Here’s a quick look at some of things that caught my eye over the past week…

JLP wants to know how much you spend on your household bills.

FMF has some tips for improving your home’s value with a steam cleaner.

But MBH disagrees… According to him, you’re better off hiring a professional carpet cleaner.

Flexo wants to know how you’re benefits stack up… I’m actually in the midst of sorting through my benefits options at my new job, so this is in the forefront of my mind right now.

Jim has an interviewing tip: tell your interviewer that you’re interviewing elsewhere. Having been on the hiring side of the table, I’d have to say that this is good advice — assuming, of course, that you are a good candidate — if not, then don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way to your other interviews…

Jonathan points out that Treasury Direct has jumped on the bandwagon and implemented a more secure login. It actually looks pretty good if you ask me — the fact that it’s clickable means keyboard loggers won’t beat it, and the fact that they appear to scramble the locations of the buttons means that it won’t be susceptible to spyware that tracks mouse movements.

Freedumb questions whether or not the young should be uber-agressive when investing. I tend to agree, and think that everybody has to find their comfort zone.

Please also be sure to drop by the MBN’s personal finance forum… Lots of good stuff going on over there, including a discussion of where to find the highest CD rates.