Karen Varcoe

Consumer Sciences Specialists

University of California, Riverside – Cooperative Extension

The cost of living is on the increase.  The rumor is that over the next year you can expect price hikes on all forms of insurance, college expenses, heating costs, and taxes. 

Keeping that in mind, now might be a good time to implement some cost cutting strategies.  Small changes can add up to big savings.

Conserve More

-      Turn out the lights when you leave a room.

-     Buy energy efficient light bulbs.

-      Turn the heater or air conditioner down or off at night and when you are away from home.

-     Buy energy-efficient appliances.

-      Take shorter showers.

-     Fix leaky faucets.

-      Caulk and weather-strip doors and windows.

-      Clean or replace air-conditioning and heating filters monthly.

-      Recycle newspapers, aluminum cans, and plastics.

-      Combine errands to save gasoline.

-      Don’t pay ATM fees.  Use your bank’s ATM for free or get cash back from point-of-sales at places such as the grocery store.

-      Keep your car’s tires properly inflated to avoid unnecessary wear and tear and decreased fuel consumption.

Cut Back

-     Eat out less often.

-      Limit long distance calls.  Make toll and long distance calls on the weekend when rates are reduced or find a plan that gives you low rates all the time.

-      Don’t go over the minutes on your cell phone plan for calling or messaging.

-      Give up all unnecessary services on your telephone

-     Get the cheapest cable or satellite package available.

-      Rent a video or DVD instead of going to the movies.

-     Set a cost limit for gifts and stick to it.

-      Wash your own car.

-      Break costly habits such as smoking.

-      Reduce soda and alcohol consumption.

Use Alternate Resources

-     Car pool.

-      Drive a smaller car that costs less to operate.

-      Grow a garden.

-     Buy store brands instead of name brands.

-     Do more cooking from scratch.

-      Find a checking account without a monthly fee.

-      Don’t use credit unless you can pay the bill in full each month.

-     If you are paying off a credit card balance, try asking your credit card company to lower your interest rate.

-      Check into lowering your auto and homeowner’s insurance premiums by increasing your deductibles or qualifying for discounts.

-     Buy clothing that is washable

-     Use immunization clinics instead of going to your pediatrician for regular shots. 

-     Ask for generic drugs.

-     Use a mail order pharmacy that often sells prescriptions at a lower price, particularly for drugs you use regularly.

Ed Perry

Environmental Horticulture Farm Advisor

University of California Cooperative Extension

It’s a well-known fact that trees, shrubs, lawn and other landscape plants add much value to your property.  According to Diane Relf, Environmental Horticulture Specialist at Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension, landscaping is also one of the most cost-effective ways to enhance and sustain the quality of our environment.  These benefits are possible whether you live in the city, the suburbs, or the country.  In a Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension publication entitled “The Value of Landscaping” (Publication Number 426-721, revised 2001), Relf explains that increasing research is documenting the depth to which we benefit from plants.

Relf writes that some of the environmental benefits provided by landscape plants include:

• Plants Protect Water Quality: Proper landscaping reduces nitrate leaching from the soil into ground water.  Plants also reduce surface water runoff, keeping phosphorus and other pollutants out of our waterways and preventing septic system overload.
• Proper Landscaping Reduces Soil Erosion: A dense cover of plants and mulch holds soil in place, keeping sediment out of lakes, streams, storm drains and roads, and reducing flooding, mudslides, and dust storms.
• Plants Improve Air Quality: One tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, equaling 11,000 miles of car emissions.  Landscape plants, including shrubs and turf, remove smoke, dust, and other pollutants from the air.  One study showed that 1 acre of trees has the ability to remove 13 tons of particles and gases annually.
• Landscaping Lowers Summer Air Temperatures: According to the EPA, urban forests reduce urban air temperatures significantly by shading heat sinks (places where heat collects or builds up), such as buildings and concrete, and returning humidity to the air through evaporative cooling.  Trees shading homes can reduce attic temperatures as much as 40 degrees.
• Landscaping Conserves Natural Resources: Properly placed deciduous trees reduce house temperatures in the summer, allowing air conditioning units to run 2 to 4 percent more efficiently.  Deciduous trees also allow the sun to warm the house in the winter. Homes sheltered by evergreen windbreaks can reduce winter heat loss and are generally warmer than homes without such protection.  By using trees to modify temperatures and protect against wind, the amount of fossil fuels used for cooling and heating is reduced.
• Landscaping Screens Busy Streets: Well-placed plantings offer privacy and tranquility by screening out busy street noises and reducing glare from headlights.

Your home landscape will look most attractive and serve you best if you carefully plan and maintain your trees and shrubs.  A well-planned landscape will help with energy efficiency as well as providing other benefits for you, such as beautifying your yard, providing a habitat for birds and other wildlife and providing shade and wind protection for your outdoor activities.  And don’t forget, a nice landscape also improves the value of your property!

 Early Care Ensures Fruitful Trees

February 2, 2004

Ed Perry, Farm Advisor

University of California, Cooperative Extension

When planting a new fruit tree in your garden, remember the importance of developing the tree for the long run.  While you may plant and harvest vegetable crops in a single season, fruit trees and grapevines remain in your garden for many years.  You need to keep this in mind while you are pruning and caring for your young trees.

During the first two to four years after planting a new fruit tree, fruit production is usually light.  However, this is the time when the basic framework of the tree is being developed and when  major root growth takes place.  Actually, the first few years that the tree is in the ground is the most important for root development.  Stress caused by diseases, nematodes, weed competition or insufficient water can slow or stop root development, and hence top development.  If your tree’s growth is stunted from the beginning, it’s unlikely that it will grow satisfactorily in later years.  After the first few years - once the roots are well developed - young trees become more tolerant to many of these stresses.

The first few years are critical ones for developing your tree’s framework for fruit production.  Deciduous fruit and nut trees must be properly trained for structural strength while developing maximum fruiting area.  Whether you’re developing an open center, central leader or “fruit bush” system, training to develop the tree’s framework should begin early in the life of the tree.   Remember that these systems are used for deciduous, not evergreen fruit trees.  Citrus and avocado trees are allowed to grow more naturally in most cases, and do not require extensive pruning. 

Pests such as twig boring insects that cause distortion of early limb growth are most serious during these early years, because their damage affects the ultimate shape of the tree.  Therefore, observe your young trees closely and be ready to control pests when they reach injury levels.

Young trees are also most susceptible to certain diseases such as bacterial canker or verticillium wilt.  If your trees reach eight or nine years of age without being badly injured by these diseases, chances are good that they will survive future attacks.

Stunting of growth due to weed competition can be very serious during the first two or three years of fruit tree development.  Vertebrate pests such as gophers or mice can also do serious damage to newly planted trees because the trunks and roots of young trees are more susceptible to their feeding.  You need to take quick action to control weeds and rodents around young trees.  Fruit trees planted in lawns will also be stunted, as developing tree roots are inhibited by many grass species.

The most common and serious cause of poor tree development is improper watering practices.  Too much or too little water will prevent the vigorous growth of young fruit trees, and make them more susceptible to pest, disease and sunburn problems as well.  More than any other cultural practice, irrigation will affect the growth, development, and long term health and productivity of your fruit trees.  Be sure you have a good plan for watering your newly planted tree before you plant.  Fruit trees and landscape plants like lawn, bedding plants and shrubs have different water requirements, so need to be watered differently and separately.

  Tax Year Tax Year 2003

Karen Varcoe

Consumer Sciences specialist

UC Cooperative Extension

The federal government has two programs to assist low-income families – the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.  These credits can amount to sizeable windfalls for the low-income families we serve.  These are credits, not deductions, and are available even if the taxpayer does not owe any taxes.

Earned Income Tax Credit

The eligibility guidelines for the Earned Income Tax Credit for tax year 2003 are as follows:

 Single parent families with one child who earn less than $29,666 in 2003, or married workers earning less than $30,666, are eligible for a credit of up to $2,547.

Families with two or more children who earn less than $33,692 in 2003, or less than $34,692 for married workers, are eligible for a credit of up to $4,204.

Workers without a qualifying child who earn less than $11,230 in 2003, or less than $12,230 for married workers, are eligible for a credit of up to $382.  Qualifying child status is determined by a combination of relationship, age, and residency. 

·    The child must have lived with the taxpayer in the United States for more than half of the tax year.

·    The child must be under age 19, or under the age of 24 and a full time student, or permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year regardless of age.

·    The child must be the taxpayers’ son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child, foster child, grandchild, or in some situations, a sibling.

EIC Income Eligibility

Maximum amount earner can make, based on marital status and number of children, and still be eligible for the EITC.

Child Tax Credit

Many taxpayers received an advanced Child Tax Credit (CTC) refund this past summer.  These refunds were based on an increase in the maximum CTC amount for 2003 from $600 per child to $1,000 per child.  The IRS sent refunds to families they determined were eligible based on their 2002 tax return.  Any taxpayer who received one of these refunds MUST subtract the amount of the advance refund from the total CTC for which they qualify based on their income and qualifying children in 2003.  Taxpayers who fail to subtract the advance refund amount risk delaying the processing of their tax return if the IRS catches the error, or will have to repay the excess amount to the IRS.  However, according to the IRS, taxpayers who are eligible for a smaller credit in 2003 than they received in advance, or who no longer qualify for the credit, are not required to pay back the advance refund.