European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 22, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 17moneymatters today a tip beware of used videotaped movies they May look like a great bargain a popular movie that just two or three months ago was Selling for $80 or $90 by mail can be bought today for As Little As $6 to $30. In reality however such used tapes a or As they re called in the Industry a previously viewed tapes a can be harmful to your videocassette recorder. If you buy used tapes clean your Var Heads with a proper head cleaner after each play. If you done to dirt from used tapes can be transferred to the Var which can diminish the Quality of everything else that a played. Conversion rates London up thursdays closing rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars a Quot a a Quot a a a a / Agold was quoted at $363 an ounce Silver at $4.01, British Pound German Mark French franc. Dutch Guilder belgian franc. Italian lira.,. Swiss franc greek drachma. Turkish lira. Saudi arabian Riyal. Spanish peseta. Portuguese escudo. Canadian Dollar. Austrian schilling.,. Norwegian Krone. Danish Krone. March 20 .1.7805 .,.1.6375 .5.65151.8558 34.1975 .1,236.50 .1.4195. .,.,177.40 .,3,666.00 .3.7502 ,.,102.38 .,.,.143.81 1.1557 .11.59 .,.,6.4255 .6,3205 March 21. 1.791 1.6415 .5.563 1.8335 33.66 1,218.80 1.4065 175 85 3,779.90 3.7502 101.15 142.20 i.1563 ii.448 6.355 6.251 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be $1.59 Friday based on thursdays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up. The 15 most Active stocks in new York Stock Exchange composite trading on wednesday. Stock sales Lail Nelcha. Rwjr Nabisco i 7,697,600 11 up 7/k waste mgt inc 7,489,100 38. Off 3 chem waste mgt 7,422,200 19 h off 3 w ism corp. 4007,100 114 Vuk off 1 Amer express 2,908,000 26 h off i Avistar inti 2,086,500 4 unch nor corp. 2.047,600 98 up 3 a a Philip momus 2,011.300 68 v4 up 2 Compaq computer 1,983,000 59 is off 1 to Eastman Kodak 1,923.000 41 Hoff 1 h. Upjohn co 1,891,700 47 up 3 to Security pacify 1,888,300 24 w unch pier 11mports 1,735,000 71/4 up a adv Micro docs 1.733,500 10 w of a a Lockheed corp -1.711,000 40 upts american Exchange new York up a the 10 most Active stocks in a Merican Stock Exchange composite trading wednesday. Stock Rhone poulenc Amdahl corp Wang labs inc b Weatherford inc Alz corp. Hill Haven corp in vol Volt Roncs Ich corp pref hath care Dow chemical it sales 1,028,900 824,700 718.300 453,100 326.300 322,500. 304,100 302.800 280.300 264.800 last 4tt 13 i 3% 5% 60 i .2v4 2 a 4% 16 4 a a net chg. Off a up to off off vib off 1 w unch off a up to up 2 up i Dow Jones new York up a Dow Jones closing Range of averages wednesday a. High Low close 30 Indus Nail 2897.03 2840 84 2872.03 20 transport. 1094 50 1075.11 1087 45 15 utilities 212.84 210.14 212.02 65 stocks 1024 29 1006.01 1016.88 change up 4.21 up 2.65 up 0.94 lip 2.26 by Graeme Browning the Baltimore Sun if you Are one of the 5 million to 7 million americans drowning in credit card debt Becky Cutler has some lifelines to throw you. A. A. A a a. A a a but done to expect the trip Back to financial dry land to be a cinch. Getting out of a credit crisis requires discipline and determination said Cutler of the National consumer credit foundation a Denver based non profit organization that helps train people to use credit wisely. Two thirds of those who have larger credit card Bills than they can handle got into trouble because of a extenuating cite cum stances a such As unforeseen medical Bills or layoffs she said. But the remainder Sank into debt without even realizing it. A they did the things we All do. They were trying to keep up with the Joneses a she said. When the Bills pile up Many people make the a common self help mistakes of borrowing from their savings or from relatives using one credit card to pay off another or getting a so called debt consolidation loan Cutler said. If you fear you re sinking into a credit crisis of your own she advises taking the following Steps immediately to take charge of your debts first find out where you stand financially. A a a a a a a this is most important because a you can to get a handle on your debts if you done to know what they Are a a Cutler said. List your monthly net income on one piece of paper. Then make a second list of your fixed everyday living expenses and your a a periodic expenses such As clothing property taxes or car insurance payments. Then make a third list of your monthly obligations such As credit card Bills and Home mortgage payments. List one should cover lists two and three but for Many families it does no to Cutler said. Prepare a budget and stick to it by tracking your spending closely. Set explicit budget amounts for fixed and variable expenses. Start a savings account to cover periodic expenses and emergencies. Determine How your family will work together to stick to the budget. Cutler suggests cashing your paycheck each week and dividing the Bills into separate envelopes marked for daily expenses. A a / a Quot a. Also work with your creditors to find a Way to pay off your debts Cutler said if you re honest with creditors and ex-., Plain that you truly want to repay what you owe you May be Able to work out a system of reduced payments or get an Extension on your account Cutler said. Sometimes creditors Are willing to refinance or revise the payment schedule on Long term Loans lob watch out however for a Bill consolidation Loans a a the interest rate can be a killer a she said. Above All Cutler said families with financial problems  take on any More debt. A a a. / a to truly regain financial health it takes a change of habits she said. A if you be been in the habit of shopping when you re depressed you be got to learn a new habit a she said. War by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a military reservists mobilized for the persian Gulf War who also Are Federal employees would get a pay differential for their Active duty time under two Bills introduced in Congress the Bills would direct Federal agencies to make up the difference Between Federal and military salaries for employees who had to take a pay Cut. When they were mobilized for operation desert shield or desert storm. The House Bill is the work of rep. Dick Durbin d-ill., while the Senate version is sponsored by sen. Barbara a. Mikulski did. A Many employees who were called to serve have had to sacrifice financially a Durbin said. He noted that numerous state and local government agencies As Well As private companies voluntarily provided pay differentials to their reservist employees. A a it a Only fair that the Federal government do the same a he said. Current Federal personnel policy provides for full civilian pay when reservists and National guard members Are performing routine training. A i see no re a son Why this should not apply during a War a Durbin said. The Pentagon estimates that about 17,000 of the More than 227,000 reservists activated for the War Are Federal employees with 14,000 of those from the Washington area. The office of personnel management could not say How Many took a pay Cut when they were mobilized. Both Bills would make the differential policy retroactive to aug 2. The Cost of the legislation would be virtually nil because in almost All cases Federal agencies have reassigned other employees to cover for activated reservists rather than hire replacements. A so the agencies Are saving the Money that they would have had to pay reservist employees had they stayed on the Job because the defense department pays for their military salaries when they go on Active duty a said an pm official. A even if agencies end up paying this differential it would come out of that Pool of unspent funds that they be accumulated a and it would still be far less than they would have had to pay out in regular salaries Over the same period a the official said the Only Agency that would riot come out ahead is the defense department. Durbin a Bill has been referred to the House Post office and civil service committee. Mikulskis legislation is pending before the Senate governmental affairs committee. By Randy Mcclain financial writer after several years of spotty performance military commissaries in Central Europe have managed to devise a system that guarantees the delivery of Kosher food items in time for next weeks passover Holiday. Denise Gomes spokeswoman for the . Army troop support Agency said passover items were ordered from a stateside distributor in november and officials in Europe have kept close tabs on delivery of the merchandise Ever since. As a result foods needed for traditional passover meals including matzo crackers be file fish Kosher soups and cake mixes have been on the shelves since Early March. A we have been closely monitoring the arrival of products and anything that looks like it might be late has been expedited from the port to the store a he said. She said commissary officials with the help of jewish chaplains picked several stores and required them to Stock every passover item. Those stores include commissaries in chevres Belgium and several stores in Germany including Frankfurt Heidelberg Patch and Robinson Barracks in Stuttgart Augsburg Karlstedt Munich Furth and Berlin. Other stores were Given discretion about which items to order and How much. A this is the first year we be been Able to target certain communities and we be got a More manageable system As a result a Gomes said. Jewish service members who done to live in one of the targeted communities Arentt out of Luck though Gomes said. If a particular commissary manager Hasni to ordered passover items on his own customers should Tell the manager a product is needed. It can then be transferred from a store with excess Stock she said. Chaplain capt Eli Seidman a rabbi in Frankfurt said he thinks All commissaries Are Well stocked with passover items and jewish service members Are Happy about the turn of events. A if the commissaries were criticized in the past they deserve a Pat on the Back this year a he said. Seidman who arrived in Germany in january said commissary officials were embarrassed by the late delivery of passover items to stores a year ago a and they really tried hard to make up for it this  the passover Holiday starts March 29 at Sundown with the seder a traditional feast that commemorates the exodus of jews from Egypt. A lust Yeier Jis Nany As half of the items ordered for passover by military commissaries did no to arrive on time. Some jewish customers criticized commissary officials for a Lack of sensitivity in planning saying special items for Christian celebrations such As Christmas and easter were never a problem. Commissary officials said transportation problems not a Lack of awareness caused delays last year