After speaking to various older coworkers and family members, I’ve come to the realization that it’s not only the younger generations that need a crash course in personal finance — many of the ones closing in on retirement need a refresher course too.

As you may have guessed from previous posts, I’m a big fan of Craigslist. I’ve found pretty much every apartment and every job I’ve had in New York on the old Craigs. So when I decided to check out what the city’s rental market was doing, I hopped back on the to see what rents were looking like in the borough I call home — Brooklyn.

Looking for some free weekend fun to hold you over til next payday? You can do some spectatin’ or participatin’ at New York’s First Ice Box Derby. Zombie Unicorn (a group of New Yorkers who get together to “engage in mischief”) is hosting the event for free on the east side of Central Park (104th Street area).

In the age of the credit crunch, credit scores are the passport to your financial future. The new year has brought many things, and with it, a new scoring model. We spoke to Ken Lin, CEO of Credit Karma (a website that lets you check your credit score for free — anytime, anywhere) about the change in the FICO credit scoring model to get a better idea of what the changes are and how they will affect you.

Attention foodies: this update is for you. IHOP will be celebrating National Pancake Day (February 24) by giving away a free short stack of mouth watering buttermilk pancakes to patrons from 7am until 10pm tomorrow. IHOP is only suggesting that you make a donation to the Children’s Miracle Network, a non-profit organization benefiting children’s hospitals.

As a writer, universal, free public Wi-Fi is the dream that I hope is made manifest within my lifetime, but until that day comes, cafes make for a fine option for connecting to the web to fetch information for stories, check e-mail, and chat with friends. From the looks of things at my local coffee house, Vox Pop, and similar spots throughout the five boroughs, you concur: you can’t walk into a cafe without seeing at least one Apple or Dell logo. The prospect of free internet gathers the both the diversion-seeker and workaholic.

An earlier story we wrote touched on the subject of integrating your own personal style into the workplace, which consequently led us to discuss the merits of viewing a career wardrobe as a personal investment. To build on that topic, we’ve hooked up with the guys over at Bonobos, a funky pants startup in NYC to talk about, well, pants — and building a worthwhile wardrobe one piece at a time.

So in a time when pinny pinching is necessary, are Bonobos worth the $100 – $275 price tag? In a word, yes. And I’ll tell you why: quality-made wardrobe pieces are a career necessity that should last you years to come — not provide a measly six to nine month lifespan. Another big kicker? You’re supporting local jobs at a time when many New Yorkers are losing theirs to cutbacks and companies outsourcing their labor. So to get a better handle on what makes Bonobos such an excellent pair of pants, we spoke to their Chief of Staff, Dave Eisenberg, to find out where the company got its roots, why they’re a better buy than a pair of Old Navy slacks, and where they’re headed in the future. We also picked up a few fashion recommendations in the process.

Heads rolled after Obama’s stimulation restrictions were voted into place allowing companies receiving federal support to limit executive salaries to $500,000. According to an article from StockWire, Crain’s, a New York business weekly, conducted an impromptu study of the Manhattan banking elite’s typical expenses. Let’s read on to find out how drastically these stipulations will affect the upper echelon of Manhattan’s wealthiest.

So, New Yorkers…how are your finances? If you’re like the majority of Americans riding out the recession wave, penny pinching, saving, and being financial responsible is more vital now than in any other time in our lives. Still, you can have plenty of smile without opening your wallet, purse, or murse. It’s Recession-Proof Activities III, the follow up to follow up to Recession-Proof Activities I and II. Consider this a sequel that doesn’t suck.

I tend to brush off contests where you submit your name for a random draw — sheer luck tends to evade me. But creativity and performance-based contests? Sign me up! And that’s what The Printed Blog (an aggregate of blogosphere content printed up newspaper style!) is doing.