Our local Hy-Vee charges $15 to deliver. I could buy a lot of extra produce for that money, and be sure it was nice too. No thanks.

I used to belong to some of those book clubs, but nowadays I get all my books from paperbackswap.com. I list the books I have available for swap, and when a member orders one I pay the postage and earn a credit to "buy" another book from a member on the site. And I can almost always find the books I want - this week I ...more

Some good ideas, but be careful about those "coupons" for services. I spent some time and care one year designing an attractive coupon book for my parents, promising everything from doing their grocery shopping to walking the dog to taking their car in for inspection. They tossed it in the trash and told their friends ...more

I've had my baggage lost more times than I care to tell. So when I crossed the country to attend a wedding a few years ago, I shipped my good outfit, shoes and jewelry to the bride's mother ahead of time. There was no way I was going to arrive in a strange city and make the bride and her family drop everything to find ...more

The online state-by-state list says we have no entertainment book for my area but we do, selling for $39.95 at the local drugstore and bookstores. Are these books assembled independently by a franchise in  the local area, not by one national company? I can't get my half-off deal if they don't know the book exists! :-)

A good friend once asked me for several hundred dollars to cover a gambling debt. I'm an alcoholic and don't use my money to fund addictions - besides, what would change if I bailed her out? Instead, I offered to help her deal with creditors and promised to accompany her to Gamblers Anonymous meetings. She never spoke ...more

Back in the 50's my dad was the shopper. Mom just picked up things and threw them in the cart, while Dad taught me how to pick the best fruit and how to judge the true cost of meats per serving. They both went through the Depression as youngsters, but Dad pinched pennies for the rest of his life while Mom gloried in th...more

House-sitters aren't the only ones who behave like this. When I go through the local car wash, the teens who work there are in my car for a total of about 13 seconds, max. In that time they manage to change the radio station, reset the tilt of the steering wheel and remove the cover, knock my sunglasses off the visor a...more

Buy a Jitterbug. I've had mine a couple of years now. No problems, spend only as much as you want per month with no surprises, perfect signals anywhere I go, and their customer service and operators are great (yes, you get a dial tone and a live operator to help you.) My phone doesn't text, take pictures or play games,...more