family life

Imagine this scenario: You’ve just wrapped up a 10-day Florida vacation with your family. You’ve packed every corner of your suitcase with souvenirs and trinkets and swapped the swimsuits for the fleece jackets. You [...]

In a bizarre turn of economic events, it seems that credit card issuers are
now offering to compensate some consumers to pay down their debt and close their
accounts. American Express is giving select borrowers $300 to do so, and Citigroup is
proposing a debt-reducing credit for customers who agree to pay considerably
more than their minimum balance.

When your auto insurance renewal notice comes, do you just sign up for another
year, or do you shop around to see if you’re getting the best deal? If you’ve
been with your insurer for years, it’s time to see what else is out there—and
make sure you’re saving money where you can.

I am not much of an outdoorsy type but as a child I did do my share of camping, fishing and hiking. As an adult, however, I wouldn’t say that those activities have been [...]

While most of us have the ability to surf the Web from our mobile phones and hand-held devices, it’s believed that only a fraction of us actually do. The way I’ve always seen it: [...]

Recently I bought an eyeliner from CVS and got it home, only to discover that
instead of the smoky gray that I thought I was purchasing, I was stuck with a shade slightly closer to metallic blue. (The color’s name was “Smoke.” How was I to know?)

I’m not really a metallic blue eyeliner kind of girl, so I was going to chalk
this experience up to Makeup Mistakes I’ve Made and call it a day. I can’t count
how many unflattering shades of lipstick and eye shadow have seen the bottom of my trash
can. But tossing unused makeup adds up pretty quickly, so I thought I’d check
CVS’s return policy.

Have you ever tried listening to the radio through the Internet?

I’ll admit my experiences with Internet radio have been limited to the channels available through iTunes. In the past I’ve tried listening to 80′s music on Sky.FM as well as holiday tunes around, well, the holidays. But I’ve never been completely happy with the results, usually because it spent more time "rebuffering" than actually playing music.

But that was then. This past weekend I discovered a web site called Pandora which has me very excited about listening to Internet radio.

I love a good Bette Davis. Why? Besides her famous eyes, the legendary actress tends to play such extreme roles. One of my favorites is her portrayal of the vain, self-absorbed, out of touch [...]

As lenders and creditors get stingier, your credit score is more important
than ever. And yet I talk to people all the time who have no idea how certain
activities affect their credit. Read on for three quick ways to crater your score if
you’re not paying attention.

When my older daughter was in kindergarten, I discovered a delightful tool for parenting and for happiness, by accident. “What did you do at school today?” I’d asked her. “Well, we all talked about [...]