After you get into the recovery stage, but before you forget the details, it’s time to think about what you’ll do the next time there is a lengthy power outage at home.
I did some poking around a couple of hardware stores today and found out what a local homeowner could do to resolve the problem […]

One of the reasons that my husband and I got through the early stages of this week’s power outage with minimal fuss is that we keep a disaster kit stocked and also have camping / tailgate supplies that can be reached in a hurry.
We held up very well during two previous outages that lasted 10 […]

The most common complaints about shopping techniques such as coupons, loss leaders and rebates is how much time it takes, and the idea of “driving all over town” to get the best deals.
But here’s a tip for those of you who have kids in tow, or are limiting your trips across town:
It’s the preparation, not […]

Ciolino’s in Temperance and Monroe, Danny’s Fine Foods in Monroe and Hi-Lite Supermarket in Monroe Township all have grocery ads in my home-delivery edition of The Monroe Evening News today:

Ciolino’s has bananas at 49 cents a pound, garden fresh pickles at 99 cents a pound and fresh romaine lettuce at 79 cents a head.
Hi-Lite has […]

The National Weather Service Detroit bureau and Cleveland bureau have posted a beautiful array of colors on their sites today to highlight all the severe weather advisories that are in effect in the southern Michigan/northern Ohio area.
If you think the weather is nasty now, southeast Michigan is expected to get a big snowstorm on Friday. […]

Now here is an interesting discussion that popped up on the USA Today comment boards: What if you disagree with the plan the federal officials have put together for the economic boost?
“Please keep the money, I don’t need it. Please give it to a wife of one of our soldiers serving our country,” one poster […]

I admit: I’m a Quicken user. My husband and I have tracked our household finances on Quicken software since we bought our first Macintosh home computer in 1996.
I don’t use all the features, and I’ve got some serious debugging to do in my database with entry errors I made in the past. But the software […]

Yes, city of Monroe water customers can use the water again. There’s an updated headline this morning at www.monroenews.com, and Charles also posted an update on his blog, Consumer Alert!
My mother and I also were talking about the water situation off and on yesterday through e-mails, and she reminded me that the water I keep […]

The city of Monroe is under a water emergency: headline at monroenews.com, chatter at monroetalks.com.
I was going to Kroger anyway at lunchtime, so I kept to those plans. One of the employees was quite pleased with the bottled water supplies he had set up in the aisle for a promotion that started today, and said […]

If you are planning a formal wedding with professional services, one way to protect yourself financially is with wedding event cancellation insurance.
Think of this product like travel insurance: what are the financial problems that would result if you had to cancel or reschedule the wedding ceremony and reception?
If you are planning a low-budget wedding, this […]