With housing markets slowing to a crawl and mortgages harder to obtain, houses are staying on the market longer and longer across America. In such a complex market, both buyers and sellers need to educate themselves as much as possible. If you’re a prospective buyer trying to figure out how much you can afford, Mortgage-calc.com has a range of handy calculators and online worksheets. You can even figure out if it’s better to rent or buy and how much you could qualify for in a home loan. To find out the estimated value of your home, check out Zillow.com’s free Zestimate function or Eppraisal.com. Both sites can help you do a lot of research before calling a Realtor, and neither requires you to enter any personal information. At either site, you can enter ZIP Codes and neighborhoods and find home listings in those areas and their prices. In addition to online resources, many books can educate you on the most advantageous ways to buy or sell a home. Real estate columnist Ilyce R. Glink frequently appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show, giving real estate advice. Her books include 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask ($13.57), 50 Simple Steps You Can Take to Sell Your Home Faster and for More Money in Any Market ($4.24) and 10 Steps to Homeownership: A Workbook for First-Time Home Buyers ($10.20.) See a selection of her books on Amazon here. You can read Ilyce’s blog and learn many sound essentials of personal finance at ThinkGlink.com. A house is the biggest item most people will ever buy or sell, so it makes sense to know as much as possible before you start.

There’s nothing quite like a swimsuit preview to get you through the dregs of winter. Underneath all those clothes, you know you’re yearning for the sun’s warmth and a cool dip in the pool, lake or ocean. You might as well start dreaming (and preordering), because the season is just around the corner and some of the hottest new styles are already out of stock or available in limited sizes only. Metallic fabric is in for 2008, and Asha DeMarco’s got it going on with the Gold Luster Sublime Halter Bikini  ($250). This one features 14K gold rings and genuine pearl clusters. More modest in every way is her Gold Leaf Radiant Halter Maillot ($206), which features gold mesh straps and trim on a white suit with gentle leaf print. Are you ready for the Monokini? Also known as a Cut-Out One Piece, this sizzling innovation in swimwear got its inspiration from the worlds of lingerie and evening wear. Sauvage has adorned theirs with Swarovski crystals ($158) and Aqua di Lara’s Monokini Borelle ($325) features gold metal accents. For something a bit different, check out the Ratt Monokini ($154), part of TapWater’s Metal line. They feature a guitar pick on a chain hanging just below the bandeau top. Think the monokini looks more like a complicated bondage device than a swimsuit? You might prefer Vitamin A’s Black Metallic One Piece ($172). It has a halter top, deeply plunging neck and metal link detail beneath the bust. Very sexy but gives more coverage than a monokini. For even more coverage, consider a Tankini. Xhilaration’s Hibiscus Print model at Target ($17.99) says playful rather than playmate and Seafolly’s Goddess Maillot ($175) from Australia says it all, with classically beautiful lines, a high back and full seat coverage. But wait! What about the basic bikini? It’s still going strong, thanks to great new styles, like Brazilian maker, Salinas’s Arco Bandeau Top and Scoop Bottom (sold separately but made for each other: $130 for both), Aqua di Lara’s Bandeau Bikini Antonella ($350), and TapWater’s Ketama Bikini ($98), from its Flamenco line (pictured). Now that was fun, wasn’t it? OK, back to work — and to working out. There’s still plenty of time to whip your body into bathing-suit shape.

Movie lovers who’ve been itching to dive into high-def home video but didn’t want to do it until the format war was settled can now buy with confidence. While owners of HD-DVD players are scrambling to score bargain discs in their imminently defunct format (see, for example, Amazon’s half-off bonanza), the rest of us can settle in to the Blu-ray world. What are the best movies available already in Blu-ray? Families will be happy to know that Pixar’s Ratatouille and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy are already in stores, while grown-up comedy fans can look for Monty Python’s Life of Brian, the Eddie Murphy/Dan Ackroyd classic Trading Places and the goofy charm of Talladega Nights. Plenty of great dramas are out already, from recent hits like The Departed to classics like Unforgiven and Goodfellas. There’s a slew of Stanley Kubrick films on Blu-ray already, and even a handful of foreign gems — like Volver, The Lives of Others and Pan’s Labyrinth — have made it to the format. But everybody knows that, for high-tech home theater enthusiasts, action is the big seller, so it’s no surprise that trilogies like Mission: Impossible and Terminator are already out in Blu-ray high-def glory, alongside action titans The Fugitive, Speed and Bullitt.

Perhaps Lent isn’t the perfect time to tell you all about ordering sinfully delicious treats online. If you’re one of the faithful millions who have given up sweets or other delicious fare, file these suggestions in the “do not open until Easter” folder. That said, we may have found a spiritual loophole. Wouldn’t it be OK to treat yourself to delectables made by monks and nuns? Shopperati thinks ordering from these religious orders would be a good deed? Monasteries and nunneries around the world depend on mail-order business to keep afloat. The quality of monastic products is high, because monks and nuns strive for perfection in their labors. Start out with these giant truffles ($10.95) made by Brigittine Monks in Oregon (scroll down on the page). But hurry, as these delights are only available from Oct. 1 to March 31 each year. For cheesecake lovers, look no further than the nuns of New Skete, an Eastern Orthodox cloister. They offer all flavors, plus a beautiful cheesecake sampler featuring four of their most popular cakes: The Deluxe, Kahlua, Raspberry Ripple and Chocolate ($42.75). For simple and sweet fruit tarts and jams, check out Monkegifts.com. In addition to a variety of food products, they also offer bath and body care items and even organic free trade products from a variety of monasteries and nunneries. From the Sisters of Our Lady of the Redwoods Monastery in Whitethorn, Calif., try their versatile creamed honey ($9) which is perfect for scones. And what can you wash all this down with? The delicious coffee ($9.95, 12 oz.) from Mystic Monk Coffee, an operation run by Carmelite Monks. When you’re in the mood for a treat made with love and devotion, remember the brothers and sisters who create wonderful indulgences.

Women with unusually narrow or wide feet often have a hard time finding high-quality, attractive shoes and sandals, largely because most department stores and smaller retailers carry only medium-width shoes. Nordstrom is a famous exception. In both its brick-and-mortar stores and online, Nordstrom offers a wide range of shoe widths — from 4A Super Slim to 2A Narrow to W (Wide), XW (extra-wide) and XX-Wide — and sizes from 4 to 14. Not all styles are available in all sizes, of course, but most women will be able to find something that fits them. A new offering for the summer from Nordstrom is the Munro Jamie sandal (pictured), a chic criss-cross slide available in many sizes and widths in black or red ($119.95). The elegant Linea Paolo kitten-heel pump ($89.95) comes in black, cream, grey or pink and will flatter any width of foot. Marmi carries widths ranging from 4A Super Slim to Wide and sizes 4 to 13, depending on the shoe style. For spring, Marmi offers the stylish Pindar patent pump in red, black or graphite with floral cut-outs along the sides ($98). This breezy white and silver Italian espadrille is made of nappa leather and accented with metallic flecks ($140). For people with foot problems or those looking for more reasonably priced comfortable shoes in wide sizes, check out Footsmart.com, which carries women’s and men’s shoes, along with products for people with plantar fasciitis, diabetes and other foot health issues. Footsmart’s Clarks Privo Spangle slip-on has a cushiony-soft polyurethane foam footbed that’s specially textured to cushion and massage as you walk ($79.99). The Europedica indoor/outdoor slippers are comfy clogs with molded footbeds that follow the contour of your foot, along a built-in arch support ($59.99). Putting your best foot forward has never been so easy.

Shopperati has to share these fabulous finds for the kitchen. If you’ve ever not added garlic to a recipe because you were too lazy to chop it or didn’t want to get the sticky, pungent juice on your fingers, the Chef’n Garlic Zoom ($9.95) was invented for this very reason. Just put a clove or two in one chamber, roll the toylike device around on your counter, and carefully empty the “perfectly chopped” garlic from a second chamber. The blade is stainless steel, and the Zoom is dishwasher safe. Chef’n also makes a set of collapsible measuring cups  ($19.95), which store in your drawer like a set of spoons. Available in three fun colors, they’re made of heat- and stain-resistant silicone and nylon, and are dishwasher safe. They would be great for traveling. Our big-bird holidays may be over for now, but plenty of us roast turkeys and other fowl year round and might really appreciate the Cuisipro Dual Baster/Injector ($9.95). With this tool you can put the marinade and cooking juices under the skin or directly into the meat, then switch to the basting attachment for showering the outside of the bird. The next product is for your eyes, not your taste buds. Maybe you’ve admired those sleek stainless-steel appliances in design magazines and stores but have a perfectly good (if white) refrigerator. With Thomas’ Liquid Stainless Steel, you can brush on a silvery finish. It’s made with 100 percent stainless steel, no colorants and, yes, your refrigerator magnets will still stick. Order it for large, medium, small or craft projects; Thomas’ recommends the medium kit for the average fridge ($129). Are you partial to the brownies from the edges of the pan — you know, the ones with the chewiest, crustiest texture? Do you wish there were more of them in each batch? Well, Baker’s Edge understands and brings you the Edge Brownie Pan ($34.95; pictured), a nonstick “maze” for your batter that puts at least two delectable edges on every serving. Designed to fit box mixes and recipes for 9 x 9-inch or 9 x 13-inch pans, it promises even heating, has recessed handles, and comes with a custom spatula and recipe book. Happy homemaking.

Put down your guns — the war is over! The drawn-out “format war” between two competing standards for high-definition home video, Blu-ray and HD DVD, ended with a dramatic chain of events over the past two weeks. Blu-ray has been outselling HD DVD by two to one for some time, but retailers had been reluctant to take sides — until now. First, rent-by-mail chain Netflix announced that it would stop stocking HD DVD movies; later the same day, mega-retailer Best Buy said that it would stock both, but would instruct salespeople to recommend Blu-ray whenever asked. Toshiba, the company behind HD DVD, refused to accept these decisions as a death knell and rushed out a press release insisting that its technology was still the best choice for consumers. But even Toshiba had to recant after Wal-Mart, the make-or-break store for mainstream acceptance, decided that it would phase out its HD DVD stock. Toshiba officially threw in the towel, and within days Universal and Paramount, the two movie studios still backing the format, announced that they would soon start releasing films on Blu-ray. Everyone involved admitted that the ongoing confusion created by competing formats was keeping consumers from upgrading and that the only sensible thing (especially in the face of new movie-download technologies) was to establish a single option and promote it heavily. If only everyone had realized this a couple of years ago, before so many millions of dollars were thrown away by consumers, advertisers, and retailers. So, for those of you with regular old DVDs, they will work on either a Blu-ray or an HD DVD player. But if you’ve shelled out money for HD DVDs, they won’t work on a Blu-ray player, and Blu-ray discs will only play on Blu-ray players. 

A few years ago, laboratory-created gems were not something a woman would readily admit to wearing. Nowadays, however, man-made gems like Moissanite are becoming popular, because some consumers want to avoid problems associated with the diamond industry. Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie Blood Diamond, and books like Tom Zoellner’s The Heartless Stone have shed light on violence,  the industry’s exploitation of African diamond miners and diamonds’ popularity among smugglers and gun dealers. The diamond industry has taken steps, such as the Kimberley Process, which prevents the sale of diamonds from war areas, and a System of Warranties, which lets buyers know their diamonds are from a safe area. That hasn’t stopped the controversy, and besides, Moissanite, which looks just like diamonds, sparkling and brilliant, was discovered by French scientist Dr. Henri Moissan in 1893. He found this substance in a meteorite. However, man-made Moissanite was not manufactured until 1995. Moissanite-Collection.com has some fabulous designs as part of their Cassini Collection. The Casino Royale ring is a 3-carat ring in 14k white gold for $2,297. The Cara Bella ring a 3.3-carat Moissanite gem in a 14K gold ring, for $1,997. Home Shopping Network has a large selection of Moissanite, like a 2-carat, 14k gold eternity band ring for $1,199. Another pretty and popular item is the 1-carat Angelfire 14K pendant with 18’’ chain, for $699. More affordably, J. Mauer Jewelry carries half-carat Moissanite stud earrings for $158. Think of Moissanite jewelry like fake fur — all of the glamour with none of the guilt.