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July 4th Savings: With Gas and Other Expenses So High, Many Companies Are Offering Special Deals

From computers: Gateway@email.gateway.com , to Los Angeles on a budget, LA Budget , the high gas prices are pushing other prices lower.

Automobile AA estimates that fewer will travel this July 4th (weekend), but there are still millions who will. If you are driving, make sure your tires are fully inflated, you have cleared out the junk in your trunk--less weight less gas. Well that's true for human behinds as well, no?!? Look for cheaper gas, but not at the expense of driving around a lot looking for it.

Seniors are being offered special deals as well:  AARP Travel  Students as well as families can get discounts, ie, incentives, due to mile high gas (AKA) oil prices. Student Travel

AARP has a deal for a romantic trip to Sandals in the Caribbean--usually this resort is identified with nubile young-uns or newly marrieds, but now they want us boomers as well.

The State of Vermont is giving away a $100 tank of gas to potential visitors this summer.You can enter contest here: Vermont Gas $100

Lowe's is offering a 10% discount up to $5,000 in purchases to all military  Lowe's Offer If you are going to take advantage of discounts and sales, do so with a critical eye. Like some airlines which started charging for checked bags, offering free baggage checking is hardly a savings--it's just back to service as it was a few months ago.

So, think before you buy, do you really need that purchase or is this a GREAT, I CAN SAVE MONEY!!  Well, of course you haven't really, you have still spent money -- just maybe a little less.

Green Tip #1: Travel from Your Heart.

Travel season is almost upon us. Lots of us Boomers and others will be going on vacation or going to family reunions. My daughter and I will be driving to MI. So I started thinking about ways to reduce our carbon footprints/tiretracks along the way. We'll be driving miles and miles over several days to get to our destination. And we'll be using gallons and gallons of gas to get there. I'll get the car serviced, tires pumped up, new oil, lighten up our amount of stuff that we will take along, take our own travel cups to save dumping in the trash along the way, but...are there other things I can do?? Ah Ha! I thought, check out if there are any hotels or motels that Think Green. And yes, there are. The Green Hotels Association (www.greenhotels.com) has a number of suggestions as well as lists of members. But see these simple suggestions--which most of us already practice at home

A simple recycled-paper towel rack hanger is currently being offered to hotels by the "Green" Hotels Association which says "Please decide for yourself. Towels on the towel rack mean "I'll use it several times". Towels on the floor mean "please exchange"." Guests should encourage hotels to place these hangers in all rooms. Guests should let hotel managers know that they want hotels to be conservationists, and that they, as guests, wish to participate. It has been suggested that "environmentally-safe" floors should follow "no-smoking" floors as a way for hotels to prove themselves "green" or ecologically conscious.

Towels may be used more than once, sheets will not necessarily be changed every day, bottles of water will be placed in toilet tanks to save water, etc. Mark Matthew, Rooms Manager at University of Houston's Hilton Hotel, says, "Hotels are extremely aware of giving their customers what they want, so if guests tell hotels they would gladly use towels more than once or ask hotels to offer environmentally-safe rooms; hotels will, no doubt, do so." It's a matter of guests changing their mind-set, and helping hotels make this transition. Though these ideas are innovative in the United States, they have been accepted in Europe for some time. Eleven hotel chains with a million rooms have promised to put into practice a voluntary code of ethics relating to the environment.

A free sample of the hanger is available from the "Green" Hotels Association, P. O. Box 420212, Houston, TX 77042-0212, Fax 713/789-9786, Voice 713/789-8889. The hanger is available at a prepaid cost of $35/100 for paper or $45/100 for laminated or $135/500 for paper for $185/500 for laminated including postage and handling. Help your hotel save money, laundry expenses, and become GREEN

At the recent Boomer Summit, I stayed at a Day's Inn and was really pleased to see that my room had a prominent notice encouraging guests to follow the no new towels and sheets policy. One green step forward for heart-based living.