Planning Saves Money

A little planning can make even the simplest family outings more affordable, as well as more enjoyable. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to heed my own advice when we attended the county fair last weekend, a lesson I won’t repeat next year.

In less than three hours, our family of four went through $50 eating meager sandwiches, sharing drinks, and paying for a total of four rides. I grew more exasperated when I learned that we could have eaten better and enjoyed more rides for the same amount of money if I would have planned ahead.

Fortunately, my low threshold for unnecessarily overspending has turned this into a good learning experience. Below is a list of little epiphanies (as well as common sense) that I discovered. Maybe others can benefit from my mistakes.

Tips for Saving Money at the County Fair

1. Look in the paper AND online for admission costs, discounts, or free days. County or fair ground officials are likely to have a website with information. We missed out on the free admission day for kids.
2. If admission prices aren’t listed, call the fair office. A number should be available through the county. The website for our fair didn’t list admission costs.
3. Get a fair schedule with events and prices listed. Events may be discounted at certain times of the day. Often the best prices are earlier in the day. If the fair schedule isn’t available through the paper or online, contact the fair office.
4. If the fair does not list discounts or deals, call the fair office and ask about any specials available. Also check with local organizations that have food booths. For example, the Knights of Columbus might sell two for one ice cream on a particular day. This is a good way to support an organization while saving money.
5. Look for free or discounted ride days. Rides eat up a lot of the budget, especially if you have more than one child. After paying $3 a ride, I learned about the “10 rides for $10” special that ran earlier that week.
6. Avoid the big vender concessions if you want to hold on to your cash. We wanted to give money locally as much as possible so we did this, but we also found it was much cheaper to do so.
7. Search all the food tents, or as many as possible, before choosing a vendor. Check out some of the buildings or tents off to the side that may sell concessions. This was a big mistake for us. The 4-H groups sold food for a fraction of the costs of any of the other concessions. We stumbled upon this after we had already eaten. Later, however, we came back and got ice cream cones for $1.25 each.
8. Find out parking costs and alternative parking arrangements ahead of time. This was not an issue for us since parking was free. Busy, high-traffic areas, however, are likely to charge for parking. Don’t underestimate the cost of this.
9. If no free/discounted ride day is available, plan for expensive rides, and prepare your children accordingly. It’s just a fact of life: Thirty second rides cost more than they are worth. Let kids know ahead of time there is a limit to the number of rides they can go on.
10. Choose rides or activities that are more interactive. Not only do these tend to last longer, my children seemed to get more out of these activities than the passive whirly-rides that spin them around in circles for ninety seconds. My kids enjoyed the maze of mirrors better than any of the rides, and it lasted three times as long.
11. Bring a backpack with bottled water. It’s likely to get hot and everyone needs to stay hydrated. You can still patronize local clubs and businesses for the typical fair treats like lemon shake-ups. But there is no reason to spend $3 for a bottle of water. (I’d also recommend bringing wipes/hand sanitizer. Fairs aren’t the cleanest place. It’s also helpful after petting the animals.)
12. Spend time petting the animals and looking at the exhibits. This shouldn’t cost anything. Often a 4-H or FFA group will have an interactive exhibit about farm life that even very young kids can participate in. My kids loved petting the goats and sheep. Also, many of the 4-H exhibits have really come a long way. There really is something for everyone. My son loved the lego and rocket displays. My daughter was fascinated by all the different art projects.

County fairs can be a great experience for the whole family. Not only is it fun, it’s a great place to learn about animals and farm life. It might even open new doors for your kids. The 4-H clubs hold many opportunities for children to learn and gain leadership skills.

Unemployment, pay cuts, and pay freezes have hit families hard. Income has dwindled while costs have increased.

Now time for some more bad news: Net incomes will drop again if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire.

Who will pay?
News surrounding these tax cuts has always focused on the highest earners ($250,000 and above.). In fact, repealing the Bush tax cuts impacts all families with children.

We are facing “the largest tax hikes in the history of America” according to the group, Americans for Tax Reform, The child tax credit would be reduced from $1000 to $500 per child. Middle income earners will pay a 3% increase in taxes. Families’ earning as little as $17,000 per year, would jump from a 10% to 15% tax bracket.

Grandparents also will feel the pinch. Retirees depending on investment income can expect a large drop in their net income. Capital gains taxes increase from 15% to 20%. Dividend taxes will more than double, jumping from 15% to 39.6%.

These aren’t tiny ripples that will go unnoticed. Instead we can expect a series of tidal waves that will wreak havoc on personal income and the overall standard of living.

Find out more
Complete news coverage has been sparse in this area. I’ve heard various sound bites offering vague promises that were short on facts. I’m still waiting to hear coverage of specific, written proposals instead of campaign rhetoric.

Forbes, however, has recently put out a good article summarizing the major parts of the tax cuts as they stand.

For first hand knowledge, The Joint Committee on Taxation, a congressional body involved with tax legislation, has pdf files with updated information. I used this site to verify and research the facts. It’s not the most exciting summer read but it takes you right to the source of some of the most current and likely proposals that will make it to the floor. (Of course, this does not include proposals from members of congress not on the committee.)

A variety of proposals is likely to come to the table, including suggestions from the White House. The Wall Street Journal discusses positions taken by Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Geithner. Many lawmakers and White House officials are taking a partial position that would eliminate tax cuts for higher earners. How this will actually play out remains to be seen.

Can anything be done?
We could speculate over which party will vote to extend the tax cuts, which tax cuts will be extended – if any, and whether or not President Obama will support the extension. But it amounts to nothing but mere speculation.

Before a decision is made, doors will shut, deals will be made. With the impending November elections, our best bet is to urge our senators and representatives to extend the Bush tax cuts.

Then, pray that they listen.

While Nebraska lawmakers mull over revisions to its current safe-haven law, I am at a complete loss for understanding this situation — not the law but its unintended consequences.  Someone explain to me how so many parents can see a legal loophole as an opportunity to abandon their children, some who are teenagers. 

In case you’re unfamiliar with Nebraska’s safe-haven law, here’s a brief update.  Like most states, Nebraska lawmakers wanted to make sure young children aren’t abandoned in unsafe places.  The law was intended to protect the youngest and most vulnerable of our population, newborn infants. Many states allow parents to leave newborns at a hospital without any criminal repercussions.  The laws are designed to ensure a child’s safety; hospitals provide a safe haven for infants when parents find they cannot care for a child.  No doubt, this option could save a child’s life.

But like many well-meaning laws, it has turned into a moral hazard  — the intended good has been counteracted by its misuse.  Because Nebraska didn’t put an age limit on the law, children of all ages are literally being dumped on hospital steps.  As of last count, 34 children have been left at hospitals. And most of these children aren’t infants. As a matter of fact, ages range from 5 to 17.

What goes through an 11 year old child’s mind when his parent leaves him at a public institution with no intention of returning? Does the parent tell the child what is happening? Or is he not told: Is he dropped off with the expectation of someone returning for him in a few hours? And how many times does his heart break when he discovers no one is returning for him? 

Extraordinary circumstances have probably brought parents to this point, but I believe with few exceptions — such as safety issues, there must be other alternatives. For some it could be churches, synagogues, or family. For others it could be social services. Even if it means placing children in new homes, it is better than abandonment. Parents can still play a role in that child’s life, or at the very least, they can stick around long enough to make sure their child finds a good home.

So who is at fault? Parents? Social services? Maybe it’s the Nebraska legislature, who unintentionally uncovered this problem? It speaks volumes that it’s not always parents leaving these children at hospitals, but relatives who have stepped in as caretakers; many of the parents are already out of the picture. According to USA Today, 22 of these children have parents who have been incarcerated at some point. So most of these children come from troubled homes. Abandoning these kids at a hospital is probably not the first time many of them have been pushed aside. This just legitimizes it.

Many people blame the social service system in Nebraska, claiming it is one of the worst in the country. Should social services have done more? Probably. But does that absolve parents of their responsibility? These children are human beings, not objects that you dump when they become too much of a burden. Right now there is a lot of finger pointing. Fingers are pointed at social services, state legislatures, and parents. A post at Type A Mom addresses the issue of social service outreach.

If these parents feel that they have reached the end of their rope and that abandonment is the only solution, then I would suggest that the social services systems have failed them. Nebraska’s dilemna should serve as a wake-up call to all 50 states - there is a need for emergency services to parents of teens. If services are already available (as has been suggested), then their effectiveness should be evaluated. Marketing campaigns should be launched to be sure parents are aware of the services available to them when desperation forces them to consider the unthinkable.

However, the Associated Press (”Neb. senators told safe-haven law exposes problem”, Nate Jenkins)reported today that lawmakers say help is available.

State officials disagreed with child welfare experts, state senators and others who criticized what they said was a lack of access to mental health and other services. Parents, the state officials say, are unnecessarily abandoning their children at hospitals.

Todd Landry, who oversees the state’s children and family services, said there are resources available to parents. “It is not the role of government to intervene in a family’s life” when children are not in danger, Landry said.

So again who is at fault? Or more importantly, how do we solve this problem? It’s not that I don’t feel any sympathy for these parents; I do, but I feel more sympathy for these abandoned children. If you aren’t willing to fight for your child, the very child you brought into this world and parented for the last five, ten, fifteen years, is there anything you would fight for?

Many of these children might be serious problems to their families, or society. Maybe living at home isn’t the best option. But there are other options. They deserve the extra effort to find an appropriate home. It shows them they are still worth it.  And if our children aren’t worth that extra effort, who in this world is?

The other night as I’m sitting watching Kudlow preach from his CNBC pulpit about free market capitalism as the best path to prosperity, I noticed the boy sitting in the chair next to me reading his favorite Star Wars book.   I was so engrossed in the latest financial reason to throw my shoes at the television that I didn’t even notice him reading aloud.  This got me to thinking about the benefits of children reading.

1. It doesn’t involve a cathode ray nipple. (For those of you born after 1990, that means television.)  I mean seriously, does that fact that the kid would rather sit and read books than watch television or play video games need any further explanation?  DUH!  It’s also a way for me to get the boy out of my hair for a while without feeling guilty that I’ve plopped him in front of the electronic babysitter.
2. His language, vocabulary, and ability to understand things has exploded.  I travel occasionally for my job, and last week when putting the boy to bed I noticed he had tucked between the bed frame and the mattress a thick book I hadn’t seen before.  It was Robinson Crusoe.  I asked him, “What’s this?”  The boy’s response wasn’t the excitement over reading a chapter book I had expected. Instead, it was, “Oh Dad, this story is so cool. He built his own boat!”  He then, in great detail, explained to me the adventure of the first four chapters, and how exactly this boat was built.
3. Imagination.  My Dad, who loves math, still at age 69 is constantly searching for new mathematical concepts to challenge his brain, recently discovered fractals.  Fractals are realitively new concept of the past 10-20 years and only with the advent of the computer could they truly been explored.   That’s because a fractal is a pattern that multiplies itself to infinity.  The boy’s imagination right now is like a fractal, just multiplying on itself every time he reads something new.
4. He truly loves it.   When I was a kid, which was in the 70’s, color television was new, at least for my family, and there hadn’t been any research to warn my mother she might turn me into a spastic, jittery freak.  I can remember getting up in the morning, turning on the television, and never turning it off until it was time to go to school, or in the summer, eat lunch.  Our parents didn’t really think anything of it.  (Thus, I have the attention span of a 3 year old at age 37.)  The boy will choose to read a new book over doing a lot of other things when given the opportunity.  Currently, the only thing that he would rather do that than read a book is watch a new episode of Clone Wars.  Although, the tempation of actually reading a Clone Wars or Star Wars book, might even top that. 
5. It makes his Dad proud.  The boy is smart, but he’s human.  He gets good grades, but he struggles a lot with effort.  If there is an easy way or a shortcut to do something, he will find it.   The boy has worked hard to be able to read.  He has given maximum effort, and that makes me proud.

Madagascar entertains, but prepare yourself for some disturbing stereotypes, along with a good dose of over-the top-hostility from a cantankerous, old woman. The hostile old lady wields a purse like a javelin, usually targeting poor Alex, the theatrical dancing lion. Throughout the movie she is either throwing punches or on the receiving end of repeated blows. It’s like watching a hybrid of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a dirty street fight. Not only was it way over the top, it went on forever. At one point, I wanted to scream “Enough! I get the point.”

The movie is PG, so parents are given notice. But the PG rating doesn’t excuse poor taste or bad judgment in a children’s movie. Kids shouldn’t be laughing at human punching bags. I felt some relief when the elderly woman’s aggression was directed at a Machiavellian lion, who had used trickery to conquer the peaceful savannah and then cruelly banished Alex.

Thankfully, young children probably won’t pick up on many of the worn stereotypes. Adults are the intended audience here, part entertainment and part message. The message is clear to adults, zebras who all look the same and can’t be recognized one from the other. Disturbing, and maybe not so funny. But like it or not, the filmmakers use stereotyping for a reason.  Children are entertained, while adults look on with that “Aha” recognition of real life stuff. (Even if it’s real life stuff that makes us squirm.)

Once you get past all of this, the movie has some good scenes and a pretty decent cast. Bernie Mac (who sadly died this year) plays Alex’s dad; Ben Stiller, Alex; Jada Pinkett, the hippo who realizes she is more than the sum of her voluptuous parts; Chris Rock, Marty the Zebra; and David Schwimmer, the giraffe who is secretly in love with the hippo. My daughter loved the dancing scenes–nothing like lions performing street dances in Africa. My son laughed a little too much at the kickboxing old lady for my comfort. And for the adults, there were monkeys blackmailing a dictatorial penguin for his tryst with an unknown, female bobble-head. Hmmm…How often has this been the downfall of powerful penguins men?

Then again, maybe my I’m reading too much into this. After all, it is just a kids’ movie, isn’t it?

This weekend, according to the WSJ , GM is blitzing lawmakers on the enormous impact of their possible bankruptcy.  GM claims that if it goes belly-up the impact will reach far beyond GM’s doors.  To it’s suppliers, to the dealerships, to the hot dog vendors who setup shop outside it’s door, and (here’s the big one) to the federal government who will be forced to back GM’s pension plan of former workers.

The WSJ quotes a top GM advisor as saying, “There is no Plan B being discussed beyond a government bailout.”

This is considered a great American company that should be saved?  What could be more un-American than choosing to beg for a handout without any attempt to work it out for yourself?  People are much more likely to give money to a  homeless person who offers to clean their car windows or plays music than they are to a guy holding a can asking for money  There is a reason that guy standing on the street corner has a sign that says, “Will WORK for food.” 

Why should GM be any different?  Why should GM’s survival be entirely dependent on you, me, and us giving them money without any effort to do something themselves, even in part?   It’s not like this is the first time the automakers have failed, nor is it the first time they’ve run to the government for protection.

As if that isn’t aggravating enough, GM has the audacity to turn corporate begging into a government hold up.  They claim that without a government rescue, not only are they going down, others are going down with them.   GM is wagering that  it will have hit the jacktpot if it can shift  responsibility off of them and onto the government for not saving all of GM’s unintended vicitmes.  The golden key to shift blame!

It’s not our fault the big three have continually caved to the unions and drove themselves head-on into a labor cost that is two-thirds higher than competitors.  If you’ve ever been involved with the production of a product you know the cost variable with which the producer has the most control over is labor cost.  In almost all cases if you work more efficient, you can make the product cheaper.  It’s also not our fault they aren’t making many cars people want, and that they are making too many models.  Did you realize that between GM’s Chevrolet and Pontiac brands there 15 different models, not counting trucks, vans, and SUVs?  Don’t forget they own all the Buick, Saturn and Cadillac models too!  It’s not our fault they failed to recognize sooner there wouldn’t be gasoline forever, and have now leveraged their entire future on the hopes of a single car (Chevy Volt). 

To quote Forrest Gump, and this applies to both the big three automakers and the government who continues to rescue them, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

This week the local grocery store had a good deal on beef tenderloin steaks that was too good to pass up.    We don’t each much of what I refer to as “hardcore beef” at our house.  By hardcore I mean large helpings of the well known cuts, filets, porterhouse, strips, etc.  We usually cut beef up into smaller pieces and mix with pasta, stir-fry, salads, or something like that. Frankly because these days the service cuts of beef, and pork (the other white meat) are much more affordable.  Even with the tenderloin steaks we had last night, the four of us split two 5-6oz cuts. 

As always, we were running short on time for dinner, so the plan for the tenderloin steaks was a very basic.  The beauty of a tenderloin steak is it doesn’t take much enhancing to get a great flavor.  It’s probably the most naturally flavorful cut of beef.  So I simply sprinkled a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper on each side, and seared it real good, about 3 minutes on each side, in a red hot pan.   The two steaks, in the skillet, were finished off in the oven for about 8 minutes at 375.  The plan was to do a nice reduction of burgundy or Marsala deglaze, but, oops, I forgot! 

For a side we had about 2.5lbs of red potatoes in the pantry, and some green cabbage that if it wasn’t used last night, wasn’t going to get used.  The potatoes were boiled for about 15 minutes, during that time I also diced about 4 cups of cabbage and 3/4 cup of onion, and sauteed them in butter until nice and tender.  When the potatoes were nice and soft, they were drained off, and mashed with 1/2 cup of milk and some salt and pepper.   My riff on Irish potatoes was finished by stirring the buttery cabbage into the mashed potatoes.

We needed a vegetable.  I was going to steam a bag of frozen broccoli, but the boy, already getting wind of the cabbage in the potatoes, was readying his fit for having more green stuff than he could handle.  Since the day had been long enough already,  I succumbed to opening a can of corn, enhancing it with butter, salt, and pepper.

We’re paranoid freaks about the kids choking on their food, and so cuts of meat are usually cut up for the kids into micro-diced pieces.  Tonight though this turned out to be an unnecessary concern as the steaks were so tender the knife easily tore the beef tore apart.  The tenderloin steaks tasted fantastic.  The boy ended up inhaling all his steak, looking for more, but the wife was joining us late and we had to save some for her.  The girl, she ate some of the steak without turning her nose up at it, and then proclaimed, “I’m tired”, after a few bites of corn.  That usually means, I want attention from not eating my meal.   In our house the kids have to try everything, so she was not allowed to leave the table until she tried a spoon of potatoes with cabbage in it.  She was not happy about this, but soon remembered Daddy doesn’t lose.  Already with a pre-disgusted expression, she tasted the cabbage only to verify the expression on her face.  And with that bite of forced nutrition, no matter how insignificant, she was free to go.

As for the potatoes, they were very good.  Judisious amounts of butter, like pork fat, seem to make everything taste good.  (Hmmm…. bacon would have been a good addition to the cabbage potatoes!)  The boy said he really like them, despite protesting, “Dad!  Why did you have to put cabbage in it?”  He did his level best to eat around the cabbage, but his ”green stuff” radar failed to track every piece.  The expression of surprised distain as he chewed the potatoes occassionally crunching down on some cabbage was hilarious.  In the end, the boy managed to somehow eat around most of the cabbage leaving his plate littered in cabbage pieces.

When the wife finally made it to dinner, she proclaimed the steak was just perfect.  She said the potatoes were very good, but I got the impression her Italian blood wasn’t overwhelmed by the subtle (some say bland) flavors  of Ireland.

In our house the kids noses get turned up by any suggestion of a meal served with fish that doesn’t involve tuna from a can.  It is unfortunate for the wife and I as we are big fans of the tilapia.  Perhaps some would say it’s fortunate for us, because it’s more for us!  The thing to really like about tilapia is it’s mild, slightly sweet taste.  For someone such as the wife, who is turned off by the strong “fishy” taste of many popular catches it’s something she finds very enjoyable.  Even better is the fact that tilapia is considered a “clean fish”, free of seeped toxins, is not at risk of being over fished, and like most fish is really, really nutritious.

So anyway, last night on short notice for dinner I whipped out about 6 small frozen tilapia fillets, and thawed them in the sink.   I hit them with a little salt and pepper, and cooked them over medium-high heat for about 90-120 seconds on each side.  At the same time, I fired up the broiler, and threw a couple tablespoons of flaked coconut on a cookie sheet, and put them under the broiler for all of 30-60 seconds, at the most.  Just long enough to get the ends of the flakes a nice toasted singe.  Put the fish on a platter, and topped them with the toasted coconut flakes.

To go along with the fish I made 3 cups of white rice, and popped a bag of those frozen mixed steamed vegetable thingies in the microwave.  Plated the rice, the steamy mixed veggies, topped with the coconut fish, and sat the family down to eat.  The wife loved it.  The daughter, well, she was in a mood, (that ended with her skipping dinner going to bed.) The boy picked out all the veggies, and the “ewe”, “icky” soft carrots, and made his way to asking for thirds, at which point he was stopped and forced to eat a handful of baby carrots first.   I thought the sweet coconut just melted into the sweetness of the fish perfectly.  It was great.