However, years passed, oil prices fell, the speed limit policy was eased in the late 1980s, and any tie to federal highway funds was completely repealed as one of the first acts of Newt Gingrich’s Republican Congress in 1995.

Today, I doubt that many drivers think about the connection between speed and gas consumption.

So I was surprised to read in the Congressional Budget Office’s recent study on the impact of high gasoline prices the conclusion that pain at the gas pump was causing many motorists to drive more slowly. The researchers looked at uncongested (weekend) freeways in California, where numerous automatic data collection devices have recorded large quantities of traffic data from many locations over long periods.

After doing statistical tests to rule out whether the effects were due to seasonal or other factors, the researchers concluded that many drivers did seem to be easing off on the gas pedal. Perhaps a minority of drivers were having an impact, slowing the drivers around them—ever so slightly.

Essentially, the results translated to a 10 percent increase in the price of gasoline causing the median speed to decline by about 0.5 percent. (The slowdown was more pronounced for the slowest drivers on the road and nonexistent for the fastest drivers on the road.) That’s saving a little gasoline—less than one-twentieth of a gallon per 100 miles or, as the CBO researchers put it, a teaspoon of gas every 2.6 miles.

But could we do better? The CBO researchers cite a study conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory showing that slowing from 70 mph to 65 mph—a 7.1 percent reduction—would cut a typical vehicle’s fuel consumption by 8.2 percent. At $3 per gallon, the fuel savings would be worth 9 cents every 10 miles. Travel time would increase by about 4 seconds per mile.

I wonder if drivers think it would be worth it. From a policy standpoint, achieving an 8.2 percent reduction in highway gas consumption without doing a thing to improve cars seems pretty compelling. It’s an idea on which politicians have been deafeningly silent. But maybe short of a mandate, there’s a way of getting the word out that slowing down makes more sense now than ever.

Bully pulpit, anyone?

The objective of consolidation is to turn many debts into a single one with a lower rate of interest. Consolidation is an excellent way for someone with a lot of high interest debt from credit cards, car loans, or other high-interest loans to save money in the long run, as well as improve their credit rating.

It does not, however, absolve them of the debt, and in fact it requires them to offer up some form of collateral or other item of demonstrable value in order to justify the loan.

Still, the reduced rate of interest tends to not only make the buyer’s payments much lower and more affordable, it allows the borrower to save money in the long run by paying off more of the money they actually owe and less of the interest on the initial amount.

When someone chooses to consolidate their loans, they go to a bank or other lending institution and bring information regarding all of their extant loans. This can be everything from credit card bills to car loans to gambling debts.

Most of these loans are known as “unsecured loans” because the borrower does not have to offer up anything as collateral in the event that they are unable to pay off the loan. As such, the lender needs to have a high rate of interest on the loan in order to make sure that they will gain back the amount the originally spent, plus a profit.

The rate needs to be so high that even if many of the borrowers do not pay back the loan, the company still makes money. This is why credit card debt and gambling debt are famous for their high rates of interest, since it is common for borrowers to default on them.

A consolidated loan then pays off all those extant loans and replaces them with a single large loan that is secured, in that the lender asks for collateral in the form of goods, properties or investments that they can collect on should the borrower be unable to pay.

While this means that the consolidated loan cannot be larger than the value a borrower can offer in collateral, it does mean that they can replace high-interest, unsecured debt with low-interest secured debt.

This has the downside of meaning that they lose their house or other property if they fail to pay off the new loan, however, and it also requires that the borrower own valuable and unmortgaged property that is more valuable than their extant debt.

Still, consolidation is considered better than bankruptcy for one both financially and in terms of credit rating in the long term, since it shows that one is willing and able to pay off one’s debts through one means or another.

It also means that the borrower will be able to access credit cards and take out other loans while paying off their consolidated loan, although financial expediency becomes much more important when paying off a large consolidated loan.

If you would like further advice, you can find further information here – www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

In fact, many members are not retired. The only requirements are that you be age 50 years old or older. In addition, you must pay annual dues of $16.00  The amount is less if you pay or more years in advance. The dues also will cover membership for your spouse or partner.

AARP members are automatically eligible for a variety of discounts and deals on hotels and motels, car rentals, vacations, insurance, legal assistance, and much more.

Membership includes a free monthly magazine and news bulletin.  With its millions of members, AARP is a very powerful advocate with federal and state governments on issues such as Medicare, Social Security, consumer safety, and pension rights.

In addition, AARP’s website (www.aarp.org) is a treasure trove of free, clearly written information, resources,, and advice on topics such as health, travel, employment, retirement, money management, exercise, computer learning, caregiving, grandparenting, driver-safety training, prescription drugs, games, and much. much more.

On the AARP website home page, you can sign up for free e-mail newsletters, check out job openings, and access “AARP in Your State” to find news, special events, and community-service opportunities in your area.

The website also includes a large and excellent list of links to other sites and a state-by-state guide to transportation for seniors.

You can also contact AARP directly by calling toll-free 888-OUR-AARP (888-687-2277).

If you prefer to contact AARP by mail, send your letter to:
AARP
601 E Street NW,
Washington, D.C.  20049

You begin to follow their instruction to stop making minimum payments and allow the debt-settlement firm’s representatives handle everything. That’s when you surprisingly may begin getting nasty calls.

Instead of dealing with her creditors directly — or through a non-profit credit-counseling service — people are she paying precious money to a settlement firm that likely will give bad advice and possibly steer you into more hot water.

Consumers will often make costly mistakes when dealing with aggressive debt collectors.  Here are some basic tips to help you deal with seedy debt collectors.

Don’t hide
It can be tempting to avoid creditor calls when you don’t have enough money to pay, but that is a really big mistake. The more you communiate, the better off you will be.

Don’t pay dormant debt
If you’re being contacted about an old debt, the first thing to do is consider whether you actually owe the money. Don’t let the collector intimidate you into making a payment on a debt that is past its expiration date — that can even make the problem even worse.

Dispute inflated debts
Many times, an old debt can be over inflated by late fees and debt-collection costs. You then may be liable for those charges. Often times the dollar amounts can exceed limits imposed by local state law.

Stop abusive calls
Federal law bars debt collectors from repeatedly calling you. If a debt collector is impolite or overly demanding, just ask to talk to their supervisor or even hang up. Don’t put up with their tactics.

Don’t cut off communication
A key reason to talk directly to debt collectors is to keep them from suing you. If you are cooperating with them and communicating, your case likely won’t end up in a court.

Chronicle conversations
Take extensive notes. Keep every piece of correspondence and keep a log summarizing all the phone calls you have had with debt collectors.  This can definitely help you if you ever get sued.

Negotiate
If you have more debt than you can afford to pay, the debt creditor may consider taking less than what is owed to keep you out of Bankruptcy Court.

Don’t drain your home equity or nest egg
Debt collectors will often try to convince you to sell personal assets to repay your debts. But it’s important to know that Retirement savings are almost always protected from creditors, as is some home equity as well as some equity in the car that gets you to and from work.

Believe it or not, more and more kids nowadays are trigger happy when it comes to swiping credit cards and capitalists are just too happy to hear that news.

Good news is, you can actually start today and teach your kids simple lessons that might save your household from a financial disaster, your kids from capitalist sharks, and yourself from a lifetime of paying debt. So how do you do that? Well here are some simple ideas to put you on the right path.

If you have a young child, it is best to let him or her discover the real value of money on their own by letting them work hard for it. It’s a well known fact that kids are more likely to give more value towards things that they worked hard for. If they’re a little older, try telling them to work or start their own business, like setting up their hobbies for Oregon craft shows. Believe me, this idea works like a charm.

Tell them to save up. Try and convince them that saving a portion of their allowance or their earnings isn’t a bad idea and definitely not a sign of deprivation. Sit down with them and talk about opening up a bank account. Most banks even have special savings programs for kids and teenagers. It’s a great idea to have savings account and to teach our kids how to save, even at an early age.

Show them how to budget. It’s important to always have a plan to keep everything in order. This may be a bit frustrating, especially if our children tend to lose on some of the budget’s aspects. Good thing, you’re there to give support and teach them how to rectify financial woes, young as they are.

These are just a few ideas on how we can make responsibly spending adults out of our kids. You’ll never know, they might thank you one day for it all.

There are also four types of government loans namely, Graduate PLUS Loan, Parent PLUS Loan, Perkins Loan and the Stafford Loan. It seems everyone today is an expert on student loans. That’s why it’s important for Parents and Students to seek out the best student loan consolidation advice they can find before taking action.

A student financial future may hinge on whether or not they decide to consolidate their student loans. Student loan consolidation simply means the act of obtaining one loan to pay off all the others, thus creating one loan where a Student or the Parents may have had 2 or more loans to pay off.

Government student loan consolidation can make a borrower choose from the four repayment procedures like the extended payment plan. Consolidation of student loans generally results in a lower monthly payment with no penalties included for the early paying off of the loan.

In most cases, students and parents will find that there is no credit check required to obtain these Federal consolidation loans. Plus, it’s possible that your interest rate will be lower as well. And also, if a government student loan is consolidated its application process will be a lot simpler. Those with Private student loans need to review the pro’s and con’s of private student loan consolidation before applying.

Consolidating your student loan may decrease your monthly payment and string out the repayment term longer. This helps many students get on their feet and obtain a good paying job so that repaying their student loan doesn’t put them into financial hardship.

Every student or parent should know the pitfalls before filing out a consolidation loan application. Student loan consolidation is not a good choice for everyone. Borrowers should be aware of the dangers of consolidating their student loans. Unfortunately, there aren’t many people or lenders who will inform you of these dangers.

If you do nothing to better your financial status after consolidating your loan, then I’d advise against consolidation. Consolidation can give you a chance to get on your feet, but it will do nothing to help you if you do nothing.

Should you be thinking about consolidating your Federal loan during the six month grace period, think again. Consolidating at this time will result to the loss of the rest of the grace period. Additionally, a consolidated loan means an extended payment plan which can cause a the total amount to be paid back to be raised as time goes on. This can make the total amount of money paid back to increase by thousands of dollars.

Federal student loans are truly a gift for students who are in need of financial aid. However, consolidating it may or may not have a positive effect on your long term financial situation. Smart students and parents will do their due diligence when researching on whether or not to consolidate college loans.

You may or may not know it, but more and more kids these days are oblivious to the global economic dilemma we’re going through and are spending their money, or rather their parents money, on useless and expensive junk. There’s an increasing number of kids out there who are falling for marketing tactics designed especially for the youth, who seem to be more gullible when it comes to buying stuff.

You can stop excessive shopping and save you, your kids, and your whole family from a lifetime of debt and a house full of useless garbage by teaching them how to handle money more responsibly. If you don’t know what you’re doing, fret no more, because here are a few useful tips to get you started on your lessons on saving.

If your kids feel like they need an allowance increase, instead of giving them the extra cash outright, why don’t you suggest a job for them. Having a job teaches discipline and responsibility. And if they’re differently inclined, try to tell them to open up a business of their own, perhaps in North Dakota craft shows where they can sell the products of their hobbies. Children are more likely to value money that they worked hard for, so show them how to.

Open up a savings account for them. You can discuss opening up a savings account at a local bank and talk to them about how banks work. Make sure to point out the advantages of having a secure and safe bank account so they can save some of their money for future use. Point out how saving is also very useful in a pinch and how they could buy bigger and better things in the future if they save today.

Teach them how to budget. The best way to show them how to set aside proper amounts of money on different aspects of their living is a great way to teach them to plan ahead. It makes them more responsible and it also lets them be prepared for anything that might happen in the future.

However old your child is, so long as he knows that money means stuff and more money means more stuff, it’s always best to teach them how to spend it wisely. You’ll be surprised at how much difference it could make if you think about it.

So, what is the best way you can adopt in reducing your credit card debt? Well, you simply minimize your credit card debt by preventing it from soaring and paying off what is currently outstanding. That’s not too difficult, right?

Well, not actually. Assuming it was that easy to reduce credit card debt, then we wouldn’t have so many people with credit card debt related problems. Somehow we would have been capable of reducing credit card debt related problems, then finally get rid of them (or perhaps significantly reducing them).

There is all kinds of advice out there on how to reduce credit card debt. However, nothing much seems to change. The problem still seems to persist and in fact, worsen.

It’s not that difficult to reduce credit card debt. As was stated earlier, there is a lot of advice available on how to reduce credit card debt and the only thing you need to do is put that advice to practice in real life.

Your first step will be to reduce your credit card debt is prevent it from taking dangerous levels or proportions. Two important ways of undertaking this step are – balance transfers and the use of money.

A balance transfer is often considered as the first measure to reduce credit card debt. Actually this is something that can assist reducing the debt by slowing down the pace at which credit card debt is getting built. It also provides relief in terms of the APR being for example – 0% for initial 6-9 months. This obviously helps reduce credit card debt faster.

In order to reduce credit card debt applying this mechanism, you have to transfer your balance from your current credit card(s) into another one that has a much lower APR than your current card. Therefore you reduce credit card debt by ensuring that it does not increase rapidly.

It is a huge challenge, but you really can reduce credit card debt. The key is to stick to your plans.

Below is the continuation of the grocery shopping savings tip list – #13 – 24.  Happy shopping!

Tip # 13 – Many people do not realize this (and the stores probably don’t want everyone to know) but when a product is on sale, let’s say for example “buy 4 for $10.00,” you can almost always purchase just one of the items for the sale price (which in this case would be $2.50). In other words, you do NOT have to purchase 4 items to get the sale price! (However, if it’s an item you use regularly it’s a good idea to go ahead and purchase more than one, as long as you have the money to spare AND the room to store the extra items.)

Tip # 14 – This may be a surprise to you but grocery clerks do not always know their own store’s coupon guidelines! Recently, I had some special store coupons I wanted to use with matching manufacturer’s coupons. Since I am fairly new to this store I stopped by the customer service desk first to make sure it was okay to do this. With no employees attending the desk, a cashier happened to be walking by and asked if I needed assistance. I asked her about the coupons and she said “No, you can only use one coupon per item!” Later, as another cashier was ringing up my groceries I mentioned it to her and told her I thought it was okay to use a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon, and she said “Yes, it is!” And I would say in MOST cases it’s going to be okay… a store coupon is not the same as a manufacturer’s coupon, it’s really just their own sale price! However, if you want to make sure your store will honor both coupons at the same time before you try it, just be sure you speak directly to the manager!

Tip # 15 – Grocery stores must be REALLY working hard to compete with the discount store prices, or vice versa, and I’m impressed. They’ve fooled me a few times with this smart marketing tactic but I’ve decided to consider it a learning experience so there’s no hard feelings, at least on my end. So anyhow, here’s the scoop… let’s say a certain product at the discount store costs $3.97. You know the price well because after all, you’re a bargain shopper! But when you happen to be at another store (which shall remain nameless) and you see the same product (with the same brand name, same color, same approximate size, same flavor, scent, or whatever!) and the SAME PRICE, you go ahead and purchase such product because after all, they are the same! However, upon returning home and placing the new product beside the old product (which is waiting to be recycled) you discover that it was all a hoax! As it turns out, everything about the product is indeed the same, except the size and weight! They just made it appear to be the same product by pricing it exactly the same as the larger size that is available at the discount store!

Tip # 16 – If you have time (or even if you don’t) you can also create a price log in a small notebook to record the best price of your favorite products at each store, that way you’ll always know if you’re getting the same size or not!

Tip # 17 – We often receive letters reminding us that stores like Wal-mart not only do they take coupons but they also offer price matching as well. Some of our readers even make a habit each week of taking all their sale flyers to a particular store and asking for the price matches, but with the full load of groceries we buy for a family of 6 I think the cashiers would faint if I handed them a stack of store ads to match up! However, although I do not do this each week, I have price matched and it really does work. It’s also a fantastic service to loyal customers that all stores should offer and can be a real gas saver too, especially if all of the stores are not close to your home.

Tip # 18 – Our local grocery stores annually run a food drive for our community food bank, it’s a great opportunity to help those who are really in need. Just with a few extra dollars each week (if you can afford it) you can provide several days worth of meals for a family who might otherwise do without. If your grocery store doesn’t run food drives you can simply buy a few non-perishable items (canned meat–like tuna or chicken when it’s on sale, beans, rice, pasta, and canned vegetables) and deliver them to your local food bank yourself. Being the savvy grocery shoppers that we are… when we find a really great deal we could probably stock them up!

Tip # 19 – One of the best ways to save money on groceries is to keep wasted food to a minimum. Use up leftovers quickly (keep a list on the fridge if necessary so you remember what’s inside) or freeze them for later use. If you’re cooking for just one or two, freeze leftovers in single-size portions, they’ll make quick and easy dinners on nights when you’re too busy or too tired to cook. Over the years, I’ve learned that using clear see-through storage containers for leftovers and keeping them on a special self in the fridge works best for our family. You can also keep items that the children might like (especially healthy after-school snacks like fruit, yogurt and cheese), on a lower shelf so they can reach them easily.

Tip # 20 – When items are on a buy-2 for one-price sale, such as 2 boxes of cereal for $4.00, it is usually not necessary to buy two to get the sale price. If you use the item regularly and will need to buy more before they go on sale again (possibly in just a few weeks) go ahead and buy as many as you need. But if you only need one, then just buy one. The money you save by not purchasing that second item (just because it’s on sale) may be needed for something else that you might need more, such as milk, bread, produce, chicken, fish or meat.

Tip # 21 – If you’re able to use coupons the same rule applies; sometimes it’s better to just buy one sale item instead of the two or more the store is hoping you’ll pick up. And if you have two coupons it’s okay to use both on a buy-2 for one-price sale, because you are purchasing two items! It might even be worth purchasing an extra Sunday newspaper to get a duplicate set of coupons; if a certain week has a lot of great coupons for products that you use often!

Tip # 22 – And speaking of coupons, double coupon offers are great but in our local area we currently have only one store that offers double coupons–and only up to 65 cents–and, they are also one of the more expensive grocery stores. The double coupons are nice, but then when you buy grocery items that generally do not have coupons (such as milk, bread, meat, produce, etc…) you will more than pay for that double coupon savings. So, if your “double coupon” store is similar to ours (i.e. on the high-end) use the coupons on their sale items when you have time and purchase everything else at a lower priced store of your choice.

Tip # 23 – When grocery stores have a Grand Opening for a new location be sure to stop by and pick up their big sale items. They usually have some really LOW, LOW, prices during the first week, or even the first month. Also, register for prizes if they’re being offered… I rarely ever win anything but I won $100 when my favorite store, Food Lion, opened up a new store! And with a family of 6 that was certainly a welcomed gift!!! )

Tip # 24 – If you need a quick dinner for your family try your local grocery store for some great food instead of going to a restaurant. You’ll save a ton of money (especially if you have a large family like we do) and probably calories too! Some quick ideas we’ve come up with include homemade deli sandwiches, spaghetti or other quick pasta dishes with your favorite jar of sauce, premade hamburger patties, and even broiled fish. You can literally make a quick trip to the store, pick up these items and have them on the table in less time than it takes to drive to a restaurant, order your food, wait for the food, eat the food, and then pay for the food (saving time and money!)