How Big's That Hole In Your Hull?

Last year I added a monster 2200 gallon-per-hour emergency bilge pump to Ben's engine compartment as a backup for the standard 600 gph unit (bilge pumps are installed at the lowest point of the hull and pump out rainwater and anything that splashes in over the sides).

Seemed like a smart decision, since punching a hole in the hull and sinking could quickly become distinctly unpleasant.

Then the other day I found a chart indicating that even a tiny 2-inch hole located just one foot below the waterline floods at a staggering 4740 gallons per hour ... more than twice my pump's capacity under lab-perfect conditions.

Adding more pumps isn't an option, because then there'd be no room for the engine ... which you really need.

Shoot, I could gouge a 2" hole in the hull quicker than some folks in the checkout line whip out their credit cards at Big Box ... just by bumping into a slow-moving duck.

Hmmm.

Yesterday I heard that the average college senior graduates with almost $3000 in credit card debt.

Making a $40 minimum payment at an 18% interest rate will take 50 years to pay off and eventually cost $18,188.22 in interest ... for a total of $21,088 on a $2900 credit card debt. And that's not including fees for "membership" or late payments.

Calculate what your credit cards are actually costing you here.

Your last credit card purchase should be for these:


The real problem with credit cards is spiritual: we become debt slaves to banks, credit card and finance companies to purchase the things we want today, Right Now! ... instead of waiting to be blessed according to God's plan and direction.

Sources:
The average overall debt among college graduates has nearly doubled to $16,928 from 1999, according to a national study of post-secondary student aid from the Department of Education.
-www.phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2006-02-16/news/15821

In 2000, undergraduates carried an average balance of $2,748 while graduate students carried an average balance of $4,776. Nellie Mae also found that of the 78% of undergraduates with a card; 32% have four or more cards; 13% have credit card debt between $3000-$7000; and 9% have credit card debt greater than $7,000 (Nellie Mae, 2000).

Besides financial considerations, excessive debt can lead to psychological problems such as stress, and in extreme cases even suicide. Highly publicized cases of students who committed suicide apparently due to the anxiety related to their unmanageable credit card debt have forced lawmakers, consumer groups, and colleges to take a closer look at this issue. (See Hoover, 2001; Loyal, 2002). -www.ericdigests.org/2003-2/credit.html