Carl Crossman

One question that has been on the minds of many is whether the economic downturn is over. The answer seems to be a resounding “who knows” there is encouraging news though as the experts seem to think the worst is over. The Dow Jones has been rising recently and many the Federal Reserve report was positive.

I sure hope that things will get better soon for the common man. We all need a break from these hard times and it would be nice to feel like things were getting better!

One of the great things about the company I work for is that we support many community activities. One of my favorites is the little league football team we sponsor. We raise money to provide them with Jersey’s and other equipment that they need to practice and play with. This year, we are going all out to raise money for a project that is a little larger in scope.

Since the kids always play on the same fields every week, we plan to expand the clubhouse building where they change their clothes and have meetings. We are going to add Gym Lockers to the building for the kids to use. We think that by having them, we will foster a better feeling of what it’s like to be a real football player. It will also add some security for the kid’s valuable items.

We are hoping that we will be able to raise enough money so that each kid will have his own Locker. We think this is doable and hope to order them soon. We found a great site called morelockers.com that has Lockers for sale. I can’t wait to see the kids faces when they get their own Lockers filled with all the equipment they need. It will be a wonderful day!

The way I see it, one of the contributing factors to the worsening economy is our dependency on fossil fuel. We spend billions to fuel our cars and heat our homes. That’s why I was glad to see that there are new technologies coming out all the time. One of these is the new Volkswagen L1 Concept car.

Dubbed as the “One-Liter” car, it can get about 240 miles to the gallon. The car is scheduled to be in production as early as 2013. I am glad to see that at least someone is doing some serious research into the problem of gas mileage. I hope to see this car come out as soon as possible.

When it comes to spending money, there are a few tricks that everyone should know about. One of the best ways to get great deals is to buy the items you need at the end of the season. For example, let’s say you are interested in buying barbecue tools. You should definitely not buy them in the spring, but wait until fall when stores are trying to reduce their inventory.

The best thing to do is to look ahead to what you will need next year. I know that my outdoor furniture is getting old and outdated. Instead of waiting till spring to buy it new, I will purchase it now and store it through the winter. This will save me a lot of dough because of the fact that it cost the stores more to store it. They will often just have a clearance sale instead.

Another area where I have been able to find great deals is in Garden tools. I managed to pick up a selection of shovels and rakes that will help make my garden one of the best in the neighborhood. I hope that you will take these tips to heart and save a few bucks for yourself. We need every dollar we can save these days and this is a great way to do it!