The Rules of Life

THIS BOOK PROVIDES PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR GETTING THE MOST OUT OF LIFE, INCLUDING TIPS REGARDING PHYSICAL

AND MENTAL HEALTH, AUTO AND HOME MAINTENANCE, INVESTING AND SAVING MONEY, VOLUNTEERING, PET CARE AND MORE.

The Rules of Life

Helpful Hints by Cassandra

By: Cassandra Adams

Cassandratellsthetruth.com

2011

CASSANDRA ADAMS

THE RULES OF LIFE

HELPFUL HINTS

The Rules of Life

Cassandra Adams

Copyright 2011 by Cassandra Adams

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction

Health

Smoking

Dental

Diabetes

Exercise

Diet

Cleaning

Car

Home

Utilities

Laundry

Landscaping

Attitude

Money

Coupons

Investing

Savings

Diversification

Stocks

Bonds

IRAs

Retirement

CDs

Mutual

Adviser

Brokers

Questions

College

Property

Taxes

Directives

Will

Dog

Cat

Medications

Insurance

Vacations

Train

Bowl

Camping

Tour

Workshops

Swimming

Park

Festivals

Audiobooks

Nature

The Rules of Life

Helpful Hints

By Cassandra

Introduction

Ah, the rules of Life. I don’t think one has to get overly philosophical to figure out how to lead a successful and joyful life. One of the primary tools for doing so stems from attaining the quality of being self-loving. In other words, don’t beat yourself up or engage in self-defeating behavior and you will lead a decent life. Moreover, by developing the habit of doing productive and positive things that benefit you, your family and your living environment, you will help yourself, society and the world at large and thereby create the pay-it-forward, good brand of karma.

The following are practical guidelines to assist in getting the most joy out of the adventure that is your life. In other words, you should be able to incorporate the following tips into your life without radically changing your daily routine or the way you go about living your life.

Rules of Life Tip #1: If you have any reservations about engaging in an activity or acting on an impulse, no matter what it is, DO NOT DO IT! In other words, my advice is the antithesis of Nike’s slogan: don’t just do it. Try to count to 10 or wait at least 24 hours before acting, speaking or making an important decision in your life.

Health:

Smoking:

It goes without saying that it is inadvisable to inhale any type of illicit drug or plant product, legal or otherwise. As far back as the First Grade, I can remember being taught that cigarettes cause lung cancer, emphysema and a host of other deadly diseases. So there really is no excuse at this point to justify smoking.

Smoking Related Diseases Do Not Discriminate. It was recently reported that Whitney Houston was diagnosed with emphysema. If so, her problem was most likely directly linked to her habit of smoking crack and cigarettes. Her diagnosis is proof positive that diseases associated with smoking can and will attack anyone and everyone who inhales cigarette smoke and other toxins into their lungs on a regular basis. Sadly, even though the dangers of smoking are widely known and documented, millions of folks keep lighting up. Keep reading for more convincing reasons as to why you should break free from the smoking chains.

You Do NOT Want to Die from the Effects of Smoking.

Yes, it’s true. We will all die someday from something. But trust me when I tell you that you do NOT want to die from the effects of smoking. It is pure torture on the smoker as well as on the smoker’s loved ones as they witness the horrific physical deterioration and suffering of a family member. For convincing evidence of the horrid impact smoking has on one’s health, check out the Department of Health and Human Services new packaging policy requiring warning labels on all tobacco products by September 2012 that include graphic photos of the health damage caused by smoking. A few examples of those labels follow:

http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/CigaretteWarningLabels/default.htm

But Will the Upcoming Warning Labels be Effective? After all the years of government warnings about how sick a person can become from smoking cigarettes and all the tax increases, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports the following sobering statistic:

Every day of the year approximately 2,200 adults -- who presumably have heard about the health hazards of smoking their entire lives -- begin, for the first time, to smoke cigarettes on a daily basis.

According to the CDC, there are approximately 46.6 million adult cigarette smokers in the United States. The CDC says that the percentage of adults who smoke has gone down: 42.4% were smokers in 1965 while 20.6% were smokers in 2009, the most recent year tabulated. But because the population of the country has increased, the actual number of smokers today is almost as large as it was in 1965, when, according to the CDC, there were 50.1 million adult smokers.

So the question arises as to whether the forthcoming explicitly illustrated warning labels truly will be effective in getting people to stop smoking.

The labels are required to cover half the surface of each pack of cigarettes sold in the U.S.

Health-advocacy groups and government officials say the labels are designed to discourage cigarette consumers at the point of purchase. Among the nine illustrations that will be used are a photograph of a diseased lung, a picture of a tracheotomy hole in a man's throat and a picture of a man with his bare chest surgically stitched up. The pictures are downright revolting, and no one will be able to buy a pack of cigarettes without seeing the pictures. The R.J. Reynolds Co., manufacturer of Camel, Kool, Winston and Salem cigarettes, has said that the government-mandated images are intended to elicit loathing, disgust and repulsion.

But if 45 years of increasingly alarming warning labels hasn't convinced folks to stop smoking cigarettes, a question arises as to whether anything, including higher taxes and graphic pictures, will achieve this goal. It seems ludicrous to think that any of the 46.6 million smokers in the U.S. will see the new warning illustrations and think: I didn't know that cigarettes can harm your health. You mean to tell me that cigarettes can kill you? That’s news to me. In all honesty, there probably isn’t anyone in the United States over the age of five, smoker or nonsmoker, who isn't aware of the connection between smoking and disease.

If cigarettes were a brand-new product, they most likely would not be allowed on the market. But they have been around for so long that there is basically zero chance that they will be outlawed at this point. From a political standpoint, few in the Congress or the White House would want to have to stand for re-election in the future after potentially having angered 46.6 million adults -- even those who desire to stop smoking -- by taking away their cigarettes.

So the next obvious question is as follows: Are you ready to take away the power of the Tobacco Companies before they ruin your life and those around you?

The Unscrupulous Tobacco Companies Will Continue Destroying Lives Until and Unless You Take Away Their Power.

The pernicious assault by the tobacco companies to entice teens and pre-teens to experiment with smoking in the hope that they will become addicted early in life and remain life-long smokers, is absolutely disturbing. Although smoking restrictions are gaining in popularity, unfortunately as a society we still have not found a way to rid our populace of these cancer sticks.

We Do NOT Want to Emulate the Chinese in this Area.

Did you know that China has over 300 million smokers? That number represents almost one third of the country’s citizens. Although Chinese authorities are starting to warn their citizens about the dangers of smoking, they are facing an insurmountable battle as increasing numbers of young people and adults continue to light up. What is more, the quality of the cigarettes in China is more toxic than in the U.S. because of a lack of regulation over the industry there and in other Asian nations. You don’t have to read the tea leaves to accurately predict the escalating toll this nasty habit is currently taking and will take on the Chinese people.

Smoking is Cost-Prohibitive.

Have you ever added up the humongous cost of smoking? To validate a smoking habit in terms of the money it costs is to truly engage in voodoo economics. It is no secret that cigarettes are getting increasingly expensive, so let’s put some numbers to that premise. In the past 10 years, 47 states and the District of Columbia have implemented 105 cigarette tax rate increases. Only Missouri and North Dakota have resisted raising cigarette taxes in recent years (no increases in cigarette taxes since 1993), while California last hiked cigarette taxes in 1999. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, states currently charge an average of $1.71 in taxes on each pack of cigarettes. As a result, the average price for a pack of smokes in the United States is now $4.63, though the price fluctuates quite a bit across the U.S.

In Missouri, for instance, the state with the nation's lowest taxes assessed on cigarettes, a pack costs $3.97 on average, while in New York, the state with the most expensive cigarette prices and related taxes, the average cost per pack is around $9.00. In the five boroughs of New York City, which contain roughly half of New York’s population, there are additional city taxes such that a pack can cost anywhere from $11 to $13.

On top of the above retail price information, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that the average health costs associated with each pack of cigarettes is double the retail price. Yikes and double yikes!

Here’s another way to look at the cost of smoking: There are 20 cigarettes in a pack; the people buying the higher priced ones are essentially rolling up a dollar bill and setting it on fire each time they smoke.

Opinions vary greatly, but by most accounts the average smoker burns through 20 cigarettes a day, or seven packs a week. At this rate, the average smoker spends at least $1,500 a year, and in locations with higher taxes, like New York City, it's closer to $3,300. If you consider other uses for those funds instead of supporting a smoking habit, it is rather eye-opening. Think of vacations, home improvements, a new car, etc. But because the cost of smoking generally occurs via a series of small purchases, it can be easy to overlook how much you're spending on this habit.

The Government is Trying to Help You Quit.

The government does not want people to smoke because smoking can lead to serious illness and death. One of the ways federal and state and local governments try to dissuade smokers is to tax packages of cigarettes so that the intended potential purchasers will think twice because of the elevated prices. The CDC has stated: Raising the price of tobacco has proven to be one of the most effective strategies for preventing and controlling tobacco use. The CDC says there is a dollars-and-cents formula to this notion. Each 10% increase in the price of cigarettes is estimated to reduce consumption by nearly 4% among adults.

One of many reasons governments implement cigarette taxes is to reduce smoking among price-conscious consumers. Research shows that people smoke less as cigarettes get more expensive. Tobacco giants Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds have publicly conceded in their filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that tax increases are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on sales of tobacco products due to lower consumption levels.

Are