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How to Start Developing Better Driving Habits Today

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Safer driving can net you lower insurance premiums, offering a tantalizing reason to learn how to drive defensively. It keeps you safer on the road, too. Protect yourself and others on the road by implementing these tips.

Turn Off Cell Phones

When driving a motorized vehicle, you should focus and concentrate on the road and your surroundings. Remain mindful of other vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians and bicyclists. Using your phone takes your mind off of the road, so shut it off or disable all notifications. This stops it from ringing and ensures you won’t get notified of texts or emails. Cell phones top the list of culprits that contribute to distracted driving.

Avoid Driving While Intoxicated or Under a Drug’s Influence

Every driver needs their full faculties when operating a motor vehicle. Consuming even one alcoholic drink erodes that; so does smoking weed or eating an edible. Driving after consuming drugs or alcohol carries huge penalties. For instance, prosecutors can charge an individual with a DUI or drug offense as a misdemeanor or felony, the latter of which carries much stronger punishments.

Improve Your Seldom-Used Driving Skills

Long after you’ve passed your driving exam, practice parallel parking, navigating a roundabout, and backing long distances. Roundabouts are required to practice with them, but the rest of the skills you can practice in your own driveway. Spiff up your driveway by resurfacing it in asphalt, something that according to The Spruce, costs just $5 to $7 per square foot.

Bone Up on Little Know Driving Facts

Although every U.S. state uses the same line styles on roadways, did you know that different locations use different colors for their asphalt stripes? According to Asphalt Kingdom, white, blue, and yellow stripes are used across the country, in Canada and Mexico. Review what the lines and colors mean before driving in a state or foreign country.

Adjust Your Vehicle’s Mirrors

Don’t become over-reliant on driving assistance features. It would help if you still used your mirrors when you drive. Adjust your mirrors each time you get in your car to drive, especially after someone else drove it. This adjustment ensures that you can see everything around you, and you won’t need to worry if your mechanical system fails to load the assistant feature.

Use the Vehicle’s Indicator Lights

When you slow down or stop, brake lights notify the driver behind you. When you turn left or right, you must signal your intention in advance to inform the surrounding drivers. This signal light allows them to prepare for your move into the next lane or your intent to pass them. Signaling turn and lane change intent helps avoid accidents.

Wear Your Seatbelt

Accident research proves that wearing seatbelts saves lives, so click yours shut over your lap or shoulder. Modern vehicles use shoulder harness designs, but classic cars feature only a lap belt. Also, have your mechanic check your airbags when you take the vehicle in for its manufacturer-recommended maintenance.

Don’t Skip Your Vehicle Maintenance

Most manufacturers offer at least the first year of the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance of their new vehicles. Some offer up to three years. This warranty service improves vehicle safety if the owner uses the provided services. Avoid delaying these service visits to keep your vehicle in the best condition. These maintenance plans include many necessary services, including oil changes, tire rotation, brake fluid, and other fluid changes. Some manufacturers include re-optimization of the vehicle’s camera and driving assistance systems.

Improving your driving takes time and effort. Start by picking one thing from this list to improve, then stick with it for at least two weeks. Developing new habits becomes easier when you put in the work every day. Once you master one change to your driving habits, choose another to tackle.

Preventing Major Costs by Making Informed Purchases

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When you have a family to take care of, it becomes even more important to make the right decisions with your finances. This may seem hard to do, given the fact that this is the point at which you’ll generally need to make more purchases than you ever did before. That said, you can make informed purchases and prevent major costs as a result of doing so. This article will take a look at some of the purchases you can make to prevent major costs.

Plumbing Repairs

The first cost that you can undergo in order to safeguard your family finances is to get plumbing repairs done. This will involve looking for a good local plumber to come and take a look at your home’s pipes. This is especially important if you’ve noticed your water bills getting steeper with no seeming explanation.

If you notice other signs such as strange smells coming from your home’s drains and gurgling noises emanating from your pipes, you should act with even more urgency. That’s because all of these are signs of a potential issue with your plumbing, such as leaks and clogs. It’s important to look into this given the fact that the average family of four uses 400 gallons of water each day in America, according to Comfy Living. You should get this issue handled as soon as you can so that you save money and keep living a sustainable life.

Home Insurance

The next important purchase that can help you keep your family safe and secure your finances is purchasing home insurance coverage. It’s important to consider the area you live in and the common issues you may face when considering coverage options. That’s because varying climates and environmental conditions pose different hazards. Talk to a local professional and find out what the right coverage for your home is.

If you live in an area that’s prone to experiencing hurricanes, keep in mind that Category 1 hurricanes possess winds ranging between 75 and 96 miles an hour, according to the National Weather Service. That’s enough to do serious damage to your home. In such a case, it’s much better to be safe rather than sorry. Discuss your options with your insurance provider and take the time to learn about other ways you can protect your property.

Professional Cleaning Services

Don’t forget that living in a clean home can impact many areas of your family’s life, especially their health. That said, you should invest in the services of professional deep cleaners for your home every so often. This should leave you with a manageable home before they’re due to come back for their scheduled cleaning. Deep cleaning will involve cleaning any soft furnishings, including rugs and carpets that you may have in your house. Keep this in mind if yours is part of the 79% of American homes that have at least one rug, according to Statista.

Family HealthCare

Finally, you need to invest in comprehensive family healthcare. This is especially true in terms of preventative care. Some of the steps that you can take to this end include going to your doctor’s appointments as a family to have a scheduled checkup done. Don’t forget to also get your vaccinations so that you give your immunity a boost. When you get regular health checkups done, you’ll find out if anything is wrong and work with your doctor to develop a plan to treat it affordably and effectively.

When you make these informed purchases, you’re going to save yourself major costs as a family. The more proactive you are in addressing issues and checking for problems, the simpler it may be for you to manage them. Be sure to reach out for support in order to ensure that these issues are effectively handled.

These 4 Signs Might Mean It’s Time for a Doctor Visit For Your Child

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One of a parent’s biggest concerns is failure to notice when something is out of place and their kids need help. This can be quite a challenge when you think about the sheer number of possible issues that a regular child goes through while growing up. Thankfully, not all of these issues warrant an immediate trip to the emergency room. That said, the four outlined below might mean that you need to take your child to their doctor for an evaluation so that if something’s wrong, remedial action can be taken fast.

1. If Your Child’s Teeth Are Misaligned

The first reason why you may need to seek medical attention for your kids is if you notice their teeth to be misaligned. This may be in the form of having an underbite or an overbite, or the teeth being too crowded together or spaced out unevenly. These are all symptoms of an issue that can be corrected with orthodontic treatment.

The earlier the treatment is started, the higher the chances of success. Similarly, the less pain, discomfort, and issues with self-esteem that your child is likely to go through. Keep in mind that about 3.9 million children in the United States are orthodontic patients. This means that if your child is put on a treatment like braces, they’re likely to find a few other people undergoing the same treatment, and therefore they may not be too self-conscious about it.

2. If You Notice Signs of TMD

Another reason to head to the doctor with your kids is if you notice signs and symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorders. These include difficulty opening and closing the mouth, jaw fatigue and pain, ringing in the ear or ear aches, pain and swelling around the areas of the temporomandibular joint, and jaw asymmetry. The more of these signs you notice in your child, the more likely it is that they need to see a doctor and get a diagnosis so that they can begin treatment.

About 10% to 15% of the population is affected by TMD, according to Scientific Reports. While this may not sound like many people, it’s a condition that can cause your child to experience a lot of pain. This means that it’s best to have it ruled out as early as possible, or diagnosed and treated.

3. If You Suspect a Pest Infestation

If you suspect that there are pests in the house based on rashes and other issues with your child’s skin, it’s important to make an appointment with their doctor and pest control services. While most pests are harmless to people and merely cause discomfort, young children or people with sensitivities can develop allergic reactions to bug bites and stings that can turn out to be quite serious. Keep in mind that annually, more than one million cases of bed bugs are treated by pest control companies in America, according to Pest World. Clearly, pests are a common issue around the nation, but that doesn’t mean that you have to put up with them.

4. If They Develop a High Fever

Finally, if your child develops a high fever, it’s a good idea to take them to the doctor. There are many things that can cause a fever in kinds, some of them more serious than others. Rather than wait and find out that it was something serious, it’s best to get any serious issues ruled out by making a trip to the doctor. It’s especially urgent to see the doctor if the fever is accompanied by other signs like disorientation, vomiting, and loss of consciousness.

Keep your kids safe by learning about basic childcare. Remember that if something seems serious to you, and you have no idea what it might be, it’s best to head to the hospital right away. This can make a massive difference to the outcome.

6 Fun Money Games for Kids

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money games for kidsMore parents are realizing how important it is to teach kids about money. How can we teach them in a way that’s both engaging and educational? There are several money games for kids designed just for that purpose. Here are some ideas for money games.

6 Fun Money Games for Kids

Dollars and Dice

This is a simple money game that will have kids polishing their math skills without even realizing it. Using a single die and a variety of coins, kids roll the die to earn one of the following values:

1 = a penny

2 = a nickel

3 = a dime

4 = a quarter

5 = a coin of their choice

6 = lose a turn

The first person to collect exactly one dollar wins. If a player is close to hitting the dollar mark but goes over, they lose their turn.

Escape From Barter Island

This is a fun, interactive online game from the Federal Bank of Cleveland. Each player has to learn how to barter his or her way to a new sail for their boat. Navigating through the signs, they learn how to trade up using items they already own. If they trade right, they’ll eventually get their new sail so they can get home.

Play Escape from Barter Island.

Hide and Seek

Yes, your kids can play hide and seek and learn about money at the same time!

First, parents gather several coins of multiple values. If you have younger kids who are still learning to count, use pennies only. Then hide the coins in various places around the house. The kids are then set loose for a preset time period to find coins.

When the time is up (or when all coins are found – parents’ choice) kids count up their totals. The player with the highest number of coins (or the highest value total) wins!

Mad Money

The PBS Kids website has a great money game called “Mad Money”. The game starts out by giving players a choice of several items to save up for. Players are given a weekly allowance, but the allowance has to cover items on their shopping list.

Then, players go throughout the town, looking to find deals on what they need and working to earn more money.  They win if they have enough money to buy what they need and pay for what they want.

Play Mad Money.

Bonus Reading: “5 Apps That Teach Your Child a Cool Skill”

Net Worth

Similar to crazy eights, Net Worth is a card game that will help kids learn to manage money. The different cards allow players to pay off debt, collect assets, and hinder other players’ finances. Players also learn to use strategy to protect themselves from financial setbacks such as job layoffs.

This game is a quick, easy play for kids age 8 or older, and very affordable.

Save Perry’s Pennies

This game from the U.S. Treasury has three skill levels in which players catch dropping coins for their piggy banks. But there’s a catch – players have to save the targeted savings amount within the specified time period. Be careful, though; if you accidentally click on a falling hammer all of your savings could be lost!

Play Save Perry’s Pennies.

There are also several board games that can help kids learn how to save and manage money. The Game of Life, Monopoly, Payday, and Dave Ramsey’s ACT Your Wage are all games that teach players money skills. By using games to teach children healthy money skills we can help them become financially responsible adults.

For more financial fun, check out “4 Creative Money Challenges for Kids.”

Do you have any favorite money games for kids to share?

Image Credit: David Lofink (Creative Commons)

Are you a stay-at-home mom? Make sure you bookmark or pin some of these resources for later!

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6 Super Easy Ways to Reduce Your Energy Costs This Fall

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Energy use is on the rise and has doubled in the last 20 years. As a parent who has to deal with electronics charging around the home, the TV being on, and running the washing machine frequently throughout the week, you know more than most how energy use can take a toll on your monthly budget. Fortunately, there are a few key ways you can keep your energy costs down this fall.

1. Fix Any Drafty Windows

You can see a significant increase in energy bills if just one of your windows has a draft. The Department of Energy says you can lose 25% to 35% of your warm air from such a draft. With winter right around the corner, you need to investigate now rather than later, or else you could see your gas bill skyrocket.

2. Take Care of Heating Problems

Heating problems can hike up your bills because your heating system is running harder to heat your home. Fixing those issues can reduce your monthly expenses almost instantly. A heater can have various symptoms that require repair or replacement. Strange smells are one symptom, and it usually indicates something is burning. Rapid cycling indicates a problem with the compressor. Inadequate heating might mean you have something blocking the airflow.

The age of your heating system can also make a huge difference. Consider replacing your system if it’s over seven years old because it might be on its way out.

3. Clean or Change HVAC Filters

If your HVAC filters are clogged, they can lead to inadequate airflow, which causes your home’s heating and cooling system to work twice as hard to deliver warm or cool air to your home. A contractor can visit and change out your filter if it’s the only problem. You’ll quickly discover that you can reduce your energy consumption between 5% and 15%.

4. Reduce Lawn Watering Frequency

More than 90% of Americans prefer to live on properties with grass lawns, but watering your grass too frequently can hike up your water and energy bills if you’re not careful. You can cut down on these expenses by developing a strategy that reduces the time you have to run your sprinkler. You can also invest in a sprinkler designed to use fewer resources. Speak to a sales rep at your local hardware store who can help you make positive decisions and invest in state-of-the-art technology.

5. Get Your Insulation Inspected

Have someone inspect your home for insulation problems. A lot of good air gets lost within the cracks of faulty insulation. Fortunately, you can schedule an appointment with an expert who can come to your home and check all your insulation in every room, especially your attic.

6. Turn Things Off

One of the greatest tips we can offer is to turn things off when you’re not going to use them. Many people leave electronics and appliances on or plugged up when they don’t need to be. These behaviors end up stripping those households of electricity.

Colder weather is right around the corner, which means now’s the time to nip your energy costs in the bud before winter arrives. Try our tips above to reduce your energy bills today.

Is Your Teenager Ready to Own a Car?

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Every parent is proud when their teen passes the driver’s test. Nevertheless, driving remains one of the most dangerous things, thus it is crucial to ensure your teenager is ready for the road before putting them out there or allowing them to own a car. These pointers can help you decide whether your teenager is ready to own a vehicle or even drive without supervision.

Discipline

Discipline involves more than the ability to follow instructions. It’s also the subconscious will to think of others and do what is right, even without supervision. Parents can identify such traits early in their kids’ lives. If your child does chores on time, looks out for their siblings, and generally respects basic home rules, they most likely will obey traffic rules and remain on the safe side of the law. Most kids- including teenagers- are guilty of breaking speed limits, driving under the influence, or even texting while driving. While all these no-go zones often sound thrilling, a disciplined child understands that rules and laws are established for their safety.

Responsibility

If your child remembers to complete simple tasks like cleaning their room, packing their books, and clearing the dining room table, they will probably remember to service the car, keep it clean, or even come home on time when they get their own. Additionally, your teen should know to look out for other road users, including drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, and prioritize their safety. While your child may be responsible, they will likely meet reckless individuals and bullies. Responsible teenagers do their part and are prepared to handle various situations without endangering their lives and those of others.

Immunity to Distractions

Irresponsible habits are a major cause of accidents. In a recent statement, it was reported that more than 40% of car accidents that led to death or injury were caused by drivers using their phones while driving. Most teenagers are culprits as they are attached to their phones and other devices. Making them understand the importance of paying attention while driving is crucial to minimizing the risks of accidents.

Another common distraction is the car radio. About half of Americans aged thirteen years and above listen to the radio while on the road, driving or not. Subtle background music can help in reducing stress while enhancing relaxation. On the other hand, music (usually loud) can also be distractive as it may affect the driver’s cognitive focus on the road. Navigating the entertainment system is also a huge distraction to point out to your teenager.

Ability to Maintain the Car

Since a car is a machine, something is bound to fail every once in a while. It is up to the driver to remain keen on these signs. For example, vibration from a vehicle’s undercarriage is the number one indication of a bad drive shaft. While you may need to catch up with whether or not your kid’s car is in perfect shape, you can teach them the basics, so they know when to see a mechanic. Start by showing them how to change a flat tire, jump start a dead battery, look for the oil warning light, and other common troubleshooting techniques.

Ability to Make Reasonable Judgment

When it comes to a teen’s ability to make good judgments, maturity plays a huge role. Some children mature faster than others. Therefore, you can trust them to make sound decisions. While most people began driving in their teens, others also began drinking around the same age. As a parent, you cannot control everything your teenager does, but paying attention to their behavior and company can help you determine when to give them a vehicle. If your child follows or tries to please everyone else, you might have to think twice. Most teenagers fall into peer pressure due to the urge to impress, often leading to mistakes. Your child should understand the value of independence before owning a car.

For most kids, driving is an essential rite of passage that ushers them into society. The bottom line remains, your kid’s character can significantly help you decide when they can own a car. Parents must set strict boundaries and thoroughly evaluate their children’s strengths before entrusting them with vehicles. This is an integral step to ensuring that they nurture mindful, reliable, and responsible adults.

Why Has Fast Food Become So Expensive?

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Why Has Fast Food Become So Expensive?

Our family hadn’t had our favorite fast food, Chipotle, since the pandemic began two years ago. When my daughter asked for Chipotle for one of her birthday meals this year, we happily bought it. But boy, were we surprised by the experience! We were shocked to hear our final total for four meals–$53! We were left wondering, why has fast food become so expensive? Our order total was significantly higher than when we bought Chipotle two years ago.

Why Has Fast Food Become So Expensive?

Fast food prices are increasing due to two variables.

Higher Priced Food Items

The United States is currently experiencing high inflation not seen in 40 years. The price of everything is going up including gas and basic goods like the food supplies fast-food chains rely on. When basics like lettuce, tomatoes, and meat increase, most fast-food chains have no choice but to pass those costs onto consumers.

Labor Shortage

In addition to higher food prices, fast food chains are experiencing a labor shortage, which has a ripple effect on the restaurants.

Shorter Hours

Some fast-food restaurants have cut their business hours because they don’t have enough staff. If the restaurant is open fewer hours a day, fewer workers are needed. However, the restaurant is then bringing in less money.

Fewer Items on the Menu

Some restaurants are offering fewer items on the menu to consolidate their business. For instance, Burger King is focusing on “menu simplification, removing low-volume items” (Insider). This streamlines the number of ingredients they need to buy and store.

Higher Wages

Finally, most fast-food restaurants have no choice but to raise wages to attract employees. Many chains have had to raise wages by 10 to 15%, which affects their bottom lines and requires them to raise food prices.

How to Combat High Fast-Food Prices

In our busy society, more and more families rely on fast food. However, if you no longer can afford fast food regularly, you have some other options:

Make Slow Cooker Meals

Why Has Fast Food Become So Expensive?

If you’re too tired to cook when you come home from kids’ activities or work, put a meal in the slow cooker in the morning before you leave. When you come home, a hot meal will be waiting for you.

Have Freezer Meals Ready

Another idea is to make meals to freeze. Thaw them the night before and reheat them when you get home. If you don’t have time for that, buy ready-made, family-size freezer meals from the store. They’re much cheaper than buying the whole family fast food.

Bulk Cook on the Weekends

Or, you could make several meals on the weekend. Then, during the week, reheat and serve. For busy nights when you won’t be home to eat, pack sandwiches and chips. It’s not fast food, but it is quick and easy.

Final Thoughts

Why has fast food become so expensive? The simple answer is that inflation is hitting all aspects of our lives. If you can no longer afford fast food regularly, you can try some other strategies to get a meal on the table quickly. Remember, inflation doesn’t last forever; eventually, you’ll be able to once again afford your favorite fast-food meal without such a punch to your wallet.

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How to Keep Your Kids Safe in the Winter

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Winter is a great opportunity for families to have fun and do activities like ice skating, sledding, and throwing snowballs. However, it’s also characterized by significant temperature drops, icy roads, blowing winds, and snow. Despite the chilly weather, you can’t always keep the kids in the house. What you can do is take precautions and ensure they’re warm and safe. Here are some safety tips to guide you.

Ensure Your Home Is Winter Ready

Part of keeping your kids safe is ensuring your home is ready for winter. The last thing you want is freezing air to enter the house or water to leak through the roof. According to a safety guide, FEMA’s snow load safety, one foot of fresh snow weighs between 3 to 21 pounds per square foot, with three being for light snow and 21 being for wet, heavy snow. Ensure your roof is solid enough to withstand such weight. In addition, check all areas of your house, including the windows, ensuring you’re protected from the chilly weather,

Dress the Kids Warmly

Dress your kids in more layers than usual. Toddlers and babies need to be in an additional layer of clothing than you would wear in the same conditions. Also, the less you expose them to cold weather, the better. Unlike adults or teens, babies don’t tolerate cold weather well. Encourage the slightly older kids who dress themselves to wear winter accessories like scarves, hats, socks, gloves, and boots.

Prepare Your Teens for Winter Driving

Driving in winter is often a nightmare for most people. The icy and snowy road can challenge even the most seasoned drivers. It can be even harder for teen drivers who have only been on the road for several months or a few years. Advise your kids to pay attention to the road to avoid getting into accidents or trouble with the law.

In 2019, the Buhl Foundation did a study and discovered that every year, over 57,000 people aged between 18 to 24 in Pennsylvania have their driver’s licenses suspended. The most common reason for this is speeding. Let your kids know they need to drive below the speed limit during winter. This is for their safety to avoid the inconvenience of losing a firearm.

Ensure They Put on Safety Gear

As mentioned earlier, your kids will likely go skiing, sledding, or snowboarding. Before they head out, ensure they wear the right gear, like helmets, knee pads, gloves, and boots. These items will keep them warm and safe. If they hit something, the risk of injury is low, thanks to protective gear. You should also get them goggles to protect their eyes from the glare of the snow when light hits it.

Pick Suitable Winter Activities

It’s good to prepare for the winter activities you’ll be doing. Your kids will want to go out from time to time. Pick activities based on your kids’ ages and what you love doing as a family. For example, are you an outdoor family? Why not go hunting? Note that for such an activity, you should teach the kids how to handle, use, maintain, and store firearms to keep them safe.

Maintaining a gun ensures it shoots well while also increasing its value. According to A Girl and A Gun, refinishing a firearm can increase its value by up to ten times. Aside from that, it ensures your gun looks great. That said, whichever activities you plan for winter, ensure your kids are adequately equipped to handle them.

Be Cautious Around Fires

Fireplaces, fire pits, and wood-burning stoves create a warm and cozy environment but can present danger to small kids. It’s best to use protective gates around them to avoid accidents. If you have to use alternative heating methods like electric or kerosene heaters, ensure your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are functional.

Winter doesn’t have to be boring. You can plan activities for your kids and ensure everyone has fun and remains safe. Use the tips mentioned above to enjoy the chilly season while keeping everyone healthy.

Balancing Family and Work as a Trucker

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While it’s important for everyone to make a living somehow, it can sometimes be a bit hard to balance family with work. This is the case for truckers, who spend a good time on the road moving from one place to another. Proper time management is a valuable skill in this profession as time is limited. All the same, it can be done, and here are some of the ways you can go about doing this.

Avoid Alcohol

First and foremost, you need to avoid alcohol. This is whether you’re on the road or you’re home since alcohol provides no benefits but a lot of risks. Remember that while it may feel like an easy way to unwind, taking alcohol actually impairs your cognition and acts as a diuretic. This means that over time, your health can suffer a lot as a result of frequent alcohol consumption. You’ll also be unable to spend any quality time with your family if you’re nursing a hangover. Keep in mind that the times at which alcohol-impaired driving took its toll the most often in 2018 was in the nighttime hours of about 9:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M.

 

Keep Reminders for Family Activities and Events

Next, make sure that you’re not likely to forget about important home and family events or activities by keeping reminders on your phone. This can be done by using an app like the calendar on your phone. If you like, there are also many other options that you can download from the internet to use towards this end. When you do this, you can get a reminder for an upcoming event and work your schedule around it more easily. During these events, you can be sure that there will be a lot for you to talk about with your family. You can even share facts from your industry with them. For instance, it may amaze your children to learn that wooden crates have a market value of $997 million, according to Future Market Insights.

Delegate What You Can

Another important tip for you to improve your work/life balance as a trucker is to delegate any work activities that you can. This is a sure way for you to make sure that you have considerably more free time on your hands. Even if this time isn’t too much, to begin with, you can get more and more time with practice. The important thing is to ensure that you delegate the tasks you need help with to a capable and reliable person. For example, if you need help with a task surrounding containers, make sure that the person you enlist for this task has worked with them before. They should be aware of facts such as that 85% of all shipping containers around the world are standard containers, according to Container Home Hub.

Leverage Technology

Finally, take advantage of technology to improve your balance between work and family. This way, you may have lower stress and have more time on your hands. As an example of how to leverage technology, you can try and do away with unnecessary physical meetings. This is the best way for you to save time and energy. Instead of having to leave the house to meet with someone, you can make use of tools like Slack or Zoom to make the meeting a virtual one. On the other hand, you can use these same tools to communicate either in audio or video format with your family if you have to be away from them for a long time.

Use these tips to improve your balance between family and work as a trucker. Doing so can help you improve your happiness and also be there for your family. Playing an active role in their upbringing is the best way for you to provide them with a chance to succeed in the future.

Saving for Your Child’s Future: 8 Steps to Take

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Bringing up children is a costly endeavor. Don’t let anyone lie to you about that part. However, if you can consistently save even a tiny amount for your child, you can establish a good saving habit and a growing nest egg for your family. Here are eight steps to take to save for your child’s future.

1. Create a Children’s Savings Account

Look into opening a high-yield savings account on behalf of your child. Such an account is a wonderful place to put your child’s gift money from the holidays or for birthdays, as it can accumulate and grow over time. You can also assist your child in setting up a Roth IRA account if they have a source of income.

2. Hack Housing Costs

Avoid getting into situations where you must pay for extensive and expensive repairs by taking a preventative approach. For example, plumbing issues like toilet clogs aren’t just messy.

They can be quite costly, so you must be careful about what goes down your toilet. Simply because a supermarket sells a toilet-friendly item doesn’t mean you should flush it. According to Reader’s Digest, flushable wipes are common culprits for blocked pipes and toilets. The best thing you can do is consult your local plumber.

Another way to save on housing costs is by renovating your current home instead of buying a new one when you need more space or a fresh start. According to Houzz, about 22% of homeowners will spend between $5,000 and $15,000 on remodeling projects. It’s way cheaper than purchasing or constructing from scratch.

3. Talk Saving and Budgeting With Your Kids

It’s not only parents who can benefit from learning how to save while raising a family. Regular budget conversations are a great way of including kids in the running of the home. You can discuss the fundamentals of spending and saving without delving into the specifics of your income and expenses. Ensure you make it fun so you don’t lose their attention when you say ‘budget.’

4. Adopt Good Dental Health Practices

Dental costs are quite high. With kids, trips to the dentist’s office are almost inevitable. While having insurance that covers these high costs is a good idea, it’s wise to start by instilling proper dental hygiene practices in your child while they’re still impressionable.

Swinney Dental estimates that 41% of Americans floss daily, while 20% never do. Don’t let your kids be part of those who don’t. Teach them how to floss properly at an early age.

5. Plan for Holidays

The holidays can get expensive for a family. Everything is on ‘offer,’ and the spirit of giving can make you go into a shopping frenzy. Set a spending budget for gifts, and keep a separate savings account for the funds. This way, you’ll always know how much you can afford to spend.

6. Don’t Shy Away from Secondhand

Considering how fast kids grow, you’ll realize buying new children’s shoes and clothes is a money-wasting mistake. Yes, you want to give them the best, but it doesn’t have to mean you have to spend a lot of money. Plus, kids don’t care much about the price or even the clothes themselves.

You can buy them the most expensive shoe brands new from a mall, and they’ll still play in the mud while rocking them proudly. Make yard sales, consignment shops, and thrift stores your friends. You’d be surprised at how much quality stuff you can get.

7. Focus on Food Costs

Grocery bills can quickly get out of hand when you don’t have some structure for your family’s eating habits. Make a weekly plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. This way, you can rely on your meal plan to ensure you only get what you need when shopping for groceries.

8. Keep Birthdays Simple

Your kids deserve to be celebrated on their birthdays. However, you don’t have to spend extravagant money to make great memories. Something as simple as spending a day at the beach with family and friends is low-cost but will mean the world to your youngster.

One of the best things you can do for your child is to secure their financial future. Doing so will give them the freedom to pursue their dreams with confidence. Use this read as a guide for steps to take to save for your child’s future.