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A couple months ago, Clark brought in a story about off-brand and generic soft drinks. People interviewed said there is no reason to pay more for name brand soft drinks when the off brands are just as good and much cheaper. He wanted to know if it was really true. So, the staff conducted a blind taste of various soft drinks in our show staff meeting. The number one choice was Pepsi. Three people picked it. In second place was Wal-Mart’s brand, Sam’s Choice, the largest selling private label soft drink product in the country. Coke, Big K (the Kroger brand), RC and the Publix brand of cola each got one vote. So, it’s clear that you may like the off brand choices if you give them a shot. So, do your wallet a favor and try them out.

Once a year, you probably get an escrow statement from your mortgage company. The document shows you how much you paid in taxes that year. Based on how much you paid, you find out how much your new escrow payment is. Trying to understand how they get that number is pretty difficult, and most people just buy that what they’re told is true. But you really should try to understand what the statement says. Mortgage companies traditionally “over escrow.” You take your real estate taxes plus your insurance and you add them up. Then divide by 12. Then, mortgage lenders are able to take an additional 16 percent in overage. So, that total is what they should take from you each month. Also, HUD – the Department of Housing and Urban Development – has a display on its site that helps explain everything. Keep in mind, also, that in the mortgage business, mortgage lenders forget to pay your taxes on time. Penalties and interest can accrue because of that. So, banks often debit your escrow account for any extra charges and fees that they forgot to pay. It happens all the time and it’s your money. Your bank owes you that money.

A story in Better Homes & Gardens caught Clark’s attention recently. It was about how neighborhoods are setting up their own teaching co-ops. The people in the neighborhood basically talk about their skills strengths and then swap services with each other. The bigger affect, of course, is that neighborhoods are once again getting to know each other. The sense of community is growing again because of these groups. Christa, Clark’s executive producer, lives in a neighborhood like this and she loves it. She recently went to a party where everyone wore nametags that also listed services they could offer. Some walk dogs or fix computers, while others offer sewing lessons or music lessons. To find out more, go to timedollar.org. And the best part is that it’s cheap!

If you don’t use electronic bill pay, you probably mail your checks using your home mailbox. You put the check in the box, raise the red flag and a few weeks later you get a notice from your credit card company saying it hasn’t been paid. Did it get lost in the mail? Maybe. But more likely a criminal stole your mail and has taken the check with your personal information and account information. One of the easier low-tech crimes out there is mailbox theft. It can happen in an instant and the letter carrier is none the wiser. The criminals can very easily alter the check and cash it. You stand a good chance of losing that money if you are a business customer. Business owners are held to a higher standard to take care of those matters. If the payment if for a credit card, it’s even worse. The criminal can start using your credit card almost immediately by ordering a new card and putting a new magnetic strip on it. So, what should you do? Follow the advice of the Federal Communications Commission. When you are mailing things, put the items in a secure mailbox. Do not put them in an open box and raise the red flag. If you choose to buy checks from the bank, have them delivered to your bank branch, not to your mailbox. Checks that fall into the wrong hands can be a financial and possibly criminal disaster for you.

Toy makers are going crazy creating toys that take imagination away from kids. There is a huge advantage to playing with traditional toys, in Clark’s opinion. Each year in his TV work, Clark does a toy test with children. He gathers classic toys as well as trendy ones. Kids first gravitate to the new-fangled gizmos and toys that are heavily marketed at the time. But they eventually grow bored and gravitate toward the classics. These include building blocks, bicycles, footballs and Lincoln Logs. It’s not even three months passed Christmas and new toys are already on the shelf for the holidays. About 70 percent of the toys for Christmas 2004 are computer based. Regardless of what your kid wants, keep the classics in mind. Let them engage their minds with toys before bogging them down with technology. When Clark’s 4–year-old daughter talks to her stuffed animals, Clark likes it because she’s using her imagination and her mind is developing. When the animals talk back, it’s both creepy and unimaginative.

If your parents are 65 or older, Congress passed a Medicare prescription benefit last year that allows seniors to get a discount on prescriptions. The program isn’t going to start for a while, but, as a transition, seniors will get discount drug cards. But the AARP wants you to know that there are scam artists trying to dupe people with phony cards. The soonest cards are available will be this summer, and the discounts may be as little as high as 25 percent. The companies offering the legitimate cards have been approved by Medicare and will have an official Medicare seal on them. So, don’t pay anyone for a card until summer and you see the real seal on the cards. Clark will announce again when they are in circulation.

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Companies are also going to start tagging medicines with RFID technology. These are radio frequency tags that will verify that a medicine was made in a laboratory and will display when it was made. It will take a couple years to phase in, but you will know exactly where your medicines have been. The FDA is pushing this because the agency spends so much time tracking down counterfeit medications, according to the Washington Post. These tags are designed to prevent this fake medicine from ending up on your body.