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Education is the key

The idea that the economy is hurting you or helping you when times are good is a myth to me, if you took your education seriously, went to college and found a degree and job that make you valuable, almost nothing can hurt you. And everything is cyclical, so whats bad now, will be good not too long from now. Though gas prices are something we have no control over, maybe we should see some benefit from the "war". Considering we have seen absolutly nothing from it, thats about the only issue i am bitter over right now.

By: Eric of champaign, il

I am moving back to Illinois

I am moving back to Illinois in part to save on taxes.

I moved to Tulsa, OK last year because my father, George Richard "Dick" Carlisle, was ill with Parkinson's Disease. However, he passed away in September, 2007.

I received a substantial inheritance from him and have decided to move back to Urbana, IL where many friends are and activities I was involved in are. I am buying a duplex so that the rent from other half will help defray house expenses.

I have to pay the full 8.517% sales tax even on food in Oklahoma, so that prompts me to move back to Illinois. I got "clobbered" on use tax for out-of-state mail order items in Oklahoma. They don't carry Kodachrome slide film in stores even in Tulsa, so I stocked up on film and prepaid processing mailers, all on eBay and out-of-state, so I had to pay the 8.517% Use tax. I had to pay some $381 Use Tax on my Oklahoma Tax Return and some State Income Tax on my pension, which is exempt in Illinois.

I had to drive a lot farther, even to go to church and visit my sister, and to attend performances at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center downtown, about 5 miles away, and Tulsa Community College, about 12 miles away. Even though gasoline is about 20 cents less per gallon in Tulsa than in C-U, it adds up.

Many expressways are toll highways in Oklahoma, so that is an additional expense compared to downstate Illinois. I do not use the turnpikes enough to justify tying up a minimum of $40 in a Pike Pass, so I pay cash. That is a bit more but not double as in Illinois.

Most performance tickets are as much or more than in C-U, but Tulsa Symphony has some $5.00 tickets in the high balcony, 12 flights of steps from street level. The sound is good there though I can't see the faces well. That doesn't matter, since I don't know the players.

I miss the recycling program in C-U. I don't have access to a "Golden Goat" machine to try to recover some of the sales tax through empty aluminum cans I picked up in C-U. Also, I can't find nearly as many codes for premium points from soda pop cartons and bottle caps as I did in C-U. I got a lot of free things that way.

I am very disappointed in the dearth of newspaper coupons also. I think the pinch of higher fuel and commodity prices is felt there. I did get the Pepsi Cola Super Bowl Rebate to get several cartons of Pepsi for price of one. I am angry at soda companies fro promoting bottled water. That to me is a terrible waste of money, and I refuse to buy it. Yet I see people here in Tulsa buy it by the truckload, and the littering problem of empty bottles is severe.

I did miss the severe winter weather in Champaign-Urbana. I did shoot quite a lot of slides here, as I was in different territory, but when I was shocked by what I had spent on film, when I calculated my Use Tax payment, I know that the handwriting is on the wall there.

The interest rates are so low on Certificates of Deposit, that affects me also. I went to Krannert on the interest earned by these certificates my father held for my inheritance. I have to cash in a few for a new vehicle this summer and new furniture and equipment for my duplex I am buying. I have been making do with garage-sale furniture all along and do not have any yard maintenance equipment, having lived in apartments all these years, so will face these expenses.

Fortunately, the place I am buying has stove, refigerator and washer and dryer furnished in both sides, and I won't have to feed the laundry equipment coins, but I will have to pay for their repairs and eventual replacement.

The duplex I am buying has neither driveway nor covered parking so I had to cash in a low-interest CD to pay for that installation. I am planning this summer.

But the house will be fully paid for, so that is a help.

My father had enough pension that even in a nursing home, his bank account decreased by only $1000 or so per month, but If I were in such a facility, my money would be depleted rapidly. I cannot afford the premium for long-term care insurance now.

Still I will be able to attend many performances at Krannert and be able to take some trips to visit relatives, etc.

By: George R. Carlisle, Jr of Tulsa,, OK

Silly feature

While there were a couple of profiles that fit your attempt at a "these are tough times" feature, the rest were silly. I couldn't feel sorry for the guy with the private plane. Or the young, single girl who loves clothes, movies and makeup and buys budget clothing. (That's just common sense.) I wanted to feel sorry for the single mom raising three kids, but then I saw that she got to take a family trip a couple of years ago to the Turks and Caicos Islands, and will be visiting New Orleans this year for school AND pleasure.

By: Samm of Urbana, IL

Going Green

With Earth Day coming up, I figured I should make the best of both worlds in this economic situation. I'm employing about twenty "green" tips to ease the pinch in my pocket. I'm switching light bulbs, putting aerators on my faucets, using my bike when the weather's nice, carpooling when it's not, turning my water heater down to 120 degrees, and I'm bringing my own bags to the market. There's more ideas than that, but I thought I'd just give a taste of what I'm doing. I'm sharing these ideas to help others go "green" as well as save some "green" too.

By: Aaron Geiger of Champaign, IL

pinched

I have to disagree with Eric from Champaign. Many people who have gone to school cannot find jobs in this economy and while I have a trade skill that is always in demand, I find myself looking to other sources of employment as the place where i work is on sketchy ground. The economy is hurting everyone thanks to the fact that employers are cutting back in order to save money themselves.

For my next vehicle I am looking to buying a very ugly car designed by (ugh) a French engineer. It runs on air power alone and can be driven for 150 miles for the cost of $2 worth of electricity. The same car can be fitted with a small gasoline motor and 5 gallon tank to extend the range to 600 miles. (the motor would be used only to recharge the airtanks via a small onboard compressor) The total cost for a 'family' size model of this car would be $27k or for a 'single' version only around $15k.

I have had to resort to recycling at this time in order to make ends meet while I go to classes to retrain for a different job, hopefully one that won't be downsized at any time in the near future. Aluminum cans, copper wire, whatever I can get my hands on to turn in for cash.

As far as "getting something out of the war" as Eric refers to it, we are all getting something out of it. Mainly sore...as in rectally. The big oil companies keep racking up record profits at the expense of the American working class. Let's face it, the rich don't feel the pinch at the pump, they probably don't even look at the prices. The actual workers, i.e. the ones making $7-$12/hr, are the ones who have to go without as Big Oil lines their pockets. My suggestion, fill the roads with the ugly MiniCat by MDI. The car is being manufactued at this time by only one company, Tata in India, but the designer - Guy Negre - has stated that he will sell the rights to build this car to any manufaturer interseted in producing the car. Meaning that soon this car will either be mass produced by many auto makers or wholly suppressed by Big Oil. Get yours while you can.

By: Michael of Urbana, IL

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