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5 Ways To Plan Your Summer Vacation

Without Wrecking Your Finances

It won’t be long until summer, and many are looking forward eagerly to that annual summer vacation. For some, it’s worth waiting for, but for others, it’s not worth overspending.

And the fact is many Americans do.

An Experian survey found that 68 percent of people overspend on summer vacation, and 35 percent don’t save for it. 

“You want to enjoy a vacation and know you’re not paying for it for years to come,” says Alexander Joyce, a retirement planner and president and CEO of ReJoyce Financial LLC (www.ReJoyceFinancial.com).

“Going for the beach vacation or somewhere special is always something wonderful, as is spending time with the family, making memories. But at the same time, if the budget isn’t friendly, maybe you should go somewhere closer and for a shorter time. The bottom line is you should customize your own vacation with regard to both your current financial status and with an eye on not hurting your future.”

Joyce gives five ways to plan a summer vacation without wrecking your financial situation:

• Don’t touch retirement funds. “Certainly stay away from those retirement savings accounts – 401(k)s, IRAs – as a way to pay for expensive vacations,” Joyce says. “As much as we like to say vacationing is a hot priority, so is saving long-term, and you shouldn’t lose focus on the goal.”
• Budget honestly. Many people do not vacation within their means, as the Experian survey shows. Joyce says planning and sticking with a budget is a must to avoid financial issues down the road. “You should be disciplined enough to build that budget and stay true to it,” he says. “It’s difficult to do, and you’re going to overspend at times, but make sure you put that back, re-allocate it.”
• Avoid spending traps. They happen all over on a vacation, often spontaneously – eating out, massages, golf, other entertainment. “You should decide on trade-offs,” Joyce says. “Consider eating at more affordable restaurants. Have a good idea in advance what are some good-value family activities and what is wasting money.”
• Keep your credit card home. The Experian survey showed families charge an average of about $1,250 on their credit cards for summer vacations. “Try not to use your credit card the entire trip,” Joyce says. “And if you do, pay it off with no interest. Going into debt for a vacation should never be part of your plan.”
• Skip the travel agent. Many people turn to travel agents, at an extra expense, to plan a trip. Plotting your every move may be difficult, but the more research you do ahead of time, the better prepared you are to experience the kind of vacation you can both enjoy and afford. “You know your budget better than a travel agent,” Joyce says, “and it’s fun as a family to explore what you want to do, trust yourselves in what you’re doing.”

“A lot of people come back from vacation and are already filled with regret, wondering ‘Why did we spend so much money?’ ” Joyce says. “Trimming down one vacation smartly could mean you can afford the bigger one the next summer. Now that’s worth it.”

About Alexander Joyce

Alexander Joyce is CEO and president of ReJoyce Financial LLC (www.ReJoyceFinancial.com), a full-service retirement income planning firm in Indianapolis, Ind. He’s a licensed professional in Indiana who specializes in working with individuals who are nearing or already in retirement. He holds the NSSA (National Social Security Advisor) CRPC (Charted Retirement Planning Counselor) designation. He hosts informational and educational seminars as well as the radio show Retirement Halftime Show. In addition, he can be seen monthly on Money Monday as well as  Your Money on the IndyStyle program, broadcast by WISH-TV, myINDY-TV and WTHR in Indianapolis.

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Injury Recovery Should Include

Prescriptions Plus Natural Medicines

Suffer an injury – a twisted knee, a turned ankle – and you know what’s likely to come next: swelling and reddening of the damaged area.

Inflammation is one of the body’s most common reactions to the stress of an injury, and while modern science has created many important drugs to help the body heal, some health professionals say holistic medicines should also be part of the prescription.

Here’s why: An emphasis on alternatives to prescription drugs could reduce other issues, says Dr. Sanda Moldovan, a periodontist and nutritionist and author of HEAL UP!: 7 Ways To Faster Healing And Optimum Health (www.beverlyhillsdentalhealth.com). 

The most frequently prescribed medications worldwide are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, known as NSAIDs, and they have been linked to a higher increase in cardiovascular problems, heart attacks and strokes.  In the United States alone, more than 70 million prescriptions are written for these drugs every year.

“Prescription medications have their place, but discovering and using natural alternatives prevents potential narcotics abuse and lessens side effects,” Moldovan says. “Dr. Mother Nature is the best prescriber for healing and optimum wellness.”

While a typical physician’s recommendations will include things to not eat or drink that will be helpful in making sure there is no specific reaction, making sure the entire body is in optimum health to fight an infection will typically shorten the recovery period, she says. 

“Nutritional interventions can assist the body’s capacity to fight any type of infection,” Moldovan says.

She says there are many little known therapies that can help a person heal including IV nutrition, homeopathics, herbs, teas, oxygen/ozone, and even light and energy devices.  A few of those include:

• Micro-current and low level laser therapy - speed up healing by using magnetic fields and laser energy

• Mind-Body Synchronization - Guided Meditation and relaxation techniques have been proven as ways to shorten the length of time for injury rehabilitation.

• Oxygen / ozone Therapy - Oxygen is all around us yet we underestimate its importance.  The trend of hyperbaric chambers in private homes is evidence that more people are taking it seriously.  Ozone therapy also aids in immune function and detoxification.

• Plants, herbs and teas - Current research has proven the efficacy of ancient plant medicines, which are now in better formulations and more purified for a better therapeutic effect.

Patients should remember that the entire body is impacted by an injury even though the injury itself may be localized, Moldovan says.  By treating the entire body wholistically, she says, it will assist the body in recovering faster.   

About Dr. Sanda Moldovan

Dr. Sanda Moldovan (www.beverlyhillsdentalhealth.com) is an award-winning board-certified periodontist and nutritionist, with practices in Beverly Hills and Manhattan. Her latest book on alternative medicine is HEAL UP!: 7 Ways To Faster Healing And Optimum Health . She is the creator of the Ask Dr. Sanda YouTube channel. As an authority on biological dentistry, anti-aging, and oral health, she is in demand nationally and internationally as a continuing education provider for dental and medical professionals. A former ambassador for Waterpik, Dr. Sanda can be seen on The Doctors TV show as the go-to oral health expert.  A graduate of Ohio State University School of Dentistry, she did her post-graduate training at UCLA, where she received a Master of Science in Oral Biology.

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Are Parents To Blame

For Their Child’s Obesity?

Most parents don’t let their children blame others if the child is doing something that is the child’s fault.  They tell their children to own up to their mistakes and find a way to fix them. 

When it comes to the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States, parents should take some of their own advice and realize that they need to fix the mistakes they are making in guiding their children’s nutrition, says Dr. Joseph Galati (www.drjoegalati.com)  author of Eating Yourself Sick: How to Stop Obesity, Fatty Liver, and Diabetes from Killing You and Your Family.

He understands that parents want the best for their children in all aspects of their lives but he says too many parents do not take nutrition seriously when they allow their children to make poor food choices. 

“Obesity - with all its tremendous complications - will directly decrease the very opportunities they are working so hard to provide for their children,“ he says. The root causes of obesity are poor food choices, excessive snacking and large food portions. “Parents who serve their children fast food and don’t prepare home-cooked meals are fostering bad health that can last a lifetime.”

Through a combination of poor eating habits and little exercise, Galati says today’s parents are setting up their children to live their lives as unfit, obese and unhealthy. As a result, today’s generation will probably have a shorter lifespan than their parents.  The problems start early, he says.  A child who is obese at age 2 has a 50 percent chance of being obese as an adult.

But Dr. Galati says all is not lost. He offers several tips for parents who want to stop the trend of both adult and childhood obesity.

• Reinstitute the family dinner.  Several studies have show that regular family dinners at least a few times a week have many benefits for children, including improving their eating habits, grades, family relationships and overall health, Galati says.  Children who eat with their families also display fewer risky behaviors and have a lower risk of obesity.
• Fight for home economics classes in high school. The high school home economics class taught the basics of food nutrition and cooking. Galati says the elimination of these classes across the country is likely one of the reasons many children don’t know where their food comes from. “We have raised an entire generation that is disconnected from the kitchen,” he says.
• Don’t underrate obesity’s impact on health. Obesity is the root cause for 13 different cancers, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver and cirrhosis, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, erectile dysfunction and many more. Obesity has more than doubled worldwide since 1980. “It should be taken more seriously,” Galati says.
• Improve your health IQ. Galati says too many Americans simply don’t understand how their bodies work and don’t know they are making poor food and lifestyle choices. He said if people knew a few basic facts about their bodies it would help them make better food and lifestyle choices, and enable them to communicate better with their physicians.

“It’s time parents start educating themselves and their children about food  and start making better choices,” Galati says. “Otherwise the consequences will be a lot more dire than what most parents probably realize.”
 

About Dr. Joseph Galati

Dr. Joseph Galati (www.drjoegalati.com), author of  Eating Yourself Sick: How to Stop Obesity, Fatty Liver, and Diabetes from Killing You and Your Family, is a hepatologist who specializes in caring for patients with liver diseases, obesity and nutrition-related disorders.  He attended medical school at St. George’s University of Medicine, and received further training in Internal Medicine at SUNY-Health Science Center-Brooklyn/Kings County Hospital Center.  He obtained further expertise in Liver Disease and Transplant Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  He has been involved in clinical research in liver disease for more than 30 years.  Since 2003, Dr. Galati has hosted “Your Health First,” a one-hour radio program each weekend on iHeart Radio’s 740 am KTRH, and streamed globally on the iHeart app.

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 EPA awards Utah DEQ $12.7 million for air quality projects in Salt Lake City, Logan, and Provo

Targeted Airshed Grants to help communities reduce air pollution through clean diesel retrofits and wood stove change-out programs

DENVER (May 2, 2018) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing the Utah Department of Environmental Quality $12,739,500 in grants for projects in Salt Lake City, Logan and Provo to address air quality challenges along Utah’s Wasatch Front.  EPA’s “Targeted Airshed Grants” are authorized and funded by Congress to support local clean air projects in areas facing the highest levels of ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), commonly known as smog and soot.

“These grants will enable states and local agencies to improve air quality in areas most affected by air pollution,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “EPA is committed to supporting clean air projects that will reduce air pollution in nonattainment areas and enhance public health.”

“We continue to see air quality as the number one health concern for people living along the Wasatch Front,” said Governor Gary Herbert. “That’s why we are looking forward to partnering with the EPA. These targeted airshed grants, which give over $12 million to Utah cities, will play a significant role in helping to eliminate pollution by changing out wood-burning appliances and replacing outdated diesel trucks. We ask all Utahns to consider their impact on the environment, and to join Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA in making the hard decisions that will help clean Utah’s air.”

EPA will provide Utah DEQ with grants to work with local governments on the following projects:

•          Logan, Utah – $3,184,875 to replace old diesel trucks with significantly less polluting models.  This project will provide rebates to replace diesel trucks with cleaner ones reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide, PM2.5, and volatile organic compounds.

•          Logan, Utah; Provo, Utah; and Salt Lake City, Utah– $3,184,875 each to support wood-burning appliance change-outs projects in Logan, Provo and Salt Lake City to reduce residential wood smoke.  These projects will reduce residential wood smoke emissions by changing out uncontrolled wood-burning appliances with either gas or propane heating appliances, replacing uncertified wood stoves/inserts with EPA-certified wood-burning units, and removing uncertified wood-stoves/inserts.  

“These grants will collectively reduce hundreds of tons of harmful pollutants from wood burning sources and vehicles in Utah every year,” said EPA Region 8 Administrator Doug Benevento. “EPA will continue to find ways to support Utah DEQ and help Utah communities address air quality challenges along the Wasatch Front.”

"We are pleased to receive these airshed grants, which will supplement our continuing efforts to protect public health by improving air quality," said Alan Matheson, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. "The work funded by these grants will go a long way to reduce pollution in Utah communities from wood burning and diesel equipment." 

”We appreciate the EPA for helping Salt Lake City homeowners make the transition to cleaner burning fireplaces,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. “This means homeowners with fireplaces and their neighbors will be able to breath cleaner air here on the Wasatch Front, which can make a big difference during inversions.”

“Air quality is a key issue for the health of our citizens and for future economic development,” said City of Logan Mayor Holly Daines.  “We are pleased to receive over $6 million in EPA grant funds to help reduce diesel emissions by replacing older trucks as well as to change out wood burning appliances, both of which create a significant impact on our Cache Valley airshed.”

EPA received funding in the 2010, 2015, and 2016 Appropriations Acts to reduce air pollution in the nation’s areas with the highest levels of ozone or fine particulate matter exposure. In the 2017 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress again directed $30 million to EPA for competitive grants to reduce air pollution in nonattainment areas that the Agency determined were ranked as the top five most polluted areas relative to ozone, annual PM2.5, or 24-hour PM2.5 standards.

For more information, visit: https://www.epa.gov/air-and-radiation/2018-targeted-airshed-grant-recipients.