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How To Give School Lunches Good Grades
The school year is new, but early grades for brown bag lunches have not been promising in my home. For example, servings of leftover lasagna recently failed the lunchroom test. The pasta tasted great, but looked unappealing in a small sandwich bag, the kids said.
It's a challenge to assemble lunches that are nutritious, tasty and frugal. Aria Kagen, co-owner D'lish, a private chef company, offers these tips:
— Be a cookie-cutter. Update boring sandwiches with interesting shapes. Kagen uses cookie cutters to style sandwiches in to unusual shapes. Even tuna fish or peanut butter can appear exciting when shaped into hearts or stars.
What Airports, Hotels & Places Offer Free Wi-Fi?
I am trying to fly home to South Florida from Pittsburgh. My flight is delayed due to weather in Atlanta, where I have a connecting flight. But Pittsburgh International Airport has free Wi-Fi, which is making this long delay productive.
Free Wi-Fi is important, and if I have a choice between two airports in a region, I will book the cheapest flights in airports with free Wi-Fi. I am assembling a list: Which airports, hotels, cafes and stores have free Wi-Fi? Please leave a comment, with your travel experiences.
I will also make constant updates.
Aiports:
Pittsburgh International Airport (If you have to be stuck in an airport, this one is great!)
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Hotels:
Kiplinger.com: 10 Things to Avoid Buying for College Students
When I was a college freshmen, I wanted to buy every item listed on the school shopping list. But there is no need for parents or students to snap up every item on the shopping list, according to Kiplinger.com’s list of "10 Things College Students Don’t Need." Here's a sample from that list:
"1. New Textbooks. To avoid paying unfathomable new-book prices, see whether your university offers a rental program — or rent from a Web site such as Chegg.com, where you can save up to 85%. Order the book for a one-time fee—for example, about $60 plus shipping for a $180 calculus book—keep it for a semester, then return it with free shipping, or you could buy it. Or, head to the used-book lot. For example, BigWords.com searches the Web for the best prices on used textbooks.
Shopping Alarms About Kids & Money: A Grocery Store Lesson
An alarm went off when my friend Yael recently paid for her groceries. It was a basic transaction. She paid for the food with a debit card and requested cash back.
However, when her pre-school son watched the exchange of plastic for food and cash, a siren sounded. "Mommy," he shouted. "You won a prize." Alarmed, Yael decided it was time to teach him more about money.
Nationwide, other parents are finding gaps in their children's financial education. For instance, according to a recent T. Rowe Price survey, nearly 60 percent of parents feel as if they should be doing more to school their children about finances. Here are a few lesson plans:
How To Get Free E-Books
During a recent bus ride, Jessica Goldstein, a fellow passenger, was staring into her cell phone. But she was not sending out text messages or checking e-mail. Classic literature had bookmarked her attention.
Goldstein, a technical writer, uses her cell phone as an electronic book gadget. She downloads free books through Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org, a nonprofit organization that enables readers to download free electronic copies of books onto desktop computers, smart phones or palm organizers.
"It's like going to the library on a bus," Goldstein told me as she read "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzche.
Money-Saving Driving Tips for Labor Day Weekend
If a road trip is on your map for the Labor Day Weekend, consider these frugal, fuel-efficient driving tips from the Drive Smarter Challenge video contest:
"Decrease your speed. Gas mileage usually decreases rapidly above 60 mph. Each five miles per hour over 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents or more per gallon for gas.
Drive sensibly. Speeding, rapid acceleration (jackrabbit starts), and rapid braking can lower gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds.
Use cruise control and overdrive gear. Cruise control cuts fuel consumption by maintaining a steady speed during highway driving. Overdrive gear, when appropriate, reduces engine speed, saves gas, and reduces engine wear.
Win $5,000 With Frugal Road Tips: A Video Contest
Want to win $5,000 with your video camera? This announcement offers energy-saving driving tips and a chance to win money and other prizes.
"It's the dog days of August, one of the heaviest time frames for road trips – what with travel to universities across the country combined with the "last hurrah" of summer vacations leading into the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Sales Clerk Offers Inside View: 'We're Supposed to Befriend Kids'
Do some sales clerks try to pal around with tween shoppers in an effort to get the kids to spend more money? Yes, says one reader, a sales clerk, who offers a great reply to the post: Telling My Daughter the Truth about Her New 'Friend,' The Salesclerk!
Here's one sales clerk's story:
I was hired about a month or so ago at a 'tween clothing store, and I've come to find it not so much my cup of tea. We're supposed to make "friends" with the girl and adult, or the girl[s], and try to sell them as much stuff as we can, by talking to them, or even looking at what they have, and bringing more stuff that matches/accessorizes/looks similar, and show it to them and so on.
Guest Post: Consumers Union: Beware of Prepaid Card Pitfalls
Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, offers this guest post on the dangers of prepaid cards:
"While prepaid cards are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to check cashers and traditional bank accounts, a new Consumers Union report finds that the cards come with high fees and don’t offer consumers the same kinds of protections as other forms of plastic payment.
Prepaid cards are reloadable cards that can be used to make payments similar to debit cards and are becoming the foundation of a second tier banking system used by a growing number of low income consumers.
Here's a link to the full report about prepaid cards.
Thrifty Reader Seeks Help: Spoiled Kids & Too Many Yard Sales!
What do you tell a thrifty mom who thinks her kids are spoiled? That scenario recently landed in my e-mail box. Here's the note:
Hi, I am concerned because I finally realized how spoiled my kids are. I've been buying them whatever they liked, although it's from thrift stores and yard sales. Because it's so cheap, I get them more than five things.
I find my 8-year-old son being un-appreciative, unresponsible and rude, and I think this could be why. Now the house is full of toys, and I don't know where to start. How to unspoil? I am overwhelmed. Do you know what I should read? How do I start, please?
Please chime in with tips, links and resources. Thanks!
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