A House Divided By Divorcing Couple

It's the "War of the Roses," New York-style. In Brooklyn, a husband and wife have decided to divorce. But in this case, no one is giving up the family home.

Instead, and this may be a first outside of Hollywood, the couple has built a wall to divide the house into two pieces.

The story, which was reported by the Associated Press, included a photo of the husband, Simon Taub, standing next to his lavishly-appointed dining room table with a white plasterboard wall built into the dining room doorway.

She gets the top floor, where the bedrooms are situated, along with the kitchen on the second floor. He gets the living room on the first floor and the dining room on the second floor. One kid is staying with Dad and the other three are living with Mom. The house is worth a million bucks.

They're fighting tooth and nail to keep the house. But really, only the divorce lawyers are winning.

Identity Theft Strikes TJ Maxx and other stores

Just as I was celebrating my great $10 polar-tech 2-piece outfit I bought at TJ Maxx last month, I saw that TJX Companies, which owns TJ Maxx and Marshall's plus a bunch of other discount stores suffered a security breach of epic proportions.

News reports say as many as 40 million credit cards were made vulnerable to fraud nearly two years ago.

TJX said the information was stolen from a computer network that handles a wide variety of financial information, including some drivers' license numbers.

If you've shopped at a TJ Maxx, Marshalls or other TJX stores in the past couple of years, here's what to do: go back and make sure there's nothing funny on your credit card statements or your credit history.

The company has set up a new customer service line at 866-484-6978 to answer questions about the breach. You can also go to their website, www.tjx.com for more information.

Want to save 50 percent on your next flight? Shop around

It's been a long, cold winter – well, maybe not that cold and we're only in the middle of it. But my husband, Sam, and I decided we needed a little getaway.

Cancun sounded warm, and it's a place we both love.

Yes, I know we could go to the south of Spain this time of year for less, but we only have 3 days and we got a great hotel deal in Cancun. All we needed was a flight.

Of course, trying to book a last-minute flight to Cancun just as Spring Break is starting isn't cheap. The non-stop flights were all more than $1,100 each.

That was a little pricy for us, so we started shopping around online. At Expedia.com, we were able to find a flight that worked for less than half the price.

We saved 50 percent with two minutes of online shopping. But here's the kicker: It's actually a codeshare arrangement and the flight is the same one that would have cost us $1100 bucks.

Lease With an Option Doesn't Permit Getting Option Fee Back

I got a letter from a listener this week that makes me think some folks don't really understand how lease-options work. A lease option means that you rent a property, but purchase a non-refundable option to buy the property at some later date for a price that has been negotiated and is stated in the contract.

Typically, a portion of the monthly rent is credited toward a down payment.

First-time buyers like lease/options because it helps them build up a down payment that they wouldn't otherwise have. Sellers like to keep a property rented, and know that down the line they'll be able to sell.

In buyer's markets, like the one we're in now, lease/options can be a good solution for cash-poor buyers and nervous sellers.

To make lease/options work for everyone, be sure to have a real estate attorney draw up the paperwork. You don't need an agent, but you want to make sure you're completely protected.

Airline Frequent Flyer Mileage Programs Changing with the Times

Frequent fliers beware: Airlines have begun to realize that mileage programs don't hold the same cachet as they used to and they're tightening up the rules and restrictions for accumulating, holding and using your miles.

According to Inside Flyer magazine, about 180 million people belong to frequent flyer programs, and they have earned about 10 trillion miles. But only a third of the accounts are active.

As a million miler on American, I've loved flying for free around the world. But as more people accumulate miles, it's tougher to use them – even if you plan months in advance.

United announced this week that flyers had accumulated nearly 500 billion free miles. Now, if you haven't flown United, used a United-branded credit card or redeemed miles within the past 18 months, your account will be closed.

This looks to be the new standard for frequent flyer programs. Use 'em or lose 'em.