Consumer Reports has created a guide called Smart Moves for Tight Times which walks you through how to approach your finances, your home, energy, health, and automobiles. You can also watch videos on how to save money on a variety of items like car rentals and home insurance.

Spring is (almost) here after a very long winter!  For those of you eager to get outside as soon as it warms up, here are some of my favorite online resources for trail information in the Fox Cities and elsewhere in Wisconsin:

-Wisconsin DOT Bike Maps: This is a terrific site for finding both on and offroad bike routes.

Stateline.org is a site from The Pew Charitable Trusts that started as a resource for journalists covering state government. However, it has grown far beyond that, and is a great resource for citizens looking to keep up with what is happening at a state and federal level. The site offers daily state news, federal news that impacts state government and policy, and in-depth Backgrounders that offer background information on complex current issues. One of the best features of the site is the RSS feed section. You can subscribe to general news feeds, news on specific issues, or to feeds that address only a specific state. This is really a great resource for anyone to keep up to date on issues that impact their lives.

Keep on learning by using the free university lectures at LectureFox. You will find lectures on physics, computer science, mathematics and other subjects from universities such as MIT, Vanderbilt and UC San Diego. The lectures come in several formats. Some are notes, others are audio and still more are video.

Cookthink is one of the more delectable-looking food sites online.  Their images are consistently clear, clean and mouthwatering.  The site appeals to many different types of cooks.  If you are looking strictly for recipes, you can. Looking for advice, tips and beginner information, click on reference. Or you can read their blog which combines all of it in concise articles filled with images.