Budgets

If you couldn't resist buying a box or two of Thin Mints or Samoas (both are favorites in my house) from a Girl Scout recently, don't feel bad. These pint-sized dynamos have honed sales skills that rival those of some of the most savvy adult professionals. If fact, some Scouts sell thousands of boxes per year.

"I have no doubt my top sellers will become very successful business women someday," says Kim Lasden, a troop "cookie mom" in Chicago. "These girls could teach Wall Street a thing or two."

If you're a homeowner, go outside after dinner and count the cars parked in driveways, on the street and in garages. Divide that number by the number of households on your walk. Got a number close to two, or more? You've got a situation ripe for foreclosure, according to a statistical analysis conducted by the National Resources Defense Council. What's more, car ownership is a better predictor of foreclosure than average credit scores, income or a host of demographic factors; it's the best predictor of all, the NRDC concludes.

When a recent Nielsen report published in the Boston Globe said sales of grocery chains' own discount brands had increased 8% since 2007, I thought the number was conservative. Who is going to sweat the negligible difference in packaging and quality -- if any -- when buying ketchup when the rent is due?

So I talked to Bob Peterkins, a manager at a Foodtown in Brooklyn, N.Y. He estimated that in the last year alone, his store experienced a 20% rise in sales of products with the Foodtown label. The chain has supermarkets in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

For those of you who want spectacular scenery without paying a dime, tonight you may notice something unusual about the moon -- it's huge and glowing gold.

The moon, called a wolf moon, will appear about 30% brighter and 15% bigger, mainly because it's at the closest point to the Earth. The planet Mars will also join the moon in a miniature light show, appearing to the naked eye like a bright orange star nearly as bright as Sirius -- the brightest the planet has been in two years.

The moon will be at its closest at 4:04 a.m. EST Saturday -- only 221,577 miles from Earth. A standard SLR camera with a telephoto lens will be enough to capture the view, and binoculars will help you spot the moon and Mars, as well as a beehive star cluster between the two of them.

According to National Geographic, the large moon is an optical illusion but nonetheless is still reputed to be spectacular, especially near the horizon. This closeness to the earth is called perigee, and will also create higher tides -- making canoodling near the ocean tonight doubly exciting. Scientists say the view at sunset will be even better.

Although there are many full moon myths out there -- including that it causes insanity and werewolves running amok -- the reality is less than conclusive. The werewolf thing really hasn't ever been true. The term "wolf moon" is Native American in origin, taken from the association of wolves howling in the cold winter night.

We all know something's not right. That despite the promises made to us since childhood, we do not, in fact, have it better than our parents did.

Home values have tanked. Gasoline is up, food is up, healthcare, college tuition, even heating fuel, all up, up, up. Meanwhile, unemployment is at 10% and holding (it's actually much higher if you count everyone out of work). Those in the middle class who did save dutifully for retirement saw their investments plummet along with the economy in 2008. Life for America's middle class has become less about security and more about fear.

So it was with particular interest that the nation listened to President Obama's State of the Union address, which focused on the travails of the middle class. We asked five WalletPop staffers -- middle-class parents all -- to react to the speech with their thoughts on what the middle class in America really needs.

New year, new you? If resolutions for 2010 include hitting the refresh button on your personal style, let's start at Ground Zero -- your closet. Forge ahead with that diet and exercise plan, but if you're looking for a quick fix (and who isn't) let's talk tweaking.

For most of us, a brand new wardrobe isn't in the (credit) cards this year. Luckily, clever is the new cool and 2010's "it" girls will be the ones who know what clothes to keep and which new pieces to add. When even the First Lady is photographed wearing the same dress more than once, times have definitely changed. The trick is to make sure you look really, really good in that dress.

A mini-budget can have maximum impact when style-seekers know what's worth the money, and what isn't.

Fads: buy low. Remember leg warmers? Clothes that are the equivalent of a one night stand don't need to endure the test of time. Don't overspend for a fashionable flash-in-the-pan. Think fun, flirty, but not forever. 2010 fad alert: harem pants (don't say I didn't warn you), hair bows, jumpsuits, corsets, long vests, floppy "paper-bag" waists, 70's style "dolphin" shorts, and anything worn by Lady Ga Ga..

Love and money should be reserved for classic pieces that promise to live up to their price tag, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Except in cases of true investment dressing (i.e. Chanel suit or Valentino LBD) "til death" might be pushing it. These are the things to reach for when you want to feel the confidence that comes when clothes fit right and flatter perfectly. However, just because a piece is the strong, reliable type doesn't mean it has to be boring. Some clothes just ooze quality, and that can usually be attributed to good fabric, thoughtful details and workmanship. These are the items worth rescuing from a fire.

This spring, several trends promise to go the distance.

It is an unfortunate truth that those who can least afford to lose money are often targeted by businesses (and scams) intent on taking advantage of their weak position.

The folks at Mint.com put together an excellent graphic presentation of how lower income people get caught up in difficult situations and pay dearly called "The Shaft: How Companies Prey on the Poor." The raw deals users get with payday loans, "repair" credit cards and renting to own are detailed by the artist behind WallStats.com.

See it here. Be patient, the image is large and, depending on your browser, you might have to click on it to expand it for viewing.

It's a good primer on the perils of doing business with those who cater to those with lower incomes and the credit-challenged.

American Apparel has taken some heat over the past few years for its scandalous ad campaigns and the allegedly-pervy tendencies of founder Dov Charney, the man behind them. Yet the chain continues to experience a Starbucks-like manifest destiny, popping up in every corner of the country.

The reason? American Apparel exceeds at churning out irresistible basics, the kind of items that you squint at on the hanger, thinking: What's the big deal? It's just a plain blue t-shirt. Then you take a chance and take it home -- and that unassuming top somehow becomes the MVP of your wardrobe.

Which is a good thing, since the downside of shopping at American Apparel is that the stuff is always about $20 more than you expect it to be. (The company practices fair trade, which is great -- but it doesn't change the fact that sometimes you just can't spend $28 on a pair of leggings.)

Enter Old Navy. From the looks of the current offerings -- I'm just home from its Herald Square store in NYC -- the mega-chain is out to beat American Apparel's signature hipster basics this spring. And it's doing it -- you guessed it -- for less. Below, some side by side comparisons that could save you a lot of money.

I was washing dishes and listening to NPR when Michelle Singletary came on to introduce a "21-day financial fast." At first I was excited with the idea, tinged as it was with the overtones of spirituality (my dad, an ordained minister, is a big lover of the food sort of fasting) and the whole concept of living within one's means. Singletary's rules go like this: except for food and medicine (and of course, utilities and contracted housing costs and other monthly non-negotiables), no purchasing. No plastic, not even a debit card. No purchases at all, unless it's keeping you alive and out of debtor's prison, not even gifts. Much like the alcoholic who's banned from bars when she joins AA, you may not go to malls. You may not window shop. Not even Marshall's! (I made up that last part, but it seems right.)

A larger share of men in 2007, as compared to 1970, are married to women whose education and income exceed their own, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of demographic and economic trend data. A larger share of women are married to men with less education and income.

From an economic perspective this is a role reversal from the past. A generation ago, when relatively few wives worked, marriage enhanced the economic status of women more than that of men. Most men got married assuming little or no help financially in supporting their families.

In recent decades, however, the economic gains associated with marriage have been greater for men than for women. It looks like women have become "the sugar mommies."

Gay marriage may be gaining support; not because of a shift in philosophical or moral values, but because states need the bucks. According to a recent study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, the law allowing same-sex couples to marry in Maine would have boosted the state budget approximately $8 million per year. This net impact would result from an increase in state income and sales tax revenue as well as savings in expenditures on state public benefit programs.

In calculating the net benefit to the State, the study predicted that half of Maine's 4,644 same-sex couples, or 2,316 couples, would have married in the first three years of being able to do so. The study also projected that 15,660 non-resident same-sex couples would have come to Maine to marry. Reportedly, same-sex weddings and associated tourism could have generated $60 million in spending over three years, providing a boom to Maine's economy.

Unfortunately for the state coffers, voters overturned the same sex marriage legislation last November.

New York Gov. David Paterson is looking to legalize mixed martial arts, also called ultimate fighting, as a way to help balance the state's estimated $7.4 billion deficit for the upcoming budget year.

Don't bet on MMA fighter Kimbo Slice coming to New York to debate any legislators against the idea, although a stare-down from the Mr.T look-alike with state senators in Albany would be worth a pay-per-view event.

It's a popular and violent sport of hand-to-hand combat that Peterson thinks could bring some revenue to his state. I've never been to an MMA event or watched one on TV, but a few years ago during the baseball playoffs I couldn't get a seat at a bar in California because the place was filled for a fight that was to be televised within an hour.

Heidi Montag is looking for a new body and she is willing to pay big bucks to get it. Reportedly, she had 10 procedures done in the month of November to look "perfect." According to People Magazine, she did all the procedures in one day because she did not want to go under anesthesia multiple times. The procedures she had done included:

• Mini brow lift
• Botox in forehead and frown area
• Nose job revision
• Fat injections in cheeks, nasolabial folds and lips
• Chin reduction
• Neck liposuction
• Ears pinned back
• Breast augmentation revision
• Liposuction on waist, hips, and inner and outer thighs
• Buttock augmentation

That's a lot of surgery, and a lot of money. According to national averages by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, these procedures would cost more than $30,000. This writer's guess is that all this "perfection" cost a lot more than that.

Yesterday was my first day of classes for the semester and with that came the syllabus for one class with a list of three books I needed. On Amazon, the three titles would have cost me a total of $103.52.

Instead, I'm getting them for free.

How'd I do it?

As soon as the class was dismissed, I made a beeline for the door and ran -- literally ran -- to the library, pushed several people out of the way to get access to a computer ... and put in requests for all three books from the library before another cheap classmate had the same idea.

I got copies of all three books, saved a hundred bucks, and managed to avoid subsidizing the evil textbook cartel.

If you have a student who's starting classes this week, please: send him this post, and you might be able to avoid demands for textbook money.