By KATHLEEN PENDER, San Francisco Chronicle

Now more than ever, everything's negotiable.
Thanks to the slow economy, Americans are asking for -- and usually getting -- lower prices on a wide variety of goods and services.
A new poll by Consumer Reports found that more than 66 percent of Americans have tried to negotiate a better deal in the past six months, usually with great success.

Thanks to the recession, swine flu, lower fuel prices and a stronger dollar, this summer will be the cheapest in years to take a domestic or foreign vacation.
"I see bargains almost everywhere," says travel writer Ed Perkins. "It's really a buyer's smorgasbord out there."

Will Chrysler's bankruptcy and a possible bankruptcy filing by General Motors help or hurt Ford, the only U.S. automaker that has not accepted a government bailout?

Congress is working on a compromise to the estate tax that would eliminate the incentive to keep dying people on respirators until next year.
Under current law, the estate tax will disappear in 2010, then rise from the dead in 2011 in a gruesome state: Estates of more than $1 million per person would be taxed at rates as high as 55 percent.

Most workers should be getting a little extra in their paychecks, thanks to the Making Work Pay credit included in the stimulus bill.
Unfortunately, some people might have to pay all or some of the credit back when they file their taxes next year.

The government's extraordinary efforts to bring down interest rates to help banks and borrowers have been murder on savers.
Over the past year, yields on safe havens such as Treasury bills, certificates of deposit and money-market funds have fallen even more steeply than mortgage rates.

President Obama this week added warranties on new General Motors and Chrysler vehicles to the growing list of products being guaranteed by U.S. taxpayers.

With the April 15 tax deadline fast approaching, here are answers to some tax questions from readers.
Q: Is there anything in the stimulus act that will affect my 2008 tax return?
A: Very little. Almost everything in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed in February, affects tax years 2009 and beyond.

A federal law known as COBRA requires most employers to let employees who quit or get laid off stay in their group health plan, at their own expense, for up to 18 months.

A federal law known as COBRA requires most employers to let employees who quit or get laid off stay in their group health plan, at their own expense, for up to 18 months.