Building and contents insurance isn’t compulsory, (although some mortgage lenders will require it) yet it is an important step in protecting your home. This way you know you’re covered financially should disaster ever strike? Of course, it’s worth knowing a little more about these two policies, and what they each cover.

Building insurance covers you for the cost of repairs to your home, or even rebuilding it, if it is damaged. Common causes of building damage include flooding, fire, vandalism, or weather damage. Building insurance will provide you with the money to cover the costs of repairing or rebuilding your home should it be damaged or destroyed. This can also extend to garages, garden sheds and other additions to your property, but it’s worth knowing each policy is slightly different, so be sure you get one which is right for your home.

If you don’t own your home then generally the building insurance will be taken care of by the landlord. However, you will still want to consider contents insurance in order to protect the things that belong to you.
Contents insurance ensures you are covered for the cost of your belongings within the home, in case of theft or damage. (Generally building and contents insurance will each offer cover for the same causes.)

When arranging contents insurance, make sure you are covering the correct costs of what you own. Consider every item in each room of your home, and how much each of them would cost to replace. It will likely be more than you think! Of course, not all your belongings will be covered; particularly valuable or high-cost items will often need separate cover, so make sure you keep this in mind as well.

Your policy can either cover the costs of replacing or repairing damaged and destroyed items of property; or you can pay less for a policy which will take wear and tear of your items into account when calculating their value.

You can also reduce the cost of your insurance policies by ensuring your home is well protected from the risks in the first place. Doing things like installing a theft alarm and a smoke alarm can make a big difference. Once you have the right insurance policy for your needs, you’ll know that if the unexpected ever happened, you will be able to afford the costs. And having that peace of mind is priceless.

Article publié pour la première fois le 01/11/2011

When my husband Matt was 14 he got a summer job as a batboy for the local minor league baseball team, the Las Vegas Stars.  It was pretty much a dream job for him.  What baseball loving kid would not be all over that?  When a major league team, displaced by a California quake, came to play in Vegas he was asked to batboy for them too and it was then that his childhood dream came true.  He got to meet his sports idol Mark McGuire…naked!  Just for clarification, Mark was just walking out of the locker room shower, nothing lewd going on.  Yeah, so the naked part was not part of Matt’s dream, but it is something he definitely will never forget.

Sports are not just a pastime anymore, they are an American passion.  Some of our most memorable moments are watching, playing, or talking sports.  But sometimes we have to miss out on the fun because a Saturday box seat at Yankee Stadium goes for $1,640.  It doesn’t have to be that way!  Get the family together and take advantage of some of these money saving tips for enjoying sports.

Here are some money savers for seeing the major sports leagues:

• Head to baseball Spring training camp in sunny Florida or Arizona where you can catch tons of cheap games and check out how your team is doing in the preseason.  You’ll have the jump on things for placing bets with friends.
• Make sure you are on the mailing list at your church or office if they sponsor group rates for games.  It is more fun with a big group anyway.
• If you can handle missing kickoff or the first inning, you can show up late for an event and get in for change and pocket lint.

• Give some less popular sports like soccer, tennis, PGA golf, or NASCAR a whirl.

So, what if the NFL, MLB, NBA, or NHL are still not in the cards?  No matter, get your “crazy fan” on with local sports:

• Support your local college teams.  Most colleges have a variety of teams that would be grateful to see a few new fans in the crowd and it is a great way to expose your kids to a lot of different sports and have it be a real experience.
• Check out the Arena Football League in your area.  It is a crazy condensed version of football, like Kool-Aid with half the water! With a 50 yard field the action moves a lot quicker.  Relaxed rules allow offense to rack up the score. With hockey style boundary walls, watch players pummel each other up close.  Wild crazy fun!

• If basketball or hockey are your thing, look into summer league basketball, NHL’s minor league or IHL

 

• My favorite sporting events to go to are my local minor league baseball games.  The MLB uses extensive farm systems including A, AA, and AAA minor league teams.  In short, there are a ton of teams out there with games to be watched, and fun to be had.  Minor league is arguable more fun anyway.  With cheaper tickets you can follow the season more closely by attending more games.  With closer seats you can enjoy great views of the players that, while professional, are still learning– which means more hits, homeruns, crazier fielding errors, and therefore a much more exciting experience.  There is also a greater chance to interact with players, but take caution, when you yell out “You Suck, Pitcher!”  he will hear you.

I love going down to Cashman Field to see my Las Vegas 51s play, hiding in the bathroom from their creepy alien mascot, and watching fun fan games between innings like “drunk bat spin” relay.  We try to hit the games with free hotdogs or fireworks to add some extra free fun to our night, three rows behind home plate, for 10 bucks.  Can’t beat that! lieu de drague oise

http://www.federalbakeshop.com/limited/2435 Any other ideas out there for cheap sports thrills?

 

Article publié pour la première fois le 17/04/2012

Recently, I’ve noticed changes happening in my neighborhood. In a recession (is that what we are still calling this), there is always a ton of turnover in strip malls, no doubt. When inexperienced business owners set out to start a business, fail to gauge the market demand and only once they launch realize no one is buying, they shut down and the next dreamer steps in.

In a volatile market though, even when an experienced business owner sets his sights on a market niche, by the time a business gets started, by the time a product starts shipping, the market could have changed enough that no one wants the product anymore.

Certain strip malls around here turn over new shop owners like a checker in a grocery store, one after another after another businesses close up and a new one opens in it’s place.

The latest wave of stores to open up around here are quick or even 15 minute payday loans. We’ve got one sharing space with a new “We buy gold” storefront and another bunking with a wholesale mattress outlet, not five blocks away.

What does this mean? What does this say about the current state of the market?

Well, it says that there is a demand for this kind of shop. People are still struggling with money management and need a place to come to when money runs short, a place to help them make ends meet temporarily.

The fact that these are all walk-in places shows that as a nation, we are becoming more and more impatient and want things instantly. That’s nothing new, we’ve been like that for the past few years as a nation. This goes hand in hand with our inability to plan, save for and put off buying things until we have the money. As a culture living for today and a culture enamored with the cutting edge, we want the latest and greatest now and have no concept of the future.

Now, these shops don’t really bother me. Payday loans have their place like any other financial product. As for our national “gimmy now” mentality, that bothers me as does the constant pressure by technology companies to upgrade, them convincing us that what we have is no longer good enough, that the latest device will improve our life beyond our imaginations…

It’s about time we were satisfied with what we have and start looking toward tomorrow.

 

Article publié pour la première fois le 03/03/2013

The following is a documentation of pain, suffering, and a woman doing a ridiculous amount of jumping jacks, also known as The 30 Day Shred DVD by Jillian Michaels.  But seriously, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: DVD’s are a great way to workout on a budget.  If you don’t have the cash for a gym membership, try taking 10 bucks to Wal-Mart and seeing what you can find. 

  

Day 1 rencontres dinan 22 – Starting on Level 2 because I like to overestimate how fit I am.  This DVD is only 20 minutes and I was sweating by minute 10.  My arms are shaking as I’m typing even though my improvised weights were 1lb bottles of shampoo and conditioner.  I’m going to PUMP you up.

Day 2 – I’m a little sore from yesterday, so that’s why I think I did worse today.  Jillian isn’t sweating because she doesn’t do any of the moves.  I don’t even want a six pack like hers.  Jillian has no friends.

Day 3 – My calves really really hurt.  I look like an absolute idiot when I do, anything, but especially the jumpy-twisters.  At least I was able to keep on moving the whole time today. 

Day 4 – The 20 minutes aren’t getting any shorter.  I finally got up the nerve to try the non-modified moves.  Thank God no one is here to watch me; except for God, and I think he’s entertained.

Day 5 – Alright, I confess, I skipped on the weekend.  Don’t worry, I’ll do my full 30.  My shampoo weight is getting lighter than the conditioner.  I hope I don’t turn out lopsided.  The workout is getting easier and I do notice that my posture is getting better.

Day 6 you could check here – Today I found the first legitimate thing I don’t like about this DVD: you can’t fast forward Jillian’s non-motivational intro.  This was a major pain when my computer shut down for automatic updates in the middle of my workout.  In good news, I’m definitely noticing that I’m more toned in my thighs and stomach.

Day 7 – As with any workout video, I’m so tired of hearing the same commentary over and over.  Today I turned down the volume and put some music on in the background; made a huge difference in how fast the workout went.  I also had a big ‘ah ha!’ moment when I realized the workout is actually 30 minutes (5 warm-up, 5 cool-down)!  I’m so smart.

Day 8 – Blah.  Today went fine.  Still a little sore in my arms, still dripping with sweat by the time I’m finished.  Just blah.  Only 7 more days until I bump it up to level 3; any change is welcome (though I know I’ll regret saying that).

Day 9 fille cherche travaille – Today is Friday and I only got halfway through the DVD.  I’m pooped, just pooped I tell you.  You wanna know something else?  I’m not doing the video this weekend either!  HA!

Day 10 http://escuelametafora.com/2017/03/01/consigna-callejon-autora-meghanj-jenner/ –I’m getting a little burnt out on this workout, but that tends to be my feeling toward any workout video.  That’s not to say that I’m not getting any results, because I have been pleased with how I’m feeling/looking.  I would just recommend alternating this DVD with a different workout, or finding a workout buddy who is really good at guilt trips.

Day 11 – My arms are so strong.  I can now lift my shampoo/conditioner weights the entire time without crying. 

Day 12 – No new developments today, so I will share a workout story: The only time I have ever been consistent enough at lifting weights to build muscle, I got confused about the exercise and built the wrong muscle.  It takes some time to get rid of Popeye forearms, just FYI.  The end.

Day 13 – I had to take it easy on the knee-involved exercises today but was dripping with sweat by the end, as usual.  I’m not a sissy, you’re a sissy.

Day 14 – Yes, I took a 4 day weekend.  BUT, it was to prepare for today: my first day of Level 3, and I must say it wasn’t as painful as I expected.  My favorite part of today: NO MORE LEVEL 2!!!

Day 15 – Today I am sore in brand new places.  The cardio on Level 3 is about the same as Level 2, but the arm work is much harder.  I never could have just jumped straight to Level 3 with my spaghetti arms.

Day 16 – I just realized it really doesn’t matter if I do the video or not, how are you gonna know?  It took me 16 days to figure this out.  Whatever, I did it today anyways.  I don’t care if you believe me.

Day 17 – Took one extra day off to drive up to Colorado for a family visit.  You wanna give me a hard time about it?  Try working out at altitude, I needed the rest.  

Day 18 – A few hours after completing Day 18, I got the flu and took the rest of the week off.  This is rapidly turning into the 60 Day Shred.

Day 19 – Back on track, back to my arms hurting, back to Jillian smugly telling me that I want a six pack.  I really really can’t wait to just go for a run.  

Day 20 – I had heard that Jillian doesn’t want to have kids because it would “ruin her body.”  You know what?  It’s true.  Take from that what you will.

Day 21 – Maybe I’m just reaching a mental break, but I’m beginning to feel that Level 3 goes by faster than Level 2. 

Day 22 – I am absolutely stronger, but my energy has not been as high as working out usually gets it.  I wonder if it’s because I haven’t done very much lifting before.  I’m pooped. 

Day 23– I think I saw a little six pack this morning.  A very very little six pack, but woo hoo!

Day 24 – The 30 Day Shred is even harder after a sleepless night of camping.  Though, it is a comfort to know I could have fought off any bears that may have bothered us; or at least done more sit-ups than them. 

Day 25 – Now I know why I haven’t done this workout on a weekend up until this point: it’s stupid.  Worth it, however, now only 5 days left.  Ending on a Friday will be glorious.  Maybe I will make Husband throw me a party. 

Day 26 – Tomorrow I’m challenging Husband to the Shred.  Let’s see who wins…

Day 27 – Husband is a chicken and I am almost done.  Thank goodness.

Day 28 – 28 days later and I am still dripping sweat.  I blame Oklahoma. 

Day 29 – Only ONE MORE DAY.  I’m so tired of this.

Day 30 – Chant this rhythmically: done, done, done, done, done, done done.

 

 

Article publié pour la première fois le 23/06/2010

If you’re like me, you can sit down for hours at a time and enjoy looking over your budget.  If you’re normal, you have neither the time nor the inclination to spend a perfectly good evening crunching numbers.  I’m assuming that most people are ‘normal’ (at least in terms of budgeting) and for that reason, I have broken the process into seven, doable steps, so that by this time next week you will finally be on a budget. 

What a budget will do:

• Help you get out of debt.
• Help you set and achieve financial and savings goals.
• Help you conserve your resources.
• Help you anticipate financial problems before they occur.

What a budget will not do:

• Keep itself – budgets do require monthly maintenance.  
• Keep track of every little expense – budgeting is about your BIG financial picture; like when lots of little things start to add up.
• Magic – budgets do not do magic, that part is up to you.

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Article publié pour la première fois le 24/08/2010