Sunday, January 31, 2010

The manager’s anger management rule of thumb

The manager’s anger management rule of thumb. A management rule of thumb says when a manager becomes angry at a worker’s poor performance, that anger should be directed back to the manager.
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Saturday, January 30, 2010

The real estate project feasibility rule of thumb

The real estate project feasibility rule of thumb. Real estate projects such as apartment buildings or office parks must return an acceptable profit after completion. A real estate rule of thumb says a new development's rents must equal 1.2 percent, per month, of the total cost of the project in order to be feasible.
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Friday, January 29, 2010

The home rental rule of thumb

The home rental rule of thumb. The rule of thumb for home rental says on an annual basis a house should rent for about twelve percent of its market value. For example, if a house is worth $200,000 then its monthly rent should be about $2,400 per month.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010

The heat miser’s rule of thumb

The heat miser’s rule of thumb. Heating bills go up during winter as the temperature outside goes down. The heat miser’s rule of thumb says you will save about three percent on your heating bill for each degree you lower your thermostat in winter.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Grocery store checkout line rule of thumb

The grocery store checkout line rule of thumb. Stay in the first checkout line you arrived at when you pay for your groceries. The checkout rule of thumb says, if you change lines, the one you just left will start to move faster than the one you are now in.
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The five-second rule

The five-second rule. The five-second rule of thumb says food that has fallen to the floor may be eaten as long as it is retrieved from the floor before five seconds have passed.
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Monday, January 25, 2010

The complex words rule of thumb

The complex words rule of thumb. Well-known media journalist Cokie Roberts suggests the following rule of thumb for using complex words and terms in your writing: if you have to look the word up in a dictionary, do not use it.
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Sunday, January 24, 2010

The traffic light rule of thumb

The traffic light rule of thumb. Traffic lights are usually located in areas of high traffic or commercial activity. A real estate rule of thumb says, for best resale value, never buy a home that is within visual distance of a traffic light.
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Saturday, January 23, 2010

The auto depreciation rule of thumb

The auto depreciation rule of thumb. According to an automobile rule of thumb, once a new car leaves the dealer’s lot its value immediately reduces from its retail price to its wholesale price. The wholesale price is the amount a dealer would be willing to pay for the same car.
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Friday, January 22, 2010

The food colors rule of thumb

The food colors rule of thumb. Health and diet experts advise eaters to challenge themselves to put as many food colors as possible into your meal. Nutrition rule of thumb says choose your foods by color, the more colors in your diet, the better.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010

The delegation rule of thumb

The delegation rule of thumb. Delegation is the process of assigning a task to another person, usually a subordinate. A management rule of thumb says delegate a task to another person if it can be accomplished 75% to 80% as well as you.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The web page rule of thumb

The web page rule of thumb. When web surfers read a web page, their eyes normally follow the path of a Z through the page. A good website design rule of thumb says place important items or images you want the reader to see first along the top of the Z.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The lazy man’s rule of thumb

The lazy man’s rule of thumb. The French author Jules Renard said, "laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." Hlade's management rule of thumb says if you have a difficult task, give it to a lazy person; they will find an easier way to do it.
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Monday, January 18, 2010

Bankruptcy rule of thumb

Bankruptcy rule of thumb. A bankruptcy rule of thumb says you should consider bankruptcy if it would take more than five years to pay off your credit cards, medical bills and debt, or you would need to use assets such as retirement accounts or home equity.
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Sunday, January 17, 2010

The revenue and cost rule of thumb

The revenue and cost rule of thumb. In terms of business, revenue is the money brought in while cost is money paid out. A business rule of thumb says a successful business will spend twice as much time thinking about revenue as about cost.
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Saturday, January 16, 2010

The auto affordability rule of thumb

The auto affordability rule of thumb. A good rule of thumb for auto affordability says to double the price tag and divide by 60. This calculates the real monthly cost to buy, insure and operate a car. For example, a car priced at $25,000 will yield a real monthly cost of $833.
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Friday, January 15, 2010

The mortgage affordability rule of thumb

The mortgage affordability rule of thumb. Many homeowners end up in foreclosure because they bought too much house for their means. The mortgage affordability rule of thumb says if you cannot afford to buy the house using a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, you cannot afford the house.
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Thursday, January 14, 2010

The audience rule of thumb

The audience rule of thumb. It is important for a writer to define their intended audience when writing for print or online. A general rule of thumb for writers suggests writing for an eight-grade reading level when your audience is the general public.
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The food ingredient rule of thumb

The food ingredient rule of thumb. The Food and Drug Administration require all food labels to list their ingredients in order of highest to lowest content. An old nutrition rule of thumb says if you cannot pronounce one the items in the food's ingredients, do not eat the food.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The trial rule of thumb

The trial rule of thumb. A trial lawyer’s biggest fear is a surprise answer from the witness stand during the trial. An old trial law rule of thumb says a lawyer should never ask a question in a courtroom unless they already know what the answer will be.
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Monday, January 11, 2010

The audience retention rule of thumb

The audience retention rule of thumb. A sales and marketing rule of thumb says audience members take in only about one third of what presenters say. If you want an audience to remember the important points of a presentation, make each point three to six different ways.
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Sunday, January 10, 2010

The "boredom" rule of thumb

The "boredom" rule of thumb. Boredom is defined in the dictionary as "the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest." A rule of thumb regarding boredom says if you are bored, you might be boring.
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Saturday, January 9, 2010

The customer rule of thumb

The customer rule of thumb. Satisfied customers are loyal customers. A sales and marketing rule of thumb says it is five times easier reselling your products and services to an existing customer than selling to a new customer.
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Friday, January 8, 2010

The gas price rule of thumb

The gas price rule of thumb. The cost of gasoline is correlated with the price of oil. When oil prices go up, gas prices usually follow. An economic rule of thumb says every dollar increase per barrel of oil equals an extra 2.5 cents per gallon of gas at the gas station.
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Thursday, January 7, 2010

The 80-20 rule of thumb

The 80-20 rule of thumb. The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pereto Principal, states that for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. The business application of this rule of thumb says for most companies, 80% of its revenue comes from 20% of its customers.
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The ice hockey rule of thumb

The ice hockey rule of thumb. Boston Bruins goalie Gilles Gilbert set the record for the longest winning streak by an NHL goalie with 17 consecutive wins during the 1975-1976 season. An ice hockey rule of thumb says never rest a goalie during a winning streak.
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The computer programmer's "90-90" rule of thumb

The computer programmer's "90-90" rule of thumb. The "90-90" rule of thumb for completing a computer program says the first 90% of a computer program's code accounts for 10% of development time while the remaining 10% accounts for 90% of development time.
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Monday, January 4, 2010

The healthy water consumption rule of thumb

The healthy water consumption rule of thumb. The rule of thumb for daily water consumption calculates the recommended number of glasses of water as weight divided by two then divided by eight. For example, at 170 lbs the recommend number of eight ounce glasses of water is about ten a day.
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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Mortgage refinancing rule of thumb

Mortgage refinancing rule of thumb. A real estate rule of thumb for mortgage refinancing says it is viable to refinance a mortgage when the prevailing interest rates are at least two percentage points below your current mortgage rate. For example, if your current rate is 7% and prevailing rates are around 5%, refinancing makes sense.


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Saturday, January 2, 2010

The "50/30/20" rule of thumb

The "50/30/20" rule of thumb. Financial authors Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tyagi's "50/30/20" rule of thumb for personal finance suggests that you should spend 50% of after-tax income on must-haves, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings
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