14-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 19, 2003
B
Family Living
Focus
by
Nancy Stevens
Montgomery Co.
Extension
Digging Out Of Debt
If you are feeling like you are
being buried in bills, you are not
alone.
Savings rates in the United
States are well below historical
averages while personal bank
ruptcy filings have doubled those
of 10 years ago. A little more
than a decade ago, Americans
saved 8.8 percent of their after
tax income; today the personal
savings rate is less than half that
amount.
In addition to the lack of sav
ings, the Average U.S. household
has credit cards with balances to
taling more than $4,800. Debt as
a share of after-tax income has
been rising, with Americans de
voting an average of almost 11
percent of their income to servic
ing consumer debt in the form of
credit cards and automobile
loans. The percentage of home
owners who are falling behind on
their mortgage payments is grow
ing, and delinquency rates as
high as 5.6 percent have been re
ported on automobile loans.
Potential debt problems can be
spotted before they reach the se
rious stage. By knowing what
danger signals to look for, you
can take steps to prevent a prob
lem before it occurs. If any of the
following signals look familiar,
you may be headed for financial
trouble.
• You think of credit as cash,
not debt.
• Your debts arc greater than
your assets.
• You owe more than seven
creditors.
• You are an impulsive or
compulsive shopper.
• You and your spouse are dis
honest with each other about
your use of credit.
• You don’t know how much
your monthly living expenses are
or the amount of your total debt.
• Your expected increase in in
come is already committed to
paying off debts.
• You depend on extra income,
such as earnings by a second per
son or over-time by the breadwin
ner to help you make ends meet.
• You have less
than 2 months’ take-
home pay in cash or
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OWNERS
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WANT TO KNOW
WHY?
V
Liz Martin
Martin Insurance
Agency
459 C N George St
Millersville, PA 17551
(717) 872-7756
Toll Free
1-877-791-5235
www martminsurance com
Affordable insurance for
farm, home,vehicle,
and small business
savings where you can get to it
quickly.
• You have to pay back several
installment payments that will
take over 12 months to pay off.
• You have more than 20 per
cent of your take-home pay com
mitted to credit payments other
than your home mortgage.
• You get behind in utility or
rent payments.
• You have to consolidate sev
eral loans into one or reduce
monthly payments by extending
current loans in order to pay your
debts.
• You cannot afford to pay for
regular living expenses or credit
payments; therefore, you take out
a loan, withdraw savings, skip
payments, or pay only the min
imum amount due on your
charge accounts.
If you said yes to at least four
of the above statements, examine
your budget and look for ways to
tighten your belt. If you checked
five or more, you are probably
headed for financial trouble. If
you checked seven or more, then
you are in financial danger.
If you arc having serious finan
cial trouble, you are probably
having difficulty staying ahead of
your bills. You can only cut ex
penses so much, so one often has
no choice but to delay payment
on certain debts. One of the most
important choices you will have
to make is which bills to pay first,
which to pay later and which to
refuse to pay. Often consumers
pay items like credit card bills
which do not urgently have to be
paid, but their collectors often
make the most ‘noise.”
If you are having trouble pay
ing all of your bills, you should
instead be paying those creditors
who can “hurt” you the most,
such as those who can take your
home or car. Generally speaking,
you should direct your limited re
sources to what is most necessary
for your family usually food,
essential medical expenses, shel
ter and utility service. If you need
your car to get to work, this pay
ment should also be considered
essential.
• Wedding Invitations
• Brochures
• Business Cards
• Sale Cards
• Catalogs
• Newsletters
• Newspapers
Arl Haas
One East Main Street
RO. Box 527, Ephrata, PA17522
717-733-6397 • Fax 717-733-6058
School’s Benefit Auction Is April 25-26
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
Manheim Christian Day School’s
benefit sale is taking on a whole
new look compared to the first
one conducted 27 years ago.
Lawn, garden, art items and
much more are interspersed
among traditional quilts and
household articles.
Bidding offers such unique
services as a complete orthodon
tic treatment valued at $4,385, a
golf outing, and a white water
raft trip.
It’s now a two-day event, be
ginning Friday, April 25, with a
sale preview, baked goods, crafts,
chicken barbecue, plqnt, and
flowers sold. A silent auction bn
class projects will begin a 3 p.m.
and run through Saturday at
11:30 a.m. General merchandise
and selected gift certificates will
be auctioned beginning at 6 p.m.
Saturday begins with a coun
try breakfast served between 7
a.m. -10 p.m.
At 9 a.m., the action of lawn
and garden items, gift certifi
cates, and general merchandise
will begin.
At 11:45 a.m., the art auction
No-Nonsense Solutions To Growing Obesity Problems
PHILADELPHIA A new re
search review identifies several
causes to the growing epidemic of
childhood obesity, including lack
of physical activity, large portion
sizes, and increased intake of
sugar-sweetened soft drinks. The
authors propose a “common
sense approach” to the preven
tion and treatment of childhood
obesity that focuses on both the
home and school environments.
These steps include setting aside
time for healthy meals and physi
cal activity, eliminating un
healthy foods such as soft
drinks and candy from school
vending machines and possible
taxes on fast food and soft
drinks, to name a few. In addi
tion, the authors suggest that soft
There is excellent free informa
tion available on dealing with
debt.
Check with your local library
or Cooperative Extension office
for more information. But
remember, the best thing
you can do as a consumer
is to realize a worsening
situation and try to reduce
spending and debt before
you get too deep in debt
Students Anthony Young and Allison Balmer check out
some items that will go to the highest bidder at Manheim
Christian Day School’s 27th annual benefit auction, April
25-26. Shown are a rustic water trough, a child’s riding
tractor, a Weber gas grill, lawn furniture, cast iron dog,
and other garden accents.
is scheduled with works by many
well-known artists offered.
At 12:30 p.m., special features
will be auctioned with the quilt
auction beginning 1 p.m.
At 3 p.m., furniture will be
drinks might be a possible culprit you can help them to make their
because of their ability to raise selections ahead of time,
blood sugar, whereas milk, which • Set an Example The most
has a low ability to raise blood important thing parents can do
sugar, may help protect young to encourage their children to eat
adults from becoming obese. healthy is to show them! Provide
National Dairy Council® pro- healthy meal options at home
vides some no nonsense tips to such as pastas with vegetables;
help your child get adequate nu- lean meats and Parmesan cheese;
trition with foods they love: milk with meals and lowfat yo
• Yogurt Parfaits Make i“rts and fruit for dessert. They
breakfast time fun, quick, and are more likely to choose these
easy for the kids. Let them add foods if they see you doing so.
fresh fruit (such as blueberries, . * Avoid Nutrient-Void Foods
strawberri&l or cut melon slices) * n Vending Machines Encour
to any flavored yogurt. Offer ,age ymir child to grab a single
extra ingredients for texture such ! wrvep flilfWMriiipflfvo
as granola, or their favor- gurt-m the school lunch line, m
ite cereal stead of candy and soda from a
• Plan Your Menu —lf your machine. Also, talk to your
child(ren) dine in the school cafe- child’s school administration
teria, ask them to bring home the ab °ut their „ 01 * regulations
school lunch menu so that you on the availability of sodas and
can decide together what foods candy during school lunchtime,
he or she will be choosing. You * Take a Trip to the
can’t monitor them to make sure Grocery Store Get your kids
they eat all the vegetables, but involved in selecting healthful
food choices.
m M
r For Value-Added Sales or for Personal Use ■
, Process meat easily and affordably with Chop- ■
> Rite Two Meat Processors. Make sausage for your J
JJ own use or to sell. Save time and money and have ■
i the freshest ground meat ever. 1
Made in
ow As ■
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Call 1-800-683-5858
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ITfTfflTfl 531 Old Skippack Rd.
I ¥TO A I Harleysvllle, PA 19438
iuJLJ!ljflM=l on the Web:
www.chop-rfte.com
auctioned.
Look for the big tents set up at
the school located along Route
72, one mile north of Manheim.
For more information, call the
school at (717) 665-4300.