In the wake of the recession that came to a head during the last quarter of 2007, tens of thousands of Americans lost their jobs. Although the so called experts contend that the United States economy is in a state of recovery, try telling that to the thousands of Americans who ended up losing their homes to bankruptcy and foreclosure, or to the tens of thousands of American workers who remain on extended unemployment benefits, despite months of desperate job searching. As such, during these past few years, it has been to the advantage of many Americans to do as…