The Chronic Consumer

I often eat or drink in my car as I’m running errands, driving my son to school, or commuting to my consulting job a few days per week. As such, I run the risk of spills and stains, which can be disastrous if I’m heading into a meeting or whatever. So I decided to buy a Tide to Go stain remover pen to keep in the glove box of my car just in case anything like this should happen when I’m on the road.

Tide to Go has been around for a few years now. I remember back when it first came out because it was featured in one of the tasks on the Martha Stewart version of The Apprentice. When Tide to Go launched, I was under the impression that it worked for a variety of stains, such as grass, blood, ink — the stuff you’d usually come across while doing laundry.

But no. The Tide to Go website clearly indicates that the product is designed to remove fresh non-greasy food and drink stains only.

I was a bit disappointed but I bought it anyway. Of course, I had to try it out at home to make sure it worked before I put it in the car. So I spilled some Diet Coke (what I’m most likely to be drinking in the car), mustard, and ketchup on an old white T-shirt for my test.

I followed the instructions on the Tide to Go pen (blot any excess residue, press the Tide to Go pen to the stain to release the cleaning solution, rub the solution throughout the stain, and let it dry), and waited to see what would happen.

My first test didn’t go so well — probably because I wasn’t quick enough at applying the Tide to Go pen. The packaging clearly says it works best on “fresh” stains, and that really is a key point. In my first round, where I kind of dallied a bit, I could still see a faint outline of where the stains were on the shirt. Tide to Go worked better than, say, just wiping with a wet cloth, but the stains were still noticeable.

In my second try, I spilled, blotted, and applied Tide to Go almost immediately. This went much better, and the product removed significantly more of the stain.

Overall, I do like Tide to Go and will continue to buy/use it. You just have to be sure that you apply it to stains as soon as humanly possible or you might be disappointed in the results.

Some celebrities are notorious for their shopping sprees and spending habits. Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno have massive car collections, while many young female stars seem to do nothing but shop for designer duds all day long.

Take Lindsay Lohan, for example. Apparently, none of those drug rehabs she’s attended have been able to do anything about her well-publicized shopping addiction. In nearly every single paparazzi photo I see of her these days, she’s carrying several shopping bags from upscale retailers.

It actually makes me wonder if these stores PAY Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and other frequent paparazzi targets to carry their bags around. After all, it would be guaranteed publicity since these young women can’t go anywhere without being photographed.

Hmm, if that’s the case, then I think I’m a little jealous! I would love to get paid to shop!!

My five-year-old son is a huge fan of the Mario Bros. characters from Nintendo, so when his birthday rolled around a short while ago, I figured he would enjoy trying Mario Party DS for his DS handheld gaming system.

I have to admit that I’ve never followed Mario-related game developments closely, so I didn’t realize that this was not the first incarnation of the Mario Party title. Apparently, this series of games dates back many years, and is a fan favorite.

Now that my son has been playing Mario Party DS for a few weeks, I’m ready to share my review with you.

First of all, this is one of the few DS games we have that actually works better in multiplayer mode. As the name suggests, Mario Party is meant to be enjoyed by two or more people, so I’ve frequently been roped into playing against my son.

In Party Mode, players choose a character, and then choose from one of five differently-themed game boards. The object of Party Mode is to have your character cruise around the board (after “rolling” a die) to collect stars, coins, and objects that you can use in your cause. After you roll the die, your character hops across the appropriate number of game spaces, and then either receives coins, loses coins, or goes shopping at the object store.

After each character takes a turn, everyone engages in one of dozens of different “mini games” in an effort to score more coins and stars. The mini games provide quite a variety of challenges, with some being far easier to accomplish than others. One of the easiest games requires that players simply press the “A” button repeatedly in order to see who can push the lead out of their mechanical pencil the fastest. One of the hardest games requires you to maneuver your character in an RC car across a space littered with obstacles.

While the mini games are fun to a point, I thought that having them crop up after every single turn was just far too much. Since there are 10 turns in a game, this made playing one game with just one other person take upwards of 30 minutes — definitely too long. I would rather see the mini games come up after every other turn in order to cut down on playing time.

At the end of the game, a few extra stars are rewarded for accomplishments such as covering the most ground, using the most coin hexes, etc, and then the player with the most stars emerges as the winner.

In addition to playing in Party Mode, it’s also possible to play the mini games on their own. My son loves doing either, so this game manages to keep him occupied.

Overall, I think Mario Party DS is a great game for kids, but a little too basic and boring for adults. I definitely recommend it to those of you with youngsters; just make sure you don’t join in on Party Mode unless you have a good 30 minutes to burn!

The slumping economy is having a mixed effect on sales for U.S. retailers. I read a Reuters article published last week saying that retailers posted a 1.9 percent gain overall, but those that target budget-minded shoppers tended to do better than purveyors of luxury goods.

So Wal-Mart and Costco did well, but retailers like Nordstrom posted losses for February.

Well, this shouldn’t come as any surprise, especially to those of us who shop a lot. When times are tough, we tighten our belts and hit Wal-Mart or Target. When things are going well, we can splurge on more expensive items.

It ain’t rocket science, you know! I just can’t believe that news organizations find this information to be… news.

There are a bunch of products on the market that are supposed to give you a quick energy boost, and since I’ve been feeling particularly sluggish lately, I’ve been thinking about trying a supplement or something.

I refuse to touch any of the energy drinks like Monster, Rockstar, Sobe, or Red Bull because I’ve heard those things are terribly hard on your kidneys. So I’m leaning towards energy pills or perhaps herbal teas. I don’t know how effective these types of products are, but honestly at this point I’m willing to try anything.

If you have any recommendations, please pass them along!

I’m not one of those pushy moms who’s always worried about what percentile their child fits into for various skills. I’m not out to prove that my kid is “gifted” or force him to be an overachiever. I’m more interested in making sure that he’s happy and healthy, and is, well, being a kid. After all, he’s just 5 years old!

That being said, however, I do see the value in educational toys that promote learning, which is why I recently purchased the LeapFrog Word Whammer. The Word Whammer is billed as a “machine that teaches how letter sounds blend together to make words.” Basically, it’s a toy that helps kids learn to spell simple three-letter words.

The Word Whammer comes with a base and a set of 32 letters (A-Z, plus a few doubles so kids can spell words like “mom” and “dad”. The base is magnetized, allowing it to be placed on the fridge for easy access (though my son just plays with this toy on the floor). The letters are magnetized as well, and fit nicely into one of three spaces in the base.

The Word Whammer can identify which letters are placed into the slots, thus allowing the toy to help kids build words.

There are three different modes of play to choose from. First, is the Letter Hunt, in which kids just place random letters into the slots. The Word Whammer reads the letter and then voices the phonetic sounds of the letters.

The second play mode is called Word Builder. This allows kids to put any three letters they like into the Word Whammer to try to spell their own words. If the kid spells a real word, the Word Whammer reads the word out loud. If the three letters don’t make a word, the Word Whammer just voices the phonetic sounds again.

The third play mode is called Word Hunt. In this mode, the Word Whammer prompts kids to spell words by saying, “Let’s hunt for the letters that spell the word ‘rib’. R-I-B, rib.” This is the mode that my son spends the most time playing right now.

The Word Whammer is recommended for kids aged 3 years and up, so I obviously purchased it a little late for my son. But it’s still a good buy for a child that age, especially since he’s still in preschool and hasn’t started kindergarten yet. He already knows the alphabet, so spelling short words like this is the next logical step in his reading development.

The words generated in Word Hunt mode are totally random, which means it takes a lot of playing time to get a repeat. And of course the only way to learn how to spell is by repetition, so I took it upon myself to type out a list of common words (mom, dad, dog, cat, car, etc.) that my son can spell over and over again. He has those words down pat already, so I’ll probably continue promoting spelling this way instead of waiting for Word Whammer to call out all of these words.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic toy that is sure to help kids learn the alphabet, phonics, and spelling. It was well worth the $19.99 that I paid for it at Amazon.com, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all parents with young kids who are just starting to learn their letters!

Even though I’m a Chicago Bears fan, I don’t particularly like the way a majority of the team’s fan apparel looks. Many items feature orange as the dominant color, but that shade just doesn’t look very good on me. As a result, I’m not shy about purchasing gear bearing the logos of a few other teams that I support.

One of those other teams is the San Diego Chargers. I don’t mind rooting for the Chargers because they rarely ever play the Bears in the regular season, so there’s no conflict there. Moreover, since the Chargers are on the West Coast, they usually play in the late games, which gives me another team to watch once the Bears are done.

Anyway, I recently purchased a San Diego Chargers Equipment Tee to add to my growing collection of NFL apparel. This particular t-shirt is navy blue, and is an officially licensed product made by Reebok. It has the words “San Diego Chargers” lettered across the front in high-density ink (meaning the letters are somewhat raised on the material). Just below that, the word “Equipment” appears in smaller lettering. Then the lightning bolt logo is right under that.

The t-shirt has the NFL Equipment shield just under the collar, and a Reebok logo on the left sleeve, both of which designate the shirt as an official product that NFL players themselves wear.

This Reebok equipment tee is made of 60% cotton and 40% polyester, and set me back $19.99 at an online retailer.

I’ve worn this shirt several times already, putting it through the washer and dryer each time. I’m happy to report that the color didn’t bleed at all, and there wasn’t any noticeable shrinkage from drying the material on high heat. Also, the lettering has not started to deteriorate yet, so the shirt still looks as good as new.

The bottom line: My San Diego Chargers Short-Sleeve Equipment Tee is a winner, and I recommend that you buy it if you’re a Bolts fan!

Taking prescription medications for a lengthy period of time can really take a toll on your bank account, so you really need to do all you can to limit your costs in this area — especially if you don’t have great health insurance coverage.

One way to cut costs on prescription meds is to ask your doctor if there’s a generic substitute for the drug in question. Using an over-the-counter example, you can save big money by buying generic store brand ibuprofen instead of name-brand pills like Motrin. The same principle holds true with prescription drugs (and there’s really no need for a brand name anyway).

A second way to save money on prescriptions is to enroll in medicare part d if you qualify. Under this program, you’d pay a monthly premium plus a yearly deductible, and then just a portion of your prescription costs.

The longest I’ve ever been on prescription medication was for three months, and I ended up paying out more than $500 during that time. I can’t imagine having to come up with that kind of money over and over again just to be able to get the medicine I need. I would definitely try to enroll in Medicare Part D instead.