Chief Prognosticator

Pop quiz — when do you think about car rental? On as vacation? Yes. On a business trip? Sure. What about a long weekend? No? Well its a good idea worth considering. Just check out the cars available from advantage.com. They are having a special offer — up to a 50% discount on Luxury and Convertible car rentals. Think about it — rent a convertible in your hometown for the long weekend. It’s like a mini-vacation — people will wonder if you’ve won the lottery or something.

Advantage Rent-a-Car has great offers in your hometown and the best vacation spots around the country. Imagine a trip to Vegas where you have your own Escallade or Lambo! Too big? OK, well check out their Special Offers page and find deals as low as $1 a day in Florida. Wherever it is you’re headed or if you are staying local, Advantage has must-see deals on great rental cars.

Visa announced this week that they will be capping the fees they charge gas stations for credit card transactions for gas purchases. Visa gets roughly a 2% cut of the sale price in exchange for credit card services. But as gas prices rise and rise, the aount Visa gets has increased too from 5 or 6 cents a gallon to almost 9 or 10! That doesn’t seem like much, but gas station owners usually only take a fixed markup on the fuel they sell, anywhere from 10 to 14 cents a gallon. That means gas station owners have been earning less and less money on the more and more expensive fuel they sell!

p.s. Mastercard capped fees last year. Way to pitch in, Visa!… although a little late.

Do you have Kroger grocery stores in your neck of the country? Well down here in the South we do and up until this past year, Kroger had a great deal on gasoline. If you bought at their fuel centers and swiped your (free) Kroger Plus Card, you would save 3 cents a gallon off your purchase. When gas was $2 a gallon, that would be 1.5% off. Nice. But gas has since gone to $4 and growing, so 3 cents is worth that much less. Who cares if the price is $4.23 or $4.26, especially if the price next week will be $4.35!

Sorry Kroger, I imagine your sales are dropping. A better situation would be like my Chase Perfect Card which offers 3% (not 3 cents) cash back on gas purchases. That fixed rate means your savings will move in unison with fuel prices. Save $0.06 a gallon when gas is $2 and save $0.12 a gallon when its $4! The only problem now is that Chase has capped your maximum monthly cash back. The solution, get a second credit card from another company offering cash back on gas and use both cards each month.

There are two main forms of entrepreneurship — 1) start your business from the ground up or 2) buy an existing business and make it grow. I’ve found a new search engine which makes finding businesses for sale easy! BizAg.com is a specialized search engine for business sale listings across the country. Aggregated from multiple data sources (classified ads, online listings, etc), BizAg.com is as simple as Google but gives you so much more in terms of information you need. Just type in a business type (or any sort of keyword) and search. The results will show a listings of businesses for sale related to that term. Limit your search results geographically or go nationwide. Here’s a sample result:

See the data at the top — that’s a quick excerpt of business statistic for the search result. Asking Price, Cash Flow, Revenue — all this data is exactly what an entrepreneur needs to make the right decisions. Want to buy a bar in Maui or a music store in Philly? Well this is the place to start! I think this type of specific search engine / data aggregator is just what the web needs — there’s a good chance in my opinion that someone like Google or Yahoo will be making an offer for it!

Its getting crazy with regards to airlines charging for extras which were once free. You’ve must of heard of the charges for 2nd checked bags by now, but its getting worse. I read recently that some airlines are going to start charging for soft drinks, water and coffee on board. Combine that with restrictions on bring your own beverage through security, and you’re pretty much forced to pay (or go thirsty). $2 for a can of coke — not funny at all. Why can’t airlines just drop the games and be straight with their pricing once and for all. They can’t have their cake and eat it too… meaning they need to choose one:

1) Variable rates for seats but without surcharges and added fees
or
2) Fixed rates across the board, all inclusive.

Sure the dealership’s access to manufacturer credit for a new car Auto Loan is one way, but its not always the best. Accordingly you need to know your options and even have external financing ready when you walk into the dealer. Credit Unions have been a good source for this second loan route but I just found another way — Apex Auto Loan. They have access to a Nationwide network of banks and credit providers. For new or used cars, they can line you up financing before you walk into the dealer.Even if you are not ready to buy this weekend, visit their website and use the free Auto Loan Calculator. It is a great tool to help you figure out how much can you can afford. Just don’t forget to factor in the price of gas!

OK, so Britney Spears already stole that phrase when she wore it on a t-shirt, but “being the American Dream” is more than just being a celebrity. The American Dream is, at its heart, about the promise of America and the ability for anyone in the society to pull themselves up and become a success with hard work and luck. As opposed to “old money” wealth — that is, wealthy families and individuals derived from inherited wealth — the American Dream means people from low socioeconomic classes to become successful and wealthy in their own lifetime. This success makes them part of what is called the Nouveau Riche. A French term meaning literally “New Rich”, the Nouveau Riche represent success in its truest form — self made success. From real estate moguls to Silicon Valley types, dry cleaner chain owners to President Bill Clinton, these people used their talents and hard work to come from nothing and create wealth and success made to last. There is even a “Nouveau Riche University” teaching people like you and me how to manage their money and build real wealth from real estate and investments. You’ve heard of the “Millionaire Next Door” right? Well its the same principle — take the right steps, act widely, work hard and you are almost guaranteed to become rich and successful. Its no secret — just things that we usually overlook or are not aware of in the first place. You TOO can be the American Dream.

I wrote previously about Chrysler’s offer to subsidize the price of gas for one year on all new vehicles it sells. The price you’d pay would be fixed at $2.99 a gallon. Over a year, that could mean costs of up to $2000 for Chysler. But just yesterday I saw an advertisment on TV stating the $2.99 gas was for THREE WHOLE YEARS! Wow! That is even bigger! I wonder if it was always that long (and I just misunderstood) or if they extended it. Three years is a long time — gas could be $8 by then. That could add up to over $10000 in savings over the period! Who wants a Chrysler? I do!

I don’t know about you but by the time I was in my mid-20s, I pretty much figured out how mortgages work and the different kinds of them out there. This was also about the time that I took out a 3-year adjustable rate mortgage on my house! But there was a method to my madness — I knew we were moving in before that three years were up.

But with the current mortgage crisis in the U.S, it looks like many people are confused. With so many different types of Mortgages out there for the average consumer to select from, there are many ways to get confused. What is a good rate? Should I go fixed or variable rate? How much cash should I put down? All these questions can be met with just as confusing answers depending on where you look. If you feel you are one of these folks who are not exactly sure which mortgage is right, make sure you do your research well before you are forced to make a decision. Making decisions under pressure gets a lot worse when you aren’t comfortable with the subject matter.

When I think about my home, I think about durability and sturdiness. This is why I try to use top quality materials for not only the construction and finish but also the accessories. For one, I love slate and marble tile. Check out these great marble products from Marble Unique. They are a a direct importer of marble and natural stone from the best places on Earth. From a new stone fireplace to a unique marble statue for the backyard, they have amazing products which will last a lifetime. Now that’s a great investment! Check out their marble columns — a perfect way to show off a piece of sculpture or just for decoration.