Frugal Family

Frugal Family: Cut Bills, Bad Habits, Prices, Calories

This week Frugal Family offers simple, easy-to-keep-New Year’s tasks that have immediate impacts on your health and budget. Take a look at tips to save on power bills, cut back on bad habits, shop smart, save time and money on food and improve your health

This is the time of year for making resolutions to improve our lives. With the best intentions and lots of hope, we usually find ourselves failing miserably and feeling guilty in short order. Most of the time the failure to succeed is because we set our expectations too high. If we can’t save a set amount of money each month for that cruise, how do we expect to turn financial savvy overnight? Just as it took years to develop bad habits like overeating or smoking, it is going to take time to undo them. A much more productive way to reach our goals is by taking small steps in the right direction, things we can succeed at today and feel a sense of accomplishment. Attaining a goal creates confidence and allows us to tackle the next, harder …

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Should Tobacco Companies Have to Admit They Deceived the People in Ads?

Is the publishing of "truth" ads by the tobacco companies a wise use of funding? Could it not be better used another way?

Last month tobacco companies were ordered by a federal judge to publish corrective statements admitting they lied about the dangers of smoking. The companies reportedly have to disclose the true dangers of smoking, including that it kills on average 1,200 people a day. In a story in Time, it was reported that these statements have to be done in the form of ads that also say the tobacco companies, “deliberately deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking.” Other ads have to include statements that smoking kills more people than murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes and alcohol combined and that “secondhand smoke kills over 3,000 Americans a year.” So is this a fair punishment for the tobacco companies for deceiving …

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Should Cobb Adopt Outdoor Smoking Ban?

The City of Atlanta has approved an outdoor ban on smoking. What do you think? Is this the right thing to do or an infringement on personal liberties?

Atlanta is one step closer to having smoke-free parks and recreational areas. First, Atlantic Station adopted a smoking ban, and on Monday night, The Atlanta City Council passed 11-1 a wide-ranging ban on smoking in Atlanta parks and other recreation areas. If passed by Mayor Kasim Reed, the ban will have an impact on Atlanta's parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, aquatic areas, tennis courts, golf courses and walking trails. In February, Cobb considered a similar ban, which was proposed by South Cobb Commissioner Woody Thompson. He said he got the idea after visiting the tobacco-free premises of Wellstar Cobb Hospital. Thompson did express concern about how the smoking ban, once in place, could be effectively enforced. Cobb County Parks …

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News Nearby

Man Carjacked; Train Collides with Car; Atlanta Bans Smoking in City Parks

Catch up on news from Marietta and the Atlanta area.

An Austell woman was not injured after a train collided with the tail end of her car on Sunday. Gene Hale, a train enthusiast, was shooting video footage of the trains when one collided with the woman's car. The videos are attached here. Austell Police cited Geraldine Hunt, 90 of Austell, with running a railroad crossing and leaving the scene of an accident. Chief Bob Starrett said Hunt drove to her home after the train struck her car. Read more on South Cobb Patch. Atlanta police report that a man was carjacked late Sunday in Little Five Points. The victim told police the incident occurred at the intersection of Moreland and Euclid avenues just before 10:34 p.m. July 15. The gunman, who is black and wore a brown bandanna over his mouth, …

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WellStar to Become Tobacco-Free

Tobacco remains the No. 1 preventable cause of death and disability in the world.

WellStar Health System will become a tobacco-free environment effective Jan. 1. After this date, no tobacco use of any kind will be permitted anywhere on WellStar property. This new policy includes the elimination of all designated smoking areas at WellStar facilities. “WellStar is joining hospitals across the United States in an effort to become 100 percent tobacco free,” Reynold J. Jennings, president and chief executive officer of WellStar, said in a press release. “As healthcare providers, we know the detrimental effects of tobacco use and second-hand smoke. We believe we must set an example for our community.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco remains the No. 1 preventable cause of death and …

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Melissa Kory

12:08 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011

What does everyone else think? Is this overdue or something that shouldn't be happening?   more ›