It's one of those things that you may have considered doing but never actually got around to: Doing a family budget. Like sticking to a diet or keeping your office desk clean, it's something a lot of us talk about but for whatever reason it never seems to happen. It may be finally time to do a family budget. The Consumer Credit Counseling Service...

When the Optimist Club gets pessimistic, you know times are tough. The Associated Press reports that an Optimist Club meeting in Gilbert, Arizona, started off positive enough – members discussed service projects and enthused over each other’s accomplishments.  But then the conversation turned to the war in Iraq, expensive gasoline, food prices,...

The hum in the office grew as people filtered in that morning. Soft chuckles over some incident the night before, muffled conversations and ringing phones filled the air. Suddenly, an urgent tone broke in. The first reports of a possible tragedy began circulating, and while some employees wrapped up phone calls, one or two turned on a radio, and...