costs

Say what you want about Missouri, but it's easier to make a dollar go farther in this state than just about any other. Need proof? In a ranking of the most affordable big cities in America, it was revealed that two at the top are in the Show Me State.

I know, I know. If you live here in Illinois, especially in the Rockford and Northern Illinois areas, this is NOT A NEWSFLASH. You've probably had to deal with potholes your entire life.

As a kid, I remember asking my dad why he pulled the plug on our Christmas lights at around 9:00 each evening. He said something that came right out of the typical Midwestern dad phrasebook: "What? Am I made of money? Do you know what it costs to run these lights? Do You?"

Coming on the heels of last week's news that Illinois has the highest taxes in the entire nation, we get a report that looks at Illinois' gas taxes and compares them to the rest of the country. We're not the highest, but...