On the 1st of July 2014 the National Fairwork Comission reviewed and granted a 3% wage rise for those on the minimum wage. This equates to $18.70 extra per week. Yippeeee !!! (or perhaps not)

I didn’t need a calculator to work out the yearly pay increase is about $972.40 PER YEAR….. The reason l did not need a calculator is quite simply because we are working with such small numbers.

Considering a packet of smokes just went up by between $1.12 and $2.81 a packet. If you smoke a pack a day (as many do) you are looking at a weekly additional cost of at least $7.84

Petrol prices are always bouncing around, but always end up higher even though the price of oil (per barrel) may be at a 4 year low. But let’s be “VERY” conservative and say petrol goes up on average by 5 cents per year. If you buy 20 litres a week that’s another Dollar you will have lost fuel to price hikes (and who only needs 20 litres a week) many of us go through 20 litres of fuel in one day.

Electricity has seemingly been going up and up and up for quite some time….. and if you are in Queensland you would have seen an increase of about 13.5% this year. If your average electricity bill was $300 a quarter (again very modest) you will have seen it rise to about $340 per quarter which is an extra $13,50 per month or $162.00 per year

Above are just a few common and easily discussed goods/services which have risen in price this year. Obviously just about everything we eat, drink, use and/or rely upon is going up in cost all of the time…. It dosnt take too long to realise that a pay increase of $972.40 per year for those on the minimum wage is never going to be enough to get ahead….. Sorry to disappoint but those on minimal wages are just falling further and further behind.

Ok giving up smokes would help the weekly budget and also be much better for your own health, but no one should be forced to leave the heater off in winter simply because they can not afford to turn it on

If you are anything like myself, you are constantly juggling your phone bills, electricity bills and mortgage repayments (etc etc) Yet there are plenty of people at the other end of the spectrum who have so much money they don’t really know what to do with it. Well that is not entirely true…. they know what to do with it (in their minds) and more often than not, that is to use it to make even more money.

I often refer to the economy as one massive game of “monopoly” there is only so much money in circulation and only so much real estate (wealth) to be shared among all of the players. When you have someone who owns all of the valuable real estate it is very hard for others to stay in the game……… If you are a Multi Millionaire or even a billionaire you really do have more than most and in turn are contributing to the  financial difficulties faced by those who have very little.

We all know that one day we are all going to die, some sooner than others. The one thing that those who are “Filthy Rich” really need to understand and appreciate is that when we die we can not take our wealth with us. Ok we can leave it to our children which is wonderful, but apart from that there is really no great satisfaction to be gained by dieing as a multi millionaire or even a billionaire….. When you are dead you are dead and the only thing that lives on with those who remain are “THE MEMORIES”

So my message to all of those who might have soooo much money that they really do not know what to do with it…… simply look around and find people and organisations who could do with a “Hand Up” and give a few dollars away on a regular basis. If you were to help those who need a hand, you will feel fantastic about yourself in the knowledge that you have just helped someone and most likely that person or “PERSONS” would be eternally grateful to you for your generosity, (Creating More Great Memories Of Yourself) you could even consider yourself to be a “NEW AGE ROBIN HOOD” in that you would be using your powerful position to help better the lives of many others who normally would be left behind to struggle on a daily basis just to keep the power switched on or food in their childrens bellies. Do a good deed today and prove that you do have compassion for your fellow man/woman.

Well by now most of us would have heard about the Ebola Virus. Considering there are news stories everyday about the spread of Ebola and more so the stories of people traveling to countries outside of West Africa and being treated for or having been diagnosed with Ebola, the two recently diagnosed Texas nurses are a prime example.

Last time l heard, Ebola had claimed the lives of more than 4000 people (most of which being in West Africa) But if the virus continues to spread the number of deaths resulting from Ebola with multiply exponentially and may become a serious health concern for Australians.

I do understand the Australian Governments stance on not wanting “To Send” Australians into an area with potential high risk without having a satisfactory evacuation plan. We are some 30 odd hours by plane from Australia to West Africa and apparently that flight is too long and other countries have not yet agreed to provide the Australian Government with a guarantee that they would evacuate any Australians who may become infected.

The way l see it, we are limited or at least “Restricted” in what help and assistance we can provide, But we must provide much more money to help those who are in a better position to physically assist in West Africa with medical treatment facilities and services and we must also take greater precautions to quarantine anyone who is a possible Ebola risk to Australia.

Ebola is a tragedy currently unfolding in West Africa and we simply must do more to help those people who can not help themselves and at the same time we must do more to minimise the risk of Ebola coming to Australia. The 18 Million dollars currently provided by the Australian Government is terribly inadequate and is actually an insignificant sum of money in the scheme of things.

C’mon Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and fellow ministers, take the Ebola risk much more seriously and do more to help those in West Africa and in doing so help protect Australia against the possibility of Ebola coming here!