As grocery prices climb and landscapes start to green, planting your own vegetable garden is a sound choice for those of us living a frugal lifestyle.

Looking for a good cleaning service can be as hard as finding the socks that go missing in the laundry, but at least a house cleaner can help you find the socks.

Weekly auto rail, with a tip on a career in the automotive industry, Car Q&A with Junior Damato and more.

The Net has converted our newspapers and magazines into freebies. The TV fat cats no doubt are much smarter.

My daughter bought a 2006 Ford Escape one year ago with 20,000 miles. It now has 30,000 miles. The oil is changed every 3,000 miles. The engine seized while on Route 95. The Ford Company says the warranty is gone, and will not help with the $6,000 price tag to put a factory-rebuilt engine in the car.

Count Sharon Jarvis among those Prius owners who have met Toyotas' recent trials and tribulations with a shrug.

Weekly business rail, with tips to turn your hobby into a small business, BBB look at 2009 complaints and more.

Weekly financial Q&A, with items on automatic bill paying, accidental death insurance and emergency funds.

Call them sunshine ladies, the entertainment committee or the coffee lady. Title or not, almost every company and organization has a small group or individual who makes coffee for morning breaks, fills the candy dishes, organizes birthday parties and gives a whole lot extra of themselves without expecting anything in return.

Unless you’re a true novice to the new-car market, you may have some preconceived notions about Korean-made products, and they may not be all that kind. But if you’re looking for a midsize sedan, you might want to erase your memory banks and start all over. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata should finally put to rest all those bad jokes and nasty reviews the Korean maker earned – often deservedly – during its early years in the U.S. market.

HD radio is off the endangered-species list but still takes patience. It’s worth the effort.

Knowing how to ask tech questions is the key to getting useful answers. It could be a query to a support line or a conversation over your backyard fence. The requirements are the same.

Before the term “financial planner” was coined in 1969, brokers, bankers, accountants, attorneys and insurance agents scattered the landscape of advice givers. I'd like to debunk a few myths that are perpetuated by mainstream media and others who know little about this profession.

Erik Piantedosi, owner of Piantedosi Butcher Shop in Plymouth, says shoppers are “better off going to an independently owned (shop), so you can see the meat when we cut it.”

I have spring fever like nobody’s business. That’s too bad for me though, because this year there’s no traveling wiggle room. Beyond dreaming of our coveted summer trip to visit family in North Carolina, we are bound to late winter in Chicago. We’ll survive though, because as spring break week approaches and “everyone” is going south, we’re making plans for a staycation. We’ll get creative and put our frugal minds to the test, go out on the town when we can and find ways to transform our gray days.