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The price of small claims court can add up very quickly. Based on https://personalfinance.costhe...,

While I agree the cost of an ambulance ride is ridiculous, the amount that's charged is actually in line with what it costs to operate one. Ambulances cost about a quarter million dollars to purchase and outfit. So right off the bat you're at 10x the cost of a private car used for taxi services. Then you have to pay for the labor costs of two, sometimes three EMTs aboard instead of a single driver. And you're amortizing all this over a lot fewer rides per day than a taxi service. So it actually makes sense that they cost several tens of times more than a taxi service.

Those of you in countries where national health care covers it are still paying the same amount. You're just paying it via everyone's taxes instead of it being billed to the person getting the ride.

Economic situations like this normally resolve themselves by dividing into different tiers of service. e.g. If you only need a ride, a cheaper, less outfitted ambulance (or Uber) can provide that service. However, medical emergencies where lives are at stake cause people to "play it safe" regardless of cost, resulting in patients always traveling in the fully outfitted maximum expense ambulance for even the most minor of injuries. As another example, I've got several thousands of dollars of safety and first aid equipment aboard my boat which will probably never be used. We're so far up the cost/benefit curve that the marginal price increase is huge for a tiny bit of extra benefit. There really isn't a good solution here (in terms of reducing overall cost to society) unless you're willing to accept an increased risk of someone who is being transported dying while en route.

You under estimate the cost of healthcare/chronic illness. £15 * 2 times a day * 365 days * 30 years = only £328,500. The healthcare costs can EASILY eclipse that. In USD "total cost of a single lung transplant to be $561,200.

http://health.costhelper.com/l...

To compensate for the long term healthcare costs and chronic treatment throughout the smokers life. Something like £30-£50 seems more appropriate.

Just had a look. the vCJD tests are actually a biopsy currently. There is a prototype blood screening option but it is only a prototype at this stage. There was a 2012 study on removed appendixes (32000) that showed a rate of about 1 in 2000 britons carrying the disease so it's not that rare.

On top of that the prions can remain dormant for up to 50 years without a patient developing symptoms.

As for value of your blood, there is some speculation that it is worth around about $12 per donation - http://freakonomics.com/2007/0... And according to http://health.costhelper.com/b... biopsy costs range from about $150 to $10k. So even assuming the lowest value you would need 12 donations to break even.

In the end blood is a bulk product. The main challenges to having enough volume isn't available people to donate but getting them to a centre that can collect in a time frame that works for them. Not sure how the US does it by Australia has buses that travel around collecting blood and volunteers who make appointments.

Yes, that's already happening every day in China, but I personally, don't think hand-held US aren't going to make it happen any faster. Why would anyone spend $7000 on a hand-held US when they could go get a sonogram for $200? (Source: http://children.costhelper.com/ultrasound.html)

You can always re-paint your car when you want to sell it.

Let's do some math.

Cost of painting a car = $400 (source) * 2 = $800
Cost of auto insurance = $1837/year (source)
Insurance reduction for anti-theft devices = up to 30% (source), we'll assume 10% for just this ($183/year)

Thus, you need to keep your car for 800 / 183 = 4.5 years for painting to be a good use of your money.

I have several relatives (one being my sister) who are professional photographers, and I've also done work for photographers.

Of course, if you don't personally know people who are professional photographers you may need other sources. Here's one page to get you started:
http://www.costhelper.com/cost/wedding/wedding-phographer.html

You'll see there, that even the dirt-cheap "professional" photographers charge a minimum of $1,000-$1,500. The decent ones start around $3,000. There's even a photographer who posted on that page detailing his pricing, and he pays his assistant $250 per day - and he's one of the cheap ones starting at $1,500! Still think they don't make damn good money?

Also note, I never claimed nor implied that photographers (wedding or otherwise) are overpaid in general. I think they make good money for the amount of time invested. My point is that they get paid well enough up front, there's no reason whatsoever that they should retain copyrights for the work they do. It's not unlike a plumber signing you to some kind of contract forbidding you to do any kind of work or make any modifications to the plumbing in your house without his permission. Or replace "plumbing" with whatever type of work or service you'd pay someone to do for you.

... errrr ... How are you gonna afford that?

Working in an area that's known for knocking everything down every decade and being paid/budgeting for appropriately.

I think building a simple house costs you a certain 50K euro's ... besides, last time i checked, you could just repaint, or if you're more thorough , redo your plaster cast

You can get a brand spanking new, if cheap, single wide for $24k - $35k USD here in the states. Or ~€19K - €27k

At that rate, it's only $240/month if you figure on replacing the thing every 120 months. Less if you invest the money, a bit more if you get a loan to pay it.