Tag Archives: family

Putting a dent in family travel

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Besides family time, one of the concerns about starting school before Labor Day is that it would cut into family travel… and ultimately the tourism and hospitality industry. And that’s a big deal in Duluth.

Well, it’s true, according to a University of Minnesota study.

The study by the university’s tourism center looked at the behavior of families in five states. It found that when school starts are moved to before Labor Day, the following happens:

**Family trips of two or more nights drop by 50 percent in August or September.

**Families travel 30 percent less all summer long.

That suggests that some families  are, indeed, foregoing summer trips when the school year starts before Labor Day.

The study collected information about family travel in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Virginia as they adjusted to changing school start times.

Getting married? Don’t forget the prenup!

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Well, I suppose Star Jones should know.

Among the deluge of e-mails we get here at the DNT every day, came one recently with advice from Star Jones. She’s the attorney-turned-”The View” TV host-turned author-turned… well, whatever she’s doing these days.

Apparently her over-the-top wedding and short-lived marriage, makes her advice on prenuptial agreements for professional women more credible.

She never says whether she got a prenup herself, but as the national spokeswoman for the National Association of Professional Women, Jones provides the following advice:

Who needs one?

–People who have children from a previous marriage.

–People who own a business or are a partner in a business, law firm or medical practice.

–People who own significant assets or property.

–People who have much more money than their future spouses.

While a prenuptial agreement can derail the romantic start of a marriage, it establishes clear financial ground rules for the union and results in a fair division of assets if the marriage ends in divorce. It also preserves the inheritance rights of children from previous marriages.

Jones says each one in the couple should have their own lawyer. Each must reveal all their assets and each must sign the document willingly. Oh, and this is interesting. If you’re the one with the dough, Jones says be sure your fiance has the better attorney… so he or she can’t come back later and claim ineffective counsel.

 

More from the real ‘Mad Woman’

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On changing times and the myth of having it all:

I had more from Jane Maas, author of “Mad Women,” than I could squeeze into today’s Business Monday story on her, her book and the successful AMC-TV series “Mad Men” about a New York City advertising agency in the 1960s.

In her recently released book, “Mad Women,” Maas tells it like it was for women like her who broke into the male-dominated industry then. Some have even said the show’s Peggy Olson character —   the first female copywriter for the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency — was based on Maas. But she’s not so sure.

Anyway, in an interview last week, Maas had some interesting observations about how things changed as the 1960s wore on and into the 1970s. That era after JFK’s assassination was a time of rapid and enormous cultural change with the Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement, Black power and gay rights movements and, finally, the women’s movement.

The Equal Rights Amendment didn’t pass then, but by the 1970s women felt they were able to do anything, Maas said. And as more women became advertising copywriters, the television commercials they wrote mirrored that belief. They showed women as astronauts, as chairman of the board, as the boss.

“Women weren’t really there yet, but they were written by women and portraying what we thought we could be, Maas said.

In the 1970s, women thought they could have it all, do it all — raise a family and have a successful marriage and career. All you needed was not to sleep and have the stamina of a bear, Maas said.

Of course, it was a myth, she says.

“Today we know you can’t have it all,” she said. “Most working mothers I speak with today know there’s a lot of guilt. If you’re at the office, you’re missing your kid’s play. If you do that, you’re missing a big meeting at the office. Therefore you’re guilty most of the time about something.”

Cloth diaper comeback

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Are you a new parent who would like to save money big-time and help the environment at the same time? Then consider using cloth diapers, says Joy Herbert of Duluth.

Herbert should know.

She’s saved up to $4,000 using cloth diapers with her young son and daughter and has started her newborn on them as well. And with each child on cloth diapers, 1.5 tons of disposable diaper waste is kept out of landfills, says Herbert who, with her husband, owns Little Neetchers, a home-based business selling cloth diapers.

And what better time than Earth Week to spread the word. So Little Neetchers will host a free Cloth Diapering Expo Friday at the Inn on Lake Superior in Canal Park.

The expo, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., will teach parents about the environmental benefits of using cloth diapers as well as the money savings. During the event, cloth diapers and diapering accessories will be given away.

 “We will also show off all the new types of cloth diapers and show parents how to use and wash them,” Herbert said. We want people to come and learn and see if cloth diapering is a green way of living that they would like to try.”

Modern cloth diapers don’t require the pins and the smelly soaking of years ago. Today’s washable diapers come in different styles and colors, with different absorbent linings with a cover that’s waterproof but not plastic. Some are washed separately, others come in one washable unit. Some have Velcro-style closings, others have snap closings to accommodate babies as they grow. And, Herbert says, they look cute on babies.

Little Neetchers, founded in 2009, last year won a prestigious Joel Labovitz Entrepreneurial Success Award in the micro-entrepreneur category. For more information about Little Neetchers, visit www.littleneetchers.com

 

 

Bizs boost Lakewalk Fest

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“All the hotels are involved,” says Kristi Stokes. “A lot of businesses have stepped up.”

Like a lot of festivals, the Duluth Lakewalk Festival which kicks off tonight started modestly. But it’s been growing. Now, in its third year it seems poised to turn into one of those seasonal marker events in town.

“It’s just a real big hit for families,” says Stokes who is president of the Greater Downtown Council, one of the festival sponsors. “The family-oriented activities have been attracting a lot of families, both ours as well as visitors’.”

The free festival starts  at 7:30 tonight with a outdoor showing of “Toy Story 3″ in Leif Erikson Park. Events continue from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday along the Lakewalk from Canal Park to Fitger’s.  More fun will be near the Lakewalk at 47th Avenue East and Superior Street.

Besides the usual kids activities, there will be disc golf, rock painting, fishing holes and fire engine tours. Zumba fitness and UMD men’s hockey players will be on hand at Lake Place Park. Gather enough stamps at stops along the Lakewalk and get free ice cream. And there’s a medallion hunt based on clues posted this week at www.95kqds.com/what’sup.

The Canal Park hotels have embraced the festival this year.

“We had them involved before, but they’re more heavily involved,” Stokes says. “They’re doing their own activities.”

That’s also true in Lakeside where businesses and groups have stepped up and are hosting activities. You’ll find it off the Lakewalk at 47th Avenue East  at the Essentia Health parking lot. And you can take a free ride on the North Shore Scenic Railroad to get there from Lake Place Park and Fitger’s. The train will run every half hour.

With a dog theme, pooches are welcome at the Lakeside happening, said Lakeside co-chair Bobbi Muncy of Edward Jones, 4433 E. Superior St.. That  includes a Top Dog contest at 2 p.m. (bring your dog),  puppy pools (bring your puppy), a bounce house, balloons and facepainting (bring your kids), goodies and other surprises.

And with Matilda’s Dog Bakery and Boutique nearby, there’ll be a lot of dog biscuits, Muncy says

 

Waste not

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Who would have guessed that if we wasted less food, we would help the planet big time.

Americans waste nearly 40 percent of all the food produced in the United States, while recycling only 3 percent of it, according to Jonathan Bloom, who wrote “American Wasteland.”

That means 97 percent is ending up in landfills. And that’s not good.

“When we send food to landfills, it rots and emits methane which is a greenhouse gas that’s more than 20 times as potent as trapping heat as carbon dioxide,” he said. “So essentially we’re aiding climate change through our waste bins.”

The solution, of course, is to waste less food  and compost what food we do waste. Besides Mother Earth, there’s another good reason to do that. You’ll save lots of money.

The average family of four throws away $2,200 worth of food a year, Bloom said on a recent Clark Howard consumer show on the Headline News channel. That’s about $185 per month lost and one-half pound of food wasted per day.

So reduce your food garbage and you’ll save money. For those who can’t resist the urge to keep the fridge stocked, he offers these tips:

—Keep everything in sight in the fridge.

—Use clear containers.

—Put older foods in front and newer foods in the back.

—Use shopping lists at the store and stick to them.

—Put notes on food items, noting their costs, as an incentive to use them.

 

Tax filers miss these credits

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If you already filed your income tax returns, this is too late for you. So move on to other news.  But if you are a procrastinating tax filer who waits to the last days to do your taxes, read on…

Lots of us are missing out on tax savings by not taking credits that we’re entitled to, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service points out.

A big one is the Earned Income Tax Credit for households with less than $48,362 income in 2010. Credits — based on filing status, income and number of children — range from $457 (for taxpayers without kids) to $5,666 (for those with three or more children).

Child Tax Credit: For each dependent child under 17, taxpayers could claim up to $1,000.

Additional Child Tax Credit: If you didn’t use all the child tax credit and you made at least $3,000 last year, you can get a credit of up to $1,000 per child.

American Opportunity Tax Credit: A credit of up to $2,500 is available for higher education expenses, including tuition, books, fees and software.

Alternate Motor Vehicle Credit: If you buy a new vehicle that uses a qualifying alternate fuel, you may be eligible for this credit.

And there’s more good news for you procrastinators. The deadline for filing this year has been extendd to Monday, April 18.

A Thanksgiving bargain?

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The American Farm Bureau Federation is boasting that Thanksgiving dinner is a bargain this year, because it costs less than it did two years ago and is up only slightly from last year.

(Hang in there, I’ll  get to the “but” in a moment).

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people costs $43.47 this year. That’s $1.14 less than 2008’s cost of $44.61. This year’s price tag is just 56 cents more than last year, thanks to relatively stable food prices, according to the federation.

“At $4.35 per person, our traditional Thanksgiving feast is still a better deal than most fast-food value meals, plus it’s a wholesome, home cooked meal,” said John Anderson, a federation economist said in a statement.

Granted, we’re talking about a turkey dinner with all the trimmings — bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, relish tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, beverages with enough for plenty of leftovers. And that beats fast food any day.

But what isn’t mentioned, is that the 2008 prices were the most expensive since the federation began its annual price surveys in 1986.  And this year’s cost for turkey dinner is the second highest  recorded.

The survey’s low point came in 1987, when Thanksgiving dinner cost just $24.51. The price has gradually increased over the years.

Here’s a closer look at 2010 Thanksgiving dinner prices:

What’s down

– 16-pound turkey costs $17.66, down $1

– Green peas, down 14 cents a pound

– Cubed bread stuffing, down 1 cent for a 14-ounce package

What’s up:

– Milk, up 38 cents per gallon

– Pumpkin pie mix, up 17 cents for a 30-ounce can

– Pie shells, up 12 cents for two

– Whipping cream, up 15 cents per half-pint

– Three pounds of sweet potatoes, up 7 cents

– Relish tray, up 5 cents

– Brown-n-serve rolls, up 4 cents a dozen

Total cost: $43.27, up 56 cents

New parents, do this first

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So you’re a new parent or a soon-to-be one.

Beyond day-to-day expenses to provide for your family, what should you be doing to ensure a secure future?

Start a savings plan? Get life insurance? Start a college fund?

Nope.

None of the above,  says Clark Howard, this blogger’s favorite money expert for regular folks. What you need to do first is make sure you and your spouse have wills. Wills aren’t just for divvying up money, property and possessions after you’re gone.

“If something terrible did happen to you and your wife, you need to set out in a will who would  see to raising your child for you,” Howard said on a recent edition of his cable show.

Once you get that will taken care of, then focus on life insurance. Adequate life insurance provides for your children up to age 18 and provides for a surviving spouse if one parent should die.

“You’re going to need money to provide for child care that maybe you could have provided yourselves,” he said.

After a will and life insurance, then comes savings.