$prices_file = "/usr/home/user/public_html/site/prices.txt";
open (OUT_FILE, ">".$prices_file) || die "ERROR: *** Cannot open output file: $prices_file. ***\n";
print OUT_FILE qq~
<li>The price is \$$price</li>
~;
close (OUT_FILE);

my $htmlvar;
		open(my $fh, '<', $prices_file) or die "cannot open file $prices_file";
		{
			local $/;
			$htmlvar = <$fh>;
		}
		close($fh);

my $sth = $dbh->prepare(qq{UPDATE database SET htmlvar=? WHERE ID=?});
$sth->execute($htmlvar, $ID) or die $dbh->errstr;
$sth->finish;