ArcaMax

Are you feeling jittery about taking a family vacation this summer? You're not alone. Whether it's your family's safety abroad, the high cost of gasoline or a thin bank account that has you unsettled, this might be a great time to consider a dramatic alternative: a stay-at-home vacation!

You can become tourists in your own town by uncovering ...Read more

Dear Mary: Please give me some pointers on bouncing back from bankruptcy. Will this have any effect on future employment opportunities? -- Emmaline

Dear Emmaline: Pay your bills on time; never be late. Do not run up big balances. Do not apply for a lot of credit. Never use more than 30% of your credit limits. Never allow a credit card balance ...Read more

A question that I answered in a previous column brought a small avalanche of mail, mostly from readers who were aghast that I would suggest they save such a significant portion of their paychecks for retirement. It was money they insisted they could not afford to save.

I can only imagine that for a person who saves nothing, suggesting they ...Read more

Weeds.

Those freeloaders of the garden world. No matter how lovingly you tend your tomatoes or fluff your mulch, those green invaders always show up like uninvited houseguests who overstay their welcome -- and bring their cousins.

If you've found yourself muttering on your knees while yanking weeds or reading weed killer labels that sound like...Read more

Clothes pinned to a clothesline flapping in the breeze and drying in the sunshine is a visual that brings me back to my childhood. And oh, that amazing smell of line-dried clean sheets. Know what I mean? Modern-day clothes dryers have almost completely replaced traditional outdoor clotheslines.

A clothes dryer is a convenient appliance that ...Read more

The wedding was beautiful and fulfilled your fondest dreams. But it's over, and now it's time to settle in and enjoy your new life together. Lucky for you, I'm here to warn you about some common money myths that newlyweds have been known to bring with them into their marriages.

MYTH: DOUBLE THE INCOME, HALF THE EXPENSES

This is what I call ...Read more

Kitchen cabinets are for storing dishes, not grease. Unfortunately, wood cabinets, whether painted or natural with a clear finish, are prone to all sorts of grease, grime and gunk from simply being in the kitchen.

Depending on just how much grease and grime you're looking at and the supplies you have available, here are several options for your...Read more

By a show of hands, let me see how many of you have a credit card in your name. Uh-huh, I see those hands. It appears that my audience falls right in line with national averages: About 70% of you have at least one credit card. And how would you categorize your relationship with your card issuer?

If you are carrying credit card debt, it really ...Read more

Here is a wonderfully creative collection of tips that spotlight my readers' resourcefulness and intelligence in the kitchen and pantry. From clever tricks involving coffee filters, kitchen mallets and shower caps (yes, shower caps!) to simple storage solutions for sugars and spices -- get ready to take conventional wisdom to an unconventional ...Read more

"Sorry my place is such a mess!" If you have to pull out that one every time you welcome friends or family into your house, it might be time to get organized. Marla Cilley, also known as the FlyLady, calls that CHAOS: Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome!

Organization is an important aspect of any home. And we're quite familiar with the rule: a ...Read more

I'll be honest -- I'm just as surprised as you are to be wading into the murky waters of U.S. health care. Specifically? Health insurance. It's a tangled mess. Even if your coverage comes neatly wrapped in your job's benefits package, it's still messy. Premiums keep climbing, deductibles are sky-high, and somehow we're paying more for less.

And...Read more

By Victor Block

In the winter of 1805, a group of men constructed a rustic fort near the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. They stayed there until the following spring, then returned to their homes.

These men were members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Their exploration of uncharted areas of the country had been commissioned by ...Read more

It was shocking, if not surreal. The email message was from a woman I'd never met and whose name I recognized only because, a few months earlier, she mailed me a book she'd written.

The message announced that she and her family were planning a road trip to Disneyland and would just love to stay with us since (at the time) we lived nearby and oh...Read more

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot circled over the Great Salt Lake, tipping the wings ever so slightly so we could witness the unusual reddish-purple color of the water -- a phenomenon, he explained, that occurs when a particular species of algae meets up with a certain bacteria. It was quite fascinating.

Just as he was bringing the plane level ...Read more