 a month. Now if you apply that same concept to dinner, think about how much more you would save.

3. Make your own coffee. I’m sure you’re use to stopping by your local coffee shop every morning for a fresh cup of coffee. Instead, brew your own or substitute it for something healthier like water. Not only will you save money, but you’ll be healthier.

4. Make a list before grocery shopping. Doing this will minimize the temptation in purchasing extra while shopping.  Without a list you are more likely to buy something that you do not need.

5. Consolidate your credit cards and pay it off as soon as possible. If you have outstanding debt, look into a consolidation program. These types of program will be able to reduce your interest and minimize your monthly payment. The lower your interest the more you save. Stop letting the financial institutions take your hard earn money.

People are always looking to save a few bucks, and for good reason. With the economy in the state it currently is there is a lot of concern surrounding money. For this reason people are trying to find the best time to buy certain products, such as cars, airplane tickets, even appliances. While many times it may not make a difference, there is clearly a difference in prices for many products depending on the time of month or year. If you do your research you may be able to save yourself a few bucks on a purchase you may need to make anyways.

Are you looking to buy a new air conditioning system for your house or apartment? If so, buy it in the winter! Even if you don’t even use it for six months after you buy it, trends show that these systems are much cheaper in the winter than they are in the summer when everybody is suffering from the heat! After the demand for air conditioners begins to deplete at the end of the summer the prices will drop accordingly, that is when you should make your purchase.

For other big time appliances such as washing machines or dryers, September and October seem to be the best months to buy. Usually the new, improved, next-year models are going to come in right around then, resulting in a price drop for the older models. To put it into perspective, you see the same sort of trend with automobiles. When the new models come in the older ones drop in price.

Well since I already mentioned it I guess we will just get it over with next. Cars. This is probably the most requested piece of advice I get. The best time to buy a car is September. That is around the time you will begin to see commercials advertising for next year’s models, meaning that you should see a price decrease in the models from the previous year. Now, if you are looking to buy a brand new model you will not benefit from this piece of advice.

In the realm of technology, computers are another popular choice. Research tells us that the best time to buy a new computer is usually around the middle of summer. In July and August computer prices are at their lowest, usually because of newer technology. The problem with new computers is that at the rate of technological advance by the time they ship you your new computer it may already seem out of date. However, there is no way to avoid this as it is a common factor in life nowadays. If you are really looking to save a few bucks on a computer I would recommend buying an older model. The technology may not be completely up to date, but like I just said, the most up to date technology will be considered obsolete in a few months anyways.

Buying new products always takes a little bit of research. There are certainly better times to buy products than other times, and if you put a little bit of work into it you can definitely save yourself some significant money.