When you’re ready to purchase a home for your family, there are several variables to consider. Purchasing the right home means that you’ve clearly defined your family’s needs, and you found a property that meets all of your standards.

Setting the standards for what would make the perfect home may be a bit more of a puzzle, though. Take heart, and read through a brief look into some tips for buying the most suitable home for your family.

Consider how much space you need

When you’re trying to decide how much square footage you need for your family to live comfortably, you should move beyond the number of bedrooms. Your family will need more than sleeping space to thrive.

You may have plenty of bedrooms, but do you have space for an office? Your forever home may need a spare room in addition to the necessary square footage.

When you’re goal is to find the perfect home for your family, consider the whole story while considering various elements of prospective properties.

Consider what you can truly afford

When you are projecting what you and your family can afford in a new home, you have to consider the full picture. You will be paying more than a mortgage payment each month to maintain a comfortable home.

In addition to your monthly mortgage payment, you will be responsible for the physical upkeep of your property. You will have to pay an energy bill each month. You will also be financially responsible for any repairs on the home.

Consider the neighborhood

You need a safe and comfortable environment to choose the perfect home. You want to know that your family will be safe at night.

You want to be assured that your children are surrounded by upstanding individuals. Take the time to truly research various aspects of any prospective neighborhoods, and use what you find to decide whether or not the property is right for your family.

Consider the features of the home

For a home to be the perfect space for your family, it needs to showcase all of the necessary features. Your partner may love to cook. That means you need a nice kitchen. If you have active children, you may benefit from a large yard space or basement.

Consider the state of the home

Always get a full and professional home inspection on a property before you sign on the dotted lines. You don’t want to purchase a home that needs more work than you’re willing or able to give it. Talk with the family about the level of newness you all expect in the perfect home, and search until you find what you seek.

 

When it comes to home improvement, there is a category of repair that lots of people tend to avoid. And that is when you need to fix something about your bathroom. These are not fun jobs. But they are very practical ones. And, if you don’t do repairs on your own, bathroom repairs can be extremely expensive if you have to call a plumber. That’s why you should have some DIY skills ready in your toolbox.

Three situations, in particular, come to mind when thinking about bathroom home improvement and repair. First of all, there is when your bathtub drain stopper stops working. Second, there is the classic issue of the leaking toilet. And third, there is the dripping showerhead. In each of those instances, a few tools and some know-how will go a long way.

The Bathtub Stopper

What happens when your bathtub drain stops working? It can make for a terrible experience first of all. Especially when you’re taking a shower, you don’t want to end up with your feet submerged in 4 inches of water. So, if this common bathroom situation does occur, you need to know how to fix it. These days, it usually doesn’t take more than a short amount of research on Google to find out what type of bathtub drain stopper you have, what the most common issues are, and what to do about it.

The Leaking Toilet

Do you know how to fix a leaking toilet? If there is one bathroom problem that’s the most annoying, it’s going to be that. A leaking toilet makes noise, wastes money, and can cause significant damage to bathroom floors, depending on where the leak is. Because of this, it’s much better to learn how to find where the leak is coming from and fix it yourself rather than waiting too long before significant damage occurs and then having to call a plumber with outrageous pricing.

The Dripping Shower

After you take a shower, does the water turn entirely off? If not, and there is still some dripping coming from the showerhead, you know that can be a source of irritation. A single drip coming out of a showerhead can make an obnoxious noise, and it can create stains in your bathtub. Because of this, you should learn some quick showerhead repair techniques and have those tools on hand. That way, the first time you notice your shower head leaking, you immediately have the skills and materials to fix the situation. Sometimes your best bet is to buy a new shower head as an enhancement to your bathroom, but that is simply one of several methods to come to the desired goal.

 

When my friend Stacey L Tokunaga moved down to Mexico 5 years ago I desperately wanted to join her and move down there myself, if for no other reason than the experience of living somewhere new for a while. In preparation to make the move I decided to start learning Spanish, as I didn’t want to be alienated once I moved down there. Stacey was able to speak Spanish from a young age and she did tell me that if I wanted to enjoy living there, that I should too. Learning a language is not only fun but it gives you the chance to unlock an entire culture. If you want to get started with learning a language, here are some tips which may help you out.

Use it Or Lose It

As you learn a new language you have to make sure that you are doing all that you can to practice. Even Stacey tells me that after a couple of weeks of being back in the US that she has to shake off a little bit of rust when she goes back to Mexico, and she can speak almost fluently! In order to retain what you are learning you must find ways in which to practice and speak to others in your nw language.

Confidence

If you think that you are not going to make mistakes then you are completely wrong, and the truth is that you should want to make mistakes as this is how you are going to learn. Don’t be embarrassed when you are chatting with a native speaker, just try and say what you can and they will most likely correct you if you get something wrong. The key to learning a new language is having the confidence to go out there are speak it, regardless if you make mistakes.

Submerge

Although I did manage to get my Spanish to a solid level before I moved to Mexico, I have learned far more in a shorter space of time since I have been down here. The reason for this is that I have submerged myself in the language and surrounded myself with people who don’t speak English, forcing me to up my game, or sit in silence. If you have the chance to do this then I would recommend it completely. You only learn to drive a car once you have passed your test and got out on the road, and the same thing is true in terms of learning a new language.

Use Tech

It has never been easier to learn, practice and speak a new language than it is right now and there are so many apps which you can use to boost your learning. You can find dictionaries and social media learning apps which will help you to take your language learning to the next level.

Work hard, be brave and you will be able to pick up a new language in no time at all.

During my first year at the Automotive Training Network I made very good friends with Mark Gilbert ATN founder and a massive music fan. It was in fact through the music that we bonded and we used to introduce each other to different types of music and information about our favorite bands. Growing up I can remember seeing people of a certain age completely shut off the idea of listening to new music and I was determined to never be like that. Mark provided me with the perfect inspiration because although he was older, he still had his finger on the pulse of the new bands and artists that were coming out in the modern day. The idea of stopping listening to new music seems absurd to me, regardless of how old you are, and here is why you should never stop.

Not Finished Yet

Many people buy into this myth that everything that could be made has been made and that the only new music there is, is old music that issuing regurgitated and repackaged. This is just not the case at all and music has a million and one ways in which it can be played, presented and delivered. Even if we look at the court cases which have taken place in recent years of artists who have apparently copied rhythms or time signatures, the two songs are very often completely different. Also you only have to look back to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin who based their careers on trying to sound like others, only in a different way.

There Won’t Be Another…

After Elvis they thought nobody could take over the way that he did, then came Michael Jackson, after Jacko people thought that nobody could do what he has done but you know what, someone will come along and take things further. The same goes for guitarists, people thought Robert Johnson was the king and then Hendrix came along, after Hendrix came the likes of Slash and Kirk Hammett, there is always someone new and there is always progression in new music.

There is Room

We have to remember as well that within every genre there is room for a number of artists and songs which can be written at different times. Take the grunge scene for example, when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains were making their early albums they had a certain sound which was instantly recognizable, the bands were very different in content and delivery, but they all matched that sound. If a group comes out tomorrow with that sound people write them off as copying, but the truth is that there is room to love Dirt ,Ten, In Utero and whatever record happens to come out tomorrow. New music doesn’t have to be unique and the first of its kind, it just has to make you feel good, make you sing, dance or put you in a certain mood, regardless of when it is made.

Don’t close your ears just yet, there is plenty of great new music on its way.

Last year my company decided that we would start to look for a new energy company after having some issues with our previous providers. After scanning the internet and weighing up our options, we eventually decided on our new suppliers. We chose the company after reading the glowing South Bay Energy reviews which were enough to tip the scales in ether favor. Looking for a new energy company can be a bit tricky, no matter if you are doing it for your business or your home, and here are some tips which I’d suggest that you bear in mind when doing so.

Reputation and Credibility

After whittling down our choices to just 3, we chose to let the deciding factor be the reputation of each of our picks, something key in selecting which company you plan to use. Reviews play a huge part in this and I would suggest that a review for an energy provider will give you far more value than a review for something like a product of service which you are going to buy. When it comes to energy, customers are only looking for a good service, and that is why reviews are so black and white and can give you a perfect insight into the supplier.

Price

Whist most suppliers are very competitive with their pricing, there can be quiet a swing in terms of what each company is charging. In truth South Bay wasn’t the cheapest nor the most expensive, but their costs were factored in to our overall decision. It is important that you don’t make your decision solely based on cost as sometimes you can go with the provider which appears cheaper, but those costs could easily rise or you may have to forego another aspect of their service in return for the lower price.

Contract Terms

Some energy providers want to lock you in for 24 month contracts, others may just want the 12 and beyond that there are some additional contract terms which you need to look into. Cancellation fees should be something you bear in mind, as well as your options if you wish to switch or if the price rises, how much guarantee do you have? A longer term will usually offer lower prices but with larger cancellation fees and the chance that the price could rise after 12 months. Pay particular attention to the terms of the contract.

Renewable Options

Another key consideration to make is around renewable energy and whether or not you have ways in which you can offset the environmental impact of operations, including energy usage. Many suppliers now have green or eco options which they can give you and this could also be a deciding factor in your decision, especially if you are a business which is dedicated to lowering its carbon footprint.

Weigh up the pros and cons, focus on the details and get the right energy provider for you.

 

There are many ways in which you can save money on your grocery shop, you can find discounts and multi-buy promotions in store, you can get coupons online and use them and you can also take advantage of the brilliant offers that you can find on cashback websites such as Lyoness. This is a relatively new way to save and although it has been around for a little while, there s still a huge numbers of shoppers who aren’t making the most of the big savings on offer. Much of this I believe is down to the fact that many don’t quite understand what cashback is or how it works, so let us clear that up for you.

What is Cashback All About?

Most discounts and offers give you the saving when you purchase the product but cashback offers this in reverse. Each week the site will feature a number of products, each of which will offer a different percentage of money back when you buy the product for full price. So let’s say that X brand of shampoo was a featured offer this week with a saving of 50%, you go to the store, buy the shampoo which is on offer, and let’s say it costs $3. For this purchase you will be eligible for $1.50 back into your account because you have bought the item.

How To Use The Cashback Site

One of the biggest reasons why more people should be looking to get involved with cashback is because it is so simple to make savings. Simply find a site like Lyoness and sign up for a profile, you will pay a small membership fee which will give you exclusive access to the promotions. Check in each week to see what products are eligible for cashback, buy the product at full price and then simply upload your proof of purchase to the cashback site, and wait for your money to be credited. The money you get back is not coupons or credit vouchers, it is actually money which you can then withdraw to your bank account or use for future online promotions.

Why Do It?

The products which you will find on these sites are likely to be products which you buy each and every week in any case. What this means to you is that you could well be paying full price for products eat the moment when you just don’t have to. Another reason why you should look to use cashback sites is because you are going to be able to count on some of the biggest savings that you will find anywhere. When compared with in-store promotions and even coupons that you may find online, cashback almost always promises bigger savings.

Don’t spend money that you don’t have to, look into getting started with cashback and within weeks you’ll be saving some big money.