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This is nice, but it may not save your relationship.

A new study is challenging the conventional wisdom that sharing household duties such as scrubbing the kitchen and toilets will reduce your odds of divorce.

But, the researchers caution, the findings are not an excuse for men or women to start shirking their chores.

Researchers used 2007-08 data on thousands of Norwegian adults to determine possible links between marriage, housework and happiness.

They found that divorce rates were actually higher for the approximately 25 percent of couples who shared housework equally than for the 71 percent couples where women did more or all of the housework.

Divorce rates also were significantly higher among the 4 percent of households in which the men did the majority of the housework, although the sample size was quite small for that group.

“The main point is that there is little to indicate that gender equality at home protects against divorce, as many people think and as is typically maintained by scholars in the field,” Thomas Hansen, a researcher with a Norwegian social research institute and one of the co-authors of the study, told TODAY in an e-mail.

Still, Hansen cautions that spouses should not take this as a sign they can throw in the dish towel – or vacuum, dust pan and sponge.

“This should not be interpreted as a causal effect, i.e., that (equality) leads to divorce,” he wrote.

Instead, it could be an indication that the type of modern couple that shares housework equally might also have more modern views on marriage and divorce. In addition, women in those households may have more financial independence to get out of an unhappy marriage.

The full study is available here. If you don’t happen to read Norwegian, skip to page 223 for the English-language summary.

Many people used to think of layaway as that relic of the past that your grandmother used during the Great Depression.

But the weak economy and  an increasing interest in keeping down credit card debt has pushed the holiday savings plan back into the spotlight.

Retailers including Kmart, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us are offering special deals and discounts aimed at getting people to start using layaway early.

Experts say layaway can be a good way to get customers into stores early, for shoppers it can be cheaper than using a credit card. But others note that those shoppers may be better off just saving money on their own, if they have a savings account, and holding out for late-season discounts.

Related:

Big retailers offering free pre-holiday layaway

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Cutest. Motivation. Tools. Ever. Researchers in Japan have found that looking at pictures of cute things helped people perform their jobs faster.

Forget PowerPoint: It turns out the secret to improving productivity at your job might be puppies.

A new study out of Hiroshima University found that people performed a variety of tasks faster or more accurately after looking at pictures of kittens and puppies. These test subjects also beat out others who looked at pictures of adult animals or gourmet meals instead.

"Viewing cute images improved performance on tasks that required carefulness," researchers concluded. 

Earlier experiments found that people did a better job playing the game Operation after viewing photos of puppies and kittens. Researchers speculated that the cute images made subjects more attuned to being careful because baby animals suggest vulnerability.

"The perception of something as cute activates the idea of something delicate and breakable... valuable and worth caring for," said Gary Sherman, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and one of the authors of that earlier research.

The Hiroshima study, titled The Power of Kawaii (kawaii roughly translates to cute) found that the "cute factor" helped people performing other detail-oriented tasks, not just those involving fine motor skills.

So go ahead and hang that poster of a puppy asleep on a shoe in your cubicle. "If people had the inclination to surround themselves with cuteness in the office, I wouldn't discourage that," Sherman said.

"Cute objects may be used as an emotion elicitor to induce careful behavioral tendencies in specific situations, such as driving and office work," the study said.

The effect "seems to be more generalized" beyond only fine motor skills, Sherman said. "That does extend the domains and types of tasks that could be impacted."

This means anyone who has to do work that requires careful attention, such as copyediting or accounting, could benefit. So the next time your boss catches you perusing CuteOverload.com, tell them what looks like a kitten in a basket is really a performance-optimizing tool. 

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Spot the lingerie. A general view of Cowboys Stadium, where retailer Victoria's Secret will be opening a store.

ARLINGTON, Texas - How `bout them undies?

Victoria's Secret on Monday will open a store at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington featuring lingerie and other clothing promoting the NFL's most valuable team. Dallas Cowboys executives will be on hand for the unveiling of the co-branded women's items including tees, sweats, hoodies, tank tops, underwear and sports bras.

Victoria's Secret says it's the first time the company has opened a store at a professional sports venue. Forbes magazine this month named the Dallas Cowboys the NFL's most valuable team for the sixth consecutive year, worth more than $2 billion.

More money and business news:

• Job seekers find warm welcome in Plains states
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• Video: You can still get free checking — here's how
• Sign up for our Business newsletter

Follow NBCNews.com business on Twitter and Facebook

Zillow

"The Beverly Hillbillies" was one of the first shows that took place inside a home with a physical address, rather than in a studio. This enormous 21,523-square-foot estate hosted the series throughout its nine-year run. The 10-bed, 12-bath home was built in 1933.

From its magical debut in 1950s households to today's 3-D, Internet-connected and thin-screened versions, television has firmly planted itself into American culture and daily life. We all have favorite shows — the ones we currently DVR and the ones that went off the air nearly 50 years ago.

As fall gets under way and new programs are added to the evening lineup, we're paying homage to television shows — old and new — with a real estate tour. While many shows, especially in the early days, were never shot outside the studio set, a goodly handful of them took place in real homes that still look exactly as they did on the small screen.

1960s

"Batman"
380 S San Rafael Ave., Pasadena, Calif.

Zillow

Holy mansion, Batman! The 1960s TV series featured a property in Pasadena as Wayne Manor. The 1928 home has 10 bedrooms, six bathrooms and measures 16,599 square feet — not including the Batcave, of course.

"The Beverly Hillbillies"
750 Bel Air Road, Los Angeles, Calif. 

See photo at top.

1970s

"Happy Days"
565 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif.  

Zillow

Although "Happy Days" took place in Milwaukee, like most TV shows, it was actually filmed in Los Angeles. The white-columned house that played home for the Cunninghams was built in 1923 and has six bedrooms, two baths and measures 3,904 square feet.

"The Brady Bunch"
11222 Dilling St., North Hollywood, Calif.

Zillow

The midcentury home that hosted the blended Brady clan looks unchanged from its days on the small screen. Built in 1959, the North Hollywood home would be rather small for the Brady family of eight, which is why interior scenes of the show were shot on a studio set.

1980s

"Dallas"
3700 Hogge Drive, Allen, Texas

Zillow

The sprawling Southfork Ranch just outside Plano was the home for J.R. Ewing and his squabbling family during the original run of TV's "Dallas" (the show was recently rebooted by TNT). The home is currently an event center with a special area dedicated to the show, complete with "Dallas" memorabilia, although many of the show's interior scenes were shot on a studio set.

"The Golden Girls"
245 N. Saltair Ave., Los Angeles Calif.

Zillow

"The Golden Girls" characters were living in retiree-friendly Miami on the show, but the home used for the exterior was in Los Angeles. The classic 1955 home has four bedrooms and measures 2,901 square feet.

1990s

"Beverly Hills 90210"
1675 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena, Calif.

Zillow

The "90210" house is not actually located in the fabled ZIP code but 23 miles northeast in the town of Altadena. The four-bed, four-bath house played the home of twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh, and unlike many other TV homes had scenes that were filmed in the interior of the house, rather than on a studio set.

"Charmed"
1329 Carroll Ave., Los Angeles, Calif.  

Zillow

Peaked roofs, gingerbread trim and other Victorian details made this Los Angeles-area home perfect for three beautiful witches in the TV show "Charmed." The five-bedroom, one-bath home was built in 1903.

2000–present

"The O.C."
6205 Ocean Breeze, Malibu, Calif.

Zillow

Newport Beach of "The O.C." isn't a far cry from Malibu where the TV mansion was located. The stately 6,376-square-foot house was home base for the Cohen family and Ryan Atwood, the troubled teen they took in.

"Grey's Anatomy"
303 W. Comstock St., Seattle, Wash.

Zillow

While there's no such thing as Seattle Grace Hospital, the house from the hit medical series is real and located in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. The turn-of-the-century charmer has four bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a view of the Space Needle.

"Mad Men"
675 Arden Road, Pasadena, Calif.

Zillow

The Los Angeles area is a decent fit for 1960s New York City on AMC's drama "Mad Men." The first home of Betty and Don Draper, fictionally set in Ossining, N.Y., is actually located in Pasadena on a quiet tree-lined street. The traditional four-bedroom, three-bath home measures 2,654 square feet.

• Home featured in 'Revenge' for sale
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Tetra Images / Getty Images

When attending meetings, women need to speak up more, a new study claims.

Women may be showing up for meetings, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re speaking up at those meetings.

In a recent study, researchers at Brigham Young University and Princeton University found that in a typical meeting where decisions get made, women are clamming up, speaking 25 percent less than their male counterparts.

The study, published in the American Political Science Review, found that when women find themselves in the minority they tend to keep their thoughts to themselves. Interestingly, when a guy is the token male in a group, he isn't at all likely to find himself tongue-tied.

While the decision to remain silent can be good if you’re ever arrested, if you’re hoping to be recognized as a leader, keeping your mouth shut is not such a smart choice. The study found that group members who had a lot to say were more likely to be seen as influential. So it comes as no surprise that with women talking less, fewer women were recognized as leaders.

“In school boards, governing boards of organizations and firms, and legislative committees, women are often a minority of members, and the group uses majority rule to make its decisions,” said study co-author Tali Mendelberg of Princeton. “These settings will produce a dramatic inequality in women’s floor time and in many other ways. Women are less likely to be viewed and to view themselves as influential in the group and to feel that their ‘voice is heard.’”

Although women often freeze up in meetings where they’re in the minority and the group needs to arrive at a majority-rules decision, there are situations where women will open up and share their thoughts.  Once women form the majority of the group, they’ll really start talking and will be more likely to assume leadership roles. Also, if a group has to arrive at a unanimous decision, women are again more likely to speak up.  When a group has to reach a unanimous decision, women recognize that every vote is equally important, prompting them to feel the need to contribute something to the overall effort and discussion.

The study’s researchers noted that women not only flourished when the group had to build consensus, but discussions began to take a different tone as well. When women took more active roles, the whole vibe of the group changed. The researchers found those groups to be more positive, more inclusive and have fewer negative interruptions than the male-dominated discussion.

“Women have something unique and important to add to the group, and that’s being lost, at least under some circumstances,” said Chris Karpowitz, the study’s co-author and an assistant professor at BYU.

The study focused on 94 groups made up of five individuals each. Group members were asked to perform “work” tasks to earn hypothetical amounts of money. Each individual was told they would take home earnings based on both performance and the group’s decision about how to redistribute the money earned as a whole. The groups were told to distribute the money in the “most just” way. On average, groups deliberated for 25 minutes, even though they were only required to deliberate the distribution system for five minutes. Participants voted by secret ballot, but half of the groups followed majority rule while the other half decided only with a unanimous vote.

Not only did the tone of the discussions change when women participated more, but the substance of the discussions shifted as well. When given the task of setting a group’s minimum wage, women tended to include discussions of family need and issues of care in the discussions. Researchers noted that women were more likely to ask questions like, “How does this affect a family?” or “How would a single woman do this?” And, what they were saying wasn’t just girl talk; girl action took place as well. Groups with a majority of women and groups led by consensus building were more generous with their reallocation of money.

“When women are silent, they’re not just silent and someone else is making the argument they would have made anyway,” Karpowitz said, recognizing the loss of ideas when women fail to give their input.

Dana Macario is a Seattle-area writer.

For bacon lovers, it’s been a complicated week.

First came the news that there was going to be a bacon shortage – followed closely by a debunking of the rumor that bacon lovers would have to do without their beloved meat.

Life Inc. readers reacted with a mixture of humor and horror to the original news that bacon might become scarce. The scare was started by the U.K’s National Pig Association, which predicted a shortage because of droughts.

“Forget the fiscal cliff...this is an emergency,” one reader declared.

Other readers noted that we could perhaps stand to do with a little less of the fatty, salty meat in our diets.

“Terrible, now we will just have to live longer,” said one.

Then, relief. Life Inc. contributor Ben Popken brought a bit of sanity to the bacon panic of 2012 with a reality check from experts who said that while prices may go up a bit, pork rationing is not in our future.

Readers were understandably frustrated by the earlier reports. Still, many bacon lovers also were relieved that they would be able to continue enjoying bacon in all its odd variations.

“Oh thank the lord and pass the bacon,” one reader said.

Others began immediately plotting the other weird and wonderful ways they can enjoy their favored meat.

“When I saw bacon donuts I thought I had seen every conceivable use for bacon and then I saw bacon ice cream! Is there no end for the use of the wonder meat?” one reader opined.

Job prospects for new college grads have been looking pretty bleak, but that trend could be reversing starting this spring.

Employers said they plan on hiring 13 percent more from the class of 2013 than the class of 2012, according to the just-released National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job Outlook 2013 survey. 

That's good news, considering overall seasonally adjusted unemployment ratesare 8.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When you add in into those who have given up looking for work for various reasons, what the BLS calls its “U-6” measure, that number is even higher, 14.7 percent. 

In another positive sign for new grads, the number of employers saying they had “firm” plans in place to recruit in the spring is up to 37.6 percent from 34.4 percent last year. Overall recruiting plans are up slightly as well, from 18.2 percent to 18.6 percent. 

The number of respondents saying they will hire fewer college graduates than last year went down to 8 percent. That's the lowest percentage in the survey since 2007. 

Brandon Labam, co-founder of Virginia-based ROCS staffing, which specializes in recruiting college and graduate talent, said he's likewise been seeing the number of job listings increase. Additionally, companies are now not just recruiting for revenue-generating positions like sales, but also infrastructure-building administrative roles. That's a sign companies are more willing to invest in long-term growth. 

The appeal of hiring a fresh college graduate is that while they take more training, there's “a lot more upside if you train them well,” said Labam. “They don't have bad habits from another job ... you can mold them into the perfect employee.” 

But haven't we been hearing how millennial employees are lazy, difficult to manage, need to be coddled, and just play on Twitter all day? Why would employers want more of them? 

Labam says he's seeing that sense of “entitlement” among entry-level candidates from the years past has gone away. No one thinks they're going to get their dream job perfectly tailored to their individual personality handed to them anymore. Graduates now realize they need to demonstrate “hunger” and “passion” in the interview room if they're going to get the job. “It's come back to basics,” he said. “You can't just be good and from a good school. You've got to work your butt off.” 

Besides seeing the attitude shift in the candidates, hiring a new college graduate is an inexpensive way for companies to test the hiring waters. They'll take a lower salary, and be easier to get rid of if the upswing falters.

More money and business news:

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• Video: You can still get free checking — here's how
• Sign up for our Business newsletter 

Jonathan Hayward / AP

Hold your horses, bacon lovers! There's no need to buy a deep freezer and fill it with all the bacon you can get your hands on.

Don't worry, no one is coming for your BLT.

Even though headlines for the past couple of days screamed, “Bacon shortage!” (including one of our own) and social media blew up with jokes about the impending “porkocalypse,” it's all a lot of oinking over nothing.

The summer drought, and rising corn prices have hurt hog farmers for sure. Soy, a component of hog meal, is also costing more, driven by ravenous demand by China. But all that will only lead to bacon being temporarily more expensive, not an outright “shortage.”

“It's a challenging time because of drought for both consumers and producers and food costs will rise,” Cindy Cunningham of the National Pork Board told NBC News, but we're “not going to see people in line for bacon... there will be no bacon rationing.”

Let's look at some basic economics.

First, as long as prices are allowed to rise and fall freely, there can be no shortage. Shortages only occur when the government fixes prices and consumers want more supply than exists. That results in rationing. There's zero evidence to suggest the government would do that, or that there would be any “runs on the pork bank.”

“As long as prices roam free, there's never a shortage or a glut,” said Bob Brown, an independent meat market analyst in Edmond, Okla. “It will find a way to clear the market.”

The only sign of a pork shortage is a press release from Britain's National Pig Association proclaiming, “A world shortage of pork and bacon next year is now unavoidable.” 

But let's put on our critical reading glasses. The rest of the notice points to declining sow herds in the EU and asks British supermarkets to pay higher prices to pig farmers. It asks for shoppers to only buy British-made pork to protect British farmers, identifiable by the “Red Tractor” symbol on the package as part of a “Save our Bacon” campaign.

"British supermarkets know they have to raise the price they pay Britain's pig farmers or risk empty spaces on their shelves next year," said NPA chairman Richard Longthorp in the press release. "But competition is so fierce in the high street at present, each is waiting for the other to move first."

Get it? This is an attempt by British pig producers to build grassroots support among British shoppers to apply pressure to supermarkets. Their tool for propping up prices is fear, wrapped in bacon, wrapped in the Union Jack. It's pork propaganda.

The release also warned that prices could rise as much as 10 percent. The USDA has forecast only a 2.5-3.5 percent increase.

So hold your horses, bacon lovers, there's no need to buy a deep freezer and fill it with all the bacon you can get your hands on. The green number on the LCD screen at checkout might be slightly higher than what you're used to, but there's no bacon crisis.

“Bacon prices in the next few months should be quite stable as there is a steady supply of pork going to market and in cold storage,” said Matt Swantek, Swine Field Specialist at Iowa State University. 

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• Video: You can still get free checking — here's how
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Graco

The Graco FastAction Fold Travel System combines a stroller and an infant car seat for around $200 -- and it's the lightest on this list.

Ironic, isn’t it, that a 10-pound bundle of joy requires about the same size bag as a 200-pound business traveler -- not to mention a stroller and a baby seat? Travel systems aim to consolidate some of that bulk by combining everything into a single buggy. This option also promises some savings over purchasing the components separately, a boon for parents when the government pegs the cost of raising a child to the age of 18 near $300,000 for a middle-income family. Safe, high-quality travel systems start at well under $300.

Below are Cheapism’s top picks for affordable travel systems.

• The Graco FastAction Fold Travel System (starting at $200) comprises a stroller, an infant car seat that can accommodate a child up to 30 pounds (a slightly cheaper 22-pound version is available as well), and a base for securing the seat in a car. On-the-go parents who have posted reviews of this travel system online appreciate that the stroller folds up easily with one hand. It’s also the lightest on this list: The car seat weighs 7.5 pounds and the stroller 22. (Where to buy)
• The Chicco Cortina Travel System (starting at $270) is also available in two different versions that carry children who weigh up to 22 or 30 pounds, although the larger one generally tops $300. The car seat earns an above-average rating for ease of use from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In reviews, parents agree that the seat is simple to install and also admire this travel system’s quality, sturdiness, and styling. (Where to buy)
• The Graco Stylus LX Travel System (starting at $244) is the heftiest among these picks, but reviewers say it handles well and, like the other Graco model, requires only one hand to fold up. Reviewers like the cushy fabric on the car seat, which has a 30-pound capacity, and report that the stroller appears to provides a comfortable ride. (Where to buy)

Parents can continue to use these travel systems even after their children outgrow the included infant car seats. The strollers themselves carry toddlers up to 50 pounds. They feature seats that fully recline and conveniences such as cup holders for both parent and child.

All the travel systems on the list above include important car seat safety features, including a five-point harness that secures small passengers over the shoulders, around the hips, and between the legs. The seats are designed to lock into place in a car using the LATCH system, which is required in vehicles manufactured within the past decade. (The acronym stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children.) The NHTSA warns that a car seat must be installed properly in order to protect a child effectively. All the car seats on these travel systems meet government safety standards and rate at least average when it comes to ease of use. Be sure to check the NHTSA website before you buy for complete ratings and up-to-date information about product recalls.

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Today Money financial expert Lynnette Khalfani-Cox joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Tony asked:

“Do you think it is prudent to reallocate 100 percent of 401 k into fixed income funds? To take advantage of the recent run up in the market while protecting [my money] from the uncertainty of the global and US economies?”

Lynnette replied:

“It's NEVER a good idea to put 100% of your 401(k) money into a single type of investment, not even so-called "safe" fixed income funds. You simply must have far broader diversification. It's estimated that 90% of your portfolio's performance is based on the MIX of investments you own. So it's way better to hold a range of securities especially as you save for retirement.”

Imeh Akpanudosen / Getty Images file

Traffic-challenged Lindsay Lohan

In a wry gesture, Goodyear last week sent letters offering free driving lessons to traffic-challenged celebrities Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes. But is such snarky newsjacking a smart move for this iconic brand?

Bynes skipped her suspended license hearing this week and has a court appearance slated for Thursday for two hit and run incidents. Meanwhile, Lohan said she's planning on suing a cook for slander for claiming last week she clipped him with her Porsche SUV and claiming that she was “slurring” and “smelled like alcohol.”

The nearly identical letters Goodyear sent the two actresses say they're “sorry to hear” about the latest “driving mishap,” and that they “understand” that “driving can be a real challenge, particularly trying to navigate all of the stop-and-go-traffic in LA and New York City.”

Echoing sentiments felt no doubt by many Americans, Goodyear continued, saying, “we are concerned for you...We're concerned for your safety.”

The letter offered to fly the actresses out to the company's headquarters in Akron, Ohio for private lessons with their professional drivers, “no paparazzi allowed.” These trainers could show the “do's and don'ts of driving safely.” After a few spins around the test track, “you'll even be able to show Herbie the Lovebug a thing or two,” quipped the letter to Lohan.

It's all pretty light as far as celebrity digs go, but it feels a little weird coming from Goodyear. This is the tire brand of trust and value. It's been around since 1898. It represents solid Midwestern values, and is a stalwart of American manufacturing.

Until now, one of its most recognizable marketing campaigns has been the Goodyear blimp: a giant rubber-coated dirigible that idles over large mainstream sporting events. It's slow. It's massive. It's authorized. Its main goal is to get Goodyear's big yellow logo beamed out over broadcast television.

It's pretty much the opposite of the Lohan and Bynes zings. They were geared to appeal to celebrity news sites and blogs and those who read them. They were created and executed quickly in response to a piece of celebrity news. The playful tone and the use of a source document primed them for social media viral uplift.

Twitter? Perezhilton? TMZ? Not exactly what you associate with a venerable American tire brand.

Opportunistic PR
“It's opportunistic PR,” Chris Curran, Goodyear's Vice President of Communications Public Relations, told NBC News. His signature appears at the bottom of both letters. Curran said that a piece of public relations material has to do one of three things: educate, entertain or inform. “This does all three,” he said. “It educates who Goodyear is, informs that there's an offer, and it also entertains.”

He disagreed that the move was out of the norm for the tire company, noting that several years ago they convinced Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton to style his hair so that it looked like Goodyear's new TripleTred tire.

“Something that is fun and quirky gets across in a better way,” said Curran. “Obviously, we do normal PR and communications initiatives to promote our products, but sometimes it's 'fun' to do something a little outside the box that gets people talking.” A lot of people inside the company have said that the letters “were kind of cool,” too, he noted.

Goodyear isn't the first big brand to try to ride the buzz off a piece of news. Last year, Abercrombie & Fitch offered members of the Jersey Shore cast cash to not wear their clothes. Two years ago, when Obama made an offhand remark about holding a “Slurpee Summit” with Republicans, 7-11 made an official offer to the White House to supply them with red, white, and blue colored Slurpees.

Tim Nudd, editor of Adweek's blog AdFreak, is not a fan of the Goodyear initiative. “It's definitely a cheap publicity grab, and if you're a generally well respected brand -- which Goodyear is -- engaging these kinds of marketing gimmicks will only cheapen your brand accordingly,” he wrote by email. For Goodyear, your “absolute No. 1 brand attribute is trust. Why align yourself in any way with people who are reckless?” he said. “It's transparent celebrity-baiting.”

But what do the people think? Judging by the comments about the campaign on Twitter and blogs, they mostly think, “LOL,” “Hilarious” and “Brilliant.” So, success?

If there's one guy who can sort it out, it's Alex Bogusky, formerly one of the main creative engines behind advertising agency Crispin Porter and Bogusky. Among others, they're the ones responsible for all those unnerving “Wake up with the King!” Burger King ads. He should know a good counterintuitive campaign from a bad one.

And guess what? He likes it.

“I love this kind of thing. It's a good way to inject tires (which are boring) into the public conversation,” Bogusky wrote by email. “And it seems to me that Goodyear knows a bit about driving and is doing us all a favor in trying to teach this woman how to drive.”

His enthusiasm wasn't unabashed, however, pointing out two little bits of logical misfires, “1. Can you really teach someone how to drive while impaired? I don't think so,” and, “2. What does it say about Goodyear's expertise when she crashes AFTER their lessons? Which she invariably will.”

Luckily, there's probably little chance of either of the two actresses taking time out from their busy schedules to take Goodyear up on their offer. Goodyear says it hasn't gotten a response from either Lohan or Bynes.

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Americans are planning to spend on average $79.82 on costumes, decorations, and candy. That's up from $72.31 last year, and $66.28 the year prior.

If the pirates look more menacing, the porch decorations more extravagant, and the sexy costumes for poodles a little sexier, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Consumer spending this Halloween is set to reach $8 billion, a 10-year record high, according to a new survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Americans are creaking open their wallets a little more this year, saying they're planning on spending on average $79.82 on costumes, decorations, and candy. That's up from $72.31 last year, and $66.28 the year prior. More will be joining in the trick or treating and Halloween party-going and throwing, too, with participation up to 71.5 percent from 68.6 percent last year.

Driving the trend: Adults. That's right, Halloween isn't just for kids any more. The greatest increase in costume spending comes from adults on their own costumes, up $200 million, while family spending on costumes for kids is only up $100 million.

Dropping more in a down economy might sound foolhardy, but Halloween is one holiday where you can get more boo for your buck. Individuals on average spend an average of over $100 on both Valentine's and Easter, and over $150 on Mother's Day. The key events of those holidays might last for just a few hours, while the fun of Halloween can go all day and night. Then there's the buildup and preparation, the post-Halloween night story-sharing, and those visits to the trick or treat bag, which, depending on your discipline, can go for weeks (or days, or hours...)

Ultimately it's as simple as the pleasure in pretending to be someone - or something - else for an evening. “Halloween for consumers has really become a form of escapism,” Pam Goodfellow, Consumer Insights Director for BigInsight, told NBC News. “We're forgetting about the economy for the night.”

Goodfellow, whose firm conducted the research for the NRF, said that Americans have gotten their finances in shape in the past few years and are deploying their dollars more strategically. “We're waiting for these targeted times to relax a little,” she said.

However, it's not all candied apples. One quarter of those surveyed said the economy will make them spend less. 18 percent plan on making a costume instead of buying and 36.1 percent will buy less candy. 

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(Updated 4:06 p.m. Eastern) The droughts that ravaged crops across North American and Russia have had a huge impact on the food supply, livestock and farmers but now it may be time to hit the “panic” button – one pig group is predicting a BACON SHORTAGE.

“A world shortage of pork and bacon next year is now unavoidable,” the National Pig Association in the UK said this week.

The droughts meant less feed to go around and farmers had to take drastic measures. One farmer fed his cows candy to survive, while others have pared their herds. The NPA warned that he number of slaughtered pigs could drop by 10 percent in the second half of next year and that could cause the price of pork products to DOUBLE.

The group is taking the situation so seriously, they have launched a “Save Our Bacon” campaign.

So, what does this mean for bacon lovers in the U.S.? 

“Unfortunately it does seem as though this is an unavoidable event due to drought conditions in key pork producing areas,” said Heather Lauer, author of the “Bacon Unwrapped” blog and the book “Bacon: A Love Story.”

Twitter was peppered with all sorts of concern about a possible bacon crisis. “Our worst fear is coming to pass — global bacon shortage!” @allbacon wrote. “Go, scramble the jets! Get me the PM!” @ckk527 wrote.

Some of the bacon Twitterati kicked into action mode. “Time to get that backyard pig?” @JP_Permaculture asked. And @Agropinion said, “Need bigger freezer!”

“My first reaction to the news was: The Mayans were right. This is how it's going down!” Lauer said.

During this time of potential national crisis, we turned to the National Pork Producers Council for guidance and they said — don’t hit the panic button just yet.

U.S. hog farmers have been reducing their herds due to high feed costs but the situation isn’t as severe as it is in the UK and other European Union nations, where some nations have reduced herds 10 percent or more.

“I don’t think we’re too worried about it,” said Dave Warner, a spokesman for the NPCC. “We’re seeing a little bit of that [paring herds] here but not nearly what you’re seeing there.”

U.S. hog farmers probably won’t pare their herds more than 3 percent in the next 6 to 8 months, which would mean an increase in retail prices on bacon and other pork products of about 8 to 10 percent, said Steve Meyer, the president of Paragon Economics and a consultant to pork industry.

“Eight to 10 percent isn’t per se a crisis,” Meyer said.

And, it’s important to draw the line between the two because UK bacon is a completely different product than US bacon, he said — it’s more like loin there — and the US doesn’t import bacon from other countries.

“A global reduction in supply is almost unavoidable but I don’t think we’re going to have lines for bacon the U.S.!” said Meyer, who also writes a daily livestock report. “Are we going to have less product in the second half of 2013? Yes.”

Rising meat prices have been a concern to the industry for the last five years since the rise of ethanol, which, like feed for livestock, comes from corn. The recent drought in the U.S. and Russia piled on to that. Meyer said without ethanol as a base strain on the industry, it might have weathered the drought better. Though, the drought was even a rarity — the last time the U.S. corn belt suffered a drought was 1988.

Meyer said the unbelievable attention that the potential shortage has received is a testament to America’s sizzling, smokey love affair with bacon.

“I’ve been talking about [rising meat prices] since 2006 but nobody would listen until someone said we’re not going to have enough bacon,” Meyer said. “If I’d known that I’d have used different words. Don’t take away their bacon!”

To be clear, there isn't necessarily going to be a shortage in the U.S., Meyer said, but prices are definitely still a big concern.

The price of bacon and other pork products hit a record $3.56 a pound in 2011 and last month reached $3.53, according to the USDA.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see that number go to $3.60 to $3.70 a pound,” Meyer said.

And this is not good news for families who are already grappling with unemployment and digging out of the recession.

“Anytime you drive up retail prices — beef, pork, chicken, turkey, eggs, milk … it falls on people with low incomes and fixed incomes,” he said. “The people who can’t afford it.”

Over the summer, the government announced a plan to buy $100 million of pork products for schools, the military, etc. It’s a start, but Meyer said it’s still probably not enough to make a dent in the industry’s problems.

So, let’s cut to the chase — which presidential candidate would be better for bacon?

Meyer said the industry isn’t favoring either candidate but what they’d vote for is less regulation.

“It’s not a crisis but there will certainly be a reduction in pork supplies in 2013 and that means higher prices for consumers,” he said.

Still, Lauer said, she’s not taking any chances.

Mulling the reality of a post-apocalyptic, bacon-less Sunday brunch, “there is serious potential for a breakdown in our social structure!” she quipped. “And who knows what lengths people will go to in order to fulfill their basic bacon needs.”

In an effort to "get ahead of this life-altering event," Brooks Reynolds, one of the co-founders of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, and other members of the Iowa Bacon Board, traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland for the "International Bacon Summit."

"One of the key resolutions from the Icelandic and Iowa Bacon Boards was to build a world with the proverbial pig in every pot, similar to Herbert Hoover's 'chicken in every pot' presidential slogan in 1928," Reynolds said. "The first step in accomplishing this lofty goal is to encourage bacon lovers to go out and raise their own pigs. If they don't have room in their homes for a pig, we recommend building a 'personal bacon readiness kit' over the next year, which should include things like: thick cut, applewood smoked, dry cured, Berkshire, etc."

He's afraid to even think of a possible bacon shortage and what it could mean -- social and political unrest, an increased need for swine security and a "tidal wave of black market (boar bacon, tofu bacon, turkey bacon and beef bacon) bacon hitting the streets," he said.

And if there were a shortage, what would it mean for the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival?

"We would most likely need to heighten security and consider using identification verification equipment like retinal scans at the door," Reynolds said.

“Perhaps it’s finally time for our country to address the need for a Strategic Bacon Reserve,” Lauer said firmly. “In the meantime, I’m going into survival mode and have already started stockpiling. As FEMA says, ‘Prepare. Plan. Stay informed.’”

Well said, Heather. Stay tuned to the Pony blog for all the latest bacon and bacon crisis news! 

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• Bacon tourism: from the Davos of bacon to bacon Mecca
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Eric Risberg / AP

In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, winemaker Cathy Corison stands surrounded by oak barrels at Corison Winery in St. Helena, Calif. A lot more women work as winemakers today, though research by Santa Clara University professors Lucia Albino Gilbert and John Gilbert found that just under 10 percent of California wineries have women as the main or lead winemaker.

ST. HELENA, Calif. - In 1978, the first vintage that Cathy Corison made wine, she could count on one hand the number of women she knew of doing the same kind of work in the cellars of the Napa Valley. Without using all her fingers.

Nearly 35 years later, Corison needs a lot more fingers. Winemaking remains primarily a man's world, but research by Santa Clara University professors Lucia Albino Gilbert and John Gilbert has found that nearly 10 percent of California wineries now have women as the main or lead winemaker.

Their second finding: Women winemakers tend to be more highly acclaimed than their male counterparts.

Why? Hard to say— and that's not a question the Gilberts attempt to answer in this study — but it may have something to do with persistence. It takes the same effort and skills for a male or female winemaker to succeed, but women can face additional challenges achieving success in a male-dominated field.

"I think women winemakers had to be really determined and really passionate and still do," says Corison, named 2011 Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle.

An academic psychologist who has studied women's career paths, Lucia Gilbert became interested in women winemakers. With little information available on the subject, she put together a comprehensive list of the 3,200-plus winemakers in California, identifying the women and developing the website, Women Winemakers of California.

The total of women winemakers came to 9.8 percent, below the 15 to 20 percent the Gilberts expected.

It's easy to see why she overestimated. After all, some of the most famous winemakers ARE women, such as Heidi Barrett, who worked for the "cult" winery Screaming Eagle. Among other kudos, the winery is known as home of a 6-liter bottle of the '92 vintage that sold for $500,000 at the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction.

So, the researchers came up with a new question — are women winemakers achieving disproportionate levels of success?

Quantifying winery acclaim is a slippery business, but the Gilberts went at it by using the listing of wineries from the 2010 reference work Opus Vino, which includes about 4,000 wineries in the world identified as noteworthy by wine critics and wine writers who worked with the book's editor-in-chief, Jim Gordon.

The results: 23 percent of California wineries with women winemakers made it into Opus Vino compared to 14 percent of wineries with male winemakers.

Gordon, former managing editor of Wine Spectator magazine and currently editor of Wines & Vines Magazine, was surprised by the Gilberts' findings. He and the other authors picked out top wines based solely on quality and without regard to the winemakers behind them, so "seeing our selections through the perspective of Dr. Gilbert's data was a kind of revelation."

But Gordon's not convinced that women winemakers are disproportionately successful compared to men given the 10 percent baseline. "There is still a long way to go there," he points out.

Are there differences between women and men winemakers?

Corison used to resist that idea "with everything I had. Because differences have always been against women."

But after years of working in the field she feels that there may be two differences. "There's pretty good evidence that women have perhaps better sensory abilities. So that's one issue. And, I believe that winemaking is all about details. So perhaps if there's a difference in attention to details? I don't know. I don't feel strongly about that."

Corison, who grew up in Southern California, took a roundabout path to winemaking.

She studied biology, but "fell in love with wine when I was a sophomore." She was smitten by "all the usual reasons, it's delicious, you share it with friends, it makes food taste better and vice versa. On another level, I fell in love with the fact that it's a whole series of living systems. I'm a biologist and I'm still studying biology. That's what tunes me into winemaking, the fact that it's alive."

"There've always been challenges, but I think there have been advantages, too. I think that we sort of stuck out like sore thumbs, so for better or worse people noticed what we did," Corison says of women in her field.

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One of the biggest threats to your financial security is bad advice you could receive or investments you may make with a financial advisor. The Bernard Madoff case highlighted how important it is to do your homework, since many of the convicted swindler’s clients trusted him and never asked how their investments worked. 

In many instances of investment fraud, "90 percent of cases could have been eliminated if investors just asked and checked", says Lori Schock, director of the Office of Investor Education at the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Checking out your financial advisor is critical  
A recent study by the CFP Board found more than half of certified financial planners have personally worked with an older client who has been subjected to unfair, deceptive or abusive practices when it comes to the financial advice they received or the financial products they were sold. "Older Americans have already given many years of hard work and dedication - raising families, serving in the military, building businesses - all to become one of our most financially secure generations," says CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller. "This survey reveals the pervasive financial abuse victimizing America’s seniors."

It is not only older Americans who should be wary about financial advisor scams. The CFP Board, a non-profit organization that oversees certification for financial planners, suggests investors take specific steps to avoid falling prey to financial abuse. Click ahead for their advice:

Always verify advisor's background 
Check out your advisor's employment history, disciplinary records, and registrations. Investment advisors are licensed to give specific investment advice and owe their clients what is known as "fiduciary duty;" that is, offering clients advice in their "best interest." Brokers, on the other hand, may merely execute suitable securities transactions for their clients. Understand the difference. Brokers are regulated by FINRA; investment advisors are regulated by the SEC and/or a state securities regulator; insurance agents by the state insurance commission in states where they do business; and certified financial planners by the CFP Board, the organization offering that certification. Visit  these sites to check your advisor: 

• www.finra.org/brokercheck
• www.adviserinfo.sec.gov
• www.nasaa.org 
• www.naic.org
• www.CFP.net/search

Know how advisors are compensated  

Advisors should disclose any conflicts of interest (or perceived or potential conflicts) that could impact their recommendations. Find out if a potential advisor is paid by an hourly rate, a flat fee, or a commission on the value of assets they manage for you or on the securities they sell. Also ask for a copy of their Form ADV Part II which outlines an advisor’s services, fees and strategies -- or look it up yourself on the SEC website.

Ask for pros and cons of each investment idea 
If you're only hearing the reasons why you should make the investment, you're not getting the full story. You may not know how to choose the right investment; that's why you hire an expert. But you should understand how the investments work. Your advisor should be able to explain the pros and cons of the investment strategy and actual investment products. Ask questions if you don't understand and don't hesitate to get a second opinion.

Pay attention to the paper trail 

 If statements only come on the advisor's letterhead, that's a red flag. You should get regular statements from independent sources, not only your advisor. Also, never leave blanks on paperwork you fill out. And request for final, submitted copies of paperwork for transactions. Copies for your personal records should always have the word "final" or "submitted" stamped on them.

Never make checks payable to an advisor directly 
Always make checks payable to the advisor's business or custodian - not the advisor personally. Don't put yourself in a situation that would give an advisor unlimited access to your money.

Ask if the advisor is audited regularly and if third parties regulate or supervise investments.

If you invest in limited partnerships, real estate, or non-traded securities, verify that the investment manager is audited annually by a reputable independent accounting firm. Also, ask if third parties regulate or supervise investments. You can find out if an investment (stock, bond, mutual fund) is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission by going to the SEC's EDGAR database. Also check with your state securities regulator. Find contact information for the one in your state at www.nasaa.org. Also read the prospectus for the investment.

Don't make hasty decisions 
Don't make major investment decisions immediately after a significant life change, like a divorce or death of a loved one. Ask a trusted family member or friend to help you review materials and make decisions. But also consider fees and timing. Before agreeing to any transaction, ask about the charges you will incur and the exact timing involved.

Designate a financial power of attorney 
You overall financial plan should encompass some estate planning as well. A financial power of attorney may be even more important than a will. Designate a friend or relative you trust to handle your investments in case something happens and you are incapable of doing so yourself. The financial power of attorney document not only spells out your wishes - but specifically names who steps in - when it comes to your finances should you become incapacitated.

For more information on protecting yourself against financial abuse, go to www.cfp.net. 

You can learn more how to choose a financial adviser and about "Who's Watching Your Money" at yourmoney.cnbc.com. 

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Sotheby's

A Chinese gilt-bronze lion clock stand from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) being auctioned from the estate of Brooke Astor.

The first day of an auction of the contents of philanthropist Brooke Astor's two homes brought in $8.7 million, Sotheby's said.

Sotheby's is offering the contents of both homes, 901 objects in all, including European and Asian furnishings, Old Masters, Qing Dynasty paintings, tea sets, silverware, jewelry, a porcelain menagerie, over 100 dog paintings — and even the uniforms of her domestic staff.

The two-day auction continues Tuesday.

Proceeds will go to institutions and charities, including the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, under a settlement negotiated by the state Attorney General's office.

The collection had expected to fetch just $6 million to $9 million.

The auction comes after a nasty family feud involving her only son, Anthony Marshall. The five-year dispute ended in March with a settlement that freed $100 million for her charities and cut by more than half the amount going to Marshall, who was convicted of taking advantage of his mother's dementia, partly by engineering changes to her will. He has appealed.

The dispute had threatened to deplete the entire estate.

Astor spent her life putting the fortune that her third husband, Vincent Astor, left to use where it would do the most to alleviate human misery. Her efforts won her a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 1998.

Astor died in 2007 at age 105.

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Ed Betz / AP file

Joe Tamargo sold ads on his body to various sites, like SaveMartha.com, which was set up to keep Martha Stewart from jail following her incitement for securities fraud.

The dotcom bubble may have burst long ago, but some of its lingering effects are permanently etched on the backsides, forearms and foreheads of a few human billboards. Buzzfeed profiled some people who still carry the “skinvertising” tattoos. They got cash from websites to ink ads directly onto their flesh back in the 2000s, when the trend was all the rage. The cash is gone. So too are many of the websites. But the ink remains. 

Karolyne Smith sold her forehead space to online gambling site GoldenPalace for $10,000 and hit the talk show circuit. Her current Facebook picture shows her sporting blonde bangs down to her eyebrows. It's against the law to use the site from within the U.S. and several states are blocked from accessing the site at all. 

Ed Betz / AP file

Joe Tamargo shows off a tattoo.

Joe Tamargo sold ads on his body to various sites, like SaveMartha.com, which was set up to keep Martha Stewart from jail following her incitement for securities fraud. The tattoo apparently didn't work, because the hostess with the mostess still went to prison (though, after serving her sentence, now free). Tamargo told Buzzfeed that when people ask about the tattoos ,“they're like, 'Yo, that's pretty cool. I'm going to check out those websites... And then they get there and there's nothing on the website.” 

He's trying to buy himself some of the URLs on his body which lead to now defunct sites, like the former Viagra pill purveyor pilldaddy.com. 

Other depressing vestiges of the trend include: 

• Mark Greenlaw: Auctioned the back of his neck on eBay as advertising space in 2006 to a web hosting company called Glob@t to provide for his family while he was in Army basic training. 
• Jim Nelson: Sold a very large chunk on the back of his head to CI Host for $7,000. He signed a contract agreeing he would travel to at least eight states and two countries a year or pay a $25,000 fine. 
• Skinvertise.com: Billed itself as the first and original skin advertising agency, bringing together “skinvertisers” and advertising clients. The website now leads to a page that says the site is suspended. 

Then there's the poster child for the skinvertising trend, Billy Gibby, who legally changed his name to Hostgator Dotcom after a website hosting company paid him for the “naming rights.” Tattoos for websites cover his face. He too has a giant ad for GoldenPalace filling his backside. In all, he says he has 37 tattoos. So how much does his flesh go for? 

In a 2009 post on his blog Gibby announced he was selling 6”x1” forehead tattoos for $20,000 and 6”x1” and 4”x1” chest tattoos for $3,000 and $2,200, respectively. 

“Let me be your company or website's billboard,” read the post. 

Reached by email, Gibby said he's currently charging $1,500 for a tattoo on his body. Traditional economic theory would suggest that as demand has dropped, so have Gibby's prices. 

Besides changing his prices, Gibby too has had a change of heart about being the walking, talking, literal “face” of so many websites. 

“I no longer do tattoo ads on my head or face and plan to get those ones taken off one day with lasers,” he told NBC News in an email.

My kids don't really talk about my tattoos much but when they get older I'll let them know the reason I did it,” he wrote. “It does make me sad sometimes that I have them on my face but I know the reason I did it was to keep my kids from being homeless.”

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AP

It's tough for many Americans to pass by Ritz crackers.

 Americans may not be able to agree on much these days, but we can usually be counted on to unite around one thing: The chip bowl.

Americans love their salty snacks, but some are more favored than others. YouGov BrandIndex on Monday released its list of the top 10 items we like to crunch on.

The annual list is based on the company’s daily polls of around 5,000 Americans. The researchers asked people if they had a generally positive feeling about a wide variety of snack brands, and assigns a score based on subtracting the negative scores from the positive ones.

Ritz topped the list. The round, golden, buttery cracker and its distinctive red packaging may be an old favorite, but it’s apparently been able to keep its loyal following through the years.

No. 2 on the list was Lay’s potato chips, followed by Doritos. The list was little changed from last year.

Here’s the full rundown:

1. Ritz
2. Lay’s
3. Doritos
4. Fritos
5. Orville Redenbacher
6. Wheat Thins
7. Tostitos
8. Cheetos
9. Pringles
10. Triscuit

Hungry yet?

Gasoline prices in the United States dropped four-tenths of a cent over the past two weeks as crude oil prices fell, ending a long stretch of sustained price increases, according to a widely followed survey. 

The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.8338 on September 21, down from $3.8376 on September 7, according to Trilby Lundberg, editor of the Lundberg Survey, which covers some 2,500 gas stations nationwide.

While the decline is small enough to be considered "no change," it ends a nine-week run of gas price increases dating to July 13, when the average gallon of gas cost $3.41, Lundberg said on Sunday.

The change was spurred by a fall in crude oil prices caused in part by signals that Saudi Arabia may be willing to supply more oil to the market to lower prices, Lundberg said.

The news could portend a period of price stability assuming relative status quo in crude oil prices.

"Margins on gasoline for refiners and retailers are not only positive but comparatively healthy, so there is no disadvantage at the moment for the industry to withhold a price cut," Lundberg said.

Continued economic struggles in the United States and Europe, as well as an economic slowdown in China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer, also played a role in weakening demand, she said.

The end of the high-consumption summer months brought about lower demand, while the resolution of issues at some U.S. refineries increased supply, Lundberg added.

According to the survey, Chicago has the priciest gas at an average of $4.25 a gallon, while drivers in Jackson, Mississippi, pay the lowest average price of $3.52.

Throughout the summer, LearnVest has asked five amazingly accomplished moms to chime in on the topics that are near and dear to all moms' hearts. So far, they've chimed in on bullying, the ways we could be holding girls back from reaching their full potential and the old-school habits we should be teaching our kids to ensure their success. Today, they'll be discussing the things they wish they knew about parenting before they became moms.

Read what they have to say about their own take on the topic, then get to know them better by joining the discussion here!

With pregnancy comes an avalanche of unsolicited parenting advice.

Some people — your family, coworkers, the passenger next to you on the bus — just can’t help themselves. For example, a woman at my old job stopped by my desk every day to say things like, "You’ll never sleep again!” (actually that’s true) and, "Never leave your baby alone!" on the bed, changing table, fill in the blank.

After a while, you start to wish your belly wasn’t such a beacon for well-meaning big mouths. The thing about raising a kid is that women can't truly understand what it's like until they actually have one.

That said, here are a few things I wish I actually had known before I had my baby:

1. Cozy is convenient

Babies come with a lot of gear: Strollers, swings, bouncers, activity gyms, bottles, Boppys, car seats and high chairs. As gifts arrived and baby’s new furniture got assembled in our small one-bedroom apartment, I could feel the walls closing in on me.

Where would I practice yoga? How could we puzzle my husband’s golf clubs into the corner where we kept the boxes of wipes and diapers? Would we survive our cramped quarters until we traded in the apartment for a house in the 'burbs?

Like most families living in Manhattan, we made it work — while dreaming about our future digs and watching a lot of "House Hunters." I coped by taking frequent walks to the park, putting some belongings in storage (aka my parents’ basement) and buying toys that I could fold up and tuck away. But now that we’ve moved into a two-story colonial, I realize that apartment living was actually the ideal way to cohabitate during my son’s first five months — no racing up and down the steps to retrieve a rogue pacifier or make a midnight bottle. When your changing table, dishwasher and couch are all within 600 square feet, baby chores are a breeze.

2. Organic overload

While I was pregnant, I fantasized about giving my son an au natural childhood. An idyllic youth untainted by chemicals, pesticides, synthetic fabrics or off-gassing.

Then I went shopping.

Organic is everywhere — bibs, bottles, baby carriers; even spoons made out of corn — and it’s almost always more expensive, especially when it comes to clothing. And unlike food products, the fabric industry isn’t regulated. Manufacturers might label a onesie with just one stitch of untreated fabric as organic. I splurged on a (mostly) organic mattress, which I like more for its firmness than its materials. If buying organic is important to you, then buy organic baby food. Because once baby starts rolling and crawling and socializing, it’s harder and harder to control what he comes in contact with.

(We've covered organic stuff for baby before: Check out this piece about how to buy guilt-free, affordable organic clothing for your kids, see how Jessica Alba is shaking up the eco-baby industry here and read this for the easy way to keep your baby toxin free.)

3. Mommy and me for free

Soon after my son was born, my husband began to freak out about college tuition. I, on the other hand, fretted about the crazy cost of baby music classes, many of which required us to pay tuition for a semester-long block of classes. My singing voice would have to do, I thought.

Then, when my son was around four months, I discovered that many mommy and baby organizations, like Gymboree, offer free trial classes. A friend even found a gratis infant gymnastics class for babies up to 6 months. If you’re still wary of paying for playtime, try free story hour at your local library or start your own playgroup.

4. Step away from that cute romper

When you’re nesting, it’s hard to resist buying for baby. Every teeny tiny piece of apparel had me sighing and saying, "Awwwww." But before you snap up that pint-sized designer fedora, remember that baby will probably outgrow it before you remember to snap a picture. And aside from basics like onesies and pajamas, your little one’s wardrobe will likely be furnished entirely by friends and relatives for at least the first six months. I made the mistake of stocking up on cute little towels with animal hoods. My son will need to bathe right away, I thought (of course, I only gave him a sponge bath a few times a week in the beginning). Then I promptly received 10 adorable hooded towels as gifts, most of which I’ve never used thanks to my trusty washing machine.

(Check out the other money mistakes a first-time mom made here.)

5. Work-from-home woes

When I quit my job at a magazine to stay at home with my son, I promised myself I’d bolster the family income with freelance gigs. My husband naively imagined I’d be churning out stories during my maternity leave. While I knew that was never going to happen, I assumed I’d be tapping away at my computer soon after. I’ve written a few articles here and there, but trying to craft publishable sentences while baby is fussing on his floor mat is no easy feat. Doing real work, for me anyway, means hiring a babysitter (which isn’t always cost effective), writing late at night (and trying not to zone out in front of the monitor) or putting my son down for an extra-long nap. I’ve learned to pace myself and say no to some assignments, even when my ambition is screaming at me to say yes. (If you're thinking of quitting your own job, check out these seven things every mom should know before she does so.)

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• Two kids, no incomes: Am I the only one who's broke?
• Are credit card companies exploiting college students?
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This article, "Pumpkin is the new bacon!," originally appeared on CNBC.com.

More from CNBC.com

Dr Pepper

About 80 percent of the more than 20,000 readers who took our poll on the topic said they weren't bothered by this ad.

Dr Pepper found itself front and center in a religious controversy this week when it launched an ad referencing evolution - the evolution of flavor, that is.

The play on words and concepts prompted outcry from creationists, some of whom threatened a boycott. Predictably, those who believe in evolutionary theory then also had to weigh in.

The reaction from the majority of our readers: Get over it.

About 80 percent of the more than 20,000 readers who took our poll on the topic said they weren’t bothered by the ad.

“Extreme liberals complain about things such as a reference to ‘God’ on our coins and extreme conservatives complain about things such as a Dr Pepper ad depicting evolution. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Most sensible people aren't too concerned about either,” one reader wrote.

Still, the story did prompt a heated and wide-ranging debate in our comments section about creationism versus evolution, freedom of speech and whether the controversy was helping or hurting Dr Pepper.

Some readers argued that the ad would have sparked a very different reaction if it had poked fun at another group or belief system.

“I agree that it is just an ad and not something to get all upset about. But at the same time, I do agree with other posters who stated that if this ad in any way offended gays or other races, then those would be justified for getting upset. But since Christians are the ones feeling upset, they are put down and made fun of. Luckily, when all is said done, Jesus will get the final word no matter what those say who put down Christians.” 

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The hottest club in many suburban towns across America will soon be a Club Applebee's. That's right, starting at 10 p.m., the family-oriented casual dining chain will turn down the lights, pump up the bass, and clear away the cocktail tables to open up the dance floor. 

This is seriously a real thing that is really happening. 

Indeed, “Club Bee's” will have live DJ's, ladies' nights, karaoke, luau, food and drink specials, and all the “Call Me Maybe” covers you can shake a buffalo wing at.

At some of the franchises in Florida, where the concept first started when some franchise owners noticed a younger crowd hanging out towards the end of the night and downing drinks, even have “white” parties. The restaurant hangs white sheets everywhere and patrons are encouraged to sport white colored clothing. Employees then turn on the blacklights to give every surface an ultraviolet glow. 

“This is a pretty good vibe, I'm not gonna lie,” one happy Club Applebee's customer told TODAY reporters when they went to check out the scene. 

“We've come here after ten on Wednesday's for Girl's Night, it's pretty good, I must say I enjoy it,” Analia Fernandez, who normally dines at the chain during the day with her 10-year-old brother, told TODAY's Janet Shamlian. 

“I would definitely come back, this is my second Thursday in a row,” said another. 

What's next? Raves at Dairy Queen? 

The chain hasn't released figures but says so far it's making money. Boozy beverages are the most profitable items on the menu. In a down economy, businesses have to get creative to raise revenue, and regular folks are looking to get down and forget their troubles on the cheap. But how will the raucous vibe play against Applebee's traditional family-friendly and work casual atmosphere?

The chain of some 2,000 franchise locations isn't worried. "Families are a huge part of the business, even for the franchisees that have a strong bar business," Brian Masilionis, senior manager-beverage at Applebee's, told Advertising Age. "Staying open later allows us to have more fun things later at night when kids are in bed. Historically, we may have had more confusion with guests when we closed earlier." 

It's true. When I went to a conference this summer and got back the hotel on the highway strip at a 9:30 p.m., I scratched my head why I couldn't get some food at either the Applebee's or the other restaurants on either side of where I was staying. 

Still, it sounds like an Onion headline. So much so that last year the satirical publication ran a fake news segment on how the chain was trying to drum up business by encouraging hipsters to visit the chain “ironically.” 

The tagline in the fake ad was “Wouldn't it be funny to go to Applebee's?” But judging by the footage and testimonials, the late-night revelers are saying to each other, “Wouldn't it be fun?” 

So while at first blush it all sounds pretty ridiculous, in the suburban towns where Applebee's are frequently found, nightlife options are not. 

“I could see this being hip in some of the burbs by me. I live 20 miles away from downtown and there are no night clubs nearby,” one online commenter wrote . “Plenty of Applebee's, though.”

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If the kids' meal options just aren't cutting it when you're out, you'll have to get creative.

I love to eat out with my children, but it can get expensive, even at family style restaurants.  If you’re clever, though, there are ways to not only save money but also have your kids eat a healthy meal.

Fortunately, we are all foodies in my family. The four of us love to cook and eat. We don’t shy away from places that you might not tag as family friendly, and many of the places we may go don’t have a formal kids menu (think Asian or Spanish tapas).

However, a little thinking things through before ordering (and maybe a little negotiating with your kids) can turn any restaurant into the “family friendly” variety, and even save you quite a bit of cash in the process.

Consider skipping the kids menu

The most important things to keep in mind when picking your kid’s meal at a restaurant are the drink options, whether or not a vegetable is offered and what the dessert options look like. For those reasons alone, I tend to shy away from kids menus at restaurants. Until my children learned to read, they didn’t even know there was such a thing as a kids menu.

Kids menus are sadly predictable. More often than not the childrens menus in restaurants have one vegetable -- french fries -- and come with a soft drink and dessert. Entrees range from hamburgers to mac-and-cheese to chicken fingers.

Not very inspired or healthy.

If the kids’ menu does happen to have healthy options, and is reasonably priced, it may make sense to order from it, but keep these two things to keep in mind:

• If drinks are offered, see if they will substitute a soft drink or chocolate milk with seltzer or low-fat milk.
• If desserts look too indulgent, see if they’ll substitute some fresh fruit and whipped cream instead. Or consider all sharing one dessert as a family.

Share and share alike

If the kids’ meal options just aren’t cutting it when you’re out, you’ll have to get creative. In an effort to have my kids eat more nutritious food and save money, I often have my children share a full-sized entrée, which almost always includes a vegetable. If the vegetable isn’t one your kids will eat, ask for a substitution or a more simple preparation. (Sautéed spinach or steamed broccoli always work in my family.)

In some restaurants, portions are so large that your child or children may be able to have a full portion from your entrée alone, so ask ahead of time how big your own meal will be before ordering another for your kid.

Think outside the box

If you have more than one child, and they aren’t in the same food mood, ask about the possibility of ordering a half portion for kids – often restaurants will accommodate, even if they already offer a kids menu.

Alternatively, you may want to order just an appetizer for your little ones. They’re often large enough and tend to contain vegetables. (If it doesn’t, add a veggie side.)

The key to eating healthy restaurant meals with your kids that don’t cost a fortune is feeling comfortable enough to ask for substitutions.

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