Healthy Moola

Anyone remember what gas prices were in the late 90’s? I do, in New Hampshire it might have benn $1.19 or so for a gallon of 87 and when I moved to PA, gas was being for $.99 a gallon. Yup, that’s right $.99 a gallon. Even when I turned 18 gas hovered right around the $1-1.30 mark, cheap. I wish I would have the money or the insight to buy stock in oil.

Exxon Mobile and Chevron will be posting their profit earnings this week. I can only imagine what the shareholders are getting paid. I may not know much about the stock market or how it works but I do know this energy is something you invest in for the long haul. I would assume you don’t just buy stock in oil and sell it quick or any energy for that matter, energy is always in demand and I think this is a stock people hold onto more than other items.

Gosh, I should buy some cheap stock in alternative energy. I think now is good and if the company tendds to prosper in the years to come so will I. 

Just my two cents anyway, I am not a lisenced stock broker

It is projected that the government will carry  at 482 BILLION dollar deficit for the 2009 fiscal year, not including the housing market  help bill or the 80 BILLION dollar war costs. With this deficit the new total will be with interest is 9.5 TRILLION dollars.  I can’t even imagine what a trillion dollars is like. I still think a million dollars is a lot of money.

I want to know who gives the United  States the credit? Yes,  I know they take most of the money from the Social Security system but there can’t be that much in there if there is a deficit. And I am sure there are some people who still buy bonds to support the government. Finally the rich are taxed. Who gives out the money to the US? I also would like to know why the US even has such a large deficit in the first place. Where does all the money go? If working people pay taxes and pay the Social Security where does it go? As a voter and a taxpayer,  I really should be privy to information relating to how the money is  spent.

Don’t you want to know how are money is spent. A big thing are the earmarks. From what I have read, this are wasteful spending that a lawmaker secures for something that is unimportant to insure electability and/or funding said congressperson. In one sentence- this should be stopped. I bet there is a lot of money that could be saved. I guess what they say is true, an honest man can’t make it in politics.

For some folks, they may diet and do the right things but then all of a sudden you don’t lose or gain anymore. Take a look at some of these habits and try changing some to see if that helps. Some of these people do might not even realize that it could be holding your goal of more weight loss. Or maybe they would explain why you can be gaining  some weight.

~When buying food out use cash, the reason being you may inclined to buy more food thus more calories.  Setting a limit with cash will keep your wallet and weight in check.

~You eat meat. I am not saying meat isn’t good for you but too much can keep the pounds on. Try finding protein sources from plants

~Eating at community/church functions. People love good food and love sharing good food. If you can eat something good before you go so you are not as hungry when you are at the function

~Eating in a group. Really kind of strange to completely rid yourself  of eating with others, try sitting beside a slow eater

~Drinking Diet soda,  I  guess in lab rats they can still gain weight. Ditch it all together

~Marriage,  for whatever reason if one becomes overweight so does the other one an easy fix, diet together

~Driving everywhere, no brainer there . You can’t help it if  you are a commuter. Maybe finding ways to walk it is good for  you and the environment

~Wearing baggy clothes, a matter of you wont notice as quickly if you are gaining

~Your friends are heavy, try engaging them in healthy stuff with you.

Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal, wants to pass another economic stimulus package including more tax rebate checks, bolstering food stamps, heating and cooling subsidies for the poor, infrastructure projects and additional aid to the states.  Of course this sounds wonderful, who doesn’t want free money from Uncle Sam. I think the most important of it all is the infrastructure projects.

Anyone know of a thing called the “New Deal”? It was a plan created by Franklin D Roosevelt to help this country come out of the great depression. Yes, there were people in the congress at the time that didn’t want this to go through but it did and I really think the country did come out of a black era. For those who don’t know what the “New Deal” is, it was one might say an economic stimulus package where the federal government created jobs by building roads such as I80 and others and other infrastructure projects like dams. There were other parts to the “New Deal” such as banking systems, Social Security, the FDIC and other institutions we use today.

This worked then and I think that it might work now.  We need to rebuild our bridges and roads, remember the bridge collapse, Hurricane Katrina all these were due to faulty parts because no one was fixing them. In this day and age there is a lot more infrastructure to think about then roads, highways and dams. A little thing called renewable energy,  builiding hydroelectric plants on large dams that don’t have them, building wind turbines, creating solar power stations. What is a double great thing about creating jobs in the renewable energy sector is this, less dependence on foreign oil, jobs created in America will stay in America which means more people working and off the system more tax money coming in for the United States.

As of now it is only talk and nothing probably won’t be done until September when congress reconveins. Stay tuned for more.

We spend a lot of time complaining about the cost of fuel is cutting into our wallets. I think we forget that the local governments and states are feeling it maybe even worse. Some places are even scraping some jobs on the police, and road crew and asphalt (asphalt is made from the sludgy oil in the bottom of the barrel). If this keeps up, this could really affect public safety. If more jobs are cut on the police, less protection or none at all and the roads can become more unsafe. Cutting back on road repairs means more wear and tear on your vehicle. Just a thought here if you are looking into a job that is in demand think about being a mechanic.

Something needs to be done. This is a dire situation and as far as I think this will only get worse. If this country can go into trillions of debt for an unreasonable war then why not go further into debt and find real solutions that will make us self-sufficient and truly free. Hey why not the government already spends money they don’t have they should spend it on something useful.

Think for a moment where you live… do you like it? Are there enough jobs or are there a lot of people uneployed? How about crime is there a lot of crime? Is the rent cheap, how are the schools? All of these factors are important if you will be moving or plan on moving to make a better life. Perhaps you might consider these places to live. These made the list because the towns have a strong economy, reasonable rates of living, low crime and good schools.

This all sounds really to good to be true, that there are some wholesome communities left.

10. Fishers, Indiana pop 61,8000

9. Overland Park, KS pop 166,700

8. Columbia/Ellicot City, MD pop 97,500

7. Round Rock, TX pop 92,300

6. Norman, OK pop 102,800

5. Franklin Township, NJ pop 59, 100

4. Irvine, CA  pop 193,900

3. Naperville, IL pop 142,900

2. Fort Collins, CO pop 129,400

1. Plymouth, MN pop 70, 100

I don’t know if you see a trend but many of these places except for two are in the mid west and west. I have always figured that the west would be a better place to live just from what the media shows.  Living in a community such as this would help ease your mind of a lot worry and  it is a great place to raise a happy and healthy family.

Have you lived near or in one of the best places? Would you move to one of these places if you had the chance?

I read online today that the oldest blogger died. She was 108 woman from Australia and a dedicated blogger. Amazing, she was born in 1899.

In way I would like to live to 100 to see how the world would change and what the future would hold. If I lived to be 100 that woud occur in 2080. Now that is a huge number 2080. There are sorts of tips on how you might increase your chances of living to close to 100 or older.

Maybe having a healthy lifestlye and all might help and maybe genetics play a part but maybe you are the unlucky/ lucky one to live 100. Didn’t George Burns live to a 100 or pretty close even though he smoked stogies and there are people who die at 60 and were the healthiest people. I think it is when your time it is your time.

I would like to die on July 15, 2080 exactly 100 years old, after the huge birthday party of course.

A lot of us know by now the that the mysterious credit score determines if you will pay the loan back. This is also determines interest rates for the credit you are applying for. We know the credit score is a number but do we really know anything about it? I wondered that myself a number that is so important, I wanted to know how they came up with the number.

Each of the main credit agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian actually have their own credit score because they have their own database. I know this is true. I checked Experian and they had no record of my student loans or even my new address. The last thing they have one record for me is a loan I took out to fix my transmission in my car. I paid it off right away. I am sure my credit score from that company is pretty decent. The most common the of the credit scores is called the FICO, developed by Fair Issac Corporation.

The credit score in general is based on statistical analysis of your credit data. Then they compare your credit with people with similar credit and give you a score based on that. I suppose that means if person A pays the bills but late and Person B pays the bills late but this person has had credit for a lot longer might have a slightly better score.

Here are is the general make up of the FICO credit score: 35% is payment punctuality, 30% amount of debt (credit card balances compared to credit limit), 15% length of credit history, 10% credit used (auto loans, personal loans, mortgages, etc), 10% recent search for credit. I don’t know the actual equation or anything on they obtain the magical number. I want to know how you quantify things like recent search for credit.

Credit scores fall in between 300-800 with 60% of scores falling between 650 and 799. The average credit score is 678 (slightly above the subprime lending line.)

I do see how sometimes the past can determine the future when it comes to lending money. Sometimes in some cases the past will not determine future. Case in point, a person with a 750 credit score, always paid their balances on their credit cards and all their bills on time, goes out and gets a hefty loan and then maxes out the cards and doesn’t pay back the loan. Another scenario would be a person who learned about using money and now pay everything on time and pay everything off but still have a hard time getting a loan. This might be the best way until something better comes along.

I hope this helps a little bit to me it still is a mystery.

For most people a successful diet would actually losing weight. One way is to keep track of your incoming calories and exercising. However it would be nice to know how many calories you are actually burning. Remember you would want to burn more calories then your intake for you to lose weight. Exercising is my problem, I can out bad foods cut back on high calorie food but I just hate exercise.

I found this calories burned calculator where you put in your weight and the duration of your activity then you choose your activity then the exact exercise. I punched in my undisclosed weight and I mowed the lawn for 1 and 1/2 hours I burned 1065 calories. I have an acre of ground and with a push mower it really can take up to an hour and half or more. Right now I am burning calories, I changed my activity to inactivity and I am writing for the same time period and I am burning 318 calories.

I think I might use this especially when I go for walks in the back yard. Maybe knowing how much I am really burning might motivate me to do more.

Have a great night!

The dog days of summer are on us and many people rush and crank up the AC either a wall/window unit or central air. On a triple H day the ac does feel nice but it could eat a huge hole in your pocket. Not only will you be cutting cost to cool it saves on energy consumption which is good for the environment as well.

~Change your incandescents to compact fluorescents. Every incandescent adds heat to your home. Change the light bulbs and you can turn up the ac 2 degrees. Not only the compact fluorescents will save you money all around.

~make sure your ac is perfect working order. This is the same for heating as well.

~when you are away from home turn up the ac no sense of making your home a freezer if you are not home.

~use a fan to help cool you and you can turn up the ac a little bit more. When you leave the room turn off the fan.

~make sure your home is well insulated and all cracks sealed just like winterazation.

The best way is not to use the ac at all but for some people that is not feasible.