What big purchase did you make over the Labor Day weekend? I bought a mattress. Buying a mattress can be a dreadful experience. Here’s what I scribbled on a notepad as I headed out with a fistful of mattress sale circulars and a checklist of wants: “12:30 p.m. Headed out to shop for a mattress. I’d rather eat dirt. Can we make this quick?“

Time to get out the flak jacket, the Charlottesville Venture Group said of its signature angel investor event, Live Fire!, coming to Richmond on Wednesday. For 15 minutes each, in front of a live audience, five regional companies will stand at the podium with PowerPoint presentations and try to get money from a panel of angel investors to help fund their ventures.

Atight economy can be a good time to start a business. Danielle Vallee, an Alexandria small-business consultant, pointed to a new Kauffman Foundation study that says that more than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list and just under half of the 2008 Inc. list began during a recession or bear market. It supports the premise in her newly released book, “Whiz Biz in Changing Times,“ that economic downturns present new opportunities to start a business.

DTV switch not simple for some John Roberts of Richmond made the switch to digital TV using a converter box but said getting things to work properly has been a major headache. For starters, no one could tell him how to get the box to work with his VCR properly so he could record TV programs while away from home. The converter box shuts itself off after a while.

A happy family vacation in Virginia Beach turned into a nightmare for a retired Chesterfield County couple who became victims of identity theft. Two days after Robert and Doris Struhmer’s trip, someone began draining $5,200 from their checking account. Over a 10-day period, unknown to them, a thief conducted numerous fraudulent transactions by phone and with fake checks using the Struhmers’ checking account and routing numbers, even paying telephone and cell-phone bills and making a mortgage payment.

Parents, talk to your college-bound youngsters about the correct use of a credit card on campus this semester—and about the dangers of racking up debt. Think about these sobering facts from a 2009 study by student lender Sallie Mae: Undergraduates are carrying record high credit-card balances. The average balance has grown to $3,173, the highest in the study’s history.

Act quickly to prevent foreclosure As mortgage delinquencies keep rising, so do cries for help from distressed homeowners. Housing Opportunities Made Equal said it gets an average of 250 new distress calls per month, up from 170 calls a year ago, from consumers trying to prevent a foreclosure. Callers most often ask how they can reduce their mortgage payment to an amount they can afford and how they can take advantage of the federal government’s new Making Home Affordable program, said Mike Burnette, spokesman for the local housing advocacy group.

Has your Social Security number ever been stolen? The Richmond Times-Dispatch is working on a story about which businesses or entities are entitled to know your Social Security number and why it is critical to protect your number from identity thieves. Please contact Iris Taylor at (804) 649-6349 or .

Has your Social Security number ever been stolen? The Richmond Times-Dispatch is working on a story about which businesses or entities are entitled to know your Social Security number and why it is critical to protect your number from identity thieves. Please contact Iris Taylor at (804) 649-6349 or .

Beware of ‘risk-free trial’ offers, phone scams Scammers and opportunists don’t take a break, so don’t stop being vigilant. Heed these latest warnings:

. . . Always read the fine print. A Richmond reader ordered what she thought was a free trial sample of AcaiPure, a weight-loss product touted on television.

Complaints often linked to economy AVirginia woman was miffed over what she said was a botched service job at a dealership repair shop that left her car engine damaged. The dealership denied that it caused any damage. But after the woman complained to the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs, it refunded her money and the case was closed.

Teleworking can be a win-win proposition Send your workers home so that your company can save some money. No, don’t fire them. Let them telework. It’s a win-win arrangement. As Virginia recognizes Telework Day today, state Department of Taxation Commis sioner Janie E. Bowen explains the benefits of the work-from-home trend: It can save money. You will need less office space, so you’ll pay less rent and associated costs. By home-basing workers, the tax department cut its real estate needs to two floors instead of 2½ floors, Commissioner Bowen said. The savings amount to about $130,000 annually in rent, utilities and other costs.

Networking a key part of job search You’ve lost your job and dealt with the stress, humiliation, grief and anger. Now, you’re ready to hunker down and start networking your way to a new career and a new chapter in your life. Here’s what to do, according to David Jones, president of the David Jones Group consulting firm in Tennessee, and Mark Deutsch, executive director of Business Network International, Central Virginia Region, in Richmond:

Beware bogus loan and IRS enticements Scams abound. Be on the alert for these, consumers. About four months ago, a Varina resident got a solicitation from a company offering to help her get a mortgage-loan modification. The resident, who was not facing foreclosure but wanted better loan terms, decided to try the company out to see what it could do for her. The company offered its services for $1,000, $500 of it upfront deducted from her bank account.

Cautionary tales from overseas Readers offered plenty of feedback on my column last Sunday about protecting valuables while on vacation overseas. One person questioned the U.S. State Department’s advice to not carry a Social Security card overseas because it may get stolen. The reader said people on Medicare routinely carry their Social Security and Medicare cards—the numbers are the same—with them at all times.