Trying to have my creative voice in writing

Posted on January 23rd, 2012

Guest post written by Tim Hall

I’ve never been great at drawing or painting, but something that my teachers always told me in school was that I was a good writer. Sometimes I wish that I had gone into writing as a profession but that’s much easier said than done. Well, now I’m going to try and pick it up again as a way to have some fun.

I’ve been doing my research to see exactly how I can really get started creative writing in the right way. While I was online looking for some tips, I ran across the site www.debtsettlementfamily.com. After I looked through it a little bit I decided to use it to help our family get out of debt. I want to set a good financial example for our kids and I think this would be a great step towards that.

I have found all kinds of great tips online about how to really get started with creative writing. I mentioned something about it to my kids, so they got me a nice little journal for Christmas. It was so sweet because they had really paid attention to know to get that. I plan to fill up that and many journals.

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Must Haves for the Kitchen

Posted on January 21st, 2012

Cooking is one of my all time favorite things to do.  That being said there are a few things that really are must haves when it comes to the kitchen.  Here is a list of my top 10 things that everyone needs to have in their kitchen

1. A good set of knives: 3 1/2-inch paring knife, 8-inch heavy chef’s knife, and an 8-inch bread knife

2. Pots and Pans; a stockpot, a sauce pan,  a nonstick frying pan, a cast iron skillet, and a medium Ducth oven

3. Bakeware: a shallow stainless steel roasting pan, 2-quart baking dish, and a cookie sheet or two

4. Food Processor

5. Blender

6. Stand mixer

7. Microwave

8. Multiple cutting boards: these help keep surfaces sanitary

9. Crockpot

10. Utensils: silicone spatulas, vegetable peeler, basting brush, wire whisk, potato masher, microplane zester, kitchen sheers, slotted spoons, ladle, and tongs

 

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Medicare Supplemental Insurance

Posted on January 20th, 2012

Commercials for people to add a Medicare supplement insurance plan to their existing coverage are all over the television.  Every time I watch these commercials it makes me sad to think that the insurance that we get from the government it not complete.  Growing up I would have never have thought that I would need to buy any kind of supplemental coverage to my insurance plan.  It ticks me off a bit that these plans aren’t all inclusive and won’t take care of my every medical need.

Though peeved as I may be, I’m glad that companies have risen to the occasion and have seen the gap in health care coverage and are providing plans to help supplement what is offered through Medicare.  I have a ways off to go before I will be needing to really worry about finding plans like this for myself.  Retirement is no where near in my future.

Checking out Medical News Today is a great way to find out more about these kinds of plans and an avenue to stay current with today’s health news headlines.  I’m sure that website has plenty of visitors twice my age checking out what is best for them on a regular basis.

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Temper Tantrums Are Not One of My Favorite Things

Posted on January 19th, 2012

Temper tantrums, melt downs, hissy fits, you name it, it’s all the same thing.  I can’t stand when for some reason Lady Bug freaks out and throws the biggest temper tantrum known to mankind.  She’s pretty good for the most part, but when she starts whining and complaining about the littlest things it really gets on my nerves.

I try to be as patient as I can because I know she is young and is still learning and I can’t expect her to be perfect all of the time.  I know part of it is probably her way to get attention.  I’m really trying hard to not give her negative attention.  When she throws the awful fits I have to just plain ignore her and not give in.  I don’t want her to associate throwing a fit with mommy giving in and her getting what she wants.

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Refinancing to Save Money

Posted on January 18th, 2012

Buying a house seemed like a daunting task. I worked really hard to find the best rates and looked at a few places like Housing Wire to get ideas about what was going on in the market at the time.  I was very pleased with the outcome of my mortgage rates and even happier with the house that I was able to purchase.

I’ve  been working on paying off my mortgage for awhile now and am trying to make sure that I can get some decent refinance rates. I’m hoping to lower my monthly payments so that I can pay for a few other expenses during the month, especially those pertaining to my daughter.  Lady Bug has expressed interest in playing some team sports and I know those leagues aren’t free to join.

The FHA refinance rates are a lot better than I had hoped. If I’m approved for the new loan, I think I will save a few thousand dollars and pay off my credit cards. I really hate being in debt. I’m just happy that most of all my debt is because I’m a home owner, and not because I went and had a shopping spree on things like expensive shoes.

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