Spending $500 on school supplies? How to keep costs down

I was happy to return to Fox 25 News in Boston today, this time to talk about how to save some money while back-to-school shopping. Here's the clip from the show:

Consumer experts are saying that parents plan to spend $500 or more on back-to-school items this year; the number sounds outrageous, but once you add electronics and school clothes into the budget, it's easy to see how parents can spend that much or more per child. Over at Yahoo! Shine, I interviewed frugal shopping expert Mir Kamin of WantNot.net about ways parents can keep costs reasonable.

Kamin suggests that people pay attention to store sales and shop "outside the box," keeping an eye out for deals at the grocery and drug stores as well as office supply centers and warehouse clubs.

"The thing to remember is that 'loss leaders' like 10-cent Crayolas and such are there to bring you into the store and make you feel like that overpriced comic-character notebook is a deal because you saved so much on glue and erasers," she explains. "So basically, watch the sales flyers, grab the cheap stuff when it comes up -- and grab extra, so you don't need to re-buy halfway through the year -- but don't buy the stuff that isn't dirt cheap."

You can read the rest of her tips here: ""Back to school spending: $500 per shopper?"

What to eat if you can't buy organic

I was on Fox-25 News in Boston this morning, talking about the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen Plus" and "Clean Fifteen" lists and offering suggestions about how to avoid pesticides if you can't afford to buy all organic produce. Here's the clip:

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

It's worth noting that, if you draw a line down the center of the tablescape (sweet potatoes, watermelon, and asparagus) those things plus everything to the left of them are perfectly fine to buy conventionally -- that is, the pesticide levels on them are so low that it doesn't make much of a difference whether you eat "regular" versions or organic ones. Everything to the right, though? If you have money to spend on organic produce, those are the things you want to buy. A good rule of thumb is that if the produce has a think skin that you can eat -- so, peaches, apples, grapes, berries, lettuce and leafy greens, for example -- you should try to buy organic.

I wrote about the EWG's lists on Yahoo! Shine recently: "When Buying Organic Does (and Doesn't) Make Sense." The "Dirty Dozen Plus" and "Clean Fifteen" lists are pretty straight-forward, but bear in mind that the benefits of eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables far outweigh the risks posed by FDA-approved pesticides -- the EWG found traces of them on their produce samples, not massive amounts. And while some fruits and veggies absorb chemicals or grew from seeds soaked in pesticides, most had pesticide residue only on the surface; a simple wash in cold running water (without soap or bleach) is enough to remove most of it.

In the Fox-25 clip, I point out that locally grown produce is less likely to have lots of pesticides, but there wasn't time to explain the idea fully. Just because something is local does not mean that it was grown organically, but if the produce doesn't have to travel a long distance to the store (and look perfect once it gets there), chances are it will require fewer chemicals to keep it fresh and pest-free. Also: There are plenty of farmers who are not certified organic but who use only a minimum of chemicals and pesticides on their produce. The bottom line? If you're at your local farmer's market, ask whether the food was grown organically or when the last time it was treated. Still feeling worried? Grow your own (some of the most-contaminated produce, like green beans and lettuce, are pretty easy to grow in a garden or even in pots on a balcony).

How do you cope with stress? (I cook)

A few weeks ago, I did a lot of cooking. Produce was on the verge of going bad, meat had been sitting in the deep freezer for far too long, empty lunchboxes that cried out for homemade goodies, a budget that cried out for those lunchboxes to be filled instead of eating out at the office. I'd update my status on Facebook feeling like I'd accomplished a ton:

Lylah Alphonse made 12 cups of apple sauce, a big apple crisp, and 3 cups of oven dried tomatoes (originally a grocery-bag-full of the last tomatoes from the garden. They really do cook down quite a bit). I would have made salsa verde but forgot to buy limes.

Lylah Alphonse made split-pea and ham soup, 16 cups of it, and has black beans cooking on the stove. This is what happens when the urge to clean out the freezer strikes at the same time as the cold weather. Also: Aside from the occasional stir, these things pretty much cook themselves. It's lazy perfectionist heaven.

There was more cooking -- 18 jars of salsa verde, 8 pints of green tomato pickles, 12 pints of green tomato chutney -- that I didn't post about because, all of a sudden, I went from feeling accomplished to feeling like it was all a bit excessive. I was stress cooking. And things were getting out of hand.

Covering the cost of college

According to Sallie Mae's national study, "How America Pays for College 2010" (conducted by the folks at Gallup), the average U.S. family covers almost a quarter of college costs with scholarships and grants -- but that's rarely enough to pay the entire bill. The average scholarship was about $7,800; according to data from The College Board, the average cost per year at a public four-year college is about $9,000 -- about $35,000 per year for some private four-year colleges. And that's for undergraduates.

The study of more than 1,600 undergraduate students (age 18 to 24) and their parents also found that 43 percent of families received scholarships for the previous academic year, up from 40 percent the year before. And for those who are looking ahead to next year, Sallie Mae's free scholarship search currently has more than 1 million scholarships -- $6 billion worth -- to which you can apply between now and February 2011.

My oldest stepdaughter hits college the same year my youngest son hits kindergarten -- year after next -- so tuition, scholarships, loans, and grants are high on our list of "Things We Really Should Be Thinking About Right Now, Or Perhaps Yesterday." November is, apparently, National Scholarship Month, and to that end Sallie Mae is offering parents and high school students a chance to chat with author and scholarship expert Kelly Tanabe tomorrow (Wednesday, Nov. 17) from 9 to 10 pm. (EST). The chat will take place on Sallie Mae's Facebook page, so you can sign up to participate or lurk at their wall as you see fit.

Tanabe is the co-author of 12 books on the college admissions process and on paying for college; her latest book is The Ultimate Scholarship Book 2011. I asked Erica Eriksdotter at Sallie Mae for some tips for parents who are looking to pay for college soon; during the chat, Tanabe will be addressing ideas like these and many others. Here's what she shared with me:

Survey: Coupon clippers use savings for necessities

A survey released today by coupon company RedPlum found that more than half of those who used coupons put their savings toward buying basic necessities. Another 26 percent of respondents said that they use the money they save to pay down debt.

They're not just saving chump change, either: Sixty-five percent said they save as much as $50 a week. Not a bad payback on an hour or so worth of time.

RedPlum's "Mom Saver-in-Chief" Lisa Reynolds, host of radio show "Viva La Value," says she saves about $30 per shopping trip by using coupons, and invests only about 20 minutes of time each week searching for savings. "You look for the categories you care most about," she suggested during an interview in New York. Before coupons, she used to spend about $500 per shopping trip on her family of four. Now? "About $325," she said. "It's all about choices."

Another trick is to be aware of what you buy and where you shop. "Big warehouse stores don't always make sense," she pointed out. "Canned goods may actually be better at the grocery store."

The RedPlum Purse String Study, which was based on information gathered from more than 16,000 participants, shows that people are more money conscious than ever. While so-called "coupon queens" may rack up some spectacular savings -- Kathy Spencer of How to Shop for Free says she ends up spending less than $10 a week to feed her family of six, including pets -- their techniques might not work for everyone. "I don't think most people can do that," Reynolds said. But searching for coupon codes online and spending a few minutes paging through the circulars can make sense. "With about 20 minutes of work per week, you can samve more than $1,000 a year," Reynolds pointed out. "Frugal isn't a bad thing any more."

Back to school: Product picks from Write Edit Repeat (and a chance to win $150)

Over at Work It, Mom!, I'm pulling together slideshows the coolest back-to-school products, whether your kids are heading off to kindergarten or off to college. Take a look:

Back to school gear for elementary school kids

Heading off to college? Bring these 10 things with you.

And don't forget their teachers or day care providers! 10 gifts teachers and caregivers will love.

Write. Edit. Repeat. readers also have a chance to win a $150 Back-to-School Gift Card from Amazon.com. Spend about five minutes (or less, really) taking this survey from Unicast about your back to school shopping, and you can win one of 10 prizes. The survey closes at 8 p.m. (eastern time) on Friday, Aug. 20. (Winners will be emailed on Monday Aug. 23.) The survey is anonymous, though you will have to give your email address in order to be notified if you win one of the prizes.

Here’s the link to the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B385KB4BX

What else can you recycle? I'm determined to declutter.

I had a housework-related epiphany of sorts a few weeks ago, and realised two things:

1.) My well-documented tendency to clutter isn't about hording but about time management. A gut-wrenching first-person story about hoarding written by my friend and former colleague Mike Rosenwald for the Washington Post Magazine, made this clear to me: It's not that I can't bear to part with things, or feel a need to own multiples of things, but that I feel like I don't have time to sort through it all and so I save it until such time that I do. And, let's face it: All working moms know that huge chunk of free time isn't coming soon, no matter what the researchers say. So I might as well get to it.

2.) The biggest thing preventing me from clearing out the clutter was the fact that our storage areas are already full of stuff I probably don't need to keep anymore. And I need to empty them out before my husband has a cleaning tantrum and does it for me.

When "green" isn't eco-friendly at all

I was reading a story about eco-friendly finishes for new homes when I was suddenly struck by the ridiculousness of it all. How is gold-gilded bamboo flooring still eco-friendly? What’s environmentally conscious about spending $125 for a single roll of wall paper made from old newspapers? (Really. I’m not kidding.)

There’s a huge difference between going green and, well, going “green.”

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not so much crunchy as I am crispy when it comes to healthy, eco-friendly living. But even to my not-at-all-trained green sensibilities, isn’t it better to go green by using as few resources as possible, rather than by spending bundles for something uber-processed that claims to be eco-friendly? If you’re spending $42 on a single tank top, you’re not being green, even if it’s made out of organic cotton or sustainable bamboo. It’s like investing in special, BPA-free bottles and then using them to feed your baby Coke.

Birthday party ideas that won't break the bank

Whatever happened to the backyard birthday party?

Back when I was a kid -- you know, way back when we walked to school uphill both ways in the snow and liked it -- my parents used to invite my entire class to my summertime birthday parties -- plus my classmates' parents and siblings. We had a pool and a huge yard and kids would swarm around like cake-fueled bees while the parents would sip beer and eat grilled tandoori chicken and much fun would be had by all, no clowns, magicians, bounce houses, or petting zoos required. (I'm sure it took a while to clean everything up, but I don't remember hearing anyone complain.)

Sure, throwing the bash at an all-purpose party place means that you keep the clean-up and planning to a minimum, but the costs can skyrocket easily, and you're limited as to the number of guests you can invite. So let's revisit the backyard, and perhaps even some simpler times: Here are 10 ideas for birthday parties you can throw at home. While you will have to contend with clean-up duties, your kids and their guests will have a blast, and you won't be left with an achingly empty wallet.

Pirate party: This party theme comes together in a snap, and has plenty of possibilities for those who have more time to plan. Give each guest a black eye patch and a colorful bandanna when they arrive. A treasure hunt provides indoor (or outdoor) entertainment and party favors (they can tie their booty up in their bandannas). Serve hot dogs cut into squiggly sea creatures for lunch, and follow it up with cake decorated with a jolly roger flag and chocolate coins.

A sleepless sleepover. At most sleepovers, there's precious little sleep to be had; at this one, that's on purpose. Ask guests to arrive in their very best PJs. Pile all of your pillows on the floor, pop some popcorn, and settle in for a few hours of fun. Girls can decorate deluxe eye masks, indulge in a makeover, and watch a chick flick; boys can bring their Wii remotes and hold a gaming tournament, rent a gush-free superhero movie, or bring and trade their favorite collectables. Got a mixed crew? Pitch tents in the yard (or living room), roast marshmallows in the fireplace (or over tea light candles), tell ghost stories in the dark, and send each guest home with an inexpensive DVD (or a gift card to a rental place).

A costume parade: What little kid wouldn't want to wear their Halloween costume over and over again? Let the decorate miniature pumpkins from the supermarket with glittery foam stickers (a bargain at craft stores), jump in leaf piles (if the weather is nice), and get a head start on their Halloween candy collection. But you don't have to wait until late October to throw a costume party for your kid. Break out the dress-up clothes and let them parade through the house adorned in thrift-store finery; snap a digital photo of them to slip into the goodie bags.

A Teddy bear picnic: Preschoolers love this. Spread sheets out on the lawn and offer up tea (or juice), tiny sandwiches, and mini cupcakes. Sing songs, play Duck Duck Goose and I Spy, and fill small baskets with treats to take home.

Hail to the chef: If your child loves helping you in the kitchen, a chef party is the way to go. Colorful aprons ($9.99 for 12 at Oriental Trading Company) and inexpensive cookie cutters make great party favors; older kids can make their own pizzas and decorate their own cupcakes while younger kids hone their "cooking" skills on homemade play dough or goop.

Go car crazy: If your kid has a need for speed, give each guest a Matchbox car or two and stage a race down the driveway (you can find generic cars on sale practically for pennies at Walgreens). Plastic cars make great cake toppers (decorate a sheet cake to look like the open road), and let the kids relax with a little vintage "Speed Racer" before the party's over.

Princess perfect: Guests can wear their own dress-up clothes to make a picture-perfect grand entrance; snap a quick picture of each princess and let them decorate foam or wooden frames to put them in, or have each girl decorate her own tiara. A princess topper turns any supermarket cake into something worthy of royalty, and streamers easily transform your living room into a grand ballroom for some twirling and dancing before settling down to a princess movie and popcorn.

Make some magic: Kids can craft their very own magic wands using wooden dowels, ribbons, tinsel, and glitter; have them compete in a contest to see who can come up with the most creative magic spell. Hire a magician if you like, or enlist a relative to do some simple card tricks and a goofy act. Older kids may enjoy a Harry Potter flick, while littles may get a kick from the retro-fantastic wizard scene from Fantasia. Wizards and magicians don't eat cake; conjure up a stack of brownies instead and watch them disappear.

Beach in your backyard: Celebrate a summer birthday with a beach bash right in your own backyard. Playground sand and large, colorful towels make an easy setting; add a slip-and-slide or two, volleyball or badminton, and a cooler full of ice pops, and organize a water-balloon toss, a soaked-sponge relay race, or a squirt-gun battle. (Got a Spongebob SquarePants fan at home? Serve sliders and call them Krabby Patties, slide hotdogs onto skewers and say they're Chum-on-a-stick.) Have kids wear their bathing suits, and don't forget the sunscreen.

Shining star: Stock up on 4th-of-July decorations when they go on clearance, and throw your child a Shining Star party any time of year. Ask parents to bring their video cameras, split the kids into teams, and have them shoot their own movies. Give out small notebooks and let them collect one another's autographs. If the party runs late, a few sparklers will help you end the celebration on a fun and festive note.

You can stretch your birthday money farther by forgetting about themed plates, cups, and cutlery -- all that stuff ends up in the trash anyway, right? Instead, stick with easy-to-find paperware from the grocery store. Hold the party in the mid-afternoon, so you can serve snacks and cake instead of a complete meal. And other parents will adore you if you avoid filling the goodie bags with tons of candy or plastic junk; over at Work It, Mom! I've pulled together a slideshow of 10 great non-candy party favors.

Family and finance: Finding sensible solutions

I've wrapped up my nine-part series on family and finance over at Yahoo!'s Shine, and the final installment -- on ways to make extra cash without getting an extra job -- is currently up on Yahoo!'s home page. Missed any part of the series? Here's the scoop:

Next up: Taxes 2010 (and how to cope with an audit). Organization is key, both for filing your return and for dealing with fallout if the IRS comes knocking.

Married but separate: The case against merging your money. I wrote about this from a more personal point of view here and at The 36-Hour Day, but basically experts agree that there are certain situations (remarriage, outrageous debt, diametrically opposed spending habits) where it makes more sense to keep separate accounts.

Tricks for keeping track of your household expenses. You probably already have a system; here's how to make it even better.

How decide how to trim your budget. What stays and what goes? I interview money experts and share their 2 cents with you. (Hint: Pay Uncle Sam first, then anything that can be foreclosed or reposessed, and juggle or eliminate the rest.)

Do you talk to your kids about money? An interview with financial expert and father-of-two Prakash Dheeriya, author of the 20-book Finance for Kidz series.

10 ways to save money on your vacation. With airlines charging $50 or more per checked bag roundtrip, it may cost less to send them via FedEx or US Mail, cram all of your stuff into your carryon (it can be done -- I proved it a few years back in a piece for The Boston Globe) -- or buy small essentials once you're at your destination. Read the other nine tips at Yahoo.com.

Credit card safety for business travelers. These tips apply to leisure travelers as well. It's too easy these days for scam artists and identity theives to take advantage of you while you're away from home.

You save, he spends: How to find common ground. Are you a saver married to a spender? Then this article is a must read.

5 ways to make money without getting a second (or third) job. Last year, I wrote a post with five great tips for finding quick cash around the holidays; here are five more. It must be a sign of the times that this piece has gone viral... it was picked up by Moms Like Me, AP Sense, and ended up on Yahoo!'s front page as well.

How do you manage finances in your family?

Earth Day 2010: 10 ways to go green at home or at work

Earlier this week at The 36-Hour Day, I wrote about how my husband is far more crunch granola than I am. In fact, by comparison, I'm just a little bit cripsy.

A couple of years ago, we set out fruit trees and expanded our garden — or, rather, he did, given that I kill plants just by looking at them. My husband runs his Suburban on a combination of diesel and waste vegetable oil (no, it doesn’t smell like french fries) and fantasizes about having a wind turbine on our property. (Not going to happen, though. Two reasons: We don’t get that much wind, and we don’t particularly want to piss off our lovely neighbors.) And, this year, he’s rebuilding the old chicken coop out back, with an eye toward raising up his own flock of dinner. I’ve assured our lovely neighbors that we won’t have roosters (they crow all day, not just in the morning, you know), and I’ve vowed to name each chick after a different recipe. (”Heeeeeeere, Homemade Stock! Bok bok, Sweet-Potato Curry! Where’d you hide your eggs this time, General Tso?”) ... [More]

I am trying to be more green, however. According to the EPA, the environment inside your home is two to five times as polluted as the environment outside -- and we spend about 90 percent of our time indoors. Here are 10 tips, many of them courtesy of my friend Anca Novacovici, founder of Washington, D.C.-based Eco-Coach, for making your home or office more eco-friendly:

Is it possible to have an eco-friendly holiday?

Last year at Christmas, I stood in the living room amid the swirling scraps of wrapping paper and heaps of ribbon and ripped-up boxes, and thought, "There has got to be a better way."

At The 36-Hour Day, I'm talking about how I'm hoping to be a little greener this year. Having five kids makes for a lot of post-Christmas detrius, even though it's true that as the kids get bigger, the gifts get smaller (and more expensive). And the economy has dictated that this Christmas is going to be a little leaner than Christmases past. But if I'm going to go for a more eco-friendly holiday, there are still several areas where I can make a change or two.

Are good bargains bad for the economy?

As I mentioned recently over at The 36-Hour Day, I didn't take advantage of a single deal on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

It's not because I didn't want a shiny new gadget or a gorgeous new outfit. It's not that my kids weren't clamoring for the latest noisy toy. It's because my budget has taken a serious hit this year, and even some incredible deals weren't enough to make me whip out the credit card unless I was oogling something we really need. And, frankly, we're very lucky; while there's tons of stuff we want, there's very little that we actually need.

An article in Time Magazine points out that, in the long run, the insane post-Thanksgiving bargains might actually be bad for our wallets -- and for the economy.

Help for the holidays: Give more for less

Like most families, we're trimming our holiday budget, trying to economize in any way we can. My good financial intentions fell by the wayside, though, when I saw the Christmas tree at my youngest kids' preschool the other day. It was decorated with tiny colored lights and pairs of red and green paper mittens; each set of mittens had on it a needy child's Christmas wish.

The wishes weren't extravagant. A 5-year-old asked for "any toy." A 14-year-old wanted a set of extra-large fleecy pajama bottoms. A tween asked for a scarf, gloves, and a hat. Several teens each requested a gift certificate to a fast food place; one child asked for a gift card to a local grocery store.

My heart broke. I wanted to gather up all the mittens from the tree and buy everything I could. But of course I couldn't. Instead, I picked five sets of mittens -- one for each of my own five kids -- and started to think outside the box.

Great deal: Restaurant.com gift certificates -- for free!

I've used Restaurant.com a few times, to score bargain-priced gift certificates for friends and family. There are plenty of places to choose, from family-friendly fare to ethnic cuisine. Save even more by using their promo codes (keep an eye for the latest on Mir's great shopping blog, Wantnot.net -- right now, "SAVE" gets you 80 percent off your order), but even without a code a $25 gift certificate only costs $10. Which means you can treat your crew to dinner without making much of a dent in your wallet.

For a limited time, Restaurant.com is letting anyone and everyone send $10 gift certificates to anyone else in the U.S. -- for free. Feed It Forward 2009 is a great way to spread a bit of holiday cheer easily and affordably. The program runs through Christmas; go to Restaurant.com to search for offers in your (or your best friend's) area.

Saving money on prescriptions: Do more with less

Healthcare is high on everyone priority lists right now. About 22,000 people die each year because they don't have adequate healthcare coverage, according to a study by the Urban Institute -- that's about six times as many people as died on 9/11.

At the 36-Hour Day, we're talking about healthcare and how we have to do more with less. Before you weigh in (or opt out) of the current debate about health care, you should first read the HR3200 bill for yourself. (Don't feel like sifting through all 1,018 pages of it? A group of voice actors have recorded it as an audio book. Check it out.)

Once you've done that, you need to sift through the rhetoric, from President Obama's speech to Congress yesterday to Sarah Palin's Wall Street Journal piece and everything in between. (The American Nurses Association has put together a great fact sheet that can help.)

And, if you're like me, you'll probably need to find ways to save money on medication while you're waiting to see how healthcare reform affects you.

My company is poised to switch us from our current health insurance plan -- which is actually pretty good -- to one with higher weekly premiums, less coverage, and $9,000 worth of up-front costs and deductibles.

We have five kids. One of them has Autism. Another has scoliosis. One is plays lacrosse and volleyball and has a bum ankle that gets reinjured regularly. Another has already done time in the ER -- twice. And the youngest is a 2-year-old boy, so we might as well pencil in a few extra doctor's visits on his calendar, just because.

So, I'm looking to trim costs wherever I can. Since the new plan leaves us with little prescription drug coverage, it made sense to see what else was out there. And, since I'm far from the only person facing this issue right now, I thought I'd share some of what I've dug up:

1.) Target offers many generic medications at $4 for a 30-day supply, or $10 for a 90-day supply. Other amounts are available, and those costs are reasonable, too. WalMart also has a similar program.

2.) Walgreens has a prescription drug "club" program that offers lower prices on generics and some name brand drugs. It includes insulin, medicines for your pets, and you also earn a 10-percent credit-type bonus that you can use on all other Walgreens purchases. You have to pay a membership fee ($20 per year for individuals, $35 per year families) to join, but if prescription medication is a reoccuring cost for your family, it's well worth it.

3.) You don't have to have a Costco membership to fill prescriptions at their pharmacies. They offer many name-brand medications at cost -- which is still pricey, but at least you avoid the typical drug-store markup. (If you think the markup is a myth, it's worth reading the Snopes take on it here.)

How are you holding down your family's health care costs?

The gluten-free lunchbox: Fresh spring rolls

Fresh spring rolls are a quick, easy, and economical sandwich subsitute. It takes a couple of tries to get the hang of handling the delicate rice-paper wrappers, but once you get going, you'll be able to roll a stack of these in just a few minutes. You can find rice-paper wrappers and other specialized ingredients at most Whole Food Markets and asian grocery stores (like Super 88 in Boston). Subsitute about 10 ounces of shredded leftover roast pork or chicken for the shrimp, if you prefer.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Makes 8 rolls

• 16 dried rice-paper spring roll wrappers
• 16 large cooked shrimp, split in half lengthwise
• 1 large carrot, shredded or sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
• 4 radishes, sliced thin
• 4 large leaves of green-leaf or butter lettuce, shredded
• 8 large fresh basil or mint leaves, sliced thinly
• 3 ounces cellophane (dried bean thread) noodles
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon honey

1. Whisk rice vinegar, fish sauce, lime juice, and honey together in a medium-size bowl. Set aside.
2. Cook the cellophane noodles in boiling water for about one minute, until softened. Drain. Transfer the noodles to the bowl with the rice vinegar sauce, toss gently, and allow to sit until sauce is absorbed (about 5 minutes)
3. Fill a large shallow bowl 1/2 way with hot water. Layer two rice-paper wrappers together with the textured sides touching, and slide them into the water. Let them soak for 30 to 45 seconds, or until softened all over. Remove them from the water, and lay them out flat, one on top of the other, on a clean, dry cutting board.
4. Place a small amount of the noodle mixture in the middle of the wrapper, leaving about an inch of space on the right and left sides. Layer on a small amount of lettuce, a bit of the shredded carrot, two or three slices of shrimp, a few slices of radish, and a bit of the basil or mint.
5. Fold the bottom portion of the wrapper up and over the filling, keeping it as snug as possible without letting the filling slide upward. Fold the right and left sides of the wrapper over the filling, and then roll the spring roll slowly, away from you, to create a log.
6. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

The trick is to keep the softened wrapper snug without a.) tearing it or b.) slopping the filling out of it. Tip: You need less filling than you think! Since you've soaked the cellophane noodles in the sauce, you don't need to pack sauce on the side, which makes this a great lunch box meal.

(Image is from MyRecipes.com.)

Do more with less: Bringing your lunch to work

We're always looking for ways to save money; bringing your own lunch to the office can save you a bundle, even taking into consideration the fact that you'll be buying more groceries. You'll save even more if you learn to love leftovers.

At The 36-Hour Day I've offered up five easy-to-make, easy-to-pack, easy-on-the-wallet, and easy-on-the-waistline lunches to consider:

Steak and Bleu salad: Fresh greens, cherry tomatoes, and thin slivers of leftover london broil, pot roast, or even shredded roast beef from the deli. Fill a small container with bleu cheese dressing and drizzle it over the salad just before you eat it. (Don’t have any small jars? A zip-top plastic bag can keep the dressing contained; to drizzle, snip of part of one corner with scissors and squeeze like a pastry bag.)

Chips and dip: Believe it or not, low-salt tortilla chips, a small bowl of refried beans, and a small bowl of guacamole can be a perfectly healthy (and filling) lunch. Make your own beans, or choose a premade version without lard to keep the fat content low.

Deconstructed sandwich: The thing I dislike about sandwiches that they always fall apart when I try to take a bite — usually spilling something ugly onto my shirt or jacket. Packing the components seperately can mitigate the mess, and it tastes as a good. My current favorite: smoked turkey, thinly sliced Granny Smith apple, cheddar cheese, and marble rye bread.

Bag o’ snacks. Sometime, I don’t even have time for lunch, but its easy to keep hunger at bay if I graze throughout the day. Apple slices, peanut butter, dried fruit, nuts, carrot sticks, celery sticks, whole-grain crackers, and some low-fat string
cheese fit the bill. Too much like what’s in your child’s lunchbox? Think “appetizers” instead of snacks, and pack frozen potstickers (Trader Joe’s has some good ones), breadsticks wrapped with ham, cubes of cheese, and slices of bell pepper with dressing as a dip.

Fried rice. Transform leftovers at home into fried rice and bring it to work. It’s easy: Leftover rice + slivers of leftover chicken or a quickly scrambled egg + the odds and ends of leftover veggies + soy sauce + sesame oil. Heat in a pan — or, if you’re really out of time, in the microwave at work.

Be sure to click over to The 36-Hour Day to read the comments; people are offering up some great ideas, many of which I'll definitely be trying out!

Growing security and comfort in the garden

I'm no good at gardening -- my thumbs are not green so much as they are the killer thumbs of doom when it comes to plants. So, my wanna-be farmer husband does the tilling and the planting and the maintenance, and I come along a few months later and harvest and pickle and can.

It's a system that works well for us, given that he's great at starting projects and I'm The Queen of Procrastination but good at tying up loose ends.

At The 36-Hour Day, I take a look at our garden, and realized that we've got a few other things growing in the raised beds along with the heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and pole beans:

This morning, I looked out at the raised beds and saw the small leaves sticking out of the rich compost and dirt and felt… secure. Comforted. Relieved. If all goes well, a good garden means a full pantry at the end of the summer, and that means a lot when times are looking tough.

Sure, I could always run to the grocery store. But homegrown green beans have spoiled me for the kind that comes from a water-spritzed bin. It’s a rush to run outside and pick veggies for that night’s salad. And there’s a certain satisfaction that comes from reaching into a cupboard and pulling out a jar of something you made yourself.

Not just satisfaction, I’ll admit; there’s a feeling of having control over something in
an out-of-control world. I can’t control the economy, but I can save money and eat locally out of my own backyard. I can’t control the artificial ingredients in processed foods, but I can control what I’m stirring into a bubbling pot of jam. I can’t control what’s going on at the office, but I can fill my pantry with jars of homemade pickles and chutneys and sauces, getting a jump start on Christmas gifts I probably won’t be
able to afford to buy a few months from now.

Do you garden? Have you always, or is the economy making the decision for you?

Do your kids get an allowance?

Does getting an allowance teach kids to manage money, or does it just condition them to expect a handout? Should you tie the allowance in to chores, or should chores be considered a non-negotiable family responsibility? And how much should a 10-year-old get, anyway?

When I was a kid, my dad used to solemnly dole out a dollar a week to me and my two brothers. Every Sunday, after dinner, we'd wait for my father to take that last sip of wine, fold his napkin, and reach into his pocket for his wallet so we could line up next to his chair and get our weekly allowance.

Kids today get much more. Some experts suggest that you give them $1 per week for each year of age -- which means that I'd be shelling out $44 a week for my five children, which means I'd soon go broke. Others suggest paying kids for the chores they do around the house, which means that some weeks my 13-year-old would be rich while my 15-year-old would be destitute. Or vice versa.

David McCurrach, founder of KidsMoney.org, says that giving kids an allowance is an essential step in helping them learn to manage money. "If your kids don't get allowances, you are managing their money for them by deciding what they will buy and what they will do," McCurrach writes. "Their role is salesperson and manipulator."

In order to determine how much to hand out each week, McCurrach says you should first figure out how much money you already give them and then decide what you expect them to pay for
themselves. "Keep in mind the fact that kids have three uses for their money -- spending, saving and sharing," he writes. "Consider all three areas when you are coming up with the amount."

If you have never discussed money with your kids and you need to now in order to handle a financial crisis, keep things open and honest, upbeat, and to-the-point. Sharing household budget constraints can make it easier to save money and lets kids feel like they’re helping, Myvesta Foundation president Steve Rhode told Reuters recently.

Older kids can benefit from lessons in budgeting and a carefully monitored trial run in the real world. "If your teen blew all of her money on a new outfit at the beginning of the month and now doesn't have enough left to go to the movies with friends, be sympathetic but don't bail her out," says the parenting editor at eHow.com. "Explain to your teen how checks and credit cards work, and how banks operate. Be sure to mention interest payments and service charges."

While it seems to make sense to offer an allowance in exchange for doing chores around the house, experts contend that doing so might actually get in the way of teaching your child good money management skills. "Chores should be considered a family responsibility that should not be associated with money. Also, kids may not do their chores if they only have to give up a small allowance" or if the amount they're getting is not consistent, an article at MoneyInstructor.com advises.

Parents are split over the allowance-for-free vs. allowance-for-chores issue. If it's essential to you to tie allowances to chores in some way, consider these compromises:

1.) Give extra money for extra work. Kids can get a base allowance each week, and have opportunities to earn more money by completing extra chores. Use a chore chart to determine the value of additional chores or to help kids keep themselves on schedule.

2.) Make chores mandatory, but easy. Designate as "chores" some of the
things you want them to learn to do by themselves anyway -- brushing their teeth
twice a day, making their beds, putting their dirty laundry in the hamper instead of on the floor of their rooms.

3.) Earn something other than money. If you use an allowance to teach kids about money, use a point system to teach kids that there are rewards that come with hard work. Handipoints offers a system that allows parents to customize chore charts and set goals for kids, who earn points that they can trade in online.

Whatever you do, it's imperitive that you talk to your kids about finances. If you have never discussed money with your kids and you need to now in order to handle a financial crisis, keep things open and honest, upbeat, and to-the-point.