Well, if you haven’t heard or read already, American Airlines is going to start charging a separate fee for checking even one bag. It’ll cost $15 for that first bag beginning with tickets purchased on June 15th, unless they decide to make the fee retroactive as well. This announcement has garnered a lot of attention in the media as well as across the net with most people upset about it.

I, on the other hand, am not surprised at all by this and don’t really see much wrong with it. Most people just view this as a price increase which is never welcomed by the public. But haven’t we been expecting prices to go up anyway? I mean, with the price of fuel continually going up and all the doom and gloom in the market, airline prices were going to go up anyway.

So if the prices were going to go up anyway, why would you want them to go up across the board for everyone equally regardless? If you usually travel with a lot of baggage, that’s why. If you check two bags as well as carry one on, of course you’d like the cost to be evenly distributed over all passengers. But if you’re going to travel with just a small carry on, I’d suspect that you’d rather not have to help foot the bill for people who are shipping more with them.

If you look at air travel as what it actually is, it makes a little more sense as well. It’s a transportation service. You’re essentially shipping yourself and some of your things from one place to another. If you go to the post office, UPS, or FedEx and ship something, you’ll naturally pay more for a larger package than for a smaller one.

So don’t be enraged by this pricing change. Airfare was going to go up anyway; it’s just now going up disproportionately for those who are packing more with them. Just be grateful for now that they don’t make you get on a scale yourself and charge by the pound…

I read an interesting post at W Revenue the other day that I thought I would share with you here. It’s titled, Obama Clueless on Taxation and Entrepreneurship, and it brings out some of the points that I’ve been a little agitated with. I usually don’t tackle politics here, but I’ll make an exception for this.

This short video clip is from a democratic debatewhere Obama is confronted with the issue of his wanting to raise the capital gains tax. In the past when the rate has been raised, overall tax revenue has gone down. And when the rate has been decreased (as it was under Bill Clinton and George Bush), overall tax revenue went up. When asked why he would want to raise it knowing this, he just stumbles around the question and tells us that he wants to raise it “for purposes of fairness”. He then mentions some article about 50 billionaires, even though the moderator pointed out to him that over 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected by this tax increase (not just the billionaire hedge fund managers).

I’m not going to go through the whole video clip here, but I do recommend that you watch it so you know what his agenda really is and how it would affect you and your family. Also, after watching this video, I found this other short one minute video of Obama on another tax related issue. Check it out.

I’ve run across a couple of videos about Barack Obama and his tax policy on the Glenn Beck show. I thought I would share them with you and mention, for the record, that I am not thrilled about a Presidential Candidate who openly pushes for higher taxes.

As for this next video, I had never heard of the Global Poverty Act before. And as the video shows, Obama wants to stop spending money building up Iraq so we can build up America instead, yet then pushes for this poverty bill where probably none of the money will be spent here in America. And I should mention, the cost of this program is over 800 billion dollars. Yes, I said billion.

I have a little bit more on Obama which will be up tomorrow, and that’ll probably be it, but who knows. Then I’ll have to bring in the other Presidential hopefuls and see what they have to say.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s gotten a call on their cell from someone who they either don’t know or don’t remember. I usually never bother to call the number back to find out who it was, but there’s an interesting website now that offers Reverse Cell Phone Lookups. I like the idea of the site and was able to find the general area of a number that I looked up, but when I tried to find more detailed info I just got a page with raw HTML. Anyway, you can also find No Call List Information on the site which can be really helpful in eliminating solicitations.

This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on the topic of business credit. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

Many people are gearing up for a summer vacation, particularly those with children who will be out of school soon. However, vacations are far from cheap and gas prices are making road trips even more daunting than usual. If you find yourself bored this summer or — even worse — if you have a bored child who is clamoring for something to do, try the 10 free activities below.

1. Play in the Park – Even if you don’t have children, there are plenty of activities at your local park. You could enjoy a walk, play some sports and even have a go on the swing set (come on, you still love it).

2. Swim at the Lake / Beach – If you live near a lake or are lucky enough to have a beach nearby, you can usually swim for free at either one. Why pay for entry to a neighborhood pool when you can enjoy some natural (and free) water?

3. Take a Daily Walk – While a daily dose of exercise isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, a walk can provide some much-needed fresh air to those of us who are stuck inside all day. Oh, and the exercise really can’t hurt you.

4. Hang Out With Friends – Hey, your friends probably already know you’re a frugal person. So, why not invite them over to just hang out? It is hard to be bored when you are surrounded by good company.

5. Play Board Games – Whether you do this with family or with some friends you invite over, board games can be a lot of fun. More importantly, you probably already have quite a few in the closet, so they won’t cost you a dime.

6. Volunteer Your Time – If you are bored and are trying to save money, you should volunteer some time to charity. This will take care of your boredom and will remind you that some people have it much worse. Karma points are always a good thing, too.

7. Visit Your Family – Is your mother putting guilt trips on you because you never visit? Drive out there and stay for a while. You can probably score some free food while you’re there, which saves you some money.

8. Be Creative – Both drawing and writing are cathartic ways to pass the time and can be done for free. You don’t have to be a genius, just have fun with it.

9. Start a Blog – There are many sites that let you start a free blog, such as Wordpress, Blogger and Tumblr. Whether you are writing a personal blog or one that you would like to monetize, it is always a good way to spend your time.

10. Go to the Library – Not only is reading a lot of fun, the library offers many free cultural events, particularly in the summer. If you have children, this should definitely be a regular summer haunt for the family.

I found out a couple of days ago from a friend at work about a deal that’s going on currently, and I wanted to make all of you aware of it as well. You’re probably all aware of the Entertainment Book, but if you’re not, it’s a large book full of discounts and coupons for your specific area. The book usually sells for about $25 but it’s on sale right now for only $9.99 plus shipping. The deal lasts until May 31st.

I’ve already ordered one as a gift for someone, and I’m thinking about ordering another one as well. The total with shipping came to $12.48 if you’re curious, and that should pay for itself after using just one or two of the coupons in the book. Before you order one yourself though, you can browse through the various discounts for your area right on their website. So check out the site and order your Entertainment Book for only $9.99.

Over the past week while we were in Dallas I was re-introduced, let’s say, to something that I remember liking and is pretty cheap. One night for dinner my sister-in-law had made corn on the cob to go with dinner. I don’t know why I’ve never done this myself before, and I don’t think I’ve had it since I was a kid. Anyway, it was really good just with some butter, salt, and pepper.

So now that we’re back home, we went grocery shopping and I decided to look for some of this fresh corn on the cob. Not having bought this before, I can’t say whether the price of it has gone up or not in the recent past, but it’s still pretty cheap regardless. At both grocery stores we went to it was selling 3 for a dollar. That’s much cheaper than buying asparagus and many other vegetables.

It’s also really easy to prepare. All you do is just pull the husks of and break off the stem. Then you boil them for several minutes and you’re done. That’s really all there is to it. So if you’re looking for something new to try that’s fresh and still cheap, I’d definitely recommend getting yourself some corn on the cob.