TAXES: The average American works 129 days a year - from New Year's Day to the first week in May - to pay his or her federal, state and local taxes.

CHILD TAX CREDIT: This NEW credit is worth up to $400 per dependent child under age 17 who lived with you in 1998. The credit can be claimed on your 1998 federal tax return. Single parents with incomes up to $75,000 and married parents with incomes up to $110,000 may claim the Child Tax Credit up to a maximum of $400 per child. Detailed information is found in the 1040 and 1040A instruction booklet.

• RESOLVED: Pay Yourself First. Ask your employer to deposit money directly from your paycheck into a savings account or a tax-deferred retirement plan such as a 401(k). It's always easier to save money before it goes in your pocket.
• RESOLVED: Reduce Your Spending. Skipping that donut and coffee on the way to work can add up to hundreds of dollars. Maybe you can lose weight after all, while fattening your wallet!
• RESOLVED: Save Spare Change. Every night, put a dollar bill and the loose change in your pocket into a can or jar. In a year, you might save more than $500.
• RESOLVED: Deal With Debt. Find a low-interest credit card and transfer your current balances. You could save more than $200, which you can use to pay down your debt. Easier still--call the company whose card you're using now and ask for a lower rate. You'll be surprised how often they say "yes."
• RESOLVED: Plan to Save. Research shows that people who set savings goals, on average, save twice as much money as those without a financial plan.

Electronic Fund Transfer: 20 million people receive federal payments from Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans Affairs, Railroad Retirement Board, and Federal Employee Survivors.

With new federal legislation, Direct deposit is voluntary and is strongly encouraged, but it is not mandatory. No one will stop receiving a Federal check unless they request a change. A specific type of electronic transfer account can be established or you can use your existing bank accounts for direct deposit.

Electronic fund transfers save taxpayer dollars. It costs 2 cents per electronic transfer, versus 45 cents per check mailed. Over $100 million dollars a year can be saved if payments are made electronically.

WANT TO EARN SOME EXTRA MONEY? If you are lonely, sitting at home most of the time and want to get out of the house, I have THREE ideas for you.

Out For Lunch is in search of someone who can help us care for the children (ages 0-5) who come to the program. Hourly pay is $8.41. Working hours are 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. on the four Wednesday mornings each month the class is held.

Lee County has a shortage of infant care givers. I get calls weekly from mothers desperate to find a dependable, loving person to take care of their infant when they return to work. Cost for providing this care can run $50-$90 dollars a week. You can keep one child without interference from the state. Caring for an infant is a win-win situation, giving you company and helping young families. The infant shouldn't tie you down, talk with Wilma Winstead about the benefits of keeping an infant.

Executive Director Position Available -Habitat for Humanity of the Sanford Area, Inc. is seeking an Executive Director. This is a full-time PAID position here in Sanford. If you have a strong interest in community service, are good with people, self-motivated, computer literate and knowledgeable about non-profits, including fund raising, grant writing and public speaking contact the Habitat for Humanity office at 774-7779 to request more information.

If you would like more information on these opportunities, call me at the Extension Center.

ORDER TODAY: The Consumer Information Catalog is free for the asking. This free catalog lists more than 200 free and low-cost federal booklets on a variety of topics. Call, toll-free 1-888-878-3256 for your free copy, or check out their web site at www.pueblo.gsa.gov.

HOW MUCH CALCIUM? To determine how many milligrams of calcium are in a food, add a zero to the percentage of calcium on the nutrition label. For example: an 8-ounce cup of milk supplies 30% of the average person's daily calcium, add a zero and you'll get 300 milligrams. The average adult between 19-50 years old should get 1,000-1,200 milligrams of calcium a day.

NEWS FLASH: Recent claims that aspartame, sold under such brand names as NutraSweet, causes MS or another disease, lupus are false says the Food and Drug Administration.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and lupus have been around a lot longer than aspartame has, and repeated scientific studies have found no connection between the sweetener and such symptoms.

Some people do say they are sensitive to it. But the FDA insists that 20 years of research has not found evidence of serious side effects - except in some people with the rare genetic disease PKU or phenylketonuria, who cannot properly process an aspartame component called phenylalinine.

PREVENTING COLDS: Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently.

Here's how:

• Use soap and running water
• Rub vigorously for 20 seconds
• Wash thoroughly, including backs of hands, wrists, between fingers and under nails
• Rinse well
• Dry hands with a paper towel
• Turn off water with a paper towel

CONGRATULATIONS! Many thanks to Wilma Winstead for conducting an outstanding Parliamentary Procedure workshop in anuary! We had 38 community adult and youth leaders participate.

WANTED - A TOASTER OVEN If you have an oven in good shape and are no longer using it, we could use it in the Out for Lunch program. We can pick it up or you can drop it by the Extension Center.

RED FIESTA DISHWARE - This dishware was made in the 1940's and was removed from the market in the 1960's. These dishes contained depleted uranium oxide. The orange red color and the clay were radioactive. The uranium converts to lead.

GARLIC AND OIL MIXTURES - HOW SAFE? Because Clostridium botulinum (what you know as botulism) is naturally found in the soil in which garlic is grown, failing to properly rinse, roast or dry garlic prior to suspending it in oil may allow the mixture to be contaminated with Clostridium. The thick oil provides an anaerobic environment for growth and toxin production. Due to botulism outbreaks caused by garlic and oil mixtures, companies in the U.S. have now taken steps to prevent outbreaks. Commercial garlic and oil mixtures are acidified to prevent the growth of Clostridium botulinum. If you prepare garlic and oil mixtures, be sure to take the following steps to ensure food safety:

• Use dried garlic - the low water activity inhibits bacterial growth;
• Remove the garlic after infusing to deprive the bacteria of their food source;
• Acidify the mixture with lemon;
• Refrigerate the mixture. Don't leave it unrefrigerated for longer than two hours. Never store it near an oven or stove;
• Throw the mixture away after two weeks- be sure to label the bottle with a date when it is made so you'll know when to throw it away.

UPCOMING EVENTS
1999 HUMANITIES SEMINAR: "Authors in the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame" This program will be presented by Dr. James W. Clark, Jr., Director of Humanities and Extension Publications & Professor of English with N.C. State University. The class will highlight the 26 men and women inducted into the State Hall of Fame at Weymouth in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

Join us March 4, 11, 18 & 25, 1999 from 7 - 9 p.m. at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, 225 South Steele St. in Sanford. Call our office to register for the class. There is no registration fee.

MEMORIES IN THE MAKING! Quick & easy ways to safely preserve your personal photos will be taught on Tuesday, February 16, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, 225 S. Steele St. Registration fee is $3.50. Bring 10 favorite photos that have a common theme and learn to create great memories.

THE ART OF PRESSED FLOWERS: Learn to select, press and create beautiful pressed flower notecards and pictures. Class will be held on Monday, March 15 from 10 a.m. until 12 noon at the Extension Center. Cost is $2 and is payable prior to class. Virginia Morris will be our instructor.

EDUCATIONAL TOUR: This fall the Extension Homemakers will be sponsoring a tour of the Deep South. Tentative dates are September 25 through October 2, 1999. We are in the planning and investigating stages with a targeted destination of Louisiana. If you have traveled in this direction and know of any place that "we just have to see", please be sure to share this with me. Watch for details around June.

THANK YOU!!!
A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUPPORTED OUR EFFORTS FOR THE NEW EXTENSION EDUCATION AND AGRICULTURE CENTER. IF ALL GOES WELL, WE WILL BREAK GROUND BY THE END OF THE SUMMER. WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS.

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If you would like more information on the subjects covered, contact the Extension Center in Lee County at 775-5624, or use this screen to send an e-mail to Susan C. Condlin, CFCS at: susan_condlin@ncsu.edu . Susan Condlin is a County Extension Agent, for Family & Consumer Education.

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If you have any questions or comments regarding this page, please contact: susan_condlin@ncsu.edu

Last revised on February 23, 1999.