What would you do if you could start all over with your cable, Internet, or phone company? That’s a question I’m asking myself as we prepare to move three states away.

Consumer Reports (CR) just published ratings on phone, Web, and TV services after surveying 70,000 people. Surprisingly, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers got the highest ratings. Skype and Vonage are some well-known VoIP companies, but newcomer Ooma scored the highest. While the equipment is expensive ($200), domestic calls are free, international are dirt-cheap, and Consumer Reports estimates the monthly cost to be about $6 per month over a three-year period.

Sounds great, but CR also tipped me to the fact that some home security alarm systems require a land line. ADT confirmed this: VoIP takes the alarm system offline when the Internet is down. A quick check at mylocalcrime.com tells me we might need the alarm system (and the more costly land line service). Luckily, CR says there are ways to keep the price tag in control.

1. Fiber packs a good bundle

Fiber-optic systems like Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse scored higher than cable bundlers on all three services.

2. Peer in every corner

When comparing deals, check activation and equipment fees. For some reason, rates can vary widely depending on where you find them: direct mail, Web site, over the phone. Ask neighbors what they are paying. Call companies, even several times, as rates can change depending on who you talk to.

3. Bargaining works

“One-third of bundlers said they negotiated for a better price or package before signing up,” says Consumer Reports. “Of those, more than 90 percent were successful. For more than 40 percent, the reward was a discount of up to $50 a month.”

Even if you are staying put, it pays to call, CR advises. Say you are a loyal customer, and you are happy with everything but the price. Or find a lower rate from a competitor and ask them to match it.

4. Look to the long haul

Remember that deals are designed to lure you in, but after a year or so, rates jump. Ask when and by how much prices will change, so you can compare overall costs. Even after prices go up, CR encourages people to haggle a better rate every time a promotional deal ends.

So there you have it. Now I’m off to do my homework.

Sadly, no fiber-optics in my new hood, but I’ve already sent out a missive to the neighborhood listserv to get some local feedback. Since we’re finally putting down roots, it would be nice to get good service at a fair price and stick with it.

No more Craigslist stalkers or African prince scams — here is one of my favorite ways to buy, sell, and share — see it at Parentables this week.

Before having children, I used to think joining groups was, well, kind-of embarrassing. Now I think it’s essential.

My sleep-deprived, drooled-upon sanity craves in-person gatherings like playgroups, co-operative preschools, or moms’ clubs. But my wallet craves the efficiency of online parent groups. More at Parentables…

Please head on over to Parentables to read the full text of this article I wrote about my funny, and not so funny, recent experiences with lodging.

When was the last time you stayed in a dive motel? For me, it was just three weeks ago, and I’m still grossed out.

I had gone down to Washington, D.C. on a solo house-hunting trip, and in order to avoid paying $250 a night for a city room, I found space in an Alexandria Days Inn for just $70.

Barefooted teenagers grasping Big Gulps stared at me as I walked past trashed rooms with my little rolling suitcase and mom sweater set. Inside the room, the carpet was gummy with grime, as was everything else, and the phone and bedside lamp were broken.

Read more at Parentables…

“Do I need flood insurance in a fourth-floor apartment?” my friend Jamie asked himself recently. But after being attacked with a 48-page document from his insurance company, he decided it was easier just to pay.

All the jargon, riders and provisions, and “enhanced” this and “personal property” that is enough to make you burrow under the covers. But since we are buying a house for the first time, I had to educate myself, and let me tell you, it was not pretty.

I won’t pretend I’m an expert and tell you what kind of insurance you need or don’t, but here is the tale of how I cut my rate by 63%. Read more at Parentables, where I blog twice a week. Thank you!

Not that I’ve been anywhere near a bed with this guy. In fact, we’ve never met in person. But after all my shopping around for lenders, I was surprised to find that fees and rates are just one part of the picture.

It’s not like I chose a car because of the color. This guy had a good rate and normal fees. But he also took the time to explain things to me in language I could understand. He wasn’t a wheeler-dealer or a fast-talking banker dismissive of my questions.

Peace of Mind is Worth a Lot

There was also something about him that I trusted. First of all, a very good friend of mine uses him and recommended him without reservations. When you are entrusting not only your family’s home but your life’s savings to someone, you need to trust the guy.

I also remember his being a conservative broker (from a conversation back in 2005) who was not into making money at all costs. We had just moved to the U.S. from Italy and were considering buying a house, even though we had one meager salary and very little savings. Other brokers wanted to give us a no-doc loan or an interest-only loan, but this guy came back saying he couldn’t do it. If we had gone with one of the other guys, who knows if we would have ended up being one of the casualties of the subprime mortgage disaster.

But Aren’t You Supposed to Shop Around?

Yes, that advice is widespread, but I found it extremely hard to do in real life. There is so much jargon, so many numbers, so many conflicting explanations of what it all means, that the process just about brought me to tears.

Because I felt I had to (being a frugal mama and all), I compared rates with:

• our own bank (who got mixed reviews on its own Web site about its mortgage service)
• a SunTrust broker who administers doctor loans (a special loan we originally thought was our only chance at buying a home)
• a broker I found on the Web because he had one of the lowest rates in our area (also with a major bank — I was too scared to call one of the places I’d never heard of)
• my good friend’s broker (with Wells Fargo)

The interest rates were all quite similar. The fees seemed to be comparable, but they were all presented in different ways with different names. Figuring them out was like untangling a bowl of dried spaghetti.

So when my friend’s broker quoted me a very similar rate, spoke to me in a calm manner, and always e-mailed or called me back in a matter in minutes, even seconds, I heaved a big sigh of relief and said, let’s do business.

How to Find a Mortgage Broker

There is a steep learning curve when it comes to mortgages, and I still don’t feel at the top of it. But here are some tips I have learned along the way. Hopefully they can help someone make a little more sense of the process, and prevent a few white hairs.

1. Ask your real estate agent.

Agents work with all kinds of brokers (good and bad), and they usually have one or two favorites that they know work well. I didn’t do this myself because we were between realtors at the time, and we initially thought we could only get a “doctor loan.” (If you are in medical training, you might want to check out this type of loan, which at the moment is only offered by SunTrust and Bank of America.)

2. Ask your friends and family.

This is what my parents suggested after I called with a frog in my throat, because I felt so lost and confused by the shopping-around process. Most people you know probably have a home loan, so ask around and ye shall receive. I found it surprisingly soothing to talk to a loan officer who I felt I would be in good hands with.

3. Search for low rates by using BankRate.com, as recommended by CNNMoney.

Clear out a morning and get quotes all in one day since interest rates change daily. Also rates will depend on your specific situation — if the bank thinks you are a risky bet or not — so make sure you talk to a real person about your particular financial details.

4. Use the APR (annual percentage rate) to compare loans.

Fees. One of my worst headaches. There are millions of fees connected with getting a loan and some of the terms are very confusing. For example, an origination fee (sometime expressed in “points”) is not the same as an origination charge (a one-time processing fee). The APR includes both the interest rate AND all the associated fees and the lender’s closing costs, so it’s a handy way of comparing loans. (However, this method doesn’t work for an adjustable rate mortgage. Ugh — see what I mean?)

5. Inquire about closing times.

Ask the lender how long it takes to close (usually 30 to 45 days). Some brokers are overwhelmed or understaffed. You don’t want to be unable to get into your house when you need to because of an administrative hold-up.

6. Peruse the unbiased information in Buying a Home by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Ironically, we got a HUD booklet, “Shopping for Your Home Loan,” in the mail from our bank after our offer to buy had been accepted. I would have loved to have had this information (together with Wells Fargo’s Guide to Understanding Your Home Financing) at the beginning of my home loan search.

Buying a house is extremely exciting, but it can also be bewildering. I hope these pointers will help make some sense of the confusing parts, so you can enjoy this happy time.

The photo at the top is the view from our attic, where my daughters hope to camp out, in our new house. We don’t close until the end of June, so I’ll save public celebrations until we have the keys. But … yay!

What is it about water that melts away stress? We just moved to a city just three hours away from Niagara Falls, and after seeing it for the first time in a quick day trip, I knew I had to come back. Yes, water is soothing, but there was something about the power of those falls that was magnetic.

So when my father-in-law from Italy came to visit this month, I found two rooms in a new hotel overlooking the falls for just $113 per night. The rooms had a Jacuzzi tub, two luxurious double beds, a flat-screen television and free Wi-Fi. Plus the hotel was within easy walking distance of tons of restaurants, cafés, attractions, and even casinos.

Head over to Parentables, where I blog twice a week, to see the rest. Thank you!

Are you a planner? If you are thinking of moving, renovating, or just rearranging furniture, then you will love Homestyler, a Web-based interior design program that anyone can use for free.

As I’ve mentioned here before, we have moved a lot. As our family grows, the need to plan ahead becomes greater. For example, when we moved from a townhouse in Arlington, Virginia to an apartment in Manhattan, we needed to know what furniture would fit and what furniture we needed to buy at IKEA before we sold both our cars.

When we moved to Syracuse, we no longer had space issues, but by drafting up a floor plan of the new house, we knew exactly where to tell the movers to reassemble the bunk bed and un-do the entertainment center.

I’ve always created floor plans with pen and paper, and have even cut out tiny scaled images of our furniture so we could move it around with our fingers, rather than our biceps. However, it can take quite a bit of crumpled paper to get it right.

Please click over to Parentables, where I blog twice a week, to read the rest. Thank you!

It’s an instant party when the house fills up with the sweet, tangy perfume of this handmade pizza.

I went 10 years married to an Italian before I even attempted to make pizza. Then our friend, Michelangelo, came to visit this winter and showed us how doable pizza really is. He was good at just eyeballing ingredients, but I needed more security, so I turned to my favorite food writer, Mark Bittman, for a no-nonsense recipe. He didn’t disappoint, and I’ve been making pizza almost every weekend since.

So here’s how to make best pan pizza you’ve ever tasted.

Basic Pizza Dough

adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

Even though a food processor makes the fastest dough, you can easily make this dough by hand or with a standing mixer. For a rich, nutty tasting-crust, substitute 1/3 of the flour with whole wheat flour.

Makes 1 large pizza

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
• 1 teaspoons instant or rapid rise yeast (usually 1/2 packet)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water

Mix the dry ingredients together in a food processor, then add the water and oil through the feeding tube. In about a minute, the dough should form a sticky ball. If not, add a tiny bit of water until it does.

Remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a ball on a floured surface. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap, and keep in a warm, draft-free place for 3-4 hours or until the dough doubles in size.

If you want to make it ahead of time, you can let it rise more slowly in the refrigerator (6-8 hours), or wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to a month. Thaw in a covered bowl.

To make by hand:
Combine half the flour with salt and yeast and stir to blend. Add the water (increase the quantity by 1/8 cup) and oil, and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add remaining flour a bit at a time. When mixture becomes too stiff to stir, begin kneading, adding as little flour as possible — just enough to keep the dough from becoming a sticky mess. Knead until smooth but still moist, about 10 minutes.

To make with a standing mixer:
The machine must be fairly powerful or it will stall. Combine half the flour with yeast, salt, water and oil. Blend with the machine’s paddle. Slowly add the rest of the flour until the mixture has become a sticky ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. (Switch to a dough hook if necessary.) Knead for a minute by hand.

No-Cook Tomato Sauce

Made with raw tomatoes, this saucepan-free sauce is both bright-tasting and extremely quick.

• 1 large (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

After draining the tomatoes in a strainer, crush them in a food processor or by hand. (If crushing by hand, try squeezing the tomatoes inside a plastic bag held closed by the other hand to avoid squirting.) Stir in the salt and sugar and set aside.

Toppings

We love to use the milky Italian mozzarella for this pizza (Belgioioso is a good brand), but Mark Bittman uses regular American mozzarella (shredded) so I’m sure that would taste great too. You can put any toppings you desire, but it really tastes fantastic plain. We’ve tried fresh basil, and for my husband, I sometimes put on anchovies. (The things you do for love.)

• 1 ball (8 oz.) fresh Italian mozzarella cheese, cubed
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano

Baked Pan Pizza with Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella

After the dough has risen, here’s how to put it all together.

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. The dough should have risen to about double its size.
2. With a rolling pin (or wine bottle), roll the dough into a flat rectangle about the size of your pan, lightly flouring the surface and dough as necessary.
3. Lift (or fold and then unfold) the dough onto an oiled baking sheet (mine is 11 x 17), and gently press out the dough to fill the entire sheet. If the dough is not stretching, let it rest a few minutes to relax it, then try again.
4. Drizzle with some olive oil, then spoon on the sauce. Sprinkle with oregano and top with cheese.
5. Bake until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melted, usually 20-30 minutes.

Here we are eating it last night. Luke, the baby, has figured out the smell by now and will screech until someone gives him a piece to gnaw on.

The main thing about homemade pizza is planning ahead so the dough has time to rise. But it’s a great kitchen activity for kids — kneading and rolling out the dough, spreading the sauce with the back of a spoon, sprinkling on the cheese — and a weekend treat everyone looks forward to.

I hope you try it and love it too!

Spring is the best time to go thrift store shopping because spring cleaning mania helps super-stock the stores. In fact, one of the advantages of buying used is that you can combine your trip with a charity drop-off and declutter while you get what you need.

I don’t get all my clothes at thrift stores (thank you, Marshall’s), but I do love to hunt for treasures a few times a year. My sister and I make an annual trip to the Salvation Army near my parent’s house. Much to my mother’s chagrin (who would like to see us a little fancier), we come home with heavy bags of jeans, sweaters, tops, and blouses — even greeting cards, magazines, bags and glassware — and we’re only about $40 poorer.

Here are my tips for making the most of this thrifty pursuit:

1. Scout around your town until you find a good thrift store. I personally like really big ones. You have to paw through tons of stuff, but there’s more of a chance of finding what you need, prices are usually low, and you can be kind of anonymous.

2. Wear tight-fitting clothes in case there is no dressing room (or a long line) so that you can try things on in the aisles.

3. If you are bringing your children, pack activities and snacks, and set ground rules beforehand about purchases. For example, “We’re not buying anything for you today (just Mom),” or “You can only buy one dress each. No toys or anything else.” And stick with it, unless you want to be badgered every time.

4. Once you find a store you like, ask when they have sales. My favorite one, for example, has half-price Wednesdays. The only downside to this is that the place is packed on sale days. Sometimes avoiding the lines and having a stress-free shopping experience is worth the few extra bucks.

5. Check out your closets before you go and take stock of what you need and what you don’t need. This is something I don’t always do, but I regret it when I don’t.

6. Don’t get carried away by the low prices. It’s easy to go nuts when pants cost $4, but overbuying just ignites a new cycle of weeding out and giving away.

7. Bring wipes or hand sanitizer. Thrift stores can be dusty, dirty places.

8. Check clothing for “dry clean only” tags, or your savings could be lost in dry cleaning bills. Many dry clean only items can be washed by hand, but if you don’t think you’ll go to the trouble, then it’s not worth investing in the piece.

9. If you go to Salvation Army, watch for signs near the cash register that announce which price tag color is 50% off that day. If you can’t decide between two items, a discount can help break the tie.

10. Use the TheThriftShopper.com to discover more stores in your area.

If you really like thrift shopping, make it your new normal. Not only will you take more seriously the $5 you pay for a sweater, but your clothing costs will plummet.

Can you add some more tips to this list?