It seems that Sean Combs, the entrepreneur-turned rap singer-turned-fashion-designer-cum-man- about-town (also sometimes known as P. Diddy or Puff Daddy or Diddy or variations on same) is grounding his private jet because of the extravagant cost of fuel.

I'd call it a Sign O' the Times, but that's the title of a song from another singer with an ever-changing name (Prince).

According to this item on Perez Hilton's celebrity gossip website, it costs about $250K for two round trips between New York and L.A. Combs, who juggles a Hollywood career with a thriving clothing business and other ventures in New York, thinks that's just too much. This from a multi-millionaire, (number 33 this year on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list) who's famous for, among many other things, his annual White Ball, in which the (very) rich, (very) famous and (very) beautiful show up to an elite location for a night of glamor and partying, clad only in white.

Even though gas prices are dipping a little in my area the local media and pretty much every personal finance blog online are still extolling the virtues of walking or biking to work. It seems simple enough; dust off your bike or sneakers, grab a backpack and hit the road. Right?

If you're encumbered by urban sprawl this may not help you out much but if you live in a city of one-way streets, which the walking directions ignore, this may be the best article you've read all week. Google just rolled out a new beta feature to Google Maps which allows you to use the service to get walking directions, no matter the distance. It also avoids areas typically restricted to foot traffic such as interstates and other highways.

Even though it is interesting to see how Google thinks I should walk the 20 miles to work, when I ask for realistic directions to my barber's shop I am shown a much different route than I would normally take in my car in order to avoid crossing a few bigger and heavily trafficked intersections. Another nice feature is that Google estimates the time to cover the distance, so you can even plan out your departure time. Google expects me to cover about a mile every 20 minutes.

One of my pet peeves when reading advice on how to save money is to get a bit of advice without being empowered to actually make use of it. These new feature should help you find a way to add walking into your busy life. Walking to your weekend barbecue or to pick up groceries this month is a great way to save money and get healthier. Make sure you head Google's warning and "use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas", since the service doesn't appear to alert you to areas with frequent muggings. To use this feature, just select "walking" from the drop down box that appears below your destination.

Fuel efficiency has quickly become the most important factor for many people exploring car purchases, but it may not be as simple as we thought. A car that gets 34 miles per gallon is more fuel efficient than one that gets 32, but it's hardly worth upgrading, right? Well, maybe not.

A paper in Science entitled The MPG Illusion makes the case that the "miles per gallon" label is opaque and difficult for consumers to make calculations with. The authors have set up a one question online quiz to show how difficult it is to make judgments based on the miles per gallon label.

For details on the math behind it, check out this article from the USA Today. But it makes perfect sense: thinking about efficiency in terms of gallons per miles provides a clearer idea of fuel savings.

With all the emphasis on fuel efficiency, car makers and regulators could do a lot to make it easier for consumers to do research and make good decisions about transportation. The basic takeaway from the paper is this: seemingly small increases in fuel efficiency will save you a lot more gas than it intuitively seems like they would.

With gas prices rising steadily over the past decade -- even before the recent levitation -- there's been a question nagging at economists: at one point would consumers break? When would the elasticity of demand start to show? Obviously Americans would drive a lot less if gas were $35 per gallon, but at would point would consumption start to slow.

2008 appears to be the year, and $4 appears to be the beginning of the breaking point. Cambridge Energy Research Associates reports that "U.S. gasoline demand will likely decline in 2008 for the first time in more than 17 years. For the first time since the 1970s and early 1980s the number of miles driven by Americans has clearly begun trending downward."

In April, Americans drove 1.8% fewer on public roads compared to the same period last year, the sixth consecutive month of declines.

For under $2,000, you can buy a brand-new vehicle that will get 100 mpg, and can be parked almost anywhere. With gas at $4 and heading up, perhaps it's time we took another look at the world's answer to cheap transportation, the scooter.

I'm not suggesting the old-style two-stroke, high polluting pieces of crap, but modern, high-quality machines from manufacturers such as Honda.

For example, check out the--

Honda Metropolitan, $1,899. Honda matches classic scooter styling with a 49 cc. four stroke liquid-cooled engine for a ride capable of carrying you 100 miles or so on a gallon of petrol. Talk about cutting down the cost of transportation.

Yamaha Vino, $1,949. This scoot features a comparable engine to the Honda, and gets around 110 mpg. It too has classic European styling and Yamaha quality.

Vespa still has plenty of dogs in this hunt, including the Piaggio Fly50, a 50 cc. four-stroke selling for $1,849. It also captures the scooter cache with handsome styling.

Of course, scooters have limitations, primarily weather. Riding them in traffic takes some practice and skill, and taking a motorcycle training course from the Motorcycle Safety Institute would greatly improve your skills. But with gas going nowhere but up, a little two-wheeled fun might help keep your budget from running out of gas.

The cost of living in a specific house is much more than the monthly mortgage check. When you purchase a house, you also need to take into account the cost of transportation to work and other locations you frequent. Once you begin to factor in these additional transportation costs, many houses which are defined as affordable, 30% or less of median income, become unaffordable.

While I think we all understand that the farther we live from our work, the more expensive transportation will be, we are often dismissive of the actual cost. This map provides a good argument for incorporating actual transportation costs into a home buying decision. My town isn't incorporated into the mapping utility, it is clear that for the closest "big" city, living in the suburbs quickly crosses into unaffordable once transportation is considered. This is somewhat surprising due to the increased cost of owning or renting in areas closer to the center of town, though with gas prices going nowhere but up, this affordability index will be even more useful in the years to come.

Living in a location where transportation cost is lower, not only reduces the cost of home ownership over time, it is better for the environment. While we all like to talk "green", this map may get more individuals to lower their environmental impact by saving them everyone's favorite kind of green! Honestly, that's what it will take to get the majority of the population behind an environmental movement. Well, that or a new ice age.

More than ever these days, people are rolling up their sleeves and finding ways to help themselves.They're also interested in helping their neighbors, their country and the planet. These attitudes are commendable, compelling and powerful.

That is why today I am bringing to you a few of my favorite responsible living links. The following websites have been created for you with great thought and care. Each of these sites will reward you for the time you spend there reading. Remember, reading equals knowledge and knowledge always pays dividends.

First on my list today is the blog, DIY Life. It's one of my favorites and it's a member of our Weblogs family. The site is a fast paced, informative blog which seeks to deliver to you the "cream of the crop" in do it yourself living. I must disclose that I'm a bit biased towards their blog because my extraordinary wife is a member of their fine writing crew. Check it out if you're into the fix it and make it yourself lifestyle. On their pages you'll find everything from home remodeling and gadget tweaks to jewelry making and unique home furnishings. Their staff is dedicated to bringing you up-to-the-minute do it yourself brain storms. In their capable hands, you can never go wrong.

Recently, I came across an interesting figure. Congressional analysts estimate that the United States is currently spending $12 billion a month on its overseas wars. According to Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, co-authors of The Three Trillion Dollar War, an analysis of the U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the conflicts and subsequent occupations will end up costing the United States between $1.7 and $2.7 trillion dollars by 2017.

Frankly, I can't even imagine that much money. To be honest, I can't even wrap my mind around the buying power of $12 billion! Still, as we're nearing tax time, and as we're debating the cost of our upcoming "Economic Stimulus Package," I started to think about how much money $12 billion is. For research, I decided to check out a few other government programs to compare the relative cost of this war.

Of course, everybody's favorite foil for the military is education, so I decided to start there. While federal funding for education covers only 12% of the total cost, it is still quite significant. According to the Department of Education, Federal educational spending for school year 2007-2008 is $68.6 billion, or just over 46% of the yearly cost of the wars. To give another comparison, in 2007, the United States total spending on highways was $39.6 billion, or roughly 27.5% of the money spent on the two wars in the same period.

Traffic tickets are not only expensive, but can cause an increase in your insurance, and every one moves you a few points closer to losing your license. With a little forethought and caution, though, they are avoidable, even if you aren't willing to drive 55.

Part three- if you are stopped: Courtesy is your best strategy!

23. Give the cop a safe place to park. This doesn't mean driving an additional five miles with the cruiser in pursuit, but pull as far off the road as possible.

Traffic tickets are not only expensive, but can cause an increase in your insurance, and every one moves you a few points closer to losing your license. With a little forethought and caution, though, they are avoidable, even if you aren't willing to drive 55.

Part 2- Driving

11. Know your neighborhood. If you drive the same stretches of road frequently, note where you see police monitoring speed, and expect to see them there again.