Reining In a Spending Spouse

You're a saver but your efforts are undermined by a spending spouse. Friendly ways to discuss your mate's freewheeling habits:

Choose your moments. Avoid weeknights, when everyone's rushed and tired. Try weekend mornings.

Don't point fingers. Putting a spouse on the defensive leads to friction. "Saying 'We need to look at our savings' is a far better opener than 'You're bleeding us dry,'" says Financial Planner Victoria Collins.

Focus on goals. Rather than argue over spending, says Collins, review targets such as your kids' education and retirement.

Discuss big expenses. Agree to discuss in advance any planned expense that's over a certain limit you set. Setting a limit will force both of you to think before spending on items you really want.

Keep it going. Each month, spend a little time reviewing the progress you've made so far. Your spending spouse needs to see that the cutbacks were worth it. » Continue reading

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Put down those needles and rub me

If low-back pain has you down, this news should help: A recent study found that massage handily beat acupuncture in easing people's suffering. Drawing on group health insurance members, US researchers from the Group Health Cooperative and the Harvard Medical School assigned 262 people with low-back pain to traditional Chinese medical acupuncture or to massage. (A third group was given educational materials.)
Ten weeks later, 74 percent of patients getting massage scored their treatment as very helpful, compared with just 46 percent of acupuncture patients. A year later, those who received massage had fewer symptoms than the acupuncture group, plus they had greater mobility and needed fewer pain relievers.

So if you have lower back pain, find a good massage therapist. » Continue reading

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Healing Power of Sleep

Losing sleep can hobble reflexes and fog the mind. Study volunteers deprived of just a couple of hours for a few nights in a row have slowed reaction times and faltering concentration. The consequences can be deadly. Lack of sleep causes innumerable road accidents each year.

A sound sleep seems to be key to a healthy heart. "As soon as people drift off, levels of hormones that stimulate the sympathetic nervous system during the waking hours, called catecholamines, begin to ebb," says research psychiatrist Michael Irwin. The result: Blood pressure falls. Heart rate slows. Blood vessels relax, making it easier for blood to flow. "Our hearts, in other words, get a much deserved rest," says Irwin.

Not so when study subjects are deprived of sleep. Catecholamine levels can actually climb, making the heart work harder than normal -- risky.

Sleeplessness can knock the stuffing out of the body's immune defenses as well. Immune cells may be responsible for commanding sleep, in fact. And when we don't obey their orders, our germ-fighting cells begin to stumble.

One or two nights of bad sleep probably don't pose much danger. "However, chronic sleep deprivation might," says neuroscientist Carol Everson. She found that when rats are sleep deprived over a three-week period, bacteria that normally reside in the gut begin to spread to organs and the bloodstream, making the animals ill. Death can result. "That's worrying because their basic biological needs are lot like ours," says Everson.

How much sleep do you need to steer clear of trouble?
The experts' advice is to aim for seven to nine hours a night. If you find yourself tossing and turning, cut out coffee, tea, cola and alcohol too. If you still have trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor.

Also read
Healing Power of Laughter
Healing Power of Forgiveness
Healing Power of Music » Continue reading

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Home and energy savings

How much do you pay for wasted energy each year? Start saving now with each of these home appliances:

Fridge: Reduce door openings. Running it on 'low' or 'mid' cool, especially in colder weather, saves power. If it's an old fridge, have the door checked for costly air-leaks.

AC: "An AC is best installed under an outside shade or parapet," says Mili Majumdar of Delhi's Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI). It works much like its cousin, the fridge, so have all open gaps around windows, lofts and around the AC itself sealed off. Control sunlight with curtains or blinds. Keep the AC's exhaust shut. Setting its thermostat 'high' can be wasteful.

Washing machine: Reduce your weekly wash cycles by loading the machine to capacity. Front-loaders use less power and water than top-loaders. "A heater can consume five times more power," points out Dr V.B.Bhatia, professor of physics at Delhi University. Use the heater only for very soiled clothes and don't set it above 50ºC. A good detergent often eliminates the need for a hot-wash.

Lights: Tubes give much more light than bulbs of the same wattage. Hate their stark-white light? The new yellowish tubes mimic bulbs.

Fans: Switch to electronic regulators. They waste much less energy.

Iron: Dampen bone-dry clothes or use a steam-iron -- to finish faster," says Prof Bhatia.

Oven: Three cakes baked together doesn't use up much more power than baking just one.

Pressure cooker: After it starts to whistle, turn the flame down to "low," says TERI's Majumdar. This original PC is a home's best energy saver -- cook with it as far as possible. » Continue reading

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Moving Advice on Arthritis

People with arthritis are all to familier with pain's immobilizing effects. Yet an 18-month study suggest movement may be the medicine they require.

People with osteoarthritis of the knee who walked or lifted weights three times weekly were half as likely to suffer disabling pain compared to a group who were inactive. Many of the sedentary patients required assistance in dressing or bathing by the end of the study. The American university scientists who authored the study believe exercise helped by giving people strength, flexibility and confidence.

Finding the right programme is simple, say experts. Choose a sport that's easy on the joints, such as walking, swimming or cycling. Start slowly, and be ready to change your workout if your experience discomfort. » Continue reading

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India Calling

Wonder why companies are moving their support centers to India? Which other nation's people have the patience to deal with customer queries like these:

Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Customer: A gray one.

Customer: Hi, I can't get my diskette out.
Tech support: Have you tried pushing the button?
Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.
Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.
Customer: No, wait a minute. I hadn't inserted it yet; it's still on my desk. Sorry.

Tech support: Click on the 'My Computer' icon on the left side of the screen.
Customer: Your left or my left?

Tech support: Good day. How may I help you?
Customer: Hello. I can't print.
Tech support: Would you click on 'Start' for me and...
Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates!

Customer: Hi, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says it can't find it.

Customer: I have problems printing in red.
Tech support: Do you have a color printer?
Customer: Oh.... thank you.

Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me in the supermarket.

Tech support: Your password is the small letter 'a' as in apple, a capital letter 'V' as in Victor, and the number '7'.
Customer: Is the 7 in capital letters?

Customer: I can't get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five stars.

Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend put a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.

Tech support: How can I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.
Tech support: Ok, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?

A woman customer called the Canon help desk about a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under Windows?
Customer: No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine. » Continue reading

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Four ways to reduce drug costs without risking your health

Look into "me too" brands. Brand names often rule drug prices. For instance, the antibiotic ofloxacin marketed under the brand name Tarivid, is priced at Rs.53.14 per 400mg tablet; as Oflin it costs Rs.14. But as Floxur, it costs just Rs.9.60 per tablet! Ask chemists for less expensive alternatives. "But buying the cheapest," warns Dr Satbir Singh of New Delhi's Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, "may not always be safe, since quality can vary." So, consult your doctor too.

Avoid unnecessary multis. "If your doctor prescribes vitamin B-complex, don't buy multivitamin capsules as many patients do," advises Dr Yatish Agarwal of New Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital. Plain B-complex pills are cheap, while multivitamins cost much more. Components other than the B vitamins loaded in multivitamin capsules are required only in special cases and may be useless for you.

Asthmatic? Get the economy pack. Asthma patients who use inhalers should know that Cipla now markets Asthalin inhalers in a pack that gives 200 puffs for Rs.77. There's also a 400-puff economy pack for Rs.96, which could save you about Rs.425 a year assuming you average eight puffs a day.

Find out about freebies. Pharmaceuticals regularly give away large amounts of drugs as "physician's samples," to doctors -- all meant to be distributed free among patients. So before going to the medical store, ask your doctor if part of the prescription can be had for free. » Continue reading

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