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Kids are expensive – and I should know, I have three of them! Like most parents, I am guilty of indulging my children from time to time. I buy them juice boxes emblazoned with Cinderella and Lightning McQueen instead of the generic stuff, I splash out on nice clothes (especially for my daughter), and I waste all sorts of cash on playdates, parties, day trips, and the gas to shuttle them to and from these activities. As Chicago-based CFP Leisa Brown Aiken points out, most parents want to make their kids happy. Plus, most kids are good at getting their parents to feel really lousy if they don’t do what they want.

It’s always something, right? Let’s just say that you found the perfect home for your family – it has the right amount of bedrooms/bathrooms, generous square footage, is in nice shape, newly updated, and even within your price range. You are psyched and ready to put down an offer, when the agent tactfully drops the bomb on you: part of the home (an extra bedroom, a sunroom, a garage conversion) was built without the legal permits some years ago, and the seller wants to sell the home in “as is” condition. What do you do? Is it an automatic deal-breaker if a home has unpermitted work done on it? Is there anything you can do to fix the situation? How can you be sure that the work was done well? Should you seek a discount from the seller?

Christine Hoehner, an assistant professor in the division of public health sciences at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says that driving, like TV watching, is a sedentary activity that does not require the body to move in ways that help keep it healthy. Even knowing that a lot of driving was likely to make people fat, however, the scientists still wanted to focus directly on commuting distance – which is “important part of people’s daily routine.”

Certificates of deposit come mature on a certain date, which means that the CD is finished and you are able to recollect your principle investment, plus whatever interest you have accumulated. If you need that money for something and have been trying to avoid early withdrawal penalties, then you probably have the maturity date for your bond circled in red on a calendar somewhere. Life often gets in the way, however, and many other savers are likely to overlook the end date of their CD. If you fail to take action when a CD matures, what will happen to it? In many cases, the bank with which you do business will automatically rollover (renew) the bond whether you like it or not. In this case, there can be certain undesirable fees involved, in addition to the unpleasant shock of finding out that your money has been tied up against your will, potentially for a long period of time and at an interest rate that you feel is unworthy of your time.

Like so many other women my age, I love my Pinterest account. For the uninitiated, Pinterest is a sort of virtual bulletin board where members can accumulate and organize images, many of which are attached to links. Popular categories of pins include recipes, fashion inspiration, fantasy wedding details, and home décor and design. That last category accounts for the most pins on the whole site – over seventeen percent, says business-intelligent experts RJ Metrics. Pinterest users, which are eighty percent female, are using the service to plan both big and small home projects, ranging from redecorating a bedroom all the way to designing a mansion from the ground up.

People have been known to shell out a LOT of money on renovating and improving their home, both in the name of adding comforts and supposedly improving home equity. Most people believe that they will recoup their investment when they go to sell the house. Unfortunately, reality doesn’t bear out that assumption. In reality, only the most practical home improvements tend to pay off… and the bigger the project, the fewer cents per dollar that you are likely to earn back when you put the home on the market. Upgrading to a steel front door is likely to pay off. Building a lavish master suite as an addition onto your existing home? Not so much. Remodeling magazine recently examined some of the most popular home improvement projects and calculated just how much these upgrades were worth when owners sold the home. You might be surprised at the results.

There are some crazy forms of insurance out there – and I’m not talking old-hat news like pet insurance or the policy that JLo reportedly took out on her famous bubble butt. The insurance industry is booming, which is (on one hand) a rare bright spot in an economy that could best be described as “floundering.” Is it any wonder though, really? We live in a world fraught with uncertainty and fear. Those looking to hedge their bets against identity theft, outdated technology, runaway grooms, kidnapping, or giving birth to twins (something I myself never worried about, but the joke was on me with that one) can soothe their jangled nerves, however, because you can buy a policy to protect against any of the above. I even read – and no, this is no jest – that the Zombie Apocalyse Insurance Company will, for fifteen dollars a year, offer peace of mind against the event of an undead invasion.

Those who have ever lived with roommates can attest to the truth that life with other people can be a mixed blessing. On one hand, having roommates means help with the rent (or mortgage), and another person under the roof to leave a light on for you when you come home late. On the other, bringing in a roommate can mean some sticky conversations about money and bills, namely, how you will split them up. I recently read an article on this very subject on Bankrate.com, and feel that the advice was pertinent to anyone who is living in a roommate situation with another person or other people, and needs advice on how to confront the issue of sharing bills and rent.

I know that my local dollar stores are always hopping, and judging from what I read, Dollar Tree / Dollar General / Family Dollar are growing in numbers and doing better than ever before. Whether they are picking up greeting cards, off-brand tinfoil, or frozen burritos, folks are flocking to these stores in droves. SmartMoney columnist Anne Kadet says that this is not a promising economic indicator.

Once upon a time, young adults longed for the day that they would finish their schooling and escape the family coop. There’s a new generation of college grads on the rise, however, and things are quite different in America. The children of the 60s and 70s now have adult kids of their own, and these kids can’t find jobs. If they do manage to find a job, they don’t like it. I read a great editorial on this subject in USA Today, written by an author whose daughter is in the midst of applying for her first full-time post-college job. The author says that she is not personally worried about her own daughter, who longs to live on her own and has worked steadily since high school (and balanced two jobs, an internship, and a full course load during her final year at college). This is one young woman who will find her way in the world.