THRIVE by Heidi Larsen

SPRING CLEANING

organizing tips

SAVE MONEY don't waste it

PUT ON A GOOD FACE

facial expressions to help you apply makeup

OPRAH W I N F RE Y W h a t ' s Next A f t e r t h e S h ow?

CON T E N T S

PENNY Ways to Waste Money These silly habits may be keeping you from saving your money

Preventing a Money Disaster Avoiding Facebook scams; the differences between oulets and discount-clothing stores

BLOOM 15

7 Ways Happy Couples Stay Close Surprising ways you and your spouse can be happier together

Put on a Good Face How the right facial expressions can help you apply makeup

15 Minutes and You're Done Work your core and tone your abs

NEST Spring Cleaning Organizing Tips Quick and easy ways to get your house clean and organized

Personal Shopper The quickest way to spruce up any with an eye-popping area rug

Decorate Your Doorway Front-door accoutrements that complement your home's style

FEATURES

Beyond Satisfied Follow the journey of five woman on their way to happier lives

This Boy's Life An intimate look at a family whose son struggles with ADHD

With the Greatest of Ease Move-with-you outfits that are laid-back and luxurious

PE NN Y

Ways to Waste Money Keeping your mouth shut. No one wants to be a nuisance. But by simply asking, you may be able to snag a lower rate on your credit card.

Buying brand-name instead of generic. From groceries to clothing to prescription drugs, you could save money by choosing the off-brand over the fancy label. And in many cases, you won't sacrifice much in quality. Clever advertising and fancy packaging don't make brand-name products better than lesserknown brands.

Being disorganized.

Overspending on gas and oil for your car. There's no need to spring for premium fuel if the manufacturer says regular is just fine. And are you still paying for an oil change every 3,000 miles? Many models nowadays can last 5,000 to 7,000 miles between changes, and some even have built-in sensors to tell you when it's time to change the oil. Check your manual to find the best time for your car's routine maintenance.

It pays to get your financial house in order. Lost bills and receipts, forgotten tax deductions, and clueless spending can cost you hundreds of dollars each year. Start by setting up automatic bill payment online for your monthly bills to eliminate late fees and postage costs. Then get a handful of files to organize important receipts, insurance policies, tax documents and other financial statements. Finally, consider using free budgeting software such as Mint.com to see exactly where your money goes, making it much harder for you to lose track of it.

Carrying a balance. Debt is a shackle that holds you back. For instance, if you have a $1,000 balance on a credit card that charges an 18% rate, you blow $180 every year on interest. Get in the habit of paying off your balance in full each month.

Keeping unhealthy habits. Smoking costs a lot more than just what you pay for a pack of cigarettes. It significantly increases the cost of life and health insurance. And you'll pay more for homeowners and auto insurance. Add in various other expenses, and the true cost of smoking adds up dramatically over a lifetime -- $86,000 for a 24year-old woman over a lifetime and $183,000 for a 24-year-old man over a lifetime, according to "The Price of Smoking" (The MIT Press). Another habit to quit: indoor tanning. There is now a 10% tax on indoor tanning services. As with cigarettes, the true cost of tanning -- which the World Health Organization lists among the worst-known carcinogens -- is higher than just the price you pay each time

Not reading the fine print. Thought you were being smart by transferring the balance on a high-rate credit card to a low-rate one? Did you read the fine print, though? Some credit-card companies now charge up to 5% for balance transfers. Also watch out for free checking accounts that aren't so free. Some banks are starting to charge fees unless you meet certain criteria.

Buying beverages one at a time. If you're in the habit of buying bottled water, coffee-by-the-cup or vending-machine soda, your budget has sprung a leak. Instead, drink tap water or use a water filter. Brew a homemade cuppa joe. Buy your soda in bulk and bring it to work. (Better yet, skip the soda in favor of something healthier.)

Paying for something you can get for free. Shopping at the grocery store without a calculator. Check how much an item costs per ounce, pound or other unit of measurement. When you comparisonshop by unit price, you save. For example, if a pack of 40 diapers costs $13, that's 33 cents per diaper. But if you buy a box of 144 diapers for $35, that's 24 cents per diaper. You save 27%! (Of course, buying more of something only saves money if you use it all. If you end up throwing much out, you wasted money.)

Procrastinating. Time is an asset money can't buy. Start investing for retirement as soon as possible. For instance, if a 40-year-old saves $300 a month with an 8% return per year, he'll have $287,000 by age 65. If he had started saving 15 years earlier at age

There's a boatload of freebies for the taking, if you know where to look. Some of our favorites include restaurant meals for kids, credit reports, software programs, prescription drugs and tech support. You can also help yourself to all the books, music and movies your heart desires at your local library for free (or dirt cheap).

Using a cell phone that doesn't fit. How many people do you know who have spent hundreds of dollars on fancy phones, and then pay hundreds of dollars every month for the privilege of using them? Your phone is not a status symbol. It is a way to communicate. Many people pay too much for cell phone contracts and don't use all their minutes. Go to BillShrink.com or Validas.com to evaluate your usage and see if you can find a plan that fits you better. Or consider a prepaid cell phone.

B LOOM

Surprising Ways Happy Couples Stay Close When I was single, I thought marriage was like that Beatles song: “All You Need Is Love.” Of course, I still think love is an important part of the mix, but now that I’m a little older and wiser -- and a veteran of 12 years of wedded bliss -- I know that you need a lot of other things, too. By Charlotte Latvala

A beautifully framed picture from your falling-in-love days.

Of course you need some wedding photos around the house, but those shots are often about so much more than just the two of you, such as your families, the fabulous dress and the dizzying, hectic stress of it all. So display -prominently -- a snapshot from your dating days, too, says psychologist Diana Kirschner, Ph.D., author of Opening Love’s Door. “Looking at a photo of the two of you sitting in a canoe, or wherever, all gaga over each other, is an instant way of returning to that state when you were falling in love,” she says. “You always want to stay in touch with that magic chemistry you first had and strive to go back to those days in some way.”

A movie you both love.

For many years of dating and marriage, Tony and I had opposite tastes in movies (me: historical, character-based films; Tony: big-bang action movies and complicated thrillers). I was always a little sad that we rarely snuggled up on the couch to ooh and ahh over the same flicks. Then, The Lord of the Rings movies came along. We were both captivated (sword fighting and manly allegiances for Tony, complex characters and moral dilemmas for me -- and Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen didn’t hurt, either). We’ve finally found a flick -- well, three -- that we’re equally passionate about. And we get a “this is our thing” glow whenever one of us throws out a LOTR-ism, such as calling the space between my son’s bed and the wall (where all the Lego pieces and Matchbox cars disappear) the Crack of Doom or quoting Gandalf (“Keep it secret, keep it safe”) when one of us entrusts the other to make a bank deposit.

A unique anniversary to celebrate.

Your wedding anniversary is a lovely date to remember, but it’s not the only milestone that matters. It’s even more intimate to celebrate less public moments, such as your first kiss, first vacation together or -- hey -- even the first time the pregnancy test turned blue. Lisa Woods, 42, and her husband, Larry, take an evening car ride every year on August 17 -- the anniversary of their first date. “That night, 20 years ago, we drove around and listened to Dr. Ruth on the radio and laughed so hard,” says the New Castle, PA, woman. “Now, we can’t find Dr. Ruth on the dial, but we still listen to talk radio and laugh about life.” The annual drive always ends at the same place -- McDonald’s. “We split the two-cheeseburger meal,” she says. “Silly but true -- because that’s all we could afford on our first date.”

An empty-nest dream.

Sometimes late at night, Tony and I talk about how our lives will be when our three children are grown up and out of the house. We’ll travel. I’ll write novels; he’ll make cabinetry in his neglected basement workshop -we’ll have a new and exciting life together. I’m not sure how much of this will happen, but talking about it makes us feel so much closer.

and that’s made our marriage stronger,” she saysOf course, every marriage has its own uniquely prickly issue -- maybe for you it’s time spent with your in-laws, conflicting attitudes about money or differing styles of disciplining the kids. The point is, you can agree to disagree and still have a happy, healthy relationship -- if you both accept your differences with grace and good humor.

Mad money.

Sure, you have funds earmarked for bills and savings, but every couple also needs a just-for-fun account, says Brown University psychiatry professor Scott Haltzman, M.D., author of The Secrets of Happily Married Men. "You need to put some money aside that won't destroy your budget when you use it," he says. Spend it on a spur-of-the-moment weekend trip, a pricey bottle of champagne or front-row tickets to a concert you're dying to see.

An oversize beach blanket. Forget about taking it to the shore with the kids; this one is for lovemaking anywhere in the house.

Tom Lee, Ph.D., a professor of marriage and family studies at Utah State University, recently completed a survey of 1,400 married people. One of the findings was that couples who regularly discuss their long-range plans are more likely to stay happily married. “If you have a long-term view, you realize that the daily ups and downs don’t mean as much,” he says. “Talking about your shared future communicates, ‘I plan on being here.’ The message is that there are plenty of good times yet to come.”

A fight that never ends.

Every couple has areas where they’ll never see eye-to-eye. For Alison Delsite Everett, 38, of Steelton, PA, that meant accepting her husband’s love of deer hunting. “I’m an animal lover, so I hate it when Chris hunts,” she says. “But he understands how much it bothers me, so he’ll pack up his gear the night before a hunt; that way I don’t have to see him carrying a gun. He even stores his game at his parents’ house.” In turn, Alison doesn’t make snide comments or try to make Chris feel guilty about his pastime. “We’ve learned to respect each other’s opinions,

N EST

Spring Cleaning ORGANIZING TIPS

Handy Cleaning Kit

Coat Closet Organizer

For easier spring cleaning, fill a bucket with basics that need to be toted from room to room: all-purpose and glasscleaning sprays, a sponge, a toothbrush, a squeegee, a scrub brush, hopsacking, and terry-cloth towels in washcloth and hand-towel sizes. Between tasks, hang rubber gloves over the rim to dry.

Take storage to new levels with shelves below a row of jackets. Use coordinating containers to find a home for all little things that collect in your closet. Hooks on the back of the door add additional storage for bags.

Easy-to-Find Stain Chart

Entryway Organizer

Broom Closet Organizer

Knowing how to tackle a spot or spill is the first step toward removing it. To create a handy reference for treating the most stubborn stains, color-print our stain-removal chart, slide it into a clear plastic sleeve (available at officesupply stores), and place it in a clamp hanger. Suspend the hanger from a hook in your laundry area. The next time you find yourself facing a stained garment, just look up and follow the instructions in front of you.

Wooden shutters can be just as functional and good-looking indoors as out. Their louvers are a perfect (not to mention plentiful) spot to tuck invitations, display artwork, or hang a message pad.

Hooks and clips keep mops and brooms tidy and tools at hand. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever reached for the feather duster and had everything in the closet come tumbling out, try this: Screw hooks and spring-loaded clips inside and use them to hold brooms, a dustpan, mop, and duster. Do the same with tools on the door and you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to get out the toolbox for quick repairs. Store cleaning supplies in a bucket to transport them easily from room to room.

FEAT U RES

Beyond

Satisfied Although content and satisfied with their life, women of a certain age sometimes yearn for more than physical riches they have achieved. Melinda Jonald follows five women on an enlightened journey to find what had been missing, and ultimately dicovers what she herself was looking for.

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You're Not Alone Dr. richard C. johnson

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What Makes People Happy? The Top 10 List 1. Family and Relationships 2. Meaningful Work 3. Positive Thinking 4. Gratitude 5. Forgiveness 6. Giving to Others 7. Religion 8. Personal Freedom 9. Good Health 10. Watching TV