MONEY MATTERS--GUEST AUTHOR SUSAN SANTANGELO ON SERIAL CLIPPERS

photo by Carol Pyles from Winter Haven, FL, US

Susan Santangelo is the author of the bestselling humorous Baby Boomer mystery series. Book 6 in the series, Second Honeymoons Can Be Murder, will be released on February 16th. She divides her time between Cape Cod, MA and the Gulf Coast of Florida and shares her life with two very spoiled English cocker spaniels who serve as the model for her books' covers. Learn more about Susan and her books at her website. 

I’m Married To A Serial Clipper!

Not a serial killer. Or a cereal killer. Nope. I’m married to a serial coupon clipper, who’ll clip any coupon, and shop in any store, for any item – even those we don’t need and will never use – just because he thinks he’s saving a few pennies.

And I bet I’m not the only woman who lives with a serial clipper. What is it about retired men and coupons? The longer my Personal Beloved is retired, the more coupons he clips. I mean, the man is so in love with his coupons that he springs up from bed on any given morning and heads right for the newspaper, scissors in hand. He’s quivering with excitement – the same way he used to quiver with excitement for, ahem, other reasons, back in the day. Way back in the last century. I call it Obsessive Coupon Disorder, OCD. And there’s no magical little blue pill to help with that problem, unfortunately.

In my sixth Baby Boomer mystery, Second Honeymoons Can Be Murder, my protagonist, Carol Andrews, is dealing with exactly the same issue with her retired husband, Jim. The good news for Carol, however, is that despite a few “setbacks,” no coupons were clipped to make the Florida trip happen. Jim actually left his scissors at home.

           

If any of you have tips for dealing with a serial clipper, please share them. Maybe we should start an online support group!

Second Honeymoons Can Be Murder

Carol Andrews can’t believe her luck when her husband, Jim, surprises her with a second honeymoon trip to Florida. But there’s a catch – it’s really a business trip, not the romantic getaway Carol expects. Jim’s been called out of retirement to create a marketing plan for a new television game show aimed at Baby Boomers, The Second Honeymoon Game, and the pilot episode will be shot in the Sunshine State. The honeymoon is really over when the show’s executive producer, none other than Carol’s grammar school boyfriend, winds up dead on Carol and Jim’s first night in Florida. And their son, Mike, is the police’s number one suspect.

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AUTHOR JACKIE KING'S SLEUTH ON MONEY TIPS FOR HAPPILY MARRIED WOMEN

Mystery author Jackie King was supposed to be our guest today, but her protagonist Grace Cassidy decided she was better suited to blog on money tips. If you’d like to learn more about Jackie and her books, check out her website and blog.

Money Tips for Happily Married Women

(Or Who Think They Are)

by Grace Cassidy

Every woman should have money saved under her name alone. Married or not. Happy or not. In today’s world of changing mores and weakening family structure, a woman must always be able to support herself without help from anyone. Always have a bank account and a savings account under your own name and yours alone.

“Sounds selfish,” you say. “My husband loves me, and promises to always provide for me,” you say. “My husband takes care of all of our business,” you say.

That’s what I thought, too. Then suddenly the husband who adored me (or so I thought,) ran off to the Cayman Islands with his secretary and took all of our resources with him. Most of it my family money. I was left with only the cash in my designer purse. (That purse, later sold on e-bay, was worth more than the money it held.)

“I would have credit cards!” you say.

Maybe so, but whatever you charge would have to be repaid. By you. (This wasn’t a problem for me, since the girlfriend called and reported each card as stolen.)

Be wise, and be safe. Here is what I suggest:

While still happily married, start a savings account with some of your monthly household allowance. Be wise with the money under your control. Do you really need that $200 jar of night cream. After I was left penniless, I began using pig’s lard for night cream, and found that it worked as well as the fancy department store brand.

Jeans and T-shirts from Walmart or Target, that once I would never have even considered buying, looked great when I added an expensive scarf or brooch that I already owned.

You may never need this personal bankroll, but if your husband strays, or makes bad investments, or indulges in an unexpected midlife crisis, you are prepared to take care of yourself. And that, ladies, is the only security you can truly count on.

Note from editor: Too bad Anastasia didn’t come across these tips back before Dead Louse of a Spouse permanently cashed in his chips in Las Vegas.

The Corpse Who Walked in the Door

Former society wife Grace Cassidy is learning to live on the minimum wage she earns as a bed & breakfast inn-sitter. Grace finds her cat’s bloody paw prints leading away from a bathtub and wants to run for her life. But she can’t. Her 19-year-old son is accused of pushing his pregnant girlfriend down a flight of concrete steps, and she won’t abandon him.

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