ArcaMax

As a parent, you are responsible for taking care of your child, but you are also responsible for taking care of yourself. Taking out loans so that your child can enroll in the college of her dreams may sink your dreams of ever retiring.

Contrary to the advice you will get from many financial aid officers, parents should not borrow money to pay ...Read more

Here's some good news: At least 120 utility companies have lowered electric, gas or water rates due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cut the corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Utility companies are passing on the tax savings in the form of lower rates for customers.

I hope your utility company is among that 120 and has let you ...Read more

Has this ever happened to you? While searching for the Valentine's Day centerpiece, you stumble across the Christmas wrap you bought at the half-off-after-holiday sale two years ago. You still don't know where the centerpiece is.

Or you discover six partially full peanut butter jars in the pantry while putting away the new one you just bought ...Read more

It's true that "debt" is a four-letter word. I can count the letters in the word to prove it, or simply look to my dark financial past to conclude that debt can be most troubling.

Still, the truth remains that not all debt is created equal, nor is every type of loan hazardous to your wealth.

There is a world of a difference between, say, a ...Read more

When we remodeled our home, we replaced some of the carpet with dark hardwood. What a revelation. Now I could see the dirt and dust, and, honestly, I couldn't believe what accumulated in such a short time on those wood floors. Of course I never saw it on the carpet, but now I know it was there all along.

On the one hand, I love carpet for the ...Read more

It used to be that when I felt broke, I used my bevy of credit cards to chase away the feeling. As long as I could spend money, it felt like I had money.

My credit cards were my antidepressant. And I tell you reluctantly, they did the job -- for a while, until the pleasant feeling vanished because I was broke again and needed another fix.

The ...Read more

Whenever I write about my love of coffee -- which, admittedly, has turned me into a coffee snob -- reader feedback is as enthusiastic as it is voluminous. I'm happy to know I'm not alone in my snobbery.

Many of you bring up interesting points -- and questions, too. What do you do with brewed coffee that is no longer ideally fresh but too good ...Read more

If you have hard flooring, carpet and/or flat surfaces in your home, which just about covers every possibility, there are three vacuum cleaners that deserve your attention: an upright, a cordless stick vac and a cordless handheld. These are the three worker bees that I own, love and don't want to live without.

SHARK NAVIGATOR LIFT-AWAY ...Read more

Sometimes the best way to stretch a buck is to look in the most unlikely places. I'm a huge fan of the fresh produce at 99 Cents Only stores. And milk, as compared with the price at my supermarket, is a bargain at the Walgreens across the street. But who knew we could decorate our homes with items from places like Dollar General? Our first ...Read more

The bumper sticker is pretty funny the first time you see it: "Get Even: Live Long Enough to Become a Problem to Your Kids." Ha-ha, right? Well, not really. Today's first question comes from a reader who feels like this is happening right now and her parents are not even that old.

Dear Mary: My husband and I have been debt-free for three years....Read more

If there's one thing you can confidently never buy ever again, it's glass cleaner. You already have ingredients around the house that will clean glass, windows and mirrors -- from vinegar to vodka (true!) to warm, soapy water. The problem is that these items have significant drawbacks when used as single ingredients.

Vinegar will do a fairly ...Read more