Entries from November 2009 ↓

Why Americans are so fat?

Put boldly like this as the title to the article, this is close to being politically incorrect. We are not supposed to talk about people who are overweight. This intrudes into their privacy. We are being discriminatory in some way. Yet, when you come to the hard statistics collected by the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there is absolutely no doubt about the national trend. The CDC has been producing the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys for decades. It’s the CDC’s way of keeping its finger on the pulse of the average American. The first study was done almost sixty years ago.

At that time, about one quarter of all Americans were overweight, i.e. had a Body Mass Index of more than 27. This was the steady result as time passed until the Survey results came in the 1980′s. Suddenly, one third of the population was overweight. In just ten years, millions of Americans switched their eating habits from moderate to excessive. If you could be persuaded to think of this as being like the spread of a disease, this would be an epidemic. And, just like a disease, it has continued to spread. Now more than twelve million adults have a BMI of 40 or more. In everyday terms, this has meant the replacement of the routine things we use in public places. Revolving doors are now bigger. Chairs are wider and strengthened. Even coffins have had to be enlarged. Continue reading →

You can reduce your insurance premium by yourself

When you possess and maintain a car you undergo severe expenses, but it doesn’t mean you have to submit to this. You can reduce your expenses and here are some tips on how you can do this.

Lower coverage on older cars

In case you paid for your car and it’s old, think about removing the clash coverage. It pays for damages you cause to your car. Moreover, it makes up a huge part of your insurance expenditure.

Deal with only one insurance provider

Collect all policies you have (car, home, etc.) to one insurer and you’ll consequently get a multi-line reduction – up to 10% down from your complete premium.

Increase your deductible

Cut your car premium significantly by increasing the deductible (what you’re paying out-of-pocket, when making a claim). The $250 and $500 deductibles disparity is normally very essential and if it’s even more substantial when it’s between $250 and $1,000 deductibles difference. Consider how much you can spend out-of-pocket before changing your deductible correspondingly.

Acquire a quote before buying

Before you buy a new car, contact your insurer to learn how much you’ll have to spend for car insurance. Premiums can significantly change, depending on the model, year and the make of a car. Continue reading →