I became a vegetarian almost 20 years ago, and when I did Diet For a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé was one of those bibles you kept by your side. It wasn't just inspiring, but a practical guide to leading a healthy vegetarian lifestyle.

Decades later Moore's daughter, author and activist Anna Lappé, carries on this tradition of activism that is both inspiring and dedicated to helping people make a difference via personal action. I'm thrilled to be conducting an exclusive podcast interview with Anna next week as part of our ongoing Earth Day is Every Day coverage this month. Our interview with Anna will coincide with a launch of an entirely new project that I'm also going to ask her about, and I'm also going to ask Anna about these three main goals in her work:

Living on a fixed income can present challenges especially for elders. The opportunities to earn additional income can be limited or non-existent. Opportunities to increase nest eggs through investments diminish. And during times when inflation grows faster than cost-of-living increases, if any, the challenges can be even greater.

So may people treat retirement like it is some sort of nirvana. I know for so many years all I heard from the people around me (mainly in the corporate cube) was them yearning for and dreaming about retirement. And these weren't only people who were a few years away from it. No. People who were "only 10 years away" or "only 15 years away" and they would pine and weep and wish away the years so they could get to retirement. I never understood that. Not when I entered the full time workforce at the age of 21 and not now.

Can I just say I heart eBay? As someone who does not like traditional shopping --that would be shopping in malls, discount malls, department stores and boutiques, I am an enthusaistic eBay shopper and a very occasional eBay seller. I just checked my profile and I have been a member since February 9, 1999.

Recap: as part of the Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, Healthy Wallet series,  I'm talking about recycling and thrifty ways to feed our art/craft habits.  This weekend, let's examine Thrift Stores and Salvage Shops as our art/craft supply stores.

Thrift Stores:

Wool Sweaters:

What is credit and how does it work? We often forget the very basics behind credit as we go about our lives buying things (often on credit) and making payments on the monthly bills. Of course most recently the housing fallout and matters of subprime loans have only made the waters muddier but at least opened up the conversation around credit and how it really works.