If you're a single woman tired of the dating scene, but you still enjoy cuddling up with your man at night, then this item is just for you - - The Boyfriend Arm Pillow. He's quiet. His dimensions are proportionate. He never needs a shower. He's always available. He doesn't hog the covers. He's always pleasant.

And he can be yours for the low, low one-time investment of $19.95. And this truly is an investment in your future. Think of all the things you'll never have to worry about: Whether he's out spending your money. If he's seeing another woman. If he'll be "in the mood" to cuddle tonight.

I think there is a seriously bright future out there for this pillow. (And if you're married? You can get one too. They understand how things change after the vows. Maybe this guy will make your husband a little jealous and get him back in the mood for cuddling.

While we read the dismal news on the state of marriage in the US, a new survey from Parade Magazine reports that more couples are happily married than previously thought. According to the findings of a new national poll, about 88% said they were happy or reasonably content in their marriages. Only 12% ranked their marriages at the bottom of the scale.

Respondents also offered positive explanations for why they've stayed married, with 71% choosing "deep love" as a reason and 73% citing "companionship." On the negative side, close to 30% of the respondents admitted that they remain married either because of financial reasons or because "it's too much trouble to get out."

No matter why people stay in a marriage, it is good for the pocketbook. The longer people stay married, the greater their wealth accumulations. At retirement, a typical married couple has accumulated about $410,000 compared to about $167,000 for never married, about $145,000 for divorced and just under $96,000 for the separated.

It is simply cheaper living together. There are economies of scale and access to insurance, annuities, pensions, and social security. Even in-laws have value as they often leave assets to their offspring. Especially if you are older, it may be better to stay married even if you are no longer feeling "deep love." Better yet, work a bit and rekindle the feelings that brought you together in the first place.

Barbara Bartlein is the People Pro. To sign up for her webinar to improve your relationship, visit: Webinar

My mom is in the eighty plus group, lives alone, and manages her own finances. She has been retired for more than twenty-six years, living off of pensions, Social Security and savings. While she is concerned about rising costs, especially gas and energy, the economic meltdown does not really affect her financial status.

Like many of her friends and others in her age group, she learned a long time ago how to stretch dollars. She grew up in the depression and "frugal" could be her middle name. She saves foil wrap and baggies, pays off all of her credit cards in full each month, and combines trips with her car to save gas. Her occasional splurges are trips to the casino where she spends no more than $20 and usually gets a free meal.

Mom does not have a large stock portfolio. As she says, "What more do I need to save for?" Her house and car are paid in full and she retired with no debt. In spite of relatively modest income, she is able to put money away each month for unexpected expenses.

While she does not see dramatic changes in finances for herself, she worries about her children and grandchildren. College, rent and homeownership is so much more expensive than years ago. After all, her first home cost less than $3000 in the 1950's. The same home is now around $350,000. Yet, wages have not increased proportionally.

I emulate and admire my mom's approach to money. With simple needs, she has the extra money for trips to Europe or cruises in the Mediterranean. Spending less than you earn is a simple formula for success.

Barbara Bartlein is the People Pro. For her FREE e-mail newsletter, please visit The People Pro.

Women may not have parity in the workplace, but they rule the roost at home. According to a study from the Pew Research Center, women make the decisions around the house, and the men don't seem to mind. Of 1,260 individuals surveyed this summer, either married or living together, women have more decision-making power at home.

In 43% of couples, women made more decisions, almost twice as many as men, in the four areas Pew surveyed: planning weekend activities, household finances, major home purchases, and TV watching. The survey also found 43% of men don't have the final say in any of those decisions; they either share decision-making or defer to their partners.

This certainly was not true 40 years ago when I was a little girl. The man was supposed to be the head of the household, making all important decisions. In many families, the woman stayed home while the man brought home the bacon. Perhaps because the man made the money, he often controlled the finances as well. However, my mom disagrees that it was really ever that way. "The difference is back in those days, we let the man THINK he was making the decisions," she says. "In reality, we were really guiding every choice."

If health risks can't convince you not to start smoking, maybe future poverty will. The financial costs of this nasty habit are far more than the cost of a pack of cigarettes. Smokers pay more for insurance, dry cleaning, and dental care. Their homes and cars have less resale value and they are at higher risk of having a fire.

Smokers also don't make the bucks. They earn less and receive less in pension and Social Security benefits. They often have to pay additional premiums for insurance coverage. And they may have trouble getting a job. More and more employers are announcing they will no longer employ smokers.

• Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Michigan stopped hiring smokers for full-time positions at both its Michigan campuses.
• Alaska Airlines requires a nicotine test before hiring people.
• Union Pacific won't hire smokers.

Don't miss the rest of our series on 15 Ways to Ruin Your Financial Future!

So why on earth do people ever start smoking? That's easy--to feel "cool." I should know, I am an ex-smoker. Like most smokers, I started as a teenager. Approximately 80% of smokers start in their teens and the American Lung Association estimates that every minute four thousand eight hundred teens will take their first drag off a cigarette.

I remember my first drag. Some kids were passing around a cigarette and I tried it. I was hooked almost instantly and up to a pack a day within months. I felt cool and wiser when I smoked and it helped me belong with a group at school. Like most teenagers, I didn't worry about the health implications, those problems were a million years away.

Showering with a sweetie may sound romantic to you...but all I can think about is standing in the cold. While I admit that I have limited experience with this activity, any occasion that I have showered with a friend has been a disaster.

There is no way that both people can adequately get submerged under the shower head to stay warm. In a standard shower, standing side to side is impossible, so one person must stand partially out of the spray to make room. Shivering while I watch my partner enjoy the warm water leaves my heart cold.

Lathering can also present significant issues. Do you lather each other? Most of us have a soaping ritual that we like to follow and it is doubtful whether a partner can do it right. Are one of you taller than the other? Be prepared for soap to fly in your just rinsed hair, your ears and eyes. Do you use the same products? You may be slipping on soap scum while you attempt to retrieve your bottle of expensive shampoo.

Don't miss the rest of our series on Overrated people, places and things!

And let's not forget water temperature. Just as spouses argue about the correct temperature for a thermostat, we all have strong beliefs what the correct water temperature should be.

A lonely hearts website for married people claims that more women are signing up than a year ago and the economy is to blame. The website, IllicitEncounters.com, states women were joining the site at 55 people per day in 2007, but has risen to 142 as of last week. Reportedly more women are turning to adultery because the credit crisis had made their husbands "no fun," causing them to work longer hours, worry about losing their jobs and shun social activities.

Unlike "golf widows" or "fishing widows," these "downturn widows" report that the husbands are not happy and are too preoccupied to put much effort into their marriages. Seeking attention and wanting to feel special, they are accessing this encounter website to have new, exciting relationships with no strings attached.

A quick review of the site shows listings from married men and women bored with their marriages looking for excitement. And, of course, that is exactly what affairs are all about. It is easy to have excitement when there are no responsibilities; like mortgages, bills, taxes, and childcare.

Vanity Fair reports that Cindy McCain's outfit for the Republican Convention cost around $300,000. Here is the breakdown of what she wore:

• Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
• Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
• Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
• Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000-$25,000
• Shoes, designer unknown: $600
• Total: between $299,100 and $313,100

Now I don't know about you, but that is about three times what my house cost. I understand that Ms. McCain has a lot of money but does she have to parade it all over her body? It becomes very difficult to believe that the McCains' know what is happening to the average American, when she is dripping money and he can't remember how many houses they own.

The truth is, John and Cindy, that a lot of us are cutting coupons, cutting back and working harder. We aren't buying designer shoes, we are purchasing food and clothing for our families. We have to budget our money carefully to just get by.

When I was a young adult I couldn't wait to leave home and get out on my own. It really wasn't that hard to do -- I made good money as a waitress and cheap places were plentiful. When I went to nursing school in Colorado Springs, tuition was $700 a semester including books and I could make enough in the summer to pay for school. I lived in a nice cabin for $60 a month that included heat and cable. Boy, are those days gone.

College graduates now face thousands of dollars of debt as they pick up their diplomas. Two-thirds (65.7%) of 4-year undergraduate students graduate with an average student loan debt of $19,237. Graduate and professional students borrow even more, with the additional debt for a graduate degree ranging from $27,000 to $114,000. Many graduates see little choice to get out of debt except move back with the folks.

These boomerangers are everywhere. In 2007, 14.5 million children age 18-24 lived at home, up from 6.4 million in 1960, according to U.S. Census figures. Moving back home has become the new normal. So many kids are doing so that there is no longer a stigma.

Elizabeth Edwards is on the cover of the latest People Magazine and offers a candid interview inside of the anguish, pain, and decisions that she faced after learning of her husband's affair with a former campaign aide, Rielle Hunter. Recognizing that she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness that could leave her three children without a mother was reportedly a factor in her decision to stay in the marriage.

Children are one of the reasons that women stay in a marriage where a husband has strayed, but it shouldn't be the only reason. Women's income generally drops an average of 16% while a man's increases by 23% according to the NY Times. They often don't have the earning power of their spouses or may have been out of the workforce due to the demands of child raising.

It has been long known that folks that are married have longer life span. Now, new research by the Karolinska Institute on Sweden has found that marriage or having a partner halves the risk of developing dementia. Scientists believe social interaction between couples may ward off illness. Good reason to work on your relationships.

The dollars involved in the care for Alzheimer's and other dementia victims is no small amount. In 2005, Medicare spent $91 billion on beneficiaries with Alzheimer's and other dementias ,and that number is projected to more than double to $189 billion by 2015. Medicaid spending per person equals around $13,207 per year on average per patient with dementia.

A new study reported in USA Today finds that "kids meals" at chain and fast food restaurants are too high in calories for a single meal. According to the analysis from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, some meals contain more than 1,000 calories, which is the typical daily calorie count per DAY for elementary school children. Considering that the average child, under 18, eats 167 restaurant meals in a year, that is a lot of calories.

This does not surprise me. All you have to do is look around. When I was a kid, we were all skinny. It was unusual to see a heavy-set kid in the class. Now I go to my daughter's swim class and the majority of the kids are overweight. Granted, kids may be sitting more, but I vote that the eating habits are more of the problem.

Well the Boomers are crying now. Market is down, 401k's are shrinking, and dreams of early retirement fading. The mad bull market that had us believe it would go up forever has faltered. The gains were so exciting it was easy to lose sight of the real goals and priorities. Financial accumulation became a mission rather than a means to an end.

I know, I know, what about retirement. Well what about it? Personally I don't believe in retirement, I believe in working. Work and activity are the measures of physical and mental health. Ideally, you are passionate about the work you do and it gives your life meaning. We are the only country in the world that has this ridiculous viewpoint of a magical age where we are not longer suppose to work. And WE didn't have it before the advent of social security. After all, the word retire was only used twice in the Bible, and in both cases as a punishment.

According to new research reported in USA Today, women start out as happy young adults but are much sadder than their male counterparts by middle age. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England analyzed decades of national data on 47,000 men and women to create a statistical model that shows women's happiness decreases, while men's increases, exceeding women's by age 48. According to the lead author, Anke Plagnol, women are more likely than men to fulfill their aspirations for material goods and family life, but later, they may be divorced or separated and less financially secure. Meanwhile, men's finances and family life improve.

This study comes as no surprise to this blogger. For single women, who usually make less than their male counterparts, midlife review of finances can be very discouraging. They have been unable to take advantage of the economies of scale that marriage can provide. For single parents, the financial results are even more dramatic. Midlife is the timeframe where kids are going to college with costs that can drain anyone's bank account.

For women who are separated or divorced, the financial reality is even more dramatic. After divorce, wives' standards of living drop 27 percent, while men's standards of living increased by about 10 percent.

I frequently advise women to be cautious about bailing from a marriage at midlife. They may be better off financially by simply separating but staying married. After all, it is likely they will out live their husbands anyway.

Barbara Bartlein is the People Pro. A relationship expert, she is the author of Why Did I Marry You Anyway? Overcoming the Myths That Hinder a Happy Marriage. For more tips and tools to build your relationships, please visit: Marriage Tips. For Barb's Free e-mail newsletter, log on to The People Pro

A tragic case in Taunton, Mass., where a 53-year-old wife and mother fatally shot herself after faxing a letter to her mortgage company, demonstrates a common issue in many marriages; secrets about money. According to police, Carlene Balderrama fax read, in part, "By the time you foreclose on my house, I'll be dead."

"I had no clue," said spouse John Balderrama. He further explained that his wife had handled all the couple's finances and he no idea that she hadn't paid the mortgage in 42 months. But, in fact, there were clues. According to court records, Mr. Balderrama had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times from 2004 to 2006. Obviously there were long-standing financial issues that this couple were not facing together.

This is not unusual. Spouses more often lie to each other about money than any other issue. From hiding purchases and bills to opening single accounts, spouses often minimize their own spending. And in many households, only one spouse is actively involved in handling the family finances.