Archives for March 2017

Mistakes To Avoid When Buying A House

March 6, 2017 By
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Buying a house for the first time is a huge business. Not only have you spent time saving for a deposit and sacrificing where you can to afford it, you must now find the keys to unlock the doors of home ownership. It’s a huge responsibility and not only is it about more than looking round the pretty houses, but there are some mistakes that get made along the way that you must avoid to be successful.

Signing document for new home.

Signing document for new home.

Image Source

Location, financing and even shopping for your new house have their challenges to overcome in ways that choosing carpets and interiors never do. Here is a list of five very common mistakes that first time homebuyers should go out of their way to avoid.

  1. It’s more than just the mortgage. When you rent a house, you think about the monthly house cost in terms of your rent. When you buy, it’s more than the mortgage. Just because you can afford the monthly mortgage repayments doesn’t mean you can actually afford the house. You need to have contingency money for unexpected boiler replacements and property insurances. You should have the right home insurance in place so that you can make sure you are covered for things going wrong. Without this, you are leaving yourself open and vulnerable; something no first-time buyer should be.
  2. Don’t get your hopes up. Always learn whether you are pre-approved for a mortgage first before you go and start looking. So many prospective homeowners are worried about leaving a footprint of search on their credit files, but without knowing what you could get, how can you begin to look at your home options? You’ll be able to make a practical home decision instead of an emotional one, which is worth its weight in gold.
  3. Never go it alone. Where you can, seek the right advice. Get a solicitor, a mortgage advisor and solid advice before you even begin from a loan officer. You need to make sure you are able to buy a home, make repayments and still afford a good quality of life. Always get help and never be afraid to ask stupid questions: when it comes to homebuying, there are no stupid questions, only valuable answers.
  4. Save for more than just the deposit. Always aim to save for a few thousand more than you need. Don’t add this to the down payment on the house, but use it for insurance and as an emergency fund. If you do this before you go ahead, you can be confidently comfortable.
  5. Wait. Always wait to buy a new car, new furniture or any other big purchase until your house is completely yours. Lenders will always check your financial status between the purchase and the close of 30 days, to ensure nothing has changed like a lost job. If you go and splurge on a new financial commitment, you’ll end up looking frivolous with your money and unreliable as a buyer. Waiting thirty days won’t hurt!

These mistakes can all be easily avoided, meaning your new home purchase can go off without a hitch. Congratulations on your new homeowner status; enjoy your new house!

 

Filed Under: For The Home
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Making An Easy Buck From Bad Luck

March 5, 2017 By
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When you get injured or you lose something because of someone else; it can be hard to make sure that you take the right steps to get what you deserve. It’s not fair that your life has been changed by someone else’s mistake. And, you should be given what you’re owed. Unfortunately, most of the time, you have to chase these things for yourself. This can take some time. And, you’ll almost certainly need some help along the way.

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When someone does something to you, whether by accident or on purpose; it’s important that things are made right. Often, this will mean the guilty party settling the issues with a nice payout. Of course, you shouldn’t go out and get hurt to try and make some money. But, if you’ve already been put in a bad place; it’s worth chasing what you deserve. With the professional help of a lawyer like Kathleen A. Sigurdson Attorney At Law, P.C.; it’s easy to make sure that you get what you’re owed. Legal firms like this have the experience and knowledge that they need to make sure that your case goes without a hitch. Of course, the issues that this can cover will vary greatly.

  • Types of issue

Most commonly, cases like this are brought about because of personal injury. This is quite an easy area to understand, too. If someone causes you an injury, whether it’s an accident or deliberate; they may owe you compensation. This money will be to make sure that you’re able to live the life you had before the incident. And, to make sure that you can afford medical bills and fees. So, it’s worth trying to get your hands on it. Sometimes, these issues happen at work, and the business will be at fault. Or, you may find that they occur on the street.

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Another common area for these cases to surround is car accidents. If someone causes an accident which results in injury or loss of property, without insurance; they will have to find the money from somewhere else. In these sorts of cases, you may even find that their insurance company refuses to payout. This is their fight to make. But, you may have to get the ball rolling with it. These sorts of cases are very common. And, they’re also the most heavily faked. So, you have to be prepared to share concrete evidence.

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If a professional does something that causes you some sort of loss; you may be able to get back at them for professional negligence or malpractice. This fight can be much hard. But, it can be a saving grace for a business that’s down on it’s luck. If another company causes your to lose money or get hurt; they might owe you money.

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A lot of people don’t like the idea of chasing after this sort of money. But, in reality, it’s the money you’re owed. So, you should have it. It can make life much easier to get a settlement like this. And, it can even enable you to get back what you’ve lost.

Filed Under: Life in General
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Five Ways Employees Could Be Cheating Your Time and Attendance System

March 2, 2017 By
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Though most employees are reliable, there are still a couple who try to scam their timesheets; these are known as time thefts. Time theft is the purposely fraudulent act of an employee faking his hours worked.

This action implies that the employee receives pay for the time that was not put into work. This scam is costly and an extra baggage for a company. Hence, it is vital that you know the most widely recognized ways employees could cheat on your organization’s time and attendance system.

Here they are:

1. Untruthful Attendance Data Entry

In numerous companies, attendance data must be moved from time sheets or time cards into the payroll system. For this situation, a dishonest typist or in-charge might just alter the information. In addition to intended scamming, this system is susceptible to oversights and typographical error.

2. Buddy Punching

When an employee has another close employee to “punch” or sign the time sheet for him; because he is late or he is absent, buddy punching happens. This permits the worker to add hours to his time & attendance system for which he did not work.

3. Inflating Work Hours

Electronic or manual time sheets are utilized in several companies where compensation depends on an hourly rate. Fabricating these records might be as simple as writing the inaccurate start and close time, and inflating the hours worked, depending upon the system.

This data might be hard to validate when your employees start and end shifts at different times. In this case, you would be compensating an employee for hours he didn’t work.

4. Favoritism

Favoritism is precisely favoring somebody not because he is doing an excellent job, but because of some reasons not related to job performance. It shows for instance when a boss picks who gets overtime records even if that employee does not perform well enough to deserve them. Or sometimes he uses the power to override attendance.

5. Human error

When you depend on punch cards or time sheets, there is constantly a possible for human error. Your workers might mistakenly write down their time on the sheet. And your HR department can consume a lot of time amending these mistakes. The mistakes that were overlooked could lead to incorrect compensation for workers and other payroll issues.

How to settle it?

Selecting the most reliable way of tracking your employees time and attendance is a bit tricky. Scamming the attendance system is a serious matter, and as bosses, it’s your job to deal with your workforce in an intelligent and well-organized way. Being mindful that this problem is prevalent all over your workplace is an initial step to putting an end to this fraudulent action.   

Also, nowadays, with the initiation of modern technology, there is an assortment of reasonable yet advanced time and attendance systems that will support you in tracking your employees and avoid or at least lessen scam in attendance.

 

Filed Under: Tips and Tricks
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Is Your Dog Family? Make Sure You Treat Them Like It

March 1, 2017 By
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For many people, their dog is part of the family. However, although you might say that your dog is a family member or like one of your children, you also have to think about how you really treat them. Do they get an equal place in your priorities and do you consider them in all things? Whether you already have a dog or you’re about to get one, making sure they are truly part of your family requires you to follow through on some important things. You can go the extra mile to ensure that they are treated just as well as other family members.

Take Them on Trips

Would you leave a family member behind every time you go away? While it’s sometimes more convenient to leave your dog at home, just as it can be to leave your kids at home, making arrangements to take them with you can be a good idea too. In fact, when you plan your vacations, you can take your dog into account before you decide where to go and what to do. Some dogs don’t travel too well and will be more relaxed being look after at home. But there are plenty who love to travel. You can use resources like CanineTrip.com to find out the best ways to travel with your pooch. The right equipment is important, from travel crates to portable food and drink bowls.

Consider Your Dog When Making Life Changes

If your dog is a member of your family, you always need to think about them when anything changes in your life. You might not always be able to plan these changes, but you can consider what is best for your dog. Some major changes that require you to think about your dog’s needs include moving home, having a baby or adopting, and even a change of working hours. You need to think about how you can meet your dog’s needs to keep them happy. Sometimes, this could even mean not going through with the change you were considering.

Give Them the Right Kind of Attention

All dogs deserve attention, but paying attention to them in the right way is what’s important. While hugs and cuddles are a good start, many dogs need other types of attention. You need to keep them physically and mentally stimulated, and some dogs need these more than others. For example, some dogs will get bored if they don’t have something to occupy them.

Getting Them the Right Care

Of course, it’s also essential to ensure your dog gets the medical care they need. If you would vaccinate your children and make a doctor’s appointment for them as soon as they even sniffle, you should do the same for your dog. Veterinary care can be expensive, but pet insurance will help to protect you if your dog gets ill or is injured. You can visit a site like petinsurance.com to find the right insurance.

If you see your dog as part of the family, make sure you treat them like one. They deserve to receive lots of care and attention.

Filed Under: Pets
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Finding Ways To Add Value To Your Home

March 1, 2017 By
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Owning a home is a wonderful thing. It’s a place of safety for our families and of course, an amazing investment of both money and our time.

That’s why it is worth your while to add value to your home in anyway you can. Now – it might seem a bit silly if you’re not planning to sell, but still! Look to add value where you can to increase the return on your investment. Add value to your home by being proactive about improvements, and even if you don’t sell – there’s absolutely nothing wrong with adding value! With DIY, renovations or even just a little bit of care, you can start improving your home right away! It’ll be a lot nicer for you and your family, which is a huge plus.

The kitchen is an area where you can really boost the value home by investing in improvements, and if you want to, you should focus on it as it is the area where your work will go the furthest. Adding better cooking facilities like a new oven or refrigerator are good starting points, but you can’t go wrong with improving the work surface of your kitchen. Lighting, doors and new windows also go a long way to improving the value of your home.

The bathroom is a room which obviously sees a lot of use, this multiplies if you’ve got a family! Tiling or re-tiling a bathroom will work well, but don’t be afraid to simply clean or refresh the tile grout if you don’t want to splurge. Adding facilities like a heated towel rail or bordering the mirror are both good ideas as well. Big budgets can be wasted on a bathroom so spend wisely. If you haven’t got a huge budget, look to make do with tile accents and paint, a little can really go a long way in the bathroom, so be wise with your options and cash.

The garden is another place where you can easily boost the value. It should act as an additional room, so add a patio or some decking. Of course, sometimes the garden isn’t sizeable enough and sometimes you can’t add real impact to it. In this instance, something like a conservatory might work wonders for your property and add more space for you and your family if you haven’t got a huge garden to take advantage of.

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A loft renovation is a huge spend, but see it as an investment as it can add huge value to your property. The attic is usually empty, unused and frankly wasted space, so be sure to look into turning it into a study or new bedroom. This is good to do if you’re expecting another child or want more room for your family as you can certainly house a few little ones upstairs if you’ve got the space. Who said adding value was just about the money?

Value in our homes, we should look to increase it and there are plenty of ways we can do just that!

 

Filed Under: For The Home
Cori's Cozy Corner Disclosure Policy

Your World Changes With A Woof Woof By Your Side

March 1, 2017 By
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You need to be prepared for your life to change when you bring a dog home. Everything from your finances to your spare time is going to look quite different. You should probably start by thinking about the financial situation though because dogs are expensive. Depending on the size of dog you get, they can cost you up to one hundred dollars in food every month. And that is just the beginning because there are also vet bills as well as any emergency trips to the doggy doctor. You can get pet insurance that minimises that cost slightly, but it doesn’t completely eliminate it. To keep insurance costs down, you might also find yourself paying for some of the smaller treatments needed for your fluffy friend. All in all, you’ll probably find that a dog roughly costs half of what a child does. But there are other changes too.

Spare Time

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You can’t have a dog unless you are prepared to play with it and walk it. Otherwise, you are going to have a depressed pup curled up at your feet. Yes, dogs do get depressed because these are very sociable animals. They want attention, they want love, and they want exercise. If they don’t get the level of attention they need, you will notice changes in their behaviour. They might become lethargic, and you may even see their diet drop off as well. You need to be able to dedicate a couple of hours a day to man’s best friend. This could be doing something as little as lying on the sofa stroking their belly or playing fetch in the yard.
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The good news is that having a dog doesn’t mean no more trips abroad, as some owners assume. That’s what doggy daycares are for, and not all of them are horror shows. Happy Dog Inn specialises in providing a luxury care facility for dogs while their owners are on vacation and there are many more facilities like this.

Peace And Quiet
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It might disappear because there’s a reason you can affectionately call these little beasts woof woofs. They do that quite a lot, and while you can train a dog not to bark, you may not want to. When a dog barks, it is either communicating or protecting its territory. In some cases it’s territory could be your territory so essentially a dog’s bark can act as your own private burglar alarm, and that’s one of the best benefits of having your own pet pooch. You don’t want to lose this by training your dog never to utter a noise.

Keeping Things Clean And Tidy
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It’s definitely more of a challenge to keep your home neat and tidy when you have a dog. Even if your charming little friend is perfectly trained, you can’t stop them shedding hair everywhere. So, you might find yourself cleaning the floors more regularly. The good news is that you can get special tools to keep your home clean when you have a dog. There are even vacuums designed to pick up all of that extra hair.

So you see while a dog can be a wonderful new addition to your family, you do need to be prepared for the changes it brings.

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Filed Under: Pets
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Practical Home Improvements That Are Worth Your Time and Effort

March 1, 2017 By
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When we talk about home improvements, we usually speak about things that we want but don’t necessarily need. Let’s think about it for a moment. Do you really need a new garden, or do you just want something to impress the family for when they come around for thanksgiving this year? Do you really need to renovate a room and turn it into a study, or could you just save the time and money you spend and work on your regular desk?

Let’s take a moment and explore some practical home improvement ideas that will be worth both your time and money.

Preparing for a child

If you’re getting ready to start a new family or if you’re expecting, then it’s a good idea to get your home prepared for the new arrival. You should try to renovate a room and turn it into a nursery; a safe space for your newborn baby to crawl around and stretch their legs and to keep an eye on them. If you prefer to give your child freedom to crawl around the entire home, then you should prepare crawl-height protection and invest in gates to block entry to dangerous rooms such as the kitchen. You can guard your child against accidents by moving clutter from main rooms, guarding sharp corners of furniture with plastic covers, and block wires and electrical outlets with furniture.

If you want to plan even further ahead, you should dedicate a room to your newborn and turn that into a nursery. As they grow older, you can add a bed and remove all of the baby equipment such as changing tables away, but the idea is to renovate a room so that it’s ready for the newest member of your family.

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Bolstering your home safety

Whether it’s CCTV cameras, security systems or purifying the air, your home could probably get a little safety boost. CCTV cameras are becoming more accessible and user-friendly thanks to the possibility of getting WiFi-enabled cameras. These connect directly to your home network and you can view them over the internet if you have the correct password and login. This means you can keep an eye on your home no matter where you are, and you can keep an eye on people inside of the home. For instance, if you’re having trouble trust a new carer with your children, then CCTV cameras will give you peace of mind.

But thieves aren’t the only threat you should be worrying about. Carbon monoxide is a silent killer that is both odourless and invisible. It usually leaks due to a bad boiler or pipes in the house that have become worn out and damaged. It’s important to keep all of your appliances well-maintained to prevent the possibility of a carbon monoxide leak, and the best way to do this is via home improvements. If you replace your boiler or your stove, for example, you can ask the contractor to do a thorough check of your entire infrastructure so that you can be safe knowing there are no immediate dangers within the piping of your home.

If you’re still unsure about the advantages of having a safe and secure home, you can visit The Safe Healthy Home for more advice on how to purify air and ensure that the water entering your home is clear. Remember that threats can also come from within the home, not just outside.

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Creating a smart home

Smart homes are now the way of the future. It can be rather difficult implementing smart home functionality into an old building, but it mainly depends on the appliances you use and the speed of your internet connection. As long as you have compatible appliances like your fridge, heating systems and your window blinds, you could technically control your entire home from the comfort of a smartphone.

There are some obvious disadvantages and dangers to this, however. If someone was to gain control of your network and hack into all of your appliances, it could create a serious security breach and, depending on what type of devices you have that are smart, it could create some nasty damage. However, most smart devices are incredibly safe and until hackers find a way to bypass the built-in encryption on these devices and your WiFi network, it’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

So what can you actually control in a smart home? For starters, imagine going to bed and turning off your lights with a smartphone app, or waking up to a gentle song playing through your sound system. Your house could automatically start the coffee machine and the heating will automatically kick in and balance the temperature of the house so that it’s neither too cold or too hot. Your blinds could automatically open and you’ll get a nice blast of sunshine to wake you up in the mornings.

Filed Under: For The Home
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