Though it's true that life is uncertain, there's at least one thing of which I am very sure: I never will be held hostage for refusing to iron.

Unlike Mrs. Tyrrell — whose son held her at gunpoint, according to police, for six hours because she refused to iron his clothes (recently reported in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) — I love to iron. I'm not saying that I would be that thrilled to do it for a 29-year-old son who refused to leave home, but I have a feeling that probably I would do the chore.

I know that my love for ironing is a little odd. It's just that I find the process to be soul-soothing. It gives me instant gratification. I love the sound of a good surge of steam over an ample ironing board that is positioned in good, natural light. More than that, l love ironing for the fact that it helped me get out of debt. I'm not kidding.

Years ago, when I came to terms with the fact that I had a serious shopping problem, I sat down to analyze it. I figured out that I love the emotional sensation of buying stuff. Buying stuff on credit made me feel as if I had money, so using my credit cards gave me an emotional high that defied description. I loved the feeling, and I wanted to repeat it as often as possible.

Trust me; I'm no therapist. But I figured that if I could find something less damaging that would produce a feeling at least equal to my shopping rush, something that was easily accessible at a moment's notice, maybe I could use it to modify my behavior. That activity became ironing.

Giving myself permission to iron whenever I got a sudden urge to respond to an infomercial or head for the mall was like giving a kid a key to a candy store. You wonder why I didn't tell a soul about this for so many years? Because I feared people would think I'm nuts, the way you're thinking right now.

My secret worked better than I ever could have imagined. I didn't realize how quickly my urge to spend would vanish once I could distract myself successfully.

Over the years, my ironing habit has evolved. I have possibly the world's finest home ironing system, for which I make no apologies. It was pricey. But compared with multiple sessions with a therapist, untold thousands in credit card debt or the heartbreak of divorce, my IronMaven has turned out to be quite a bargain.

There are some who might believe I've just traded one obsession for another. It could be. But I'm happy with the results.

And I never fear being held hostage for refusing to do the ironing.

Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her best-selling classic "Debt-Proof Living." You can e-mail her at [email protected], or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.