ArcaMax

When I pulled out my AAA membership card to get a discount for Universal Hollywood tickets, I locked eyeballs with the words "Years as Member: 43" printed on the card. I nearly passed out.

That seemed absolutely impossible until I did a little calculation. It's true. AAA has been an important part of my life for more than four decades.

If you ...Read more

Her letter was long. Page after page she went on about every aspect of her miserable life.

In between the accounts of her husband's unemployment and her high blood pressure, this woman managed to weave each and every detail of their broken-down cars, leaking roof, busted faucets, ungrateful children, delinquent taxes, nosy neighbors, empty ...Read more

If you've ever stood in the supermarket wondering if paying more for chicken that is free-range, antibiotic-free, no hormones added, farm-raised, natural and organic is going to make you healthier, wealthier, wise -- or just a better person -- you're not alone.

Recently, as I was doubting myself on my chicken choices, I decided to get to the ...Read more

You know by now just how much I love my Shark vacuum cleaner. And given my readers' letters and comments, I know that many of you have Sharkies, too.

I love your messages. They make me smile because I understand the range of emotions that come from using a Shark vacuum for the first time -- from amazement to flat-out embarrassment.

Where on ...Read more

Just the other night, I suffered a kitchen disaster. I hate when that happens. I ruined an entire pot of pasta because I got busy and was not paying attention. By the time I realized, the pasta had cooked way beyond al dente, all the way to total mush.

It killed me to dump the whole thing, but there was no way to undo that disaster.

Thankfully...Read more

There's an illness that has been documented by poets for centuries, and I've got it. It's spring fever, that wonderfully amorphous disease we all recognize come April and May.

Spring fever remains a fuzzy medical category, but there has been a great deal of research on how seasonal changes affect our mood and behavior. I know how spring fever ...Read more

Wouldn't you think that if car manufacturers can perfect self-driving cars, they could also come up with a way to conquer the car trash problem?

I've always thought that a built-in trash compactor would be great, or even better, some kind of incinerator that sucks the accumulation right out of the car and into a holding tank that magically ...Read more

The first time I heard about ordering prescription eyeglasses online, I scoffed. I rolled my eyes. What next? Mail order surgery? Online doctor visits? Not me.

I mean, how could a person trust her eyesight to some website in the sky by forwarding a doctor's written prescription, selecting frames online and expecting said unknown entity to grind...Read more

Graduating from college is one of life's most thrilling events. Finishing my degree, walking the aisle and receiving a fancy document in a leather-bound case remains one of the high points of my life.

Unfortunately, I still had a lot to learn about managing finances. I knew nothing, and worse, wasn't aware that I knew nothing. What was there to...Read more

How shocked was I to read it in a popular women's magazine? I was speechless, but somehow I gathered enough strength to respond, "There's no way!"

Even so, I did a quick search only to discover it was no typo at all. A 1.7-ounce jar of 111SKIN Celestial Black Diamond Cream retails for $1,095.

All I can say is at that price, it better contain a...Read more

I could teach you how to be an extreme couponer. I've had a lot of experience, including the time I demonstrated how to do it on location at a large supermarket, live on TV.

It's a great way to save money, but it's a lot of work and mostly limited to grocery and drug stores.

Imagine a world where you have a big stack of coupons for all the ...Read more

Living below your means requires a good bit of creativity from time to time. You have to get pretty clever to stretch a buck. But just how far can you go in matters of etiquette before you cross the line?

Ask yourself this: Is my choice to be cheap going to harm or insult another person? A good rule of thumb is to be cheap with yourself and ...Read more

What I love more than great tips and brilliant ideas from my readers are the lovely words of love and thanks. Yeah, I'm a sucker for friendship, and I value each and every one of you more than you will ever know. Just knowing that so many friends are reading these columns every day makes me excited and energized to keep going! So whatever you do...Read more

Want to keep more of the money you earn? Stop wasting money on goods and services that you don't really care about. Start paying attention to where your money goes and you just might see the equivalent of working a second job in your wallet -- not leaking out of your life undetected.

1. Stop buying from TV ads. Infomercial products are ...Read more

I am not one to spend coins. I prefer to save them. In fact, I go out of my way to make sure I get plenty of change. But I hate to carry loose change, so my husband and I routinely dump the day's accumulation into a container to save for a trip or to buy something special. One year we saved $1,100 in coins. But I have to admit the logistics can ...Read more

Our kids are fortunate to be growing up in the most progressive and exciting time in history. Sadly, the very culture that offers them the world is also perpetrating this lie: "You are entitled to have everything you want, even if you don't have the money to pay for it. It's not a problem. You deserve it. Get it now, and you can pay for it later...Read more

In the wake of America's big economic wake-up call back in 2008, dollar stores and thrift stores saw a big resurgence. And now another kind of retail quasi-lender is commanding all kinds of attention from sellers and buyers: pawnshops.

I admit to having grown up with a weird bias against pawnshops. To me, pawnshops were just one level above ...Read more

I wish I had a quarter for every stupid purchase I've made in my life. I'd have some major dough. Regrettably, my financial faux pas have been remarkable in both quantity and quality. I've made some real doozies.

Take the above-ground swimming pool. Its a la carte price was bad enough. Adding everything required but not included took it from ...Read more

As you know, and only because I do mention it from time to time, I get a lot of emails. If I were to respond to each and every message, that would be all I'd ever do, and I still wouldn't get through the piles that replenish daily.

So, I use the subject line method of quick elimination to winnow the pile to something I can deal with. Negative ...Read more

Over the years, I've had many wonderful opportunities to address audiences large and small at all kinds of events, from retreats to conventions, college chapels and conferences throughout the U.S and abroad.

It's one of the best things I get to do, and I am always honored to be invited. The part I enjoy most happens when I've finished and it's ...Read more