Moms need time to escape. We all do it in different ways. With the new fall TV schedule alive and well there are a lot of great shows starting up again. Here’s a rundown of my favorites:

Mad Men. If you read my blog regularly, you’ll already know about this show. If you haven’t given it a shot, rent the DVD of the first season and start DVRing Season two now. It’s worth it.

Grey’s Anatomy. I’m not certain it will be as great this season, but I still love this show.

Dancing With The Stars. When I first heard of this show during Season one, I thought it was going to be hokey. It is anything but. It is an inspiring show worthy of family time (unless 82-year-old Chloris Leachman is being bleeped for cursing!) It makes you want to get up and dance.

How I Met Your Mother. I had to eat major crow during Season two of this show. I made a bet with friends that this show would never make it past a few episodes. That was before I watched. It’s the closest thing since Seinfeld to come along in ages.

Desperate Housewives. OK, this is on the bottom of my list, but it’s still intriguing. I don’t think this show has too many more seasons in it. It almost lost me the season before last.

Private Practice. The only reason I’ll try this show again is because it comes on a day when nothing else is on. And, I like the main character Addison. I think she’ll return to Grey’s after this show fails.

Pushing Daisies. Although I watched most episodes of this last year, I’m not sure I’ll find time for it this season. Beautifully executed, it’s the most creative show on television.

There are certainly more shows worthy of watching, but frankly, I have to limit how much I can actually watch. What’s your favorite fall TV show?

No.

No.

NO.

I’ll be honest here, I’m not looking to save a buck on diapers (although it would be nice if we could!) The other day, in a hurry as usual, I grabbed all of little boy’s laundy from the hamper in his room and shoved it into the washing machine. All of it. Without looking at what I was putting in there. I turned on the water, threw in some soap and turned the thing on.

An hour later I went to retrieve the newly cleaned clothes to put them in the dryer. As I started pulling the clothes out, I see tiny bits of white. They are all over his clothes. I shake a shirt to get the specs off, and it appears to be snowing in my laundry room. All from one toddler T-shirt. What is going on here?

As I take out more clothes and do the shake out I see more and more of these wet spect of white cotton. What is this?

Then I find it.  A wet, pull-up diaper, soaked with all the soapy water from the wash.

It’s takes me quite awhile to get all the pieces off of the clothes; then I have to rewash every last bit of clothes.

Lesson: make sure you know what’s going into your laundry machine, each and every time.

I get so frustrated sometimes when businesses screw up easy tasks. Today it is the bagel shop I decide to stop at for coffee and a sundried tomato bagel.

The store is not busy. I am the second person in line and noone is behind me. I get asked my order. I say I want the bagel with regular cream cheese. Not toasted. I stress the NOT toasted part.

“Is this for here or to go?” I get asked.

“To go,” I reply and move on down the line.

At the register I am asked what I ordered.

I explain, “bagel with cream cheese and a medium coffee.”

“For here or to go,” the cashier asks.

“To go,” I say, getting frustrated for the repeated question.

As I am paying, a third employee asks me what I ordered.

Are you kidding me? I think. “Sundried bagel, regular cream cheese, not toasted.”

I finish paying, get my receipt and am handed my bagel in a small brown bag. I inspect the bagel and realize it’s toasted.

Three employees asked me my order, three times I said exactly what I ordered.

I don’t get what I order.

One of the employees takes my bag back and quickly replaces it with the correct, non-toasted bagel without an “I’m sorry.” No words said at all.

I say, “thank you” and move on.

It’s simple things like these that can make or break a company. Customers end up leaving frustrated and may not return the next time. If this were the first time this had happened I probably wouldn’t be writing about it now, but it happens again and again. I’m going to have to look for a new bagel shop the next time I want my bagel, not toasted.

I’m looking for ways to share money-saving tips with readers (and for myself). I ran across an article on CBSnews.com about shopping in your own closet.

I’ve always heard that we wear only 20 percent of the clothes we own. The other 80 percent stay in the deep depths of the closet, in bins waiting for a particular season, stay on hangers waiting for us to loose that 10 pounds we’ve been trying to drop for 20 years. Only that favorite 20 percent gets worn regularly.

According to the CBS article:

Most of us already own 40 to 50 percent of the clothes we’ll need for the season so, “It’s just about going back into your closet and finding what you have, familiarizing yourself again with your closet and your wardrobe.”

… with the average person spending $300 to $1,000 a year on new clothes, shopping your closet can save you a bundle.”

How about going through your closet this season and getting rid of stuff you wouldn’t ever wear again. Be honest. Give the good things to charity. Other clothes, just throw away or make rags of. Make room so you can see all your clothes and get more use out of ALL of them.

Last night I watched The Oprah Winfrey Show, which featured financial guru Suze Orman. Wow, was it a scary and powerful show. All about finances and the current state of the economy, Suze laid down a firm hand for several families who appeared on the show.

One such family, a couple from Florida, who owes $90,000 in credit card debt, with no jobs. When asked if they can afford their home, they faltered with a yes and explained their rationale that it will cost us just as much to rent something as their mortgage costs (which they admit they can’t afford).They’ve been paying the minimum on more than 25 credit cards, then using the cards to pay their mortgage, food, etc. WOW!

Suze didn’t let them off easy. It was almost hard to watch. She explained that owning a home costs more than the mortgage (something she’s said before) — it’s the mortgage, insurance, lawn care, heating and cooling bills, etc. that adds up. By the end of the show, the couple realized they were going to have to sell their home and move their kids into something else.

Suze really hit home for all Americans that we spend more than we make. This is serious. It’s not a joke and people need to start living honestly, as she says. Buy only what you can afford.

Here’s a clip from the smack down:

Related:

• Recession Proof Your Life from Oprah.com
• Are You Protected Financially? Quiz from Oprah.com
• Talk about this episode