You know it is summer in Illinois when local farmers start dotting parks, highways and parking lots with their locally grown produce.This Thursday, Scottish rocker, KT Tunstall, took time to perform her hits songs and talk about the ways she has decided to go green (and that includes her bandmates), while local farmers sold sustainable produce and products to passerbys.Some hot items were bushels of flowers for $2 and pesto herbs. However, some vendors came with homemade soaps, salsa, cookies and even beeswax candles.

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Somewhere a tiny violin is playing for people like me. You know, the economically challenged who did not file taxes last year and will not be getting their hands on that coveted $600 rebate check  the G is sending out to tax-filing citizens. Well, with the fact that rent is due, I am doing laundry once a week to cut down on energy and I have traded my skinny vanilla lattes for plain old tap water, I am left to ask: what unique ways are out there that can either bring me a new source of cash flow or help me win Penny-Pincher of the Year?  With a gallon of gas hitting $4.19 in Illinois today, I am out to make penny-pinching popular. It is time to either start saving or make more money, people, and here are a few interesting ways to make your wallet weigh more…

1) Sell Your Body—...

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Going Green Does NOT Mean you have to Spend Your Green

You cannot be anywhere in America today and have failed to learn about, hear about or take part in the “Go Green” movement that has gone mainstream and continues to dominate pop culture discussion. It seems like everywhere I turn there is a push to turn off lights, recycle, be more energy efficient, etc. But, the one thing that bothers about “Going Green” is spending your green (money) to take part in the movement. Let’s face it, our economy is in such bad shape that in the past few weeks I have had to choose between food and fuel a few more times than I would have liked to. With mounting student loans and that pesky rent bill every month, I just cannot dish out that $26,500 for that new Ford Hybrid. Now, while that is on the extreme side of things, even those $10 reus...

“Youth isn’t always what it is touted to be.”

                                    ~Lawana Blackwell, The Dowry of Ms. Lydia Clark, 1999

This quote holds truth for Illinois’ youth. Within minutes of posting my vlog last week about 22 Chicago Public School Children having been killed since September, another CPS student was murdered. As of today, the number is up to 24. I am not surprised seeing that I predicted the killings would continue. Now, the buzz around Illinois this week is all the p...

When I graduate high school, I want to:

(A)   Become a rock star

(B)   Travel the World

(C)   Go to College

(D)   Suffer from obesity

Chances are not one person answering this question choose option D.  However, obesity among America’s children and teenagers has reached a staggering number—nine million kids have been diagnosed as clinically obese in the United States. Health experts are calling this rise in obesity a national epidemic that needs immediate attention.  According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatr...