It falls, taunting you, flake after flake, coating everything you see with white wet and cold crystals. It piles up in the corners, and in its complete blinding whiteness, all you can do is fork over your wallet. It’s a beautiful thief. You must turn on your heat. The blanket of whiteness is on your [...]
I get a call, “I’ve just left the third shoe store and I still can’t find what I want!” the voice speaks to me. “Did they have anything close?” I asked. “Nothing!” “Didn’t you call them first?” “Well, no, it’s an obvious thing everybody should have, isn’t it?” Apparently not, but I didn’t say that [...]
At craft shows, a maze of booths show off handcrafted original wares. Some things are common from show to show, like polymer clay jewelry, stained-glass window décor, and beaded designs, but it’s not the medium that matters, it’s the artist’s individuality and handiwork. I go into stores and see things mass produced and refuse to [...]
It’s time for Secret Santas all across the country. You’ll draw someone’s name, get them exactly what they ask for, and that someone will get someone else exactly what they ask for and you will eventually get what you asked for. So goes the long-lived tradition. This year, instead of the same old boring ritual [...]
The forums are buzzing with new money-saving tips and tricks. “We don’t purchase these anymore,” and “we’ve done this ourselves.” “I found a new way to do this,” and “I always wondered why people would pay for that?” For some of us, these ideas are intriguing, but seem a little out of our “do-it-ourselves” reach. [...]
Dear Mom, I’ve been at school for three weeks now, and I still hate the pale green of my dorm room walls. What do they think we are? Prisoners? Classes are going great… As I previously mentioned, many people love art, and as the popularity of shows like Design on a Dime shows, people like [...]
Do you want to know what I dislike more than grocery shopping? Coming home with more grocery bags. Plastic or paper, it doesn’t matter. I just don’t reuse all those bags, and the piles keep stacking up. So I started searching for some clever reusable and recycling grocery bag ideas, and I’m passing this information [...]
I love music. My husband collects CDs like I collect books. We also have a large collection of LPs and of MP3s on our computer. I won’t even go into our magnetic tape collection. Literally, I won’t go into it. Its size frightens me. We have no plans of slowing down the growth of our [...]
When it comes to teaching your kids about money and finances, there is no need to go looking for specific books on these subjects. Your child’s bookself is probably already full of books that can bring financial lessons to life. Here are just a few of the possibilities: Mother Goose Rhymes, traditional: Money themes abound [...]
Studio apartment: unfurnished. Top floor, lots of windows, tall ceilings. New paint. Close to college. Available now. The keys land in your hand. The threshold of your new home is now guarded by your few boxes of stuff. Not long after, you’re unpacked. You look around, and your walls are still bare. Art, you decide, [...]
