Anyone living north of the 36th latitude (Virginia) is going to have to deal with cold nights and big heating bills. I have to heat my house in the winter even in Miami, and folks in the desert Southwest have to pour on the heat for those nippy nights.

It would be handy to have a guy around to do all those handyman things, but if you’re going through divorce, and still living in the drafty family home, you’re going to have to do them yourself. And you can really save money this way.

An average American spends $1,300 on heating and cooling bills in a year. Those can be cut by 10 percent, 30 percent, 50 percent by tackling a few basics, like these recommended by the Department of Environmental Protection/Montgomery County, Maryland. Let’s start with drafts.

• We like this part: light some incense. Now walk around your house (ideally on a windy day), and see where the smoke blows away from the windows and doors. Don’t forget to check light switch plates, around the sink, and around light fixtures. Each of those places can have an air leak as well. And fixing these drafts is pretty easy. Grab a caulking gun from Home Depot, and go around the house, inside and out. Fill in all those loose places around windows and doors. And don’t forget to cut off drafts under doors, either with a rubber sweeper along the bottom or with a snakelike draft dodgers.

• Turn down the temperature on your hot water heater to 115 degrees. That should be hot enough for everything, and will be safer for your children. Anything hotter might scald them.

• Wear a sweater indoors, and buy the kids cool nice hoodies. Don’t forget to put on a pair of socks too, or slippers. Now, turn the thermostat down to 68 degrees. Get a programmable thermostat that will drop the temperature to 65 at night. And when you’re away from the house, 55 degrees is fine.

In my last article, I discussed legal separation and the benefits to a couple that feel they need time away from a marriage. I strongly suggest anyone making the decision to live separately protect herself legally.

If it all seems overwhelming and that word “legal” is too much to handle, you do have the option of trying a simple, trial separation. A trial separation allows you to experience time away from the marriage without making any final decisions or legal steps toward divorce. That, of course, makes it easier to reverse than a legal separation.

A trial separation is an informal arrangement that you come to with your husband. You work out the guidelines and come to an agreement that you both can live with. There need to be ground rules and you need to understand that if those rules aren’t followed, you have no legal recourse against your husband. Below is a list of issues you will want to think about as part of an informal trial separation agreement:

1. Who will move out? Not only will you need to decide who will move out but, where they will move to and when. There should also be a time limit set. A trial separation should not be an open-ended way of life. Set a time limit and after that period passes either file for divorce or move back home.

2. With whom will the children live? Not only do you have to decide which parent the child will live with, you have to decide what role each parent will play in raising the children and responsibilities that come along with raising the children.

When I was in my early thirties, newly divorced and dating, well-intentioned friends insisted on scheduling our girly get-togethers near Bloomingdales for a “bite of shopping.” When I was newly divorced (again!) in my mid-forties we’d meet for lunch in Barneys.

The obvious plan in both decades was to get me out of my beloved basic black, and into “something with a little more sex appeal — maybe red or pink, maybe a neckline lower than your collarbone” as my friend Julie put it.

Truth is, I loved the sophistication and attitude of wearing black — it has that whole French fashion thing going for it. Black turtlenecks, slim black trousers, and nearly black nail polish made me feel sophisticated and cool… the way colors never did.

Well here’s a news flash: Somewhere around 50 — right before I met my husband Robert — I began to prefer beige. Beige everything, from pencil skirts to tailored coats to shimmery beige pedicures. My girlfriends worried I was going through a peri-menopause stage of “the blahs.” After all, Lauren Hutton herself once told me in an interview that “wearing beige after 50 makes you invisible.”

I see it differently now and so do designers like Versace, Michael Kors, Valentino, Calvin Klein and Armani, who understand “nude” is the sexiest color alive. Beige, in all its variations from champagne to camel, is glamorous and classy, no matter what color your skintone. Worn head to toe, monochromatic, tone-on-tone, it says luxurious.

So if you’re bored with black, out there looking, or just want to stand out in the crowd — head straight for these beige-y beauties:

When 22-year-old Vanessa Van Petten saw a hole in the digital market, she decided to fill it. Where was the teen's voice? The teen's opinion? "I was reading lots of mommy and daddy blogs all over the Web; some had great advice and others were really missing some major points," says Van Petten, founder of OnTeensToday.com. A child of divorce herself, Van Petten (right) credits her nontraditional upbringing for the determination and versatility she possesses today.

"I grew up with two religions, four VERY different types of parents, as an only child, as one of four, in a big house, in a small house, in a liberal house and in a strict house," she explains. "I really got to live in the range and can relate to many different kinds of readers."

That determination and versatility are exactly the qualities to which her readers respond. Her web site, which is dedicated to offering a forum for teens to express themselves, reach out to other parental figures, and provide perspective on the elusive teenager, has become a smash hit with young and old alike since its launch in September 2007.

And when we say "smash hit," we mean it. OnTeensToday.com receives thousands of emails a day. "Parents mostly read my web site, but I work privately with teens and run a private social network for them as a forum and I hear from them a lot in those areas," says the Los Angeles resident.

How can Van Petten help you decode your kid? Here, four tried-and-true tips to smooth the familial transitions, from separation to divorce to second marriages:

You Can Never Say I Love You Too Much. We might roll our eyes or pretend not to hear, but in this time, we cannot hear it enough.

Here is something frightfully wonderful, places where doom and gloom can be fun. No, we’re not talking about the anxiety-provoking, fear-mongering financial news dominating the airwaves these days. But instead of worrying about Credit Default Swaps, you can enjoy fright at the hands of Casper, the Friendly Ghost. Throughout America, there are loving souls who take devilish delight in turning warehouses, storefronts and homes into true Haunted Houses.

Some of these places have become so elaborate that special effects technicians, makeup artists, set designers and professional actors are employed to guarantee a ghoulishly good time. Needless to say, these houses are not open just Halloween night. Most of them are welcoming scaredy cats (and their kids) right now. Be prepared. These places are booby-trapped so mad butchers, headless ghouls with rattling chains, and stalking stranglers appear out of nowhere. Fortunately they also disappear, just like we hope your economic challenges will.

Your FWW friends have assembled the best haunted houses in the country, where you can park your worries at the door and leave with a smile on your face.

These places offer a good time at a good price. Warning: if you are at the office, please turn off your speakers, or your workmates will hear blood curdling screams, moans, thunder, wolves howling, etc.

In all the kerfuffle over the big $700 billion bail out, you may not have noticed that the House of Representatives passed a bill that may be more important to you and your pocket book. We’re talking about HR 5244, a bill of rights for people who use credit cards.

The bill, which now moves to the Senate, would block a lot of those pesky, sneaky things that credit card companies do to jack up your interest rate, or charge you late fees, or slip credit cards into the hands of your college-age children.

And to prove there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, the Federal Reserve has also introduced a reform bill to deal with consumer rights. It may take a federal scholar to winkle out the differences between these bills, but it is reassuring that the banking industry is against the Federal Reserve bill, calling it, “an unprecedented regulatory intrusion into marketplace pricing and product offerings.” And the credit card industry is against the House and Senate bills.

Basically, if banks and credit card companies are against such moves, regular people should assume they are for them.

Meanwhile, you should protect yourself. As you read your credit card bills, beware of the following terms, listed by Credit Card Reform:

• Universal default The term means is that a credit card company may monitor your credit report and increase your interest rate if they think your credit score is declining, or you are making a big ticket purchase, like a car. This can happen even if you pay their credit card on time.

A legal separation and divorce are more similar than different. In fact, except for a few key points they are almost the same. The difference is in the legal standard one must meet to obtain a legal separation or divorce and the relief you get from either. Even then, the difference only has to do with whether or not the marriage continues.

All states have legal standards a couple has to meet in order to divorce. You have your no-fault states in which anyone can divorce, reason or no reason. Then you have New York State, which still requires grounds for divorce.

In the end, a divorce simply means that the state you live in recognizes that your marriage is broken and can’t be fixed.

A court can grant a legal separation if “irreconcilable differences between the parties have caused a temporary or unlimited breakdown of the marriage.” A legal separation suspends the marriage whereas a divorce ends the marriage.

The relief offered by a legal separation or a divorce is, again, quite similar and in some situations exactly the same. In cases of legal separation and divorce, most state courts can make provisions for:

1. Child Support

2. Child Custody

3. Visitation

4. Division of Marital Property

5. Spousal Support

6. The Marital Home

7. Health Insurance Benefits

Potato peels that look like Miley Cyrus, the world’s largest ball of twine, butter sculptures, or historic advertisements for Spam may not rate a room at the Louvre, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth seeing. Or laughing at.

For our weekly pursuit of fun, we asked Sandra Gurvis, author of "America’s Strangest Museums: A Traveler’s Guide to the Most Unusual and Eccentric Collections," to cite a few of her favorites for our FWW ladies.

Not only will these exhibits bring out the kid in you – you can take the kids too. Who knows? Your pint-sized Picasso may be inspired — and so will you.

The Museum of Bad Art , Massachusetts

“My kid could do that!” In this museum, it is true. The Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA) in Dedham, Massachusetts, south of Boston, boasts a collection of works by artists who go beyond the merely incompetent and soar into heights of banality, sloppiness, sentimentality, and pretentiousness.

MOBA presented its first show in March 1994, in someone’s basement. Since then, MOBA's collection and ambitions have grown exponentially. The collection is now housed in the basement of the Dedham Community Theater, next to the men’s room. Admission is free, and the art can be seen any time the movie theater is open. (Right now, “The Women” and “Nights in Rodanthe” are playing). Bonus: wine is sold at the refreshment stand. Best to consult the movie theater’s schedule for hours. The theater (and art museum) are at 580 High Street, Dedham, Massachusetts. New acquisitions can be seen at www.museumofbadart.org (or check out a charming example, right).

The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, Minnesota

Last week, I had my makeup done for the Skin Cancer Foundation Gala where I was a guest of honor and speaker.

Sitting robed and restless in a N.Y.C. salon two hours before the event, I worked on putting the final touches on my speech and my face in the hands of a staff makeup artist (difficult for a control freak like me but I needed rehearsal time ). She asked what look I wanted. “Bigger more dramatic eyes that would connect with the audience from the stage but not smudge if I got a little teary.”

When I finally looked up and into the mirror, my eyes were smoky and huge, highlighted with gold and fringed with individual fake lashes -- perfect for the over-the-top mood of a black tie party, but just not me. I did a quick fix in the ladies’ room, taking it down a notch with Q-tips and powder, pulled off the falsies, and had a great time.

Most women know that a well-done, clean eye makeup enhances their looks and their communication skills. Check out the current makeup of news anchors and women in the political arena -- eye makeup, not lips, are the focal point of the face.

Neutral shades work for everyone, are hard to overdo, and convey confidence whether you’re wrangling a settlement in divorce court, nailing that final bid for a new condo, or attending your college reunion. Experimenting beyond your comfort zone keeps you looking modern and contemporary but it does not have to be complicated.

Rethink and refresh your basics with one or all of these eye makeup changes. They’re easy and get the balance of news and flattery just right.

1. Get a Neutral Shimmer Eyeshadow