DadTalk

Saving Money If the New Shoes Fit, Why Pay Full Price?

I’ve always been good at saving money on shoes. While we’ve all shopped at outlet stores, there really are two kinds: the big malls where prices don’t seem any cheaper, and then there are places like the Sports Chalet Outlet.

The Sports Chalet Outlet, tucked away in a remote building near Montclair Plaza in Southern California, is not easy to find. I suppose that’s because the high-end sporting good retailer doesn’t want to advertise the fact they sometimes sell discontinued running shoes for as little as $4. Or $150 hiking boots for $15.

A lot of the merchandise is topnotch if you look past some of the weird styles. I’ve outfitted my entire family – me, wife and kids – with a season’s worth of clothes and shoes for under $100. The same items bought at regular retail prices would probably have cost several hundred dollars.

I suspect there are other “secret” outlet stores – I’m still looking for them in Chicago – hiding in your neighborhood. The key is finding them.

Saving Money We All Know Prices Are High; But What Can We Do About Them?

I'm sure this won’t come as a surprise, but gas and food prices are soaring. By spring it may cost $4 a gallon to fill your car, reports The New York Times.

Wholesale prices are increasing at 12 percent annually, a recent report found, and those costs will most likely be passed on to you and me. With the Federal Reserve Board hinting it will continue cutting interest rates – which could further accelerate inflation – don’t expect the situation to get better anytime soon.

Since salaries aren't keeping up with increased costs, it’s time to consider ways to save money. For the next couple weeks, I'll be offering some of my favorites.

With fuel prices crimping our household budget, let's start there. As many parents know, one of the biggest time and gas wasters is shopping. Forget one thing, and you’re driving back to the store two or three times a week.

Make lists, whether it’s for the grocery store or Target. Our list for Trader Joe’s might read:

• Chicken Nuggets
• Fish Sticks
• Bean and cheese taquitos
• Bagels
• Vanilla frosted shredded wheats
• (Cheap) wine
• Peanut butter
• Something for dinner

If we need something in a pinch, especially from Target, I run to the pharmacy across the street from my office instead. Limiting return trips to the store saves on gas.

To further reduced those return trips, we try to buy in bulk. Our pint-sized apartment still fits several weeks worth of tissues, paper towels and toilet paper from Target – we're too far from Costco.  The better we supply ourselves, the more we save in gas. Bonus: Buying in quantity means lower cost per item.

EcoMoms Is a Small, Positive Step Toward Saving Earth

February in Chicago is all about blah. Extreme cold, the flu, rain and snow, and cabin fever all conspire to banish happy feelings. Even the news media tends to be more surly.

So it’s nice to see a positive story for a change. This one brings to light ‘EcoMoms,’ parents who get together to discuss living in environmentally-friendly ways. Writes The New YorkTimes:

The women gathered in the airy living room, wine poured and pleasantries exchanged. In no time, the conversation turned lively – not about the literary merits of Geraldine Brooks or Cormac McCarthy but the pitfalls of antibacterial hand sanitizers and how to retool the laundry using only cold water and biodegradable detergent during non-prime-time energy hours (after 7 p.m.).

Move over, Tupperware. The EcoMom party has arrived, with its ever-expanding “to do” list that includes preparing waste-free school lunches; lobbying for green building codes; transforming oneself into a “locovore,” eating locally grown food; and remembering not to idle the car when picking up children from school (if one must drive). Here, the small talk is about the volatile compounds emitted by dry-erase markers at school.

Yeah, I realize a lot of folk will make fun of these wealthy moms – I can hear the Left Coast jokes already – but I for one find hope in the idea that there are other people out there who worry about toxic gases coming from Calico Rose (red)-painted walls.

The EcoMom Alliance already has 9,000 members nationwide and is creating its own niche in the blogosphere. Here are some key sites:

• EcoMom
• A Shade of Green
• Eco-Chick

If you expect gruff men will make fun of these woman, who apparently suffer from what has been coined “ecoanxiety,” you probably would be correct. That’s because women generally express higher levels of environmental concern than men, according to Riley Dunlap, a professor of sociology at Oklahoma State University.

But I’m with the women on this on. Maybe I can persuade them to rename their group the EcoParents Alliance?

Recalls Southern California Firm Finds Lead in Suitcase Similar to One We Have

As you may have noticed, I’ve stopped reporting on recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It’s not that I think it’s any less important than before, but I wanted to redirect some of my energy to other topics, such as the economic downturn facing Americans.

I still read through alerts that arrive almost weekly. Even after the holiday season, many products have been found dangerous.

At home, we’ve been ever more concerned about product safety because Lael, our 2-year-old, has taken to eating nonfood items such as dinosaurs and foam rockets. I don’t know what the appeal is, but she is getting more adventurous every day. Seth still has the habit of sucking on shirt sleeves and zipper pulls, the latter a common source of lead.

Recently, I was contacted by a California entrepreneur who will test products in the home with a handheld scanner. The service, called Inspect A Toy, is not cheap, but then those scanners cost a fortune and require special training to use. The company charges $149 for the first hour and $50 for each additional hour.

McDonald’s to Stop Offering Food-for-Grades Programs

“One parent can make a difference” – a cliché, yes, but in this case a Florida woman’s complaint that her school district was offering McDonald’s Happy Meals for good grades convinced the giant food chain to pull out of similar programs nationwide. I first wrote about the story here.

The quote above came from Susan Linn, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

The only problem? While McDonald’s has seen the light on this issue,  the Seminole County School Board may just find another advertiser to take over the food-for-grades spot.

“We feel there is value in incentives for good grades and good attendance,” says Superintendent Bill Vogel. Which just goes to show us: cultural attitudes can be tougher to change than corporate ones.

How I View Food

I’ve never read Michael Pollan’s books – he’s the guy who wrote “Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food” – and yet I already know we view food the same way.

I’ve read many of his New York Times articles, but the real clue is this line: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants,” posted on his most recent book.

It’s kind of stunning to see my eating lifestyle summed up in seven words. To get an idea of what Pollan is talking about, read this short Q&A with him in The New York Times.

Here he explains how those seven words are more complex than they sound and yet how powerful they are. “It’s simple advice as long as you know what food is, but I spend 14 pages trying to define what food is,” Pollan says. “It’s gotten complicated because of food science and the kind of engineering that’s gone into processing food.”

Even better:

“I think health should be a byproduct of eating well, for reasons that have nothing to do with health, such as cooking meals, eating together and eating real food. You’re going to be healthy, but that’s not the goal. The goal should just be eating well for pleasure, for community, and all the other reasons people eat.”

Yes, yes and yes.

Should Money-Troubled Americans Just Walk Away From Their Homes?

It’s a radical suggestion that financially troubled American’s should just walk away from their homes. But what if that very suggestion might resolve the housing crisis faster than suggested interventions? Would it be worth it?

Financial institutions and politicians want you to believe that the housing market is solvable. Why would they do that? Well, financial firms really have little choice: the more homes that are foreclosed or deserted, the more billions they have to write-down.

This is causing serious upheaval in the financial industry. Countrywide has been bought by Bank of America and Washington Mutual may soon be bought by JPMorgan.

Other firms are selling themselves piecemeal to foreign investors and countries. Merrill Lynch, which is hinting at another $15-billion write-down, is trying to raise $4 billion from Asia, the Middle East or American firms. Citigroup has already sold $7.5 billion of itself to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

It’s easy to understand why politicians want you to believe they can fix the problem: they’re trying to get elected or cover their collective asses. Solutions range from cutting the Federal Reserve Board’s borrowing rate to federal government bailouts that would cost taxpayers more than $100 billion.

Both ideas are kind of dumb: Cutting the borrowing rate just throws fuel into the fire. Making credit cheaper will just prolong the entire fiasco by encouraging lenders to repeat their mistakes. Worse, subsequent rising inflation will push the U.S. dollar ever lower, eventually making it a junk currency.

Government bailouts are even more ridiculous because we, the taxpayer, will someday pay. Consider what happens in a bailout: the federal government takes money out of its already overextended budget to help a homeowner keep his home. Because the government has to borrow money for this bailout, the U.S. immediately starts racking up interest charges. Someday, taxpayers MUST foot this bill.

Recalls Illinois Offers Brochure of 800 Dangerous Toys

Shopping for toys nowadays is sort of like playing Russian Roulette: you never know which items might be dangerous. So the State of Illinois has published a full-color guide of nearly 800 toys and kids products recalled in 2007, reports the Chicago Tribune.

I suppose it might be odd walking around with a 96-book for items NOT to buy. But we live in odd times.

A printed copy of the book costs $5 a copy, which can be ordered by calling 888-414-7678. Or you can download the pdf and memorize the thing. I suppose you could print it out, but that might be a bit costly in printer ink.

Recalls – Consumers Union on Lead III Should Toys Be Discarded? Do Other Products Pose Danger to Children?

This is Part III of a three-part series on lead in toys. Below are Consumers Union’s answers to my questions that I suspect are on the minds of many parents.

DadTalk: Most of the lead-contamination focus has been on toys. Is anyone testing non-toy products that kids have a tendency to suck on, such as keys, blankets, all forms of plastic and food packaging?
Consumer’s Union: Departments of Health in different cities may conduct their own testing.  For example, in Los Angeles, candy imported form Mexico that contains high levels of lead acetate salts are a significant concern for lead exposure in children in the LA area.  Candy is also regulated by FDA.

We tested keys and found lead in some of them and, therefore, advise against giving children keys to play with.   

DadTalk: Is lead allowed in non-toy products?
Consumer’s Union: Yes, as long as there is no paint, or that any paint used has less than 600 PPM of lead.

DadTalk: There is an ongoing debate about lead bound up in the plastic of toys, but not the paint. How dangerous is it for children to suck on plastic blocks with lead bound inside?
Consumer’s Union: Technically, lead is not bound to the product.  It can leach out over time, particularly when exposed to UV light.   In one case of a non-painted vinyl cuff in a play kit, we found significant levels of surface or accessible lead.  It is difficult to say how dangerous any particular plastic product may be; we therefore think a standard should be established that regulated lead in plastic toys.

DadTalk: Is there a way for a consumer to test for lead bound into plastic?
Consumer’s Union: The home lead test kits we recommend can be useful for detecting lead in plastics.

Recalls – Consumers Union on Lead II Should Parents Test Children, Toys for Lead Contamination?

This is Part II of a three-part series on lead in toys. Below are Consumers Union’s answers to my questions that I suspect are on the minds of many parents.

DadTalk: Just how real of a threat is lead when it is found in children’s products?
Consumer’s Union: This is a very broad question, but the threat is real.  One child died from swallowing a piece of lead jewelry.  Others who may only chew on lead-painted toys may suffer less, but still measurable and permanent damage to their brain and nervous system that could affect how they do in school and relate to peers.

DadTalk: Is it currently legal for lead to be in children’s toys? Or is there just a government standard?
Consumer’s Union: There is a government standard for lead in PAINT that applies to toys, of 600 parts per million.  We believe this 30-year-old standard is out of date and should be lowered.  There is no standard for lead in toys that are not painted, such as jewelry or vinyl products.  We think one should be established.

DadTalk: What kind of short-term and long-term harm can lead cause in children?
Consumer’s Union: Short-term problems in children can include IQ deficits. Long-term effects of lead are still being studied, but there is some evidence that nervous system-based diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s may be associated with high lead levels.  Since we don’t have a good understanding of what causes many of these nervous-system disorders, minimizing exposures to neurotoxicants like lead and mercury is simply a healthy thing to do.   

DadTalk: How does the threat of lead in toys compare to choking hazards or powerful magnets that can be ingested?
Consumer’s Union: Both can be lethal.   But you can’t always tell if a child has high lead levels since they may not display any clinical symptoms.  The only way to know what your child’s lead level is, is to have them tested. 

DadTalk: Should parents test their children for lead?
Consumer’s Union: They absolutely should – ideally at age 1 and again at 2.  Children with elevated levels should be tested every year until age 6.