The short answer to the question, should I worry about the market meltdown? Yes. And, duh.

The long answer: In many ways, I'm lucky. Having been mired in debt since graduating from college in 1992 and embarking on the rewarding (but not necessarily lucrative) profession of writing, I haven't had much to lose in the 401K and investments department. And even if I did have a hefty 401K and numerous investments, I'm 38 years old. I think it's safe to say that any Generation X'er or young Baby Boomer shouldn't worry too much about how their savings has been affected. I know that in my case, even if I wanted to retire at age 65--and being a writer, I'm kind of hoping to be at my computer until I keel over at the age of 106-- that's 27 years away. In some ways, that's a lifetime, although, in other ways, it's just around the corner. My point is, the stock market is going to have a lot more ups and downs and bubbles and bursts in the next 27 years.

So in the long-term, do I think someone my age should worry? No.

But in the short term, I'm glad I'm content with the house I bought in 2000, shortly before getting married and about 18 months before becoming a father, because we're not going to be moving any time soon, if, um, ever. I don't have enough saved for a downpayment on a new mortgage, and my credit history isn't going to inspire any mortgage bankers to fight over me. Meanwhile, with my old Saturn having finally keeled over a few weeks ago, I need a new car and already understand that if I'm going buy one, I'm going to either have to save up the purchase price--or accept the fact that the interest rate offered by many lenders is going to be on par with what you'd expect from a loan shark.

Yeah, in the short term, I'm concerned. Maybe even worried.

I've always been fascinated with how underground economies work due in part to my addiction to reading any story about prison escapes. I can clearly remember the mastermind doling out packs of cigarettes to keep someone quiet or acquire a critical piece of the escape plan. Indeed cigarettes were the de facto currency for prisoners, who cannot possess real currency, until smoking was banned in 2004. Since inmates can no longer barter with cigarettes they've turned to pouches of mackerel to fill the need for a common currency inside prison walls.

Even though bartering isn't officially allowed inside prison walls, prisoners are expected to dole out a few pouches of mackerel when you get your haircut. The use of fish by prisoners to create their own economy is a reminder that virtually anything can be used as currency. Even outside prison walls we don't need to rely on government minted tender to complete transactions so long as there are willing parties involved. For all I know there's a subset of people in my town who would gladly accept Chuck E. Cheese tokens or Antartican Dollars for my daily needs.

Americans are cutting back on purchases of liquor in bars and restaurants, according to top executives at Pernod Ricard SA. They are also purchasing cheaper brands when buying alcohol at stores, although sales at grocery stores and retail outlets continue to grow.

Makes sense to me. Why drop the extra bucks at a bar or restaurant when you can get a bottle of wine, rent a movie, and stay home for a whole lot less money. I have always thought that expensive restaurants were a waste of money and you pay a premium for a drink. Often, a glass of wine will cost you as much as buying the whole bottle at a retail center. And watch out for designer drinks such as Cosmos and fancy martinis -- they can cost you $20 or more.

When we do go out, we like to find local restaurants that serve good food at a cheap price. We never go to chains, they tend to be overpriced and too homogenized for my taste. No, give me the $5.99 fish fry, served in a plastic basket with coleslaw and fries and I'm a happy South Sider.

Remember, there are two ways to be rich. Have lots of money or have simple tastes. We like to keep our expense chassis low so we have money when we want it.

Barbara Bartlein is the People Pro. For her free e-mail newsletter, 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."

Michaels, a craft store with over 900 locations in the U.S. and Canada, has taken a rather unique view on change -- or at least one store has. Recently the Michaels in Hemet, California wouldn't let a youngster, who was shopping for her mother's birthday present, pay for a $4 purchase in quarters. When she began counting out the 16 coins for the cashier she was informed that it was store policy not to accept change. This forced Hayden to borrow from her younger sister in order to ensure a happy birthday for her mom.

I've put in an email to Michaels to find out if this ridiculous policy is in fact store policy, or simply an employee exercising poor customer service, but I haven't heard back from them yet. Even if such a policy exists, refusing to take 16 quarters for a purchase is simply lazy. I can see the same cashier refusing to take 16 singles next week because counting them would be too much of an inconvenience. Turning down this small of a quantity of change would obviously violate the spirit of any such policy if one exists.

If like me you wondered how a store can refuse a government issued coin, which is "legal tender for all debts public and private" it's because while these coins can be used to satisfy any debt, private businesses do not have to accept them. The Coinage act of 1965 set this policy into place meaning that coins and bills are a legal means of paying a creditor but allowing private businesses to set rules on forms of payment on their own.

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.

Driving through my local Starbucks yesterday, I happened on a caffeinated rage between two drivers. Apparently, a female driver had turned in front of another car "skipping" him in line. The man in this car, a regular customer. immediately became irate and yelled obscenities and vulgarities out his window at the woman. This rant was picked up by the drive-thru microphone and broadcasted clearly both inside Starbucks and to the outside seating. The woman who had done the skipping quickly jumped into the fracas with her own string of foul language and obscene gestures.

Sigh. Now, I'm just trying to get a cup of coffee. I like my peaceful mornings. Is there really that much time difference if one car goes ahead of you? Does such an offense really require this much energy and emotion? It got me to thinking that maybe this is part of the fall-out from a sagging economy and growing anxiety. It is Economic Anxiety Disorder.

People are anxious: about money, portfolios, jobs, and mortgages. They are watching their hopes of an early retirement vanish along with the equity in their homes and their health care benefits. Our culture has morphed from one of pride to one of anxiety and blame. We have gotten crispy and cranky, ready to explode with the smallest frustration.

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.

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.

My favorite line in Fiddler on the Roof goes like this:

A young revolutionary tells Tevye, "Money is the world's curse." Tevye, the poor, beleaguered milk man, pushes him aside and, raising his finger to the sky, announces, "May God strike me down! And may I never recover!!"

That's sort of the feeling I get when I read items like this. Dalton Conley, a professor of sociology at NY University who had studied race and class extensively, wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times over the weekend claiming that it's the rich who are more stressed out these days.

If you build it, they will come. But not necessarily.

A recent three-part report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reveals that the building spree by Milwaukee Public Schools is a dismal failure.

The $102 million initiative to revamp buildings was supposed to get students into local neighborhood schools and improve education. Instead, newly furnished classrooms are used for storage, and half-empty buildings are sprinkled throughout the district. Many specialty teachers in the fields of science, art and music have been downsized in budget cuts while enrollment has continued to tumble.

Like many urban school districts, Milwaukee Public Schools works with some of the poorest children in the city. Many of the children literally do not have parents. They may be living with a grandparent, uncle, aunt or other relative. At the school where my husband works, more than 20 children are bused to school from a homeless shelter. Even those who are lucky enough to have a biological parent often have only one. At a recent open house at an elementary school of approximately 200 children, only six fathers showed up.

It is clear that what these children need are parents, not just buildings. And if they do not have parents involved in their education, someone else better be available. Instead of facilities and expensive buildings, the money would have been better spent with additional staffing in the classroom, mentors for individual development, and tutors for special help. The $102 million could have purchased a lot of services for these children and their families.

There is a lot of new research on happiness and money with some surprising results. While Americans have become more affluent, their happiness levels have not really increased. In a series of studies by the University of Chicago, the average U.S. Family has become 60% richer in the last thirty years, but they are not significantly happier. In 1960, approximately 42% of Americans surveyed pronounced themselves "very happy."

A similar poll in 1990, found that 43% were "very happy." What seems to matter most for your sense of well-being and your happiness level is how you stack up against your neighbors. People tend to use this yardstick of comparison to evaluate their money and circumstances. Even a millionaire will feel miserable in the company of billionaires.

In the book, Are You Normal About Money?, author Bernice Kanner outlines responses from a public survey posted on the Bloomberg Web site. According to respondents, sixty-five percent would live on a deserted island for a year for $1 million dollars. Sixty percent would even admit to a crime that didn't do and serve six months in jail for that amount--and 10 percent would lend their spouse for a night. For $10 million, most of us would do just about anything: one-fourth would abandon our friends, our family, and our church. And for that amount of money, 7 percent--one in every fourteen of us--would even murder.

Part of the problem with money is that people want more. Thanks to fifty plus years of mass media pushing merchandise at us, we are convinced that more will make us happier. For decades, Lewis Lapham has been asking people how much money they would need to be happy. "No matter what their income," he reports, "a depressing number of Americans believe that if only they had twice as much, they would inherit the estate of happiness promised them in the Declaration of Independence. The man who receives $15,000 a year is sure that he could relieve his sorrow if he had only $30,000 a year; the man with $1 million a year knows that all would be well if he had $2 million a year"..."Nobody," he concludes, "ever has enough."

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.