Staycation

The sluggish economy and high unemployment rate mean that many of us won't be splurging on exotic vacations this year. But a staycation doesn't have to mean a boring bout with cabin fever. The key to being a successful local tourist lies in looking at your region the way an outsider would.

Summer's in full swing, in case you hadn't noticed. Time for that road trip. But with the price of gasoline nationwide still hovering around $3 a gallon, it makes sense to make every drop count. Below are four simple tips to maximize your gasoline savings this summer:

While the recession and economic uncertainty are still cutting into travel budgets, more than half of Americans are still planning to take a summer vacation this year.

The financial collapse has brought about many changes to our lifestyles -- from how we work (or don't) to how we spend our money and even to how we talk. These changes have prompted the creation of new terms, and the revival of old ones, to describe activities and actions that have gained new...

Every camping space, cabin and yurt in Idaho State Parks was reserved for this Fourth of July weekend, for the first time ever. One-hundred-percent booked, said a KUOW report. In Washington state, camping reservations were up 9% in the first half of 2009, proof, said a state spokesperson, of the...

Lake Superior State University has released its annual List of Banished Words, a compendium of overused, idiotic, and otherwise grating words that we're all completely sick of hearing. Most of them, culled by submissions from the public, are words that have had deep meaning wrung out of them after...

Staycation has become the marketing buzzword of the season. I've been guilty of using it in writing myself, but last night I was watching TV and a commercial came on that made me think it's all gone too far. The furniture store Raymour and Flanigan was having a Staycation Sale. "Gas prices put the...

Today the federal minimum wage increased 70 cents to $6.55, as the second phase of a series of moves meant to bring the minimum wage up over a three year period. The "raise" will affect roughly 1.7 million workers or 2.3% of hourly workers, which means that collectively the cost of employing all...

Earlier this month we covered 25 ways to raise cash quick with ideas ranging from medical testing and gambling to renting out your extra parking space. If for some reason pimping out your bod for science doesn't sound like a sound method for raising some extra dough, and you already have a day job,...

We have already covered the frugal vacationer's plight this summer, as many families will embark on staycations. Our own Tracy Coenen has shared some great ideas for planning your staycation. Despite the fact that you can make the best of a staycation to explore your hometown, John Hodgman explains...