NAPA, Calif. — Love the lush and lovely Napa Valley but hate how expensive it can be? You're not the first. In the late 19th century, writer Robert Louis Stevenson moved his honeymoon to the rustic but free setting of an abandoned mining camp when the $10-a-week going rate for Calistoga hotels proved too much for his slender purse.

The prom is making a big comeback.

Hey kids: get “caught” wearing a helmet by Queen Creek firefighters and you just might get some free Cold Stone Creamery ice cream.

Celebrate Mother’s Day a little early this year with a free visit to the Desert Botanical Garden. On Friday, May 10, communities around the nation honor the beauty and diversity of our environment with National Public Gardens Day. The Desert Botanical Garden offers free admission from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. that day, as well as free admission to the Spring Butterfly Exhibit from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Arizona shoppers are getting a bit of a financial reprieve as prices for meat took an unexpected -- and potentially unexplained -- drop during the first quarter of the year.

If you’ve been putting off pampering to pinch pennies, it’s time to gleefully smash that piggy bank to smithereens.

The new Phoenix Premium Outlets, located in Chandler adjacent to the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino, opened its doors Thursday with 90 stores ready to offer discounts of 25 to 65 percent off retail prices.

Hardboiled and dyed, plastic and filled with coins, or chocolate and oozing white and yellow fondant, eggs are a hot commodity this time of year.

We’d never get off this easy with our significant other, but when it comes to making kids feel extra special on Valentine’s Day, we like how Culver’s and Phoenix Flower Shops think.

Phoenix has Stand Up Live Comedy Theater. Jester’Z is in Scottsdale. And Mesa’s home to the National Comedy Theater. Soon, there will be a live comedy option in Gilbert.

Trying to save money on food?

Ask Santa for new tech stuff and, most importantly, ask for a techno-wizard elf to keep your stuff running.

Ours is a diverse nation whose people have countless choices to make.

Bargain hunters alert! Santa, wearing a red-and-green sombrero, is flying in early this year riding on an Indian thunderbird. Sitting behind Santa, Kokopelli is holding on with his knees while he plays “Jungle Bells” on his flute.

This holiday season, the hottest trend among retailers isn't found on a store shelf. It's taking place at the cash register.

Here are 10 tips to keep your holiday shopping season a little more jolly and a lot less jarring on the wallet.

If you think you’re intense about holiday decorating, wait until you see this year’s Christmas Idea House. It’s like elves on steroids attacked the place — a 7,100-square-foot Italian-inspired home in Mesa’s Las Sendas that’s been decked out with thousands of decorations, gifts and gourmet treats.

The holiday season is here, the question of what gifts would be most meaningful looms large. We usually think in terms of “things” when focusing on the perfect present. Yet more “things,” added to the other things that overflow from drawers and shelves, may not always be the best choices.

Black Friday often means incredible deals, right? It’s the truth we’ve all been led to believe, but it’s only the case in some of the circumstances.

Arizona consumers can give thanks for the fact that the grocery market in the state is so competitive.

Arizona consumers can give thanks for the fact that the grocery market in the state is so competitive.

Dear Professor Bruce: I’ve been told by colleagues that a company’s Facebook page is a must have for business growth. I only have a web site, and am still pondering whether I need a Facebook page for my company. Can you please advise me on this Facebook opportunity?

While Cheryl Standage, of Mesa, was building her career as a successful vice-president with World Savings and Wachovia, her passion for baking delectable desserts was being pushed to the back burner.

Got a freezer?