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Stephen Anthony Campbell on Examiner.com

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Making Any Travel Plans This Summer??


The summer travel season is upon us, so where are you planning to go? How do you plan to get there? Well if you plan to travel by car, all I can say is good luck. Gas prices are at an all time high. It may be worth looking into flying to your destination. The average full size car holds somewhere between 16 to 18 gallons of gas. So let’s say you are planning a trip from Atlanta to South Florida you could be looking at fuel costs of $90-$100 one way. If you drive something bigger like a gas guzzling SUV, I don’t think I want to know the cost for that trip.

There are some ways to travel this summer without going bankrupt. Last month I spent a few days in fabulous Las Vegas, and although I’ve been several times this trip was different than the other trips. I spent a lot less to get there, especially in an economy that has gas inching close and in some places past $4 a gallon, it’s now cheaper to fly than drive long distances. I have to say I’m pretty proud of myself on keeping the cost down on this trip. I learned a very valuable tip a few years ago. Even if you are not a frequent traveler sign up to as many airline frequent flier programs as you can find. Make sure to sign up for their e-mail alerts on fares. If you are not a fan of a cluttered email inbox, create an email account just for this purpose.

Airlines will send their frequent fliers emails when they have airfare sales. I’ve found that sites like Expedia.com and Cheaptickets.com don’t always beat the online prices of the airlines. Always check both, sometimes you can find great deals on the airlines websites that go unadvertised. While planning my trip to Las Vegas for 6 people, I found roundtrip non-stop tickets from Atlanta for only $218 with taxes and fees included on Delta, my preferred airline. Obviously I jumped on it. The cool thing about this deal was there were several departing and return flights to choose from. The sale wasn’t announced or emailed, I just happened upon it. I found the sale by checking the site pretty regularly. The cheapest price listed on the discount travel websites started at $340 and up so I saved $122.

The next deal came through what else an email program. Just like I did with the airlines, hotels have programs for frequent travelers and email alerts. When we first decided to go to Vegas I signed up to as many strip hotels I could think of. The Las Vegas Strip is pretty much the center of the action in Vegas. I found two great deals one at the Luxor and one at New York New York. Both of the deals were for the same price, $129 a night, the only difference was one hotel offered more freebies than the other. So we booked New York New York., which offered a room upgrade with a great view of the strip, free drinks, and 2 for one roller coaster rides and 2 for 1 breakfast at its restaurants.

While we were in Vegas I figured we would need some wheels… so I shopped for rental cars. My plan was to reserve a car to pick up between 30-45 minutes after arrival and return 2 hours before departing. I found that booking cars through the rental car companies I would be paying a lot more for not keeping the car a full day. We would arrive in Las Vegas Just after 6pm on Saturday, so my reservation was for 6:30. We would be leaving on Tuesday at 12pm so I was going to return the car at 10am. The rental agencies counted Tuesday’s partial day as extra time and was going to charge me more than $60, that's more 3 times the base rate of $19 a day. I found out that booking my rental on priceline.com, they counted Tuesday as a whole day and calculated at $19.


So I paid $218 for Airfare. The Hotel was $129 a night per room for 3 nights at a total of $423 with taxes. The rental car cost me $133 with taxes and fees. So my grand total for travel to Las Vegas came out to be $774. That was cheaper than the vacation packages on any of the websites and a lot cheaper than I paid on previous trips to Vegas at the same time of year. Now I’m not a travel expert, but I do like to save money where I can. Find deals on travel is like putting a puzzle together, it takes a good eyes and patients. In the end it was worth saving more than $300 on my trip. You can apply the same techniques to planning road trips, the money you save finding deals on hotels can be put towards the high price of gas. I just wanted to put that out there in case you had started to rethink that much needed vacation. Be sure to drop me a line if you found any of this info useful and how much money you were able to save.
Safe travels!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Disappointing Test Results For Some Georgia Students


On Monday Georgia state school officials released a statement in an effort to prepare parents and students of poor test scores on the Criterion-Reference Competency Test. The Criterion-Reference Competency Test also known as the CRCT is a test that is suppose to diagnose an individual student’s ability to comprehend the state’s curriculum of reading, mathematics, science, social studies and English/language arts. The preliminary test results show that 40 percent of eight grade students failed in math and could be at risk of repeating the eighth grade. Eight grade students must pass the math and reading sections of the test in order to move on to high school. If they fail one or both parts of the test, they are giving prep classes and may retake the test during summer school.

The statement also said that 20 to 30 percent of sixth and seventh graders passed the social studies exams. Those results are very alarming to say the least. I can only imagine the reaction parents will have when they learn that their child could be held back. So how does something like this happen? The CRCT is supposed to be more difficult this year than in previous years. That’s because there was a gap in test score for the NAEP or National Assessment Of Education Progress and the CRCT.

The tests showed that about 83 percent of Georgia eight grade students who took the CRCT were proficient or above however only 23 percent scored the same level on the NAEP. Officials blame the lack of a national curriculum as the problem. Parents are complaining that some items on the CRCT were never taught to students. Now that the test is more difficult has the curriculum reflected the change in the test? More focus is being put on teaching the curriculum and less time on review, we need to make sure that all areas of tests are covered.

These test scores may illustrate a need for the state to review it’s current curriculum and other issues that have long been areas of concern such as smaller classroom sizes, more teachers, teacher pay, etc. I definitely think that some kind of a review is warranted if straight “A” students are at risk of repeating the eighth grade. It’s obvious that something is broken in the system and something needs to be done to fix it. However I don’t think a solution will come soon enough for some parents and students as the school year draws to a close.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Gas Prices Force Commuters To Change Their Ways


As gas prices hit a record high it’s fast becoming the single biggest weekly expense for families these days even surpassing groceries. The national average of gas is rising to more than $3.71 a gallon. So many commuters are searching for an alternative to driving to work.. In the metro Atlanta area mass transit is seeing an increase in riders as fast as the price of gas is rising.

For years activist and politicians have encouraged us to use public transportation and car pool, of course many people ignored those calls. Now people are adjusting their commutes to work, not out of concern for the environment but necessity. It’s a bitter sweet win for the Eco-activist. As gas prices climb so do prices across the board from food to merchandise. On the other hand more people are taking fewer trips in cars and practicing telecommuting, carpooling and using mass transit at record rates.

Ever been stuck in traffic on I-285 or on I-85 near spaghetti junction during rush hour? Atlanta’s traffic is one of the worst in the country, and rightly so. Who would want to deal with all that, plus pay $3.71 a gallon for the privilege of doing so. Taking the bus or the train is the smart thing, especially if you live in the suburbs. A few years back when my car started to give out, I would drive to the nearest train station and take the train into the city. I suddenly found time to do all those things I never seemed to fit into my life like read a good book. The commute to work and back home became a great way to distress from a long day’s work. I actually miss all that free time I use to have…waiting for and riding the train home. So if anything is gained from these high gas prices, hopefully people can become more literate or even follow Oprah’s book club.


Monday, May 5, 2008

City Of Atlanta Hit With Deep Budget Cuts

The City Of Atlanta is making some deep budget cuts, to try to overcome a $140 million budget shortfall. The city will lay off more than 400 city jobs. The lay offs will affect every department in city government. The cuts to the police and fire departments will be limited to administrative staff at the moment. However Mayor Shirley Franklin warns that if the city council doesn’t approve her proposed property tax increase on June 2, the city could lose as many as 200 police officers, 90 firefighters and the closing of six fire stations.

The job cuts come as the mayor tries to balance the city’s $589 million budget. Along with the job cuts and property tax increase, the mayor wants to raise fees for city services. It’s also been revealed that nearly 4000 invoices to vendors have gone unpaid. The city doesn’t know how much money those invoices total.

Mayor Franklin has defended her leadership of the city. Recently an audit determined the city’s finances were in a state of chaos. The city overspent its budget by $90 million this past year. The city’s pension costs are extremely high and there has been poor budgeting by officials for years. All this is currently going on despite an audit in 2002 that highlighted the same problems and outlined solutions that were never put into place. So who should the people of Atlanta blame for this?

I think the blame falls squarely in the Mayor’s lap. She should be held accountable for the city’s finances. Recommendations from the 2002 audit were not enacted. Basically the past has repeated itself within the span of a few years. There is no excuse for the problems the city is facing especially when the solution was in black and white for the Mayor and staff to read. I wonder if they even bothered to read the entire report. Mayor Franklin has traveled around the country and received various awards for her excellent leadership ability. U.S. News and World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government named Mayor Franklin as one of “America’s Best Leaders”. I think had she stayed home and read a report or two instead of going out and getting a “pre-mature” pat on the back she could have saved the city from a lot or heart ache. When she became Mayor there was lots of hype about her being the city’s first female mayor and first African-American Female mayor of a major southern city. But it looks like the end of her second and hopefully final term will be here most memorable. Her tenure at city hall started out with lots of excitement, but is rapidly becoming a disappointment.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

CHECK PLEASE!!!


Well the wait is over and the first batches of economic stimulus checks have already been sent. Retailers across the country are lining up to entice customers to spend their money with them. Many stores like Sears and Kmart are giving customers 10 percent discounts if they convert their entire check into a gift cards at their stores. The question for many people is to spend or not to spend.

With gas prices literally increasing overnight to record highs, it’s a difficult decision for many families. Lets face facts, times are hard. The unemployment rate is up, prices are up and there seems to be end in sight. Today The Home Depot announced that its closing 15 of its under performing stores in 10 states. I don’t think many families are eyeing that 42” plasma TV most are probably thinking of fattening their savings accounts.

The government wants you to spend that money at Walmart or Best Buy to help kick economy in the, "you know what." But people are understandably nervous about spending money during uncertain times. As food and gas prices rise I would think most families would spend some of the money in those two areas and save the rest or pay down bills.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not getting excited about running to Best Buy and buying a brand new TV or anything else for that matter. I’m going to save some of my money for a rainy day. I don’t think we have seen the worst from this economy and I’m betting the money I’m saving now will be worth saving. I saw a news report yesterday about restaurants paying higher prices for food with a decrease in diners. I will do my part to help the economy by going to my favorite places to eat. Sushi anyone?

In the end people are going to spend what they think is appropriate for them and save when they can. I was reading an article about how to spend your refunds, there were ideas tossed out like donating to charities, investing, etc. I say if you are going to spend it, spend it smartly. Look for those discount deals; get more for your hard earned bucks! If you are looking to buy lots of rice at the discount clubs, you may encounter some problems.


Happy Spending or Happy Saving!
 
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