There are many ways to cut your costs during the summer, especially if you plan on doing a lot (or any) driving. With gas prices going back up, traveling this summer may be looking more expensive than when you planned your trip. Well, there are ways to save a little bit of money on that road trip this year.

As always, what I will start calling the golden rule of frugality, SHOP AROUND!!! Comparison shopping means that you are going to get the best deal. At the same time, don’t drive 30 miles out of your way to save $.02 a gallon, that’s crazy and really not worth it. You can do price comparison on websites like GasBuddy.com and some GPS systems even have gas stations filtered by price. These websites do depend on users to enter in gas prices, so the prices you see may not be what they are for that day (or that week if you’re going to a small town).

Secondly, if you’re a cash carrying member of the population use it. Some gas stations have started trying to pass merchant fees off to gas buyers and have started charging more for gas if someone is paying with a debit or credit card. This is a legal way for the gas stations to help with how much they’re paying for credit card fees. The good news for you is that usually these gas stations that charge more for credit card transactions are usually cheaper than everyone else.

You should also perform regular maintenance on your car. Giving your car a tune up and getting the oil changed according to when the manufacturer says can lead to higher MPGs and more miles on your car. Keeping your tires inflated can also help improve your MPG’s by 3% over the course of a year, which could total to 20 gallons of gas! Air filters are another one of those little things that sometimes we forget about that can increase your fuel efficiency.

A little tip I picked up is that if you like stopping frequently for gas, don’t fill up your tank because the less full your tank is the less heavy your car is and the more miles per gallon you will average. I usually fill my car up to ½ a tank, and then refill at ¾ a tank. It is time consuming, but overall I’m getting better mileage out of it.

Lastly, if you really want to cut back on fuel consumption for your road trips, take it easy and try not drive too aggressively. The faster you accelerate the more gas you are burning.

Last year, Starbucks closed several hundred stores all across the country due to falling profits and a looming recession. Now it has announced another 300 store closings and a loss of 6,700 jobs. Two-hundred of the stores will be located in the U.S.

I never understood why Starbucks chooses to locate in some areas, but not others. For example, I live in a college town with a student population of around 12,000. We have one Starbucks inside the student union and it’s a collaboration with Barnes and Noble. Yet, in the Grapevine Mills Mall just outside Dallas, there were 2 full size Starbucks. I like Starbucks, but for me, it’s just too inconvenient to buy on a regular basis.

Food demand is forecasted to rise by 50% by 2030, so the bioengineered food is likely to catch on, but the question is; if the information was released to you at the time of purchase, would you buy it?

Somewhere I read online yesterday that 1 in 7 voters can still be persuaded. I don’t think the 2 percent of the population that CAN be persuaded are watching SNL, I think those potential voters are the ones who do not watch a lot of news or don’t really care about politics at all.

Last time John McCain was on SNL, he made me laugh a bit, only because he made fun of how old he is. Maybe tonight he can even make me chuckle a bit.

Not only that, but because the country has little exports, foreign currency is difficult to come across, so the value of the local currency is falling.

Worse yet, the country is having political hardships and is waiting for a new and more stable government to be put in place so the economic reforms they need can be achieved.

For the most part, Africa is a difficult place to read about. Even when I read about or watch news stories about poor families in the United States, it can’t compare to the tragedy that happens everyday in many parts of Africa. I hope someday soon their government can get it together and help the country flourish.

30 year old Joanne Smith from Chicago outbid 7 others to get the winning bid of a whopping $1.75 on eBay. However she will be responsible for back taxes and some serious clean up to the yard and house. She only bid on the house hoping to be able to sell it for a profit.

Saginaw, Mich. has been hit very hard by financial trouble and the town has a pretty high crime rate. City-data.com has Saginaw’s crime rate index at 1082.3; the national average is 320.9. And the population has been declining for the last decade.

They plan to complete their project in the 2 year time span they gave in May when they announced the project.

WiFi is a great idea, where we live, the population isn’t high enough to warrant a fully implemented WiFi network…especially one sponsored by our cable provider (Which is not Time Warner, CableVision, or Comcast). I suppose though, even though it doesn’t say, if you subscribe to ONLY the WiFi service, do you still have to pay the rental fee on the cable modem?