Wegman's announced they are reducing the price on almost four hundred prescriptions, bringing the price down to four dollars for a one month supply or ten dollars for a three month supply. They are also offering free selected antibiotics through the end of flu and cold season. You can get all the details by reading their press release. http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PressReleaseDetailView?...

February is heart health month and Sister to Sister is raising awareness of the differences in heart attack symptoms between men and women. They're also offering health fairs in several cities where you can get free screenings. Their web site states their accomplishments include:

* Year-long promotional campaign involving medical, corporate, government, media, and non-profit partners
* Annual Heart Health Fairs that offer women free cardiac screenings, immediate follow-up counseling, and educational resources
* Cardiac screening events
* Family-based obesity prevention initiative
* Data collection from more than 150,000 Health Fair participants, and over 55,000 women screened to date
* International cardiac risk database and pilot outreach programs

Visit the official site for more information, including a list of upcoming events. http://www.sistertosister.org/

If you've been putting off a visit to the Museum of Modern Art because money is tight, you might want to head over on any Friday afternoon, from four to eight pm, when admission is free (thanks to Target.) This deal should be good through the end of 2009.

Visit the official site for more information. http://www.moma.org/index.html (You can also send an ecard while you're there.)

When I was a kid car seats hadn't really been invented. By the time I had my oldest son car seats were recommended but not required. A police office spoke to our prenatal class and told us he'd never unbuckled a dead baby from a car seat, words that I still remember nearly 25 years later. Unfortunately car seats don't always work the way they're supposed to, whether because they're old, substandard, or most likely, not properly installed.

How can parents, grandparents, babysitters and others make sure their young passengers are maximally protected? You can take your vehicle to an inspection station and an expert can check things out for you. Find a local station using this website. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/CPSFitting/index.cfm

I was talking to a friend the other day, about the cost of health care, and was startled to discover my friend knew nothing about the four or ten dollar prescription programs available through several retailers. (How could any friend of mine not know? Apparently I had failed to pass on valuable information. I felt terrible.)

Here's how it works: quite a few generic medications are available for four dollars per month, or if you get them filled in ninety day increments, ten dollars for three months. For instance there is a medication on the list that I take that has a ten dollar per month copay if I buy it through my health insurance at my regular pharmacy. If I buy it at Target, or Walmart, or Sams Club, or any of the others that have this program, and pay cash, I pay four dollars per month. Or I can ask my doctor to write my prescription for a ninety day supply and pay ten dollars, saving a total of twenty dollars over the course of three months. Which may not sound like much but it adds up, especially if you have to take more than one medication or need it for more than one member of the family.

You can find a list of these common drugs at the retailers' websites. If your pharmacy doesn’t have this program ask them if they'll match the price you could get somewhere else. If you're a good customer your pharmacy may be willing to dicker.

Here's an interesting post from Uncle Phaedrus who is responding to a request for depression era recipes. He points out that times change and ingredients that were cheap become inexpensive and vise versa. (Remember how much salt was at one point? Now you can get it for practically nothing.) http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m1226F08.htm#1

One thing I've noticed about depression era recipes is how many of them call for meat. I find that cooking modern vegetarian meals is often more frugal. Even if you haven't planned on eating meatless meals you might be surprised when you sit down and think about what you've eaten recently. For instance did you have peanut butter and jelly? A bean burrito? Mac and cheese? Adding a couple of meatless days a week is not that difficult and pays off pretty quickly.

(There are links to depression era recipes on the link above.)

President Obama has signed the economic recovery bill amidst quite a lot of talk of waste. You can find out for yourself what is going on, where the money is going, timelines, etc at the new website http://www.recovery.gov/. You can also download the bill in its entirety, which I have done, although I'm guessing it will take me a little while to wade through all 407 pages.

Speaking of which, if you still haven't read the TARP bill you can read Paul Muolo's book on the subject called $700 Billion Bailout, found here, http://bailoutbook.com/. You can read the full introduction at that site, which is nice. I always like to try before I buy.

I just finished reading a fascinating book, chockfull of excellent marketing, business and general financial advice. You'll never believe who wrote it, because the author is sort of famous as someone who likes to get the best of others. He's practically a swindler or a conman in some people's eyes, so to see him giving advice about being honest might come as a bit of a shock. I'm talking about master showman P.T. Barnum and his fabulous book Art Of Money Getting or, Golden Rules for Making Money.

Mr. Barnum's advice is simple, to the point and easy to follow. He also gives examples as well as using popular sayings and stories to expound on his suggestions. You can read the book for free online. http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/barnum/moneygetting/moneygetting.html

IHOP celebrates National Pancake Day by giving away free short stacks and raising money for children's charities, including the Children's Miracle Network. This year IHOP hopes to raise one million dollars, an increase from the $875,000 they raised last year. You can get more details at the official website: http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/index.html

The deadline for the NEA grants for fiction writers is March fifth, except not really as they want you to finish applying ten days in advance, which doesn't leave much time. Complicated application directions can be found here. http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/Lit/How.html

Eligibility requirements are here: http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/Lit/Eligibility.html

Best of luck.