Dollars and Sense: The best way to beat the recession

I can sniff out a sweet-smelling bargain the same way that Australian Aborigines can smell rain on the far side of the horizon. I was going to depend on this talent sooner than I thought. In the past few years, someone in my immediate family of 19 (we all live in Gilbert) has experienced the following: unemployment, loan modification, foreclosure of cars and real estate, and a business loss. Guess who was the biggest loser? It was I. I felt sorry for myself for a long time. I didn’t feel like I could handle things anymore. I crawled into my bed like it was a coffin. Slowly, slowly I began to recover. When I could think clearly, I told myself several things: “You have been both rich and poor,...