Kerri and Mike Miller have a spending problem. Three of them, in fact. There's 12-year-old Kate, a seventh-grader who covets a pair of $160 boots, prefers clothes from American Eagle rather than Target and recently got a $300 cell phone. There's nine-year-old Landon, who has a voracious appetite for video games. And their youngest, four-year-old Claire, will soon start taking ski lessons (cost: $224, not including equipment). All three kids attend summer camps that run about $60 a day for each child. And then there's the cost of babysitting ($200 a month), preschool ($4,000 a year) and braces ($3,000). Even with Mike's six-figure salary in commercial finance, the Park City, Utah, couple's ends are nowhere close to meeting.

Twenty thousand dollars sounds like a lot to pay for a drink at a holiday party, but if that last cocktail puts you over the legal limit, that "one for the road" could easily cost you that or more. And that's only considering the potential financial cost of being ticketed for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated, better known as DUI or DWI, never mind the staggering financial blow if you cause an accident -- or the emotional devastation if your actions cause injuries or worse. With the holidays upon us, early December through the new year is one of the worst times for drinking and driving. In fact, December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, or NHTSA, 17,602 people were killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes alone in 2006 and alcohol-related crashes cost about $51 billion every year. In 2005, a whopping 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence.

After a six-hour flight from New York I check into the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village near Los Angeles, exhausted. My room is fabulous: 10-foot ceilings, a plush king-size bed with feather pillows and a big high-definition television. I don't get to enjoy it for long, though. There's a knock at my door. It's my sleep technicians, and they've brought along an enormous suitcase of electrical equipment. After some polite chitchat they start hooking me up. Eleven electrodes go on my head, two on my chest and four more I have to slide down my pajama bottoms. A final one is taped uncomfortably over my upper lip. Two breathing belts are wound tightly around my chest. After an hour of rigging they bid me good night and retreat somewhere to monitor my eye and leg movements, brain waves and breathing. I could have had them set up a camera to film me but it was getting late.

Have you gone shopping for the best car insurance coverage lately? If not, you may be throwing money away. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or NAIC, recommends that consumers review car insurance policies every year. Yet, only 20 percent to 35 percent of people actually do so, according to the NAIC. There are many benefits to annually reviewing your car policy. Either you'll confirm that you have the right coverage for your needs, or you'll gather crucial information for making smart decisions about switching providers.

Every insurer has an appeals process. With the help of your doctor's office, you can ask your health plan to let you stay on your preferred medications and pay in-network prices. "Cancer docs fight this battle all the time," says Steven Findlay, managing editor of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, which provides price reviews and reports on prescription medications. If your appeal is denied, go to Rxaminer.com to find the lowest-cost provider of your brand-name drugs. Consumer Reports found that big discount stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, and online pharmacies affiliated with drugstore chains, such as CVS.com, tend to charge the least. Or go with the less- expensive generic version of your medication. In a Consumer Reports survey, Costco warehouse stores and Costco's Web site had the lowest prices for generics. You don't have to pay Costco's annual $50 membership fee to fill your prescriptions there. -- Thomas M. Anderson

Imitation's not the sincerest form of flattery. Theft is. Anyone can dress like you, talk like you or copy your hairstyle. But they really have to want what you've got if they're willing to risk their limbs to get the shirt off your back. Or the car from your driveway. That's the case in the 10 cities we've identified as America's most envious. These are places, among the country's 50 most populated cities, with the highest per capita incidences of property crimes, as measured last year by the FBI.

Having something break on a nearly new car could lead you to love it more. Lexus IS 250 owners can attest to that. Lexus' dealerships offer some of the industry's best perks (in-showroom cappuccino machines, among them) and the brand's service department is known to work overtime for customers. Lexus is just one of several luxury brands offering over-the-top dealership service that separates their vehicles from the rest - and instills buyer loyalty and satisfaction.

Hybrids are attractive vehicles in this era of $3-plus gasoline. Even though the revised method for calculating federal fuel economy has knocked down the estimated mileage on all cars, especially some hybrids, gas-electric hybrids still are the most fuel-efficient vehicles available. But do they make long-term economic sense? Most savvy buyers know that hybrids cost at least $2,500 more than comparable gas-only vehicles, which means it would take years to recoup the added cost. Many buyers are willing to make that commitment.

Conventional wisdom holds that it's best to buy a home by paying 20% of its price up front. That spares the buyer the expense of private mortgage insurance (PMI), and provides lower monthly payments to boot. Now that the subprime lending crisis has erupted, hurting profits in investment firm Bear Stearns, homebuilders like Pulte Homes, and lenders such as Citigroup, Freddie Mac, and Countrywide , the responsible 20% down payment seems even harder to argue with.

At the East Side Organizing Project in Cleveland, six home owners recently went in for group foreclosure counseling. When asked if any had taken out payday loans, four hands shot up. A payday loan is a small-dollar, short-term loan with fees that can add up to interest rates of almost 400 percent. They're generally taken out when the borrower is caught short on cash and promises to pay the balance back next payday. If it sounds like legal loan-sharking, it's not. "Loan sharks are actually cheaper," said Bill Faith, a leader of the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending.