There is some real need for concern over the avian flu that is spreading (currently very slowly) in parts of Asia. It kills more than 50% of those who contract it. Afterall what's the point of being frugal if you and all your loved ones get wiped out in an epidemic?
You can track its spread on a very useful website www.who.int - this is the world health organization. It wasn't that long ago that another wicked flu hit the planet. Here is a snippet from the WHO site on the Spanish flu of 1918:
U.S. AT WAR. MYSTERY VIRUS LEAPS AROUND THE GLOBE KILLING SCORES IN ITS PATH. SCIENTISTS RACE TO FIND A CURE.
Not headlines from March 2003, but from 85 years earlier. In 1918, hundreds of thousands of American troops headed to Europe for the closing offensives of World War I. Estimates of the number of deaths from the pandemic range from 21 million to 50 million worldwide.
Meanwhile back home, schoolgirls jumped rope to a new chant:
I had a little bird, And its name was Enza, I opened the window, And in-flew-Enza
Influenza—more specifically the Spanish flu—left its devastating mark in both world and American history that year. The microscopic killer circled the entire globe in four months, claiming the lives of more than 21 million people. The United States lost 675,000 people to the Spanish flu in 1918—more casualties than World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. Pharmaceutical companies worked around the clock to come up with a vaccine to fight the Spanish flu, but they were too late. The virus disappeared before they could even isolate it.
Read more here: http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/Number18_article5.htm
Scrooge
Monday, March 28, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
No Debt Worries? Really!
The Canadian TD bank in February reported that:
1 “For well over a decade, personal disposable income (PDI) has grown more slowly than the overall Canadian economy.”
2 “The imbalance between income and spending growth has caused the personal savings rate to fall to a record low of just 0.0 per cent, as of the third quarter of 2004.”
3 “…personal debt has been rising in Canada and has reached record levels. As of the third quarter of 2004, personal debt was equal to 113 per cent of personal disposable income, a new record high.”
What I take issue with is their comment: “However, talk of a looming consumer debt crisis is misinformed for two crucial reasons. First, the rising debt level has been more than offset by the growth in household assets. In fact, personal wealth rose by 10 per cent last year in Canada - the fastest pace in almost a decade. Second, the share of personal income needed to keep a handle on debt interest costs in 2004 was the lowest on record.”
First they don’t define personal wealth, it may be just a count of assets that are funded by further debt. Their second reason is based solely on low interest rates – something most experts see as rising over the next few years.
Scrooge
1 “For well over a decade, personal disposable income (PDI) has grown more slowly than the overall Canadian economy.”
2 “The imbalance between income and spending growth has caused the personal savings rate to fall to a record low of just 0.0 per cent, as of the third quarter of 2004.”
3 “…personal debt has been rising in Canada and has reached record levels. As of the third quarter of 2004, personal debt was equal to 113 per cent of personal disposable income, a new record high.”
What I take issue with is their comment: “However, talk of a looming consumer debt crisis is misinformed for two crucial reasons. First, the rising debt level has been more than offset by the growth in household assets. In fact, personal wealth rose by 10 per cent last year in Canada - the fastest pace in almost a decade. Second, the share of personal income needed to keep a handle on debt interest costs in 2004 was the lowest on record.”
First they don’t define personal wealth, it may be just a count of assets that are funded by further debt. Their second reason is based solely on low interest rates – something most experts see as rising over the next few years.
Scrooge
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Erasing Debts in Bankruptcy Will Get Much Harder
I got this off the American Press. All the more reason to get out of debt sooner than later.
Scrooge
WASHINGTON - Erasing medical bills, credit card charges and other debts in bankruptcy soon will become more difficult under landmark legislation that has vaulted its last major hurdle before Senate passage.
The legislation gliding toward congressional passage following Tuesday's procedural vote in the Senate would constitute the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. bankruptcy laws in a quarter-century.
Senate passage this week and likely House approval of that bill next month would deliver to President Bush the second of his pro-business legislative priorities after Republicans fattened their majorities in both chambers in November's elections.
Congress sent Bush a law last month placing most large multistate class action lawsuits under federal court jurisdiction, making it harder for plaintiffs to join together and win multimillion-dollar judgments in state courts.
Banks, credit card issuers and retailers have pushed for eight years for bankruptcy revisions that would force more people to repay at least part of their debt. It nearly passed in 2002 — failing when the Senate accepted, but House Republicans rejected, a Democratic amendment barring protesters from using bankruptcy to avoid paying court fines for blocking abortion clinics.
This year, with four more Republican senators, the abortion provision was rejected Tuesday on a 53-46 vote. Later the Senate voted 69-31 to limit further amendments, close the debate and hold a final vote this week.
The bill would set up a new test for measuring a debtor's ability to pay.
Those with insufficient assets or income could still file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which if approved by a judge erases debts entirely after certain assets are forfeited. But those with income above the state's median income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years — $100 a month — would be forced into Chapter 13, where a judge would then order a repayment plan.
Critics say that's unfair because many people who file for bankruptcy have lost their jobs, or are going to lose them.
According to current law, a bankruptcy judge determines under which chapter of the bankruptcy code a person falls — whether they have to repay some or all of their debt.
Sensing a long-elusive victory at hand, Republican backers exulted Tuesday and urged colleagues to move speedily through remaining Senate deliberations.
"The sooner we finish work in the Senate and get the bill to the House, the sooner our bankruptcy system will be focused as it should be on helping those with real need, and less vulnerable to abuse by consumers who have the ability to repay their debts," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the bill's primary author.
The bill's supporters argued that bankruptcy frequently is the last refuge of gamblers, impulsive shoppers, divorced or separated fathers avoiding child support, and multimillionaires, often celebrities, who buy mansions in states with liberal homestead exemptions to shelter assets from creditors.
Opponents, too, have a litany of stories. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks of Zoraya Marrero, a single mother with three children from Woodbridge, Va., the eldest of whom has spina bifida. Having had to return $60,000 in state disability benefits and medical coverage for the child, and paying medical expenses, Marrero recently filed for bankruptcy.
Most applicants "did not seek bankruptcy relief willingly," Kennedy says. "Millions of ... Americans in similar situations have filed for bankruptcy only after exhausting all other options."
A recent Harvard University study found that costly illnesses led to about half of all personal bankruptcies and that most people who file for bankruptcy protection because of medical problems have health insurance.
Consumer and civil rights groups and unions say the legislation is unfair to low-income working people, single mothers, minorities and the elderly and would remove a safety net for those who have lost their jobs or face mounting medical bills. They say it would turn the bankruptcy courts into collection agencies for the credit card companies.
Scrooge
WASHINGTON - Erasing medical bills, credit card charges and other debts in bankruptcy soon will become more difficult under landmark legislation that has vaulted its last major hurdle before Senate passage.
The legislation gliding toward congressional passage following Tuesday's procedural vote in the Senate would constitute the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. bankruptcy laws in a quarter-century.
Senate passage this week and likely House approval of that bill next month would deliver to President Bush the second of his pro-business legislative priorities after Republicans fattened their majorities in both chambers in November's elections.
Congress sent Bush a law last month placing most large multistate class action lawsuits under federal court jurisdiction, making it harder for plaintiffs to join together and win multimillion-dollar judgments in state courts.
Banks, credit card issuers and retailers have pushed for eight years for bankruptcy revisions that would force more people to repay at least part of their debt. It nearly passed in 2002 — failing when the Senate accepted, but House Republicans rejected, a Democratic amendment barring protesters from using bankruptcy to avoid paying court fines for blocking abortion clinics.
This year, with four more Republican senators, the abortion provision was rejected Tuesday on a 53-46 vote. Later the Senate voted 69-31 to limit further amendments, close the debate and hold a final vote this week.
The bill would set up a new test for measuring a debtor's ability to pay.
Those with insufficient assets or income could still file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which if approved by a judge erases debts entirely after certain assets are forfeited. But those with income above the state's median income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years — $100 a month — would be forced into Chapter 13, where a judge would then order a repayment plan.
Critics say that's unfair because many people who file for bankruptcy have lost their jobs, or are going to lose them.
According to current law, a bankruptcy judge determines under which chapter of the bankruptcy code a person falls — whether they have to repay some or all of their debt.
Sensing a long-elusive victory at hand, Republican backers exulted Tuesday and urged colleagues to move speedily through remaining Senate deliberations.
"The sooner we finish work in the Senate and get the bill to the House, the sooner our bankruptcy system will be focused as it should be on helping those with real need, and less vulnerable to abuse by consumers who have the ability to repay their debts," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the bill's primary author.
The bill's supporters argued that bankruptcy frequently is the last refuge of gamblers, impulsive shoppers, divorced or separated fathers avoiding child support, and multimillionaires, often celebrities, who buy mansions in states with liberal homestead exemptions to shelter assets from creditors.
Opponents, too, have a litany of stories. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks of Zoraya Marrero, a single mother with three children from Woodbridge, Va., the eldest of whom has spina bifida. Having had to return $60,000 in state disability benefits and medical coverage for the child, and paying medical expenses, Marrero recently filed for bankruptcy.
Most applicants "did not seek bankruptcy relief willingly," Kennedy says. "Millions of ... Americans in similar situations have filed for bankruptcy only after exhausting all other options."
A recent Harvard University study found that costly illnesses led to about half of all personal bankruptcies and that most people who file for bankruptcy protection because of medical problems have health insurance.
Consumer and civil rights groups and unions say the legislation is unfair to low-income working people, single mothers, minorities and the elderly and would remove a safety net for those who have lost their jobs or face mounting medical bills. They say it would turn the bankruptcy courts into collection agencies for the credit card companies.
Hockey dad dies of heart attack after son spat on
I got this off the Canadian Press. It makes me wonder...about a lot of things.
Scrooge
MONTREAL -- A Montreal man died of a heart attack after he had rushed to support his 15-year-old son who had just been spat on at an amateur hockey game. "He was talking to his son to give him some encouragement," spectator Michel Gaudreau said.
"He was holding his hands, he sat down and then he collapsed."
Gaudreau, whose son was playing in the game, said ambulance technicians spent about 30 minutes trying to revive the man.
As well as spitting at the boy, some parents had thrown objects at him.
Scrooge
MONTREAL -- A Montreal man died of a heart attack after he had rushed to support his 15-year-old son who had just been spat on at an amateur hockey game. "He was talking to his son to give him some encouragement," spectator Michel Gaudreau said.
"He was holding his hands, he sat down and then he collapsed."
Gaudreau, whose son was playing in the game, said ambulance technicians spent about 30 minutes trying to revive the man.
As well as spitting at the boy, some parents had thrown objects at him.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Don't Use Mortgage Insurance
Don't buy mortgage insurance. It is cheaper to buy term life insurance. Sometimes by using term life insurance you will cut the price of insuring your mortgage in half! Contact us for a quote on term insurance - we offer very good rates: scrooge@scroogeguide.com Or if you don't want to use us contact your local broker, in any event just do it, and save money.
Scrooge
Scrooge
Travel Europe on the Cheap
If you are wanting to travel to Europe but have been put off by the high airfares consider this route. Get a cheap flight to London (like on Zoom see http://www.flyzoom.com/) and then fly around Europe on Ryan air (see http://www.ryanair.com/). Flights on Ryan Air are as cheap as one British Pound, plus tax. You have to book ahead to get the best prices. They fly out of London Stansted airport, so if you are arriving at another London airport, like Heathrow, take a bus over to Stansted. I know people who have taken Ryan Air flights and they really are as cheap as advertised.
Scrooge
Scrooge
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Save Gasoline
There used to be an old yellow pages ad that said let your fingers do the walking. In other words use the telephone to find what you need instead of walking. However even more important is to let your fingers do the driving. You can save gas by getting in the habit of calling ahead or using the Internet to find what you want, instead of driving aimlessly in a mad hunt. Some retailers even deliver for free. So drive less, save money and when you do need to go out use your legs as much as possible - it's good for you and your bank account!
Scrooge
Scrooge
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Don't Use Mortgage Insurance
Don't buy mortgage insurance. It is cheaper to buy term life insurance. Sometimes by using term life insurance you will cut the price of insuring your mortgage in half! Contact us for a quote on term insurance - we offer very good rates: scrooge@scroogeguide.com Or if you don't want to use us contact your local broker, in any event just do it - and save money.
Scrooge
Scrooge
Learn to Play Music Real Cheap
Want to learn how to play music but don't want to spend a fortune on an instrument or too much time in lessons? Dr. David Harp has developed a fast method of instruction for the harmonica. He promises that in just a few hours you will be able to play. I tried it and it does work. You can get a complete set of harmonica, instructional CD and book for less than $20 at Lee Valley Tools www.leevalley.com or directly from Dr. David at http://www.davidharp.com/ .
Scrooge
Friday, March 04, 2005
Find Free Items Here
You can find lots of free things here: http://www.freecycle.org/ navigate to the city closest to you and look at the free offerings.
Scrooge
Scrooge
Scrooge's Web Log Site Opens
This is the location for Scrooge's new Web log (BLOG). Our web site is www.scroogeguide.com and our mission is to help people live the best life with the least money.
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