Welcome to spending season–that heady period from October through December when catchy holiday displays and special offers abound. There you are, innocently window-shopping, when you spot a pair of fabulous pumps–20 percent off!–that you just have to have. Impulse purchases like this are big business: More than 40 percent of the clothes women purchased in the first quarter of 2006 fell into that category, according to research by the trade association Cotton, Inc. And a whopping 60 percent of all purchases are spur-of-the-moment, reports the Marketing Science Institute (MSI). You’re not safe from temptation online, either: In 2002, nearly 40 percent of e-purchases were impulsive. It’s not that you have zero self-control–it’s just that buying yourself a little (or big) something has an almost hypnotic effect. “Shopping can provide a pick-me-up and make you feel more in charge of your life,” says April Lane Benson, Ph.D., a psychologist who specializes in compulsive-buying disorder. A better idea: Take charge of your wallet by resisting the urge to splurge. Here’s how.

Window-shop without money.
Shopper’s high–that lift people get from hitting the mall–comes from dopamine, a brain chemical that’s emitted when you do something pleasurable (such as eating a giant slice of pizza or having sex). And that euphoric feeling is especially potent when the enjoyable activity exposes you to something new–like all that gleaming merchandise you haven’t seen before–according to research by Gregory Berns, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Emory School of Medicine.

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Think about it: The first time you have sex with a new partner is generally more exciting than the 100th time. That’s because more dopamine is being released into your brain.

To take the “newness” out of the buying experience, window-shop first without your wallet. Then, you can return to the store with a Clearer head and some self-control. This extra step takes a little more time, but the savings are worth it.

Don’t make shopping a social thing.
Shoppers who hit the stores in groups of three or more made 7 percent more impulse purchases than those browsing alone or in pairs, according to research from the MSI. If you really want company (say, a pal who can tell you if that dress makes your butt look big), pick one friend who isn’t a big shopper so she can keep your spending in check, advises Benson, who has created a compulsive-buying treatment program (stoppingovershopping.com).

Pay in cash.
Credit cards have a way of fooling people into thinking they’re not spending money, says Sheryl Garrett, a certified financial planner and author of the personal finance series On the Road. You can charge something and forget it because the bill won’t darken your doorstep for weeks. Cash, by contrast, is much more intimate and immediate–those are your hard-earned greenbacks you’re peeling apart! Letting go of that money can actually be painful, says Garrett–so much so that people paying cash spent 12 percent to 18 percent less per shopping trip than those paying with credit, a recent Dun & Bradstreet survey found. Rule of thumb: If you can’t pay cash today, then you probably can’t afford whatever you wanted to buy, says Garrett.

Pinpoint your triggers.
Curb your exposure to stores where you simply can’t leave without buying something–no matter how small. “I have a hard time in bookstores,” says Garrett. “So I set limits for myself: No more than two books at a time, and they have to be paperbacks because they’re less expensive.” But don’t go cold turkey, says Benson, or you’ll just feel deprived and want to shop more.

Map the aisles.
The more store aisles you visit, the more unplanned purchases you make. Your impulse purchases increase by 10 percent when you visit all instead of just some aisles, according to the MSI. Makes perfect sense: You’re exposed to more new things, coupons, and displays, increasing the likelihood that one of them will prove irresistible. Plan ahead by mapping out your shopping list, grouping items together according to how they’re arranged in the store, and you’re more likely to stay on track.

Distinguish between a want and a need.
When you’re on the verge of. buying something, ask yourself: Do I have anything else like this? Can I live without it? For example, if you’re out of toothpaste, then you need toothpaste. “But most of our so-called needs are really wants that we’re justifying,” says Garrett.

It’s perfectly okay to have (and occasionally indulge in) wants–if you do it wisely. So, if the item in question isn’t a need, decide whether it’s a practical-but-unnecessary purchase or a luxury. If it’s the former (say, another pair of black pants when you already have three), try to fit it into your budget. For luxuries, adopt a rule of three: You can save toward three “wants” at any given time, and if you find yourself jonesing for another luxury item, strike one of the originals. There’s even a hidden benefit: Saving for something specific will help to limit your impulse spending.

Keep a shopping diary.
If impulse spending is a big problem for you, try this remedy: Write down how you felt and everything you bought today. Do this daily for a couple of weeks and look for patterns: Are you more likely to buy those cute mini-muffins when you grocery shop hungry? Do you drive right to the mall after a frustrating day at work?

We tend to shop in order to regulate our emotions, explains Benson. When we’re feeling really high or really low, we go to a familiar activity such as shopping to bring us back to our equilibrium. Researchers in England also found that people who impulse shop describe their motivations by saying, “It put me in a better mood” and “It made me feel like the kind of person I want to be.” By keeping a diary, you can recognize the state of mind that’s likely to make you buy too much–so you can steer yourself away from the store at those times.

Give yourself a cooling-off period.
First, take a stroll around the store while holding on to the item, says Mary Carlomagno, author of Give It Up” My Year of Learning to Live Better With Less. Those black pants will lose their luster pretty quickly if you just give yourself 15 minutes to let that initial “ooh!” feeling subside.

If you want to take the plunge anyway, put the pants down and wait a week, says Garrett. If you’re motivated enough to go back for them seven days later, you must really want those pants.

By: Davis, Rebecca, Redbook, Oct2006

SLICK ON SUEDE
Makeup artist SCOTT BARNES’S LipSuede ($24), that is. His new lipsticks are as soft and supple as their namesake. At selected Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

LATHER WITH ORGANICS
INNERSENSE Hair Bath shampoos ($22 each) gently cleanse hair with a detergent derived from apricots, and conditioners ($25 each) moisturize with natural emollients like rice-bran oil.

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CONCEAL WITH A WAND
VALERIE BEVERLY HILLS Magic Wand Concealer ($35) unleashes powerful forces: antiseptic tea-tree oil and nourishing vitamins A and E. But its real charm? Cake-free coverage. http://valeriebeverlyhills.com/catalog/default.php.

DRINK IN GOOD SCENTS
Perfumer MANDY AFTEL used her taste buds to create Aftelier Hydrosols ($20-$30 each), distilled waters with trace amounts of aromatic plant oils such as passion-fruit oil. Add four drops to a glass of water for a taste of aromatherapy. aftelierhydrosols.com.

PUMP A FRENCH SOAP
As much as we love a good old-fashioned block of Marseille soap, we were ecstatic to discover a liquid version in six scents ($19 each) from LA COMPAGNIE DE PROVENCE MARSEILLE. Put a bottle next to your kitchen or bathroom sink.lcdpmarseille.com.

By: Judar, Nina J., Town & Country, Sep2006

1. Make the Most of Your Keyboard
You use your keyboard constantly, but it’s easy to forget how powerful it is. Avoid moving your hand to your mouse — and save rime in the long run — by learning keyboard shortcuts for frequently used commands.

Learn Shortcuts To learn keyboard shortcuts, first check your favorite applications’ menus — often you’ll see the shortcuts noted right next to the commands themselves. Here are a few good ones:

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1 In Apple’s Mail, press #-shift-N to check for new mail or #-shift-F to forward a message.
2 In Microsoft Word ($239; www.microsoft.com/mac), #-option-R brings up the thesaurus, #-option-P switches to Page Layout view, and #-option-N switches to Normal view.В 
3 In Safari, hop to your home page by pressing #-shift-H. To check bookmarks, press #-option-B.В 
4 In iChat, show or hide your Buddy List by pressing #-1.В 
5 In iTunes, press the spacebar to play or pause.
Create Your Own In Mac OS X 10.3 and later, you can set keyboard shortcuts for any menu command and for most applications. (This won’t apply to some older programs or anything running in Classic.) For instance, you may want to create a shortcut for removing attachments from messages in Mail since there’s no preset shortcut for that command (Message: Remove Attachments).

Go to the Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane. Click on the plus sign (+) and choose your target application from the Application pop-up menu. Type the exact name of the menu command in the Menu Title field — for example, Remove Attachments. Then place your cursor in the Keyboard Shortcut field and press the key combination you want to assign to the command. Click on Add and you’re set. (For more information, see “Save Time with Shortcuts” at macworld.com/0337.)

2. Personalize the Finder
The Finder is at the center of everything you do on your Mac. Use its features to get easier access to the programs and folders you use most.

Use the Sidebar By default, when you open a Finder window, OS X displays certain folders (such as Desktop and Documents) in its sidebar (the column on the window’s left side). You can add your own items here, too. Either drag a folder to the sidebar or select a folder and press &-T. Now you’re one click away from its contents.

Customize the Toolbar Say there’s an application you use often — but not often enough to add it to the Dock. The toolbar located at the top of the Finder window is the perfect place to store a shortcut for it. Drag the application’s icon to the top of the Finder window and wait for the cursor to change to a plus sign. When you release the mouse, the icon stays in the toolbar. (If you change your mind, control-click on the icon and choose Remove Item from the contextual menu.) From there, you can click on the icon to launch the program, or drag a file on the icon to open the file.

Switch between Views You probably know that you can set Finder windows to icon, list, and column views via the toolbar. But did you know that you can do the same from the keyboard? Press #-1 for icon view, #-2 for list view, and #-3 for column view.

3. Corral Your E-mail
Sorting through the barrage of e-mail flooding your inbox can be frustrating. Sometimes it can be a headache just to determine which messages you’ve read and which ones are new.

The Tiger version of Apple’s Mail includes a great organizational tool: smart mailboxes. Use them to create a mailbox that shows only unread messages. Select Mailbox: New Smart Mailbox, click on the left pop-up menu, and select Message Is Unread. Name the mailbox something like Unread Mail and save it. Now, when you click on this mailbox, you’ll see only messages you haven’t yet looked at.

You can create other types of smart mailboxes — for instance, one for messages from specific contacts (select From Contains contact name) or companies (select From Contains domain name). Or you can create a mailbox for messages containing certain keywords (Subject Contains keyword or Entire Message Contains keyword). To learn more, see “Use Mail’s Smarts” at macworld.com/1195.

4. Preserve Web Pages
When browsing the Web, you probably happen upon pages you’d like to save for future reference. Sure, you could bookmark them, but the contents — or the URL itself — may have changed when you go back, and that means spending extra time searching.

Using Safari The easiest way to save Web pages is to use Safari As Save As Web Archive feature. Select File: Save As; then choose Web Archive from the Format pop-up menu. Doing so saves a special archive file that retains the text, images, and layout of the original page.

Going Further For even more control over Web archives, use a special tool. You’ll rind a wide variety out there: Rick Cranisky’s SiteSucker (free; www.sitesucker.us), Limit Point Software’s Blue Crab ($25; http://www.limit-point.com/), and Softchaos’s Webstractor ($80; http://www.softchaos.com/) are just a few. My current favorite is Bare Bones Software’s Yojimbo ($39; http://www.barebones.com/), an information-management application designed to store notes, serial numbers, passwords, Web archives, and more.

To save a page to Yojimbo as a Web archive, copy the page’s URL, press Yojimbo’s hot key (F8 by default) to display the Quick Input panel, press 3ВЈ-5, and then press return. Open Yojimbo to view your Web archives or search them by keyword.

5. Find Files Faster
If you’re anything like me, you probably hate constantly navigating through several levels of folders to locate the file or application you want to open. To save time, use a launcher.

LaunchBar This excellent $20 program from Objective Development (macworld.com/0954) lets you open applications and files without taking your fingers off the keyboard. To open iTunes, for example, press LaunchBar’s activation keys (#-spacebar by default); it will appear below the menu bar. Next, type a few letters from the name of the application you want to open — iTunes, in this case. LaunchBar reveals a list of programs, files, and folders that contain these letters. Use the arrow keys to select iTunes and press return to open it. The program learns your shortcuts, so after you use a certain letter combination a few times for an item, that item’s name jumps to the top of the list.

Butler Another cool utility is Peter Maurer’s free (donations accepted) Butler (macworld.com/0286). It performs many of the same tricks as LaunchBar, but it also has powerful bookmark-management features, multiple Clipboards, and the ability to assign keyboard shortcuts for many common actions.

6. Get a Smarter Rodent
Apple has long clung to the one-button mouse as a symbol of simplicity. But additional buttons can save you hundreds of clicks each day, especially if you program them for common actions, such as double-clicking or control-clicking, If you’re still using a one-button Apple mouse, consider upgrading. If you already own a multibutton mouse, make sure you’ve programmed the buttons to maximize productivity.

Your Apple Mouse Apple’s Mighty Mouse ($49; http://www.apple.com/) offers four buttons, though you need OS X 10.4 to customize it fully. In the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, go to the Mouse tab. Here you can program the extra buttons to launch Dashboard, ExposГ©, or any application you use frequently.

For more customization options, check out the $20 SteerMouse software (macworld.com/1196), which lets you program your Mighty Mouse’s buttons to perform double-clicks, keyboard shortcuts, scrolling, and more. The software even lets you program separate commands for different applications. Plus, it supports both Panther and Tiger.

Other Mice Don’t mind if your mouse and Mac aren’t a matched set? Consider an input device from a company such as Kensington or Logitech. Using the included software, you can program buttons to do such things as emulate a double-click, invoke keystrokes (say, #-S for Save), eject a CD, or launch a Web page.

By: McElhearn, Kirk, Macworld, Jun2006

* Do whatever helps you feel connected with your baby. Many parents talk, read and sing to their newborn.

* Try to get involved in as much of your baby’s daily care as possible. Let the staff know you would like to bathe and diaper your baby as soon as it’s safe.

* Breastfeed if you can; if your baby is only moderately preterm, you may be able to. If not, you can pump your breast milk. Most NICUs offer refrigerator or freezer milk storage and will use your milk to tube feed your baby.

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PRODUCTS FOR PREEMIES
Tiny clothing NICU-compatible clothing, ranging in size from Micro-Preemie (1-3lbs.), to Tiny (24 lbs.). Preemie (3-6lbs.) and Take-Me-Home (7-11lbs.). preemiesrus.com.

Car seat insert The Snuzzler offers total head and body support for tiny infants. $20. kiddopotamus.com.

Preemie-sized bottle The patented Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow baby bottle, designed to reduce spit-up and gas, now comes in a 2-ounce size. $5. handi-craft.com.

Baby book A preemie’s milestones are very different from those of a full-term infant. Record the details of your little one’s first months in this memory book. $30. prematurelyyours.com/products.html.

Hands off Once your baby comes home friends will want to visit. Signs asking people to wash their hands before touching baby are a friendly way to remind them not to spread germs to your preemie. $6. mytinyhands.com/products.html.

By: Pfaff, Kimberly, Fit Pregnancy, Jun/Jul2006

Size (and shape) matters! Forget about those golf ball-size glasses used in banquet halls; they’re just too small to concentrate the wine’s aromas, let alone to allow you to swirl the wine without sloshing it on your shirt. Good wineglasses are like loud-speakers – their shape, volume and rim diameter amplify a wine’s inherent qualities. The glass doesn’t change the wine itself, but rather the way we smell and taste it. Pinot noir, for example, benefits from a large bowl to capture its aromas, whereas champagne flutes are long and narrow to preserve the bubbles. The rim’s shape is important, too. Thick ones act like speed bumps in front of the mouth and don’t uniformly deliver the wine to the tongue. Thin rims spread the liquid evenly across a broad section of the palate.

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Simplify your choices Just as we’re bending traditional rules about matching food and wine nowadays, we’re also relaxing our approach to glassware-choosing what pleases us, and what’s practical. All you really need are two all-purpose styles: bordeaux glasses are the most versatile for reds, and sauvignon blanc glasses work for most whites. The bowls of each type are more narrow than a standard bar wineglass, and the rims are thin and tapered. Both types are made by leading glassware makers, including Baccarat, Schott Zwiesel, Waterford, Spiegelau and Riedel. Note: purists tend to prefer crystal because of its greater clarity, brilliance and thinness, but glass works just fine for wine and is considerably cheaper.

Wash and wear Most glass stemware can be cleaned in the dishwasher, but that kitchen companion is the worst enemy of crystal stemware: the soap will etch a fragile surface after repeated washings. Therefore, crystal glasses should always be washed by hand.

Most wine lovers prefer not to use any soap, because even the slightest residue can affect the wine. If you choose to try this method, rinse the glasses thoroughly under the hottest water possible. (The most finicky people use distilled water, as the chlorine sometimes present in tap water can also leave a taste on the glass.) Hold the bowl rather than the delicate stem or the base, because they may snap. For glasses with large bowls, use a long-stemmed brush to clean the bowl.

If you prefer to put your glass stemware in the dishwasher, look for a detergent that is gentle on glass, such as Cascade. Tip: use only half the usual amount.

In the end, most of us are more interested in the wine than the glassware. The answer to enjoying wine is crystal clear: a few good glasses and several close friends.

glass acts
• 2003 Sandhill Pinot Blanc Burrowing Owl Vineyard VQA, (British Columbia, $16) Medium-bodied with aromas of pear, melon, peach and subtle oak that pairs with white fish and chicken. Will drink beautifully from a sauvignon blanc glass.

• 2004 Caliterra Merlot (Chile, $10) Smooth, velvety texture with the aroma of plush plum. Drink it with roast pork and chicken from a bordeaux glass.

• 2002 Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Shiraz (Australia, from $16) Delicious, jammy red fruit with a coot mint aroma. Full-bodied and robust. Drink with hearty meat dishes from a bordeaux glass.

By: Maclean, Natalie, Chatelaine, Aug2006

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