by Mrs C | Feb 17, 2021 | Blog
People don’t typically plan to get into car accidents, but they still happen, often at an alarming rate. Car accidents have a way of throwing multiple wrenches into people’s lives. Many of those wrenches have significant financial burdens that come along with them. They can be incredibly discouraging to deal with, so it’s a good idea to take steps to reduce the financial burden associated with them.
Take a Closer Look At Your Insurance
Do you know exactly what your car insurance covers? How much coverage do you have for medical expenses? What if the other driver doesn’t have insurance? Making sure you have enough insurance coverage can make a huge difference in the financial burden you’ll be facing after a car accident. It’s not uncommon to owe more than your car is worth while paying it off. In this case, having a gap insurance policy can keep you from still having to pay off a loan for a car you no longer have.
Have an Emergency Savings Fund
Even if you have really good insurance, you may still be left to foot the bill for expenses your insurance won’t cover. Emergency savings funds are meant to help you out when you experience emergencies, which a car accident can qualify as. The typical recommendation for emergency savings funds is to save up 3-6 months’ worth of expenses. The average bodily injury claim is about $15,000, but can easily be more, especially if you’re hospitalized. A healthy emergency savings fund may not be enough to cover all the expenses, but it can certainly make them easier to deal with.
Consider Retaining an Attorney
If you have good insurance, it’s likely to cover a lot of the costs associated with the accident. The hope is that any insurance company you deal with is upstanding and will pay out a fair settlement, but that isn’t always the case. If you aren’t sure you’re getting the help you should be, look for a car accident attorney to help you. Do some research so you know what to look for in an attorney. Car accident attorneys often offer free consultations and work on a contingency basis, so if they don’t win your case, you don’t pay them anything. They usually take a percentage of your settlement, leaving you with the rest to cover your financial obligations.
Car accidents are rarely a good thing, but there are things you can do to reduce the financial burden associated with them. Start by taking a closer look at your insurance and make sure you have the coverage you need. If you haven’t built up an emergency savings fund, start now to give yourself a cushion to work with. After the accident, carefully consider retaining an attorney. These actions will help you put yourself in the best position to deal with the financial aftermath of a car accident.
Read this next: How to Reduce Your Monthly Car Expenses
by mrscarrigan | Feb 9, 2021 | Baby Products, Blog
Stuffed Elephant Animal Plush for Baby comes in gray or pink and make a great craft project for you Cricut enthusiasts. The are quality made stuffed elephants and last and bring smiles. You can give this baby elephant plush as a present such as birthday gifts, baby shower, holidays, birthday announcements, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and other special occasions. This elephant plush toy is easy to clean and washable. The size of this elephant plush fits perfect for babies and toddlers and will definitely bring a smile to their face.
Here are the links on Amazon:
Gray Elephant:
Pink Elephant:
by Mrs C | Jan 27, 2021 | Blog
Depending on where you live, owning a car is less of a luxury and more of a necessity. It’s certainly a lot easier to transport groceries and people with a car. Cars are something of a money sink though, and especially during the current economic difficulties, it makes sense to try to reduce your monthly expenses. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to pay less each month on your car.
Shop Around
Drivers are required to carry a minimum amount of car insurance, and at some point you’re probably going to have to have repairs or service done on your vehicle. These costs are pretty much guaranteed expenses, but that doesn’t mean that the price you have to pay has been set. You can often find better deals and pricing by shopping around. Feel free to let insurance providers or mechanics know if you’ve found a better price elsewhere. See if they can match or beat it to get the best pricing possible for your needs.
Offset Your Costs
Costs are an inevitable part of car ownership, but there are things you can do to help offset the cost. Consider wrapping your vehicle. This involves the application of a vinyl cover to the surface of your car. Car wrapping is safe to apply and easy to remove. It can help protect your car from cosmetic damage such as fading due to sun exposure, paint scratches, or from projected stones. Given how much a quality paint job can cost, taking steps to protect your car’s paint can help reduce the amount you would otherwise be spending on your vehicle.
Boost Your Gas Mileage
If you have a car, there’s a good chance you’re probably paying for gas. How much you pay for gas depends on multiple factors, such as the quality of gas you should use, the weight of your car, and how you drive. The easiest way to reduce how much you’re spending on gas is to change your driving habits. Pay attention to the road ahead of you to avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration. On a similar note, be gentle with your braking and accelerations to protect your fuel economy. Try to limit any idling you do. Both your gas mileage and then environment will thank you.
If you’re looking for ways to reduce your monthly car expenses, there are some things you can do. Shop around when you need car-related services, find ways to offset your costs, and use driving practices that can boost your gas mileage. Both your wallet and your car will thank you.
Read this next: Weird Things You May Notice in Your Home and Why They Happen
by Mrs C | Jan 22, 2021 | Blog
When you are looking into hiring a home improvement company, you’ll need to learn to spot the signs of fraud. Nobody wants to hire a company and have their money stolen and time wasted. You’ll need to look at their reviews, understand their methods, and ask for references if you want to spot the fraud.
Look at Their Reviews
Look at the company’s reviews. If they don’t have reviews, you should avoid them. Reviews can help you to understand what a company stands for and if they are trustworthy. If their reviews are positive and transparent, then you should feel confident hiring them. You should also look to see if the business is responding to reviews. If they have a lot of negative reviews and aren’t responding or trying to rectify the situation, then you might not want to trust the business. That also goes for positive reviews too. If a business is active in responding, then you can feel confident in the trust you’ve put into the business.
Understand Their Methods
Try to understand the company’s methods and spot when something isn’t right. A fraudulent paving company may use fewer materials, leaving your driveway poorly done. Understanding the methods of a company will help you to quickly recognize if it’s a scam or not. If they are unorganized and doing things that don’t make sense, then you should have a pretty good idea that it’s a scam. If you’ve done your research into a company, then you’ll be able to trust them.
Ask for References
You should ask for references. References can help you to understand if a home improvement company is fraudulent. Never hire a company without speaking to someone who’s used their services in the past. Homeowners should ask past customer’s detailed questions about a home improvement company’s work, including the projected and actual project timeline, as well as the final cost. If the company is in the middle of another job, ask if you can check out their work yourself. If they refuse to furnish the names and contact information of previous clients, it may be best to seek a new option.
It can be hard to sort the scams from the real companies, but there are several things you can do to spot the fraudulent companies. You can look at their reviews, understand their methods, and ask for references. This will help you to find a company you can trust.
Read this next: How to Get the Most Out of Your Health Insurance
by Mrs C | Jan 22, 2021 | Blog
Taking out a loan can be a helpful tool, but it also comes with risks, so it is a good idea to be careful before entering into any kind of loan agreement. In many cases, it is more effective and better for your finances to save for a purchase rather than taking out a loan, but if you do decide to take out a loan (especially for a big purchase), you should think carefully and prepare before making the decision.
High Interest Rates
The first problem you can run into with a loan is high interest rates. Especially if you have never taken out a loan before and don’t have much credit, a high interest rate can set you back and make your life more complicated. High interest rates also increase the total cost of your purchase meaning that you will end up spending more over time than you would if you bought the item out right in cash. In some cases, like for houses or cars, a loan can be a necessary expense, and you will have opportunities to decrease your interest rate over time, but for other things it is better to avoid paying interest overall.
Credit Risks
When you take out a loan and are unable to make consistent payments, it can present risks to your credit that can make future purchases more difficult and have immediate consequences in your life. If you default on a loan, you may end up having your belongings repossessed which can be a big problem. Car repossession that results from a default can harm your credit score. It is important to keep that in mind as you decide whether or not to take out a loan because it can have long term effects on your credit and financial stability and even your car insurance.
Spending Outside Your Means
Taking out a loan can also cause problems if you take out a loan that is beyond your ability to pay it back. If you use a loan to spend beyond your means, you can find yourself buried in debt that you are unable to pay back and dealing with those consequences well into the future. When you decide to take out a loan, it is essential that you know that you will be able to make the payments each month without stretching your budget too thin.
Choosing to get a loan is a big decision. Make sure that you make it with the appropriate understanding of the situation and its potential pitfalls. This way, you can make sure that you make the best decision about your money.
Read this next: How to Get the Most Out of Your Health Insurance
by Mrs C | Jan 19, 2021 | Blog
So you’ve been in your home for a while now. You’ve gotten used to the neighborhood, know where everything is in your area, and you’ve got your house furnished pretty much the way you want it. Everything seems to be perfect. Or does it? You may find yourself noticing some weird things in your home on occasion that leave you wondering what’s going on.
Doors Don’t Fit
Have you ever gone to close a door and noticed that it’s not closing quite right, despite closing without any trouble at all a few months ago? It’s weird, right? As it turns out, there are a couple of reasons why your doors may not be fitting quite right. Wooden doors expand and contract based on temperature and humidity levels, so they can seem to fit the frame a little differently during different seasons. You can alleviate this by keeping a consistent temperature within your home and taking steps to control the humidity. More serious reasons your doors might not be fitting their frames properly might be your house settling or foundation damage. This can cause cracks between the door frame and the rest of the house, and your doors to hang unevenly. These repairs are a lot more extensive and expensive, and will likely require professional help to address.
Uneven Temperatures
As you walk through your house, you may find yourself walking through a room that is much warmer or cooler than the rest. Don’t worry, your house isn’t being haunted. There are multiple reasons why some rooms may heat up or cool down faster than others. How well a room is insulated will have an impact on how well the room maintains its temperature. The better the insulation, the more consistent the temperature. Where the room is positioned in the house can have an impact as well. Rooms in the middle of the house are more likely to be a consistent temperature than, say, corner rooms. Because corner rooms have two exterior walls, they are more likely to trend towards the temperature outside. Their exposure to the sun will also have an impact. Rooms with greater sun exposure are likely to warm up faster, while those with less will likely cool down faster. Beyond that, your HVAC system may be the cause, not just the insulation or position of the room in the house. If you have an old, outdated HVAC system, it may not be equipped to efficiently and effectively maintain a consistent temperature throughout your house. More modern systems have the ability to focus more heat or cool air in different areas of the home, which can really help if you have multiple floors.
Cracks In Walls and Ceilings
Noticing cracks in your walls, ceilings, or both can be unsettling. Don’t worry, your house isn’t ready to fall down around your ears. Improperly installed ceiling drywall has a tendency to crack. While unsightly, it’s not necessarily dangerous. Vertical and horizontal cracks in drywall or plaster walls are often caused by shrinkage and drying after construction. Cracks that run at a 45 degree angle, are jagged, or stair-stepped are indicative of foundation or structural movement that could be serious, but more often are harmless. It’s virtually impossible to get a house to settle unevenly, and some degree of settling is fine and perfectly normal. That said, if you have cracks in your ceilings that continue to run down a wall, or are accompanied by sagging, you should get those inspected immediately.
Gurgling Pipes
While a babbling brook may be pleasant to listen to, pipes gurgling in your home every time you turn on the water isn’t. The short answer for why this is happening is because water isn’t flowing through the pipes properly. It could be because of a partial blockage that you can easily clear, or it could indicate a more serious blockage impacting your main sewer line. Over time, the blockage can become complete, resulting in water backing up all over your house. You can help prevent this by periodically cleaning your drains and preventing things like hair, oils, grease, fats, and things that get mushy from going down them. It’s also important to be aware that there are some things you should never flush down the toilet, even if they say they’re flushable. Flushable only means that they’ll go down the toilet, not that they’ll break down and make it all the way out. If you need plumbing maintenance, repairs, or services, talk to a professional who can get the job done properly the first time by using the right tools and training.
Hissing Sounds
Trying to identify whistling or humming sounds coming from your home can leave you wondering if you’re going crazy or if there really is something you’re hearing. There are a few things to look into if that’s what you’re hearing. You may have clogged air filters. This makes your furnace work harder to get the air it needs to run properly, and could result in it sending exhaust gases to the rest of the house. Make sure you’re changing your furnace filters often enough to avoid this.
Hissing sounds could also be an indicator that you have a gas leak. Gas leaks are incredibly dangerous, as one small spark can be enough to ignite a furious blaze. If you notice hissing around your home’s outdoor gas meter or gas light post, the lines may have corroded. You may be able to smell a gas leak as well. As counterintuitive as it may sound, if you notice signs that indicate a gas leak, don’t try to fix it. Just get out. Call the gas company and let them fix it.
It’s not unusual to notice weird things in your home from time to time. Sometimes doors don’t fit quite the way they’re supposed to, temperatures may be uneven, or you may notice cracks in the walls or ceilings. Other oddities are auditory in nature. You may hear gurgling pipes and hissing sounds throughout your home. Pay attention to these things and discover the cause. Some may be minor issues, but they may also alert you to major problems that need your attention in a timely manner.
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