ArcaMax

Today's batch of great reader tips cover everything from cutting the cost of cat care to turning "goofs" into gorgeous, and lots more. Enjoy!

KITTY CARE

Here are two tips we cat breeders rely on:

No. 1: Plastic cat box liners are a waste of money. Cats tear them to shreds. We use paper grocery bags (still available in many areas) because they...Read more

I love Thanksgiving so much it vies for first place in my favorite holiday lineup. I love and adore a classic Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I love the fall weather that always accompanies the day. I love that Thanksgiving ushers in the winter holidays, offering me a front-row seat at the best time of the year.

I love all of those things...Read more

When I tell you that I am a born-messy, for whom the years have magnified that trait, it is not with joy. Embarrassment would be more like it. Join me as I step into the confessional.

Faithful readers of this column know that I write often on the power of organization to defeat clutter, which has been proven to be a source of both physical and ...Read more

Our favorite bed pillows get a lot of use every night. We keep clean pillowcases on them and don't think much about the pillow inside until it's time to change the bed linens. Have you looked recently?

Yikes! The pristine white pillows have turned blotchy with disgusting yellowish-to-brownish stains. What on Earth? The most common response is ...Read more

It was a lovely meal. The conversation was engaging, the entree delightful. A good time was had by all. The guests are long gone, and now you are stuck with an ugly red wine stain on your prized tablecloth. Is this linen destined for the ragbag? Not if you know this super simple solution.

RED WINE STAINS. If you get red wine on a washable ...Read more

In a recent poll at my Everyday Cheapskate website, I asked: What would you do with an unexpected windfall of $10,000?

Responses ranged from saving every penny to giving all of it away to using it to get caught up on bills. This got me thinking: What fascinating answer would I get if I changed the word "windfall" to "expense," as in, "How will ...Read more

I thought it would be just loads of fun to focus our attention today on frequently asked questions about frozen foods. But first, a little history.

Although the practice of preserving food by freezing can be traced back to 1626, it wasn't exactly practical. Frozen foods looked bad, tasted worse and were more apt than not to make people deathly ...Read more

Just recently, U.S. consumer debt (that's everything except mortgages) hit $16 trillion. Of course, that fact is often buried in the fine print, where most of us don't pay attention. Or, if we do, we have no idea what that means.

So what is a trillion? It's a million million, a thousand billion or 1,000,000,000,000.

A billion is a thousand ...Read more

Provided that your basic life needs for shelter, food and clothing are being met, more money is not going to make you happier. I know, that's hard to believe, but it's a proven fact. What will make you happier is learning how to manage well the money you have already.

Today, I want to give you a simple formula you can use to manage your money. ...Read more

It's been a hectic day. The family's hungry, the fridge offers little more than eggs and leftovers and you're fresh out of answers for the question everyone's asking: What's for dinner? The solution may be found in a single word: frittata.

A frittata is like an omelet but without the fancy pan work. It's similar to a quiche without the ...Read more

Our house is not haunted, but just try to tell that to our guests. "Our water heater makes funny noises," I warn. First-timers respond with a smile and nod -- and forget.

"What was that noise?" is the predictable next-morning question. Some say it sounds like a big clumsy man on the roof. Children trend more toward a "monster in the wall" ...Read more