green living, smart spending
Get FREE mobile apps for all twelve 2014 World Cup host cities in Brazil. The city guides include reviews of local hotels, restaurants, attractions, maps and more, for host cities Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Brasilia, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Recife, Cuiaba, Natal and Manaus. The apps, from TripAdvisor, are for Android
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If you are in the market for a new car, get in line. Sales in May 2014 broke records for models ranging from entry level to luxury, with a strong showing for fuel efficient clean diesels and light duty trucks. Even General Motors, suffering through on-going revelations and lawsuits from the defective ignition switch in
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Standard all-wheel drive, thrifty fuel economy, roomy interior and responsive handling. The 2014 Subaru Impreza offers all that and more for a staring price just under $18,000. Even the top model with all the bells and whistles and a moonroof comes in at just over $23,000. No wonder it’s rated as the top compact car
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Panera Bread is dropping artificial coloring, flavoring, sweeteners and preservatives from its bread, including one chemical that helps keep yoga mats soft. The announcement was made in June, 2014, but it will take until the end of 2016 to achieve what its press release describes as its “commitment to clean ingredients”. Panera already has dropped
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A technical website estimates our smartphones and tablets are saving us around $10,000. That’s for gear and gadgets we are no longer buying, but stuffing inside our hand-held devices. The list includes: Books, which saddens me, since I write traditional travel guidebooks along with new-fashioned mobile travel apps and ebooks. Notebooks and pens, which also
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This summer, get away to one of hundreds of historic hotels and B&Bs in the US at discount. Members the Historic Hotels of America are offering discount packages that include historical tours, dining specials, kids eat free and more, at up to 30% off. Plus, if you book before December 31, 2014 on the HistoricHotels
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SCAM ALERT: We all want peace in the Mideast, but beware of solicitations from bogus Mideast charities arriving in your mailbox, email inbox or on your phone. Thumbs Down on Jerusalem Prayer Team: I’ve just received a thick mailing from this so-called prayer charity, which wants my money and yours so it can pray for
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What a concept: an electric bicycle with an air filter that’s powered by your pedaling. This is an eco-friendly two-fer, since the bike is already zero emission, and then doubles its eco-friendliness by further cleaning up the air around you, even though you aren’t pedaling as hard or as often thanks to the battery power.
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Four Seasons Hotels are getting charged up by installing electric vehicle charging stations at some hotels, and making the hot Tesla EV the official hotel car for airport pick-ups and local excursions, starting in summer 2014. Hotels and ski resorts have been partnering with one brand or another for years to promote an “official car”,
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Best 2015 cars under $20,000: The all-new seventh-generation 2015 VW Golf offers more space and better fuel economy than the outgoing model, plus a turbocharged, direct injection engine as standard equipment. With a starting price of $17,995, it’s easy to understand why the Golf is VW’s best-selling model worldwide. Also, VW has dropped the price
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