How To Save Money

Recently one of my children, a 2nd year Uni student, asked me for tips on how to save money as he never seems to be able to save (and oft-times ends up asking for help at the end of the month to pay for expenses that he can’t cover from his two part-time jobs.

Here is my reply which i addressed to all three of my children who have fled the nest.

Hi guys and gal,

a while ago your younger bro asked me for tips on how to save $$$. i guess i learned how from my parents who both grew up during the depression.

when i earned $$$ as a kid i saved it, at least most of it. by the time i was 15 i had saved $500 from my paper route; i only earned a few dollars a week for delivering papers for 5 years. The $500 became the foundation of my trip to Europe as a 19 year old once i finished high-school. After i quit the paper route i got jobs as a life-guard, swimming instructor and grocery bagger. i saved some and spent some. i spent on my collection of vinyl records while my contemporaries spent their pay cheques on smokes etc. Those that lived didn’t get anything to show for their hard work, it went up in smoke or down the toilet literally pissed away; i have a 1000 records in mint condition. Sometimes its about not wasting the $ you do spend.

Things we do to save:

1. Never ever buy on credit: when we use a credit card we always have auto-payment of the entire amount every month, that way we don’t get suckered into paying their 27% interest (should be illegal but it isn’t). nowadays it seems we just can’t get away without using a credit card especially for online stuff i.e. when i book our tickets to go back home every summer. The only time you should really take out a loan is when/if you buy a home. (ok i took student loans when i was at Uni but i made sure i paid them off before i got married to yo momma; didn’t want that hanging over my head while trying to start a family). i have never and will never take out a loan to buy a car. If you can’t afford it you don’t need it. Virtually every where you’ll live and work you’ll find you can use a bicycle more efficiently than a car to get around. For sure it will be cheaper and you’ll have the added benefit of exercise. You’ll recall the last time we lived in a major metropolitan centre in North America we did not get a car but instead we all cycled everywhere most of the time or took public transport.

the rest are common sense:

2. don’t do Fivebucks/Timmy’s coffee. get your own travel mug and use that with instant coffee and hot water.

3. don’t do restaurants/fast food. they may save time but they sure don’t save $. also the food choices are oft times less than healthy.

4. brown bag it. take your own homemade lunch to school/work, don’t do the cafeteria/McD route. too expensive on any income unless you own Microsoft.

5. avoid drinking in bars/pubs. again just too expensive. we still act that way here. i can count on one hand the number of times i’ve gone to a pub here in 2.5 years. i cringe when i see the prices: one beer at the 4 star hotel costs as much as half a case of beer at the govt control booze shop. The prices at the 5 star hotel are even more ridiculous. when i was a Uni student i would treat myself to one beer a week, end of story. just too expensive to drink and save $ these days what with all the taxes.

6. Sally Ann/Goodwill or garage sales for good used clothes and other things you might need. i’ve bought some really nice previously worn clothes at The Salvation Army thrift shop or other thrift shops like the one near your old place guys. you may recall i bought quite of bit of used furniture from garage sales when we lived in Cowtown.

7. buy used books, not new. especially good for text books if possible (i know they always aren’t available but do look around.) These days you can download a lot of free books to your tablet, great free entertainment. And there is always the library.

8. take advantage of the free stuff on campus, concerts, films etc. for your entertainment.

9. Don’t do anything illegal: the lawyers fees will screw you over. one of my classmates was once caught up by the RCMP in a big drugs sting. His parents had to mortgage their home to pay for the lawyers. we will not do that for you. an another word for the wise, because of the social responsibility work i’m engaged in people may try to get to me through you so please make sure you’re squeaky clean. so i repeat: don’t do ANYthing illegal. we don’t need the hassle or expense.

10. buy food that is in season. buy day old bread etc. shop for groceries from a list; don’t impulse buy when at the supermarket and only buy groceries when you’ve recently had a meal. eat the groceries you buy, don’t let them rot in the fridge.

11. file your income taxes on time, claim every credit you can. you should be able to get $ back every year. if you’re late with your claim you’ll get the $ back late, if you owe $ you’ll have to pay heavy fines.

12. Pay all bills on time or before they’re due i.e. rent, utilities, health care premiums etc. you know you end up paying more otherwise.

13. Put $ aside for a rainy day. Do not spend every cent you earn each time you get paid; put a percentage aside in the bank and leave it there for when you need it.  i used to save 50% of my pay when i was a kid. later, at uni it was harder but i still kept a cushion in case i had an emergency. you can never tell when you might need $ for something unexpected like a wedding or a funeral… have the dosh on hand to pay for a gift or the needed airline ticket would be nice.

take care,

love you all!

d

Advice to a single parent

A facebook friend posted this today: I am definitely unable to provide for Nick as a single mum..

i replied:

You basically have to provide for three things: Nick’s physical, mental and emotional needs.

Physically he needs good nutritious food, clean clothes and a roof or tent over his head. the food should not be junk food; rice, veg, fruit, protein, mother’s milk. the clothes do NOT need to be new, 2nd hand should be freely available, go to your local church/mosque and get, a roof? (well there’s always mama right?)

mental: speak to him in your mother tongue; that way he grows up bilingual, your language plus English which he’ll pick up on the street etc.; another thing to do for his mental well-being, if you’re not already on this page, is to read to him every night at bedtime, research shows that children who are read to will have a vocabulary 4-7 thousand words larger than a child who is not read to. the kids who are read to will have a head start at school that the others will never catch up to.

Emotionally, if you’re breast feeding him he already knows you love him, when you read to him at bedtime you further cement that love relationship + you build up a sense of a stable life with a set of rules and boundaries (invisible but nonetheless necessary) and you start building a life long love of books (should be freely available at your local library); basically you just have to love him, which i’m sure you’re doing. you can also help him by providing him with a strong sense of right and wrong, he’ll follow your lead; so don’t do anything you don’t want him parroting.

Henry Fielding’s “A Modern Glossary”

i have been teaching a course in English Literature. i decided to use Fielding’s Modern Glossary as a representative work of satire from that period. i’ve included the entire glossary below with a few notes.

Fielding: A Modern Glossary (1752)

ANGEL. The name of a woman, commonly of a very bad one.

AUTHOR. A laughing-stock. It means likewise a poor fellow, and in general an object of contempt.

BEAR. A country gentleman; or, indeed, any animal upon two legs that doth not make a handsome bow.

BEAUTY. The qualification with which women generally go into keeping.

BEAU. With the article A before it, means a great favourite of all women.

BRUTE. A word implying plain-dealing and sincerity, but more especially applied to a philosopher.

CAPTAIN/ COLONEL { Any stick of wood with a head to it, and a piece of black ribband upon that head.

CREATURE. A quality expression of low contempt, properly confined only to the mouths of ladies who are Right honourable.

CRITIC. Like Homo, a name common to all human race.

COXCOMB¹. A word or reproach, and yet, at the same time, signifying all that is most commendable.

DAMNATION. A term appropriated to the theatre; though sometimes more largely applied to all works of invention.

DEATH. The final end of man; as well of the thinking part of the body, as of all the other parts.

DRESS. The principal accomplishment of men and women.

DULLNESS. A word applied by all writers to the wit and humour of others.

EATING. A science.

FINE. An adjective of a very peculiar kind, destroying, or, at least, lessening the force of the substantive to which it is joined: as fine gentlemen, fine lady, fine house, fine clothes, fine taste;–in all which Fine is to be understood in a sense somewhat synonymous with Useless.

FOOL. A complex idea, compounded of poverty, honesty, piety, and simplicity.

GALLANTRY. Fornication and adultery.

GREAT. Applied to a thing, signifies bigness; when to a man, often littleness, or meanness.

GOOD. A word of as many different senses as the Greed word EXw, or as the Latin Ago: for which reason it is but little used by the polite.

HAPPINESS. Grandeur.

HONOUR. Dueling.

HUMOUR. Scandalous lines, tumbling and dancing on the rope.

JUDGE/JUSTICE. } An old woman.

KNAVE². The name of four cards in every pack.

KNOWLEDGE. In general, means knowledge of the town; as this is, indeed, the only kind of knowledge ever spoken of in the polite world.

LEARNING. Pedantry³.

LOVE. A word properly applied to our delight in particular kinds of food; sometimes metaphorically spoken of the favourite objects of all our appetites.

MARRIAGE. A kind of traffic carried on between the two sexes, in which both are constantly endeavouring to cheat each other, and both are commonly losers in the end.

MISCHIEF. Fun, sport, or pastime.

MODESTY. Awkwardness, rusticity.

NOBODY. All the people in Great Britian, except about 1200.

NONSENSE. Philosophy, especially the philosophical writings of the ancients, and more especially of Aristotle.

OPPORTUNITY. The season of cuckoldom⁴.

PATRIOT. A candidate for a place at court.

POLITICS. The art of getting such a place.

PROMISE. Nothing.

RELIGION. A word of no meaning; but which serves as a bugbear to frighten children with.

RICHES. The only thing upon earth that is really valuable, or desirable.

ROGUE/RASCAL. } A man of a different party from yourself.

SERMON. A sleeping dose.

SUNDAY. The best time for playing at cards.

SHOCKING. An epithet⁵ which fine ladies apply to almost everything. It is, indeed, an interjection (if I may so call it) of delicacy.

TEMPERANCE. Want of spirit.

TASTE. The present whim of the town, whatever it be.

TEASING. Advice; chiefly that of a husband.

VIRTUE/VICE } Subjects of discourse.

WIT. Prophaneness, indecency, immorality, scurrility, mimickry, buffoonery⁶. Abuse of all good men, and especially of the clergy.

WORTH. Power. Rank. Wealth.

WISDOM. The art of acquiring all three.

WORLD. Your own acquaintance.

Notes:

        ¹coxcomb: a conceited, foolish dandy; pretentious fop.

        ²Knave: an unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest person.

        ³ Pedantry: excessive concern with minor details and rules.

       ⁴Cuckoldom: the state or quality of being a cuckold. (Cuckold: the husband of an adulteress.)

       ⁵Epithet: a word, phrase, or expression used invectively as a term of abuse or contempt, to express hostility, etc.

       ⁶Buffoonery: acting in a course, rough, or undignified joking manner.

Occupy your wallet

A lot happened in 2011. People around the world were affected to a greater or lesser degree by what occurred. i was struck by an, at times, overwhelming sense that i could not do anything to affect change or to help those working for change either here in Sohar, Oman or in the streets of the cities and towns around the world where people are trying to make a difference. In the end, i decided i could, in my small way, bear witness to what was happening and work towards small positive changes that i think i can impact. i would ask that you consider joining me in my New Year’s resolution.

Every year, Jamie Mackinnon, a friend from my Cuso Nigeria days sends out a “Noel News” missive. This year he opined,

“Historical analysis seems to show that, over the millennia (beginning with the rise of the state) and more so in recent decades, violence has been declining globally, and the dignity of the human individual (as seen through the prism of human rights) has been increasing.”

As i read that i reflected on 2011 and what i had witnessed either in real life or through the words and pictures of friends, acquaintances and colleagues. i decided i had to beg to differ with Jamie. i feel that violence is increasing, partly because, at 7 billion and counting, there are more of us human beings around and partly because we are becoming inured to violence, both casual and causal. Violent action and rhetoric are, it seems to me, constantly being ratcheted up in attempts to hold off change and secure the status quo.

Here in Sohar we experienced the worst aspects of the Arab Spring when a citizen was shot and killed as he photographed the nascent movement for change. my workplace was closed for a week while our students demonstrated for change. 

In Cairo twitter friend Mona Eltahawy had her left arm and right hand broken by military security forces while they sexually assaulted her. Mona writes of her experience in detail here.

Also from Cairo came this graphic image of a woman being singled out for gross abuse by the military. She was in the streets demonstrating for an end to rule by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. If ever a picture told a thousand words this was that occasion. The full story behind the picture can be read here. What is not told is the story of the Coptic Christian who attempted to save this Muslim demonstrator from the beating she was getting. He ended up being shot in the knee for his efforts.

In North America the quotidian use of violence against peaceful, non-violent demonstrators is best summed up by this now infamous picture of one sworn to protect and serve disabusing all and sundry of his role in life. Violence has become banal and utilized indiscriminately by authorities around the world to either maintain their power or the status quo. TIME magazine’s Person Of The Year issue featured The Protester; very fitting but the cover story missed several important protest actions in the MENA region and elsewhere.

If one thing has become crystal clear it’s that money talks. The upcoming election in the USA is up for grabs to the highest bidder. Occupiers are slowly changing the focus away from the 1% who control the pocketbooks to the 99% who should be controlling the streets.

At this time and place in my life i’ve decided that i can best effect change by watching how i spend my money. Going out on the streets while i have four kids in school isn’t a good idea. i won’t be able to help them if i’m occupying the inside of a jail cell.

As my New Year’s resolution i’m revisiting and renewing several of my long-standing consumer boycotts:

Nestlé because they are still illegally promoting their infant formulas as better than mother’s milk. i’ve been boycotting Nestlé ever since i was working in Nigeria in the late ’70s and i heard of their deadly practice which actually leads to mothers in developing countries inadvertently killing their infants. Maggi is also a Nestlé subsidiary and should be avoided like the plague.

Union Carbide since 1985 because they still haven’t paid full reparations for the Bhopal disaster.

Shell Oil since 1988 when i first started buy petrol/gasoline for their ongoing lousy environmental record in the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria.

i’ve been boycotting Kraft the longest, since 1973, when i attended a Perth County Conspiracy concert. Band members railed against this food processing behemoth which consistently twists the arms of its supplier farmers in its pursuit of profit. There are better quality foods from a host of other more socially responsibly producers.

McDonalds ever since i worked there in 1974. They serve a product; they do not serve food. Nutritional value? Forget it.  Working there, behind the grill, was eye-opening and disgusting.

Just two days ago i decided to add Chik-fil-A when i discovered that they are promoting homophobia. Not that there is any chance of my ever darkening their doors as my wife Kim and i decided to become vegetarians over a year and a half ago. It was, plainly put, the right thing to do, for ourselves and the environment. Meat production utilizes far too much resources.

So while you may feel there is nothing you can do there is. Occupy your wallet, spend your money where it won’t hurt others. Support a political party or politician whose views you agree with. Late last year i finally became a registered member of a Canadian political party despite never being either able or allowed to engage in the Federal political process through the ballot box in my home and native land. i’m now a proud member of the Green Party of Canada and will do what i can, from a distance, to see that we gain more seats in Parliament.

Stephen Harpy, his policies and his politics are the greatest threat to the Canada that i knew and loved growing up in the ’50s and ’60s. So i’ll rage against him and his, in this blog, on twitter and on a ballot if i’m ever allowed to vote as a non-resident Canadian citizen.

Being stoned in the Middle East

No i’ve not changed my stance on controlled substances nor did i find myself afoul of the law here in Oman. i had a 2.3 cm long vesical calculus (stone) lodged in my bladder caused apparently by a slightly enlarged prostate. The stone was causing discomfort and haematuria (blood in urine).

So i spent five days in Sohar General Hospital recently. It was an adventure i would sooner have avoided but, apa boleh buat? (What to do?). Went in last Friday evening for pre-op observation and to ensure that i did not eat or drink anything in the half a day before the procedure.

Dr Joseph, a urologist, told me he would remove the stone and possibly remove my prostrate if need be, the decision for the latter would be taken “on the table”. Saturday morning i woke up to find breakfast waiting for me (the catering staff hadn’t been told i shouldn’t eat). i was a good lad and avoided eating.

i was wheeled into the OR at 11:25 and a spinal was administered. i noted three young trainee doctors there to observe the procedure, i figured why not? i train teachers so why not let student doctors observe me being worked on?

crushed bits of my bladder stone after removal

A green curtain was put up and Dr Joseph entered quietly and immediately got to work. He told me later that the stone was difficult to remove as it was large and the center was very hard.

While he was in there he decided to do an endoscopic resection of my prostate because he felt it was what had caused the stone in the first place. So i’ve kept most of my prostate which is good.

While resectioning my prostate the good Dr found many small stones which he also removed (the smaller bits in the above photo). Then came the insertion of the catheter. This was painless as i was still under the spinal despite already being able to move my feet at this point. The anesthesiologist had done a wonderful job of estimating how much to give me so i would feel what was going on.

After a very short while in the recovery room i was wheeled back to the male surgical ward where i spent the next few days hooked up to a drip into my bladder to help wash the wound. The removal of the catheter was a totally new experience that doesn’t bear repeating. i was rather amazed at how long it was… 30 cm of the 40.5 cm length had been inserted up my yazoo. When the nurse took it out he told me to take a deep breath, i ended up having to take two deep breaths. The coins are the same size as a quarter dollar.

So now i’m supposed to take it easy for the next several weeks, no straining, lifting or bonking allowed… apa boleh buat?

What did i learn? Well Pete Townsend’s “hope I die before I get old” dictum wears thin after fifty. i’m thinking i’m definitely no longer “young” so i guess i must be getting old or at least older. i’ve also learned that good medical care is priceless. The surgeries cost about OR630 (you do the exchange). Gary, my American colleague said it was a fraction of what it would cost back in the States. my employer provided healthcare should cover most or all of it. Alhumduillah!

i’ve also learned that there are stark differences between Omani culture and ours. Kim’s students couldn’t understand why she wasn’t at the hospital all the time this week; she told them she had to work. Omani families in their hordes descend upon the hospital when one of their members is ill, some even staying over night. Kim came once a day while i was recovering, during the posted visiting hours. It was more than enough.

trying to keep pace with change

When i was 13 (in 1968) i clearly recall a friend’s father getting angry at his son when the lad switched the needle on their portable, battery powered, record player from mono to stereo when he put a 45 rpm single on the platter. Dad knew that singles were only issued in mono and that to use the diamond stereo needle which was only for LPs (long play records) on a mono recording would needlessly wear out the more expensive stylus. my friend’s Dad blew his cool but then had to quickly climb down off his high horse when his son showed him that the recently released Beatles single had been released in stereo. (The picture shows the setting for an LP, flip the lever 180 degrees and you get the mono needle.)

i learned a lesson that day: never argue about technological change, especially with a teenager. Change happens so fast that it seems the older generation just can’t keep up.

Recently we moved house and attempted to connect our wireless base station to our iMac desktop and our two Macbook Pro laptops. Last year when i lived in Sohar alone, i connected my Macbook Pro directly to the Nawras modem connected to the microwave roof-mounted receiver. Two weeks ago when i was unpacking our iMac i tried to connect it directly to the internet in the same fashion, i was unable to. i then tried to connect the modem to our wireless base station. i found that my MacBook Pro could connect but that the iMac could not, would not and didn’t care. (it connected to the base station but couldn’t connect to the internet).

At this point i spent quality time on the phone with Nawras technicians at their call center located in either Muscat or New Delhi (you guess). These qualified personel were flummoxed by the Apple OS, they took notes and said they’d be back in touch. True to their word they did get back in touch with someone who supposedly could rectify the problem. He didn’t.

Yesterday afternoon my 14 year old son Rining was able to solve the problem. He managed to trouble-shoot something or other and within minutes of our coming home had us all on the internet via the base station. i bow to his fearless ability to solve a technical problem which had confounded paid professionals!

Luddites, you have nothing to fear with technological change. You only need worry about your inability to keep pace with it.

a croc of scorpio

yesterday morning i started unpacking following my summer holiday in Canada and Malaysia. Kim got me a pair of Crocs which i had packed in a plastic bag. i took the bag out of the suitcase and put it on the floor.

This morning i took the pair of Crocs out of the bag and proceeded to put them on. First right then left, hey what’s that? There was something, felt like a bunched up plastic bag in the shoe. After two attempts i took off the Croc and shook out a still very much alive scorpion!

It’s life ended soon after that (i’m not a Buddhist).

the importance of orientation

i hadn’t seen a live scorpion since we’d lived in Temburong, Brunei 15 years ago and found them crawling about our house fairly frequently. i was reminded of my first CUSO orientation back in January 1979 when we were told it was a good idea to shake out shoes before putting them on as a regular practice. i also recalled when one of my teacher trainee students in Nigeria was stung by a scorpion while i was on duty; i had to take him to the hospital and he never stopped moaning and gnashing his teeth in utter pain and misery.

the importance of remembering what you learn at orientation

i knew that i was supposed to shake out my shoes but i didn’t, i was lucky this time. Next time? i’ll just have to remember to shake out my shoes.

Now i’m wondering if this scorpion came with me from Malaysia or if it was an Omani scorpion.  He didn’t have any travel documents so i guess i’ll never know.

God Save the Queen!

Queen Elizabeth II rocks! On Thursday July 14, 2011 she met The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, during an audience at Buckingham Palace, London. She made her position on the current Malaysian political scene very plain, for all to see, by wearing bright yellow clothing during her audience with the Prime Minister.

Yellow is the colour of choice adopted by the popular anti-corruption Bersih (clean) campaign in Malaysia which last weekend attempted to hold a rally sanctioned by the Malaysian Agong (King). Queen Elizabeth is the head of The Commonwealth, of which Malaysia is a member. No doubt Najib will see the Queen’s sartorial shade selection as a slight and will seek to withdraw Malaysia from this august group of countries which help each other in times of need.

It is obvious that good Queen Bess is supporting her fellow royal the Malaysian King in his support of Bersih. After all royal families are becoming an endangered species.  It is also patently clear she is 100% behind the people of Malaysia and wanted to get into the P.M.’s face.

She made her point and made it loud and clear in canary yellow! As a citizen of another Commonwealth country i feel moved by QEII’s bold statement and will make sure i wear yellow when i visit my Malaysian family this summer. God save the Queen!

Make It Stop

The new Make It Stop (September’s Children) video by Rise Against is a visual, visceral very vocal attack on bullying and homophobia. They may be from the Windy City but they sure aren’t blowhards. The lads have something to say and they say it poignantly and powerfully.

Excellent material that could easily be exploited by teachers concerned with bullying. The three sub-stories which make up the narrative of the video can easily be utilized as writing stimuli. This is perhaps the hardest hitting and socially/politically strong video since Linkin Park’s What I’ve Done was released in 2007. (btw if anyone is interested i’ve done an analysis of this video, edit by edit).

Stylistically the song continues a theme of asking rhetorical questions that has long stood the test of time (remember Black Eyed Peas Where Is The Love). This could be another avenue to look at when discussing the lyrics.

Can you feed yourself for $2/day?

From May 16th to 20th several thousand people in Australia will be trying to see if they can get by on $2 a day. For students it shouldn’t be too difficult as we are often on the financial fringes of society.

Sign up with Live Below The Line! i’ll be signing up and following from a distance as a distance ed student. This should be interesting. You’ll have to forgo those ridiculously expensive cups of joe at “Fivebucks”.  Have fun.