Category: Lifestyle

Of all the ten thousand factors to look at when choosing a family car, fuel economy should be right at the top of your checklist. Since low fuel price is just a dream, it’s wise to consider a car that’ll not blow a ton of money on fuel. The best part – you could still say that you’re on a SAVE THE EARTH mission!

Back in the day, fuel-efficient family cars used to have a reputation for being small and underpowered, but with modern technologies, automakers offer best-in-class comfy cars without compromising space, performance, and practicality.

With quite an array of choices, how do you choose a stylish gas sipper for your family? Here is our best bet.

Honda Fit 2018

Why should you buy a Honda Fit: Incredibly reliable, superb fuel efficiency, plentiful cargo space, and fluid steering to name a few.

Honda Fit MPG: 36 mpg

Why we chose the Honda Fit: Now that’s a question! This vehicle is a solid proof that an all-around fun, the comfy daily driver can offer good fuel efficiency and uncompromising style. Remember the famous ‘never judge a book by its cover’ quote? It’s absolutely true with this hatchback – the 2018 Honda Fit comes with a surprisingly roomy cabin with spacious legroom in the back.

The Fit has smaller engines and provides better fuel efficiency. In LX models outfitted with the CVT, the Honda Fit achieves 33 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway – one of the highest ratings in the subcompact category. In the manual transmission, gas mileage is said to be 29 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway.

The subcompact family car has a sharp and fluid steering and fine-tuned suspension. The Honda Sensing Suite – automatic high beams and lane departure warning system – is another biggest reason why we love the 2018 Honda Fit.

Audi A4 Ultra

Why should you buy Audi A4 Ultra: Because this family hatchback ticks most boxes on the car buying checklist.

 Audi A4 Ultra MPG: 31 mpg

Why we chose the Audi A4 Ultra: Thanks to the technological sophistication and luxurious appeal, Audi A4 Ultra was able to make the cut in the end. It offers a combined EPA of 31 (27 mpg in the city, and 37 mpg on the highway). Like all Audi models, the Audi A4 Ultra has a stylish interior that promises a comfortable daily commute

Despite its focus on gas mileage, it has best-in-class security features to keep the passengers and pedestrians safe and sound.  The pre-sense system is what that makes Audi A4 great. Speaking of the tech-savvy side of the Audi A4, we can’t ignore Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and ‘Virtual Cockpit’  display.

Light steering, plenty of visibility and parking-aid features, and quick response to dabs of the throttle make Audi A4 better than its rivals in ensuring a smooth drive around the city with family.

To wrap up, we do not want to get into ‘Which is the best among two’ debate as both the models have pros and cons.  So, it’s up to you to select the best gas mileage car suiting your requirements.

For the military spouse, settling into a job or career can be pretty challenging. Moving around all the time, trying to manage a house and kids alone during deployments, and days filled with uncertainty about where you will be next, whether in the continental U.S. or overseas. So how do you manage to create a way to make a living, while maintaining the flexibility to manage everything yourself if your spouse gets deployed? One solution is to become a freelancer.

Freelance work essentially means that you work on a contract basis for someone else, performing a task they either do not know how to do or simply may not have time for. Since you are paid by the project, sometimes income can be sporadic, but there are methods to stabilize, like finding regular clients and getting referrals from past clients for new contracts.

The advantage of freelance work is that it can be done anywhere in the world in most cases. You do not have to be nearby your clients at all. Using cloud services and shared hosting platforms, you can share files across the globe, and in some cases work on them simultaneously.

Do What You Know How to Do

Freelancing encompasses several fields and a number of skills. Though it’s by far one of the most common fields for freelancing, you don’t have to be a writer; there are plenty of options in a wide variety of different fields:

• Writing: This can be anything from web copy to technical manuals and include ghostwriting books and articles, both fiction and nonfiction.
• Website Building: from finding an individual or company domain name, choosing a host and the best type of hosting, to creating content and building the framework of a website, these tasks can all be done on a freelance basis. You can also use website builders such as Pixpa to create a professional website and deliver it to your client.
• Design: From logo and ad design to many other graphic design tasks, these can all be done remotely.
• Photography: Freelance photography can be done from almost anywhere. In some instances though, you may have to travel.
• Artistry: From commissions to do a family portrait, to posting your regular artwork that is sponsored by patrons, drawing or painting is a great pastime that is relaxing, engaging, and can be done anywhere.

You’re not limited to just creative endeavours either. You can do accounting, be a virtual assistant or do nearly any job freelance. With the rise of more remote workers, many companies will even offer you the opportunity to work from home regardless of your position.

Other companies offer customer service or technical advisor type positions you can work at home as well. More than likely, you can use skills you already have to build an at home career. A permanent change of station doesn’t have to be a career killer anymore.

Deploy Yourself (Work Anywhere)

The mobile nature of all of these jobs means you can essentially deploy yourself and work from anywhere in the world. This can offer your family financial stability and keep you focused on a career path.

When you find yourself working towards the long-term in certain areas, you can also recruit local clients, and then keep them even if you move. Working for a local business does have some social, and even financial, benefits from time to time, and working in person can help you develop valuable people skills that will help you once military life is behind you and your spouse.

Set yourself up with the supplies you will need for your office even when you move around. Be sure that you have a desk, the technology you need, and when you look for housing, make sure there is adequate space for you to work in.

Set up Your Mobile Business

You’ll want to set yourself up as an LLC, and that will mean choosing a location, as you don’t want to keep shifting your company every couple of years depending on where you live.

This means you can choose, to a certain extent, where to set up your business. Because you are in the military, you can do this either in your home state or a state where you have been stationed. The best first step is to meet with an accountant and see what state may have the best tax advantages to you.

In addition, you may want to consider where you and your spouse plan to settle when you get out of the military, since that may end up being your home state. Think long term, since this may end up being your business for years to come. Just realize you will have to pay taxes and file reports in whatever state you register as your business’ headquarters, regardless of whether you live or own property there or not.

Timing is Everything

When it comes to business, location is often everything in the physical business world, but in the freelance world timing is everything. Getting into the right field at the right time can make a difference between immediate success or a long-term struggle.

When you freelance, more often than not, you’re driven by final deadlines, not set hours. This is appealing to many remote workers, and is especially useful for military spouses: you can use the daytime hours to do any family or household chores you need to, pick up the kids after school, and then start working when your spouse gets off duty.

In addition, being able to make the time to work from home and meet client deadlines is also a vital part of your formula for success. If you have children or other responsibilities, you need to make sure your schedule will allow you to work enough to handle not only your work week but the additional marketing and other tasks that come with owning any business.

Freelance work is not the ideal for everyone, but for a military spouse who is constantly moving around, it may be the best solution for establishing a career or even just working a job. You have to be smart about it. Do what you know how to do, make sure you can do that work anywhere, set up your business well, and ensure your timing.

None of us enters a marriage thinking that there would ever be a reason for divorce. It is usually something that happens to someone else but not to you and your partner. However, in life nothing is certain and some relationships are not built to last, and if you come face to face with the possibility of divorce, don’t panic, you are not the only one. In most developed countries divorce rates are actually increasing and they are reaching a 50% divorce rate. There are several things you can do to make the process less stressful for both you and your partner, and this is especially important if there are kids involved.

You can never be prepared for what is coming

You can think you are. You went over everything, agreed this is the only solution and began the whole process. That is the part of rational thinking, however, emotions are a whole other thing. You start talking about what’s next, from living arrangements to finances and assets splitting. In an ideal world, this would go perfectly, but we are emotional beings and so more often than not even the perfect agreements about all of the above-mentioned issues go down the drain. Now in order to avoid the messy part of the whole process, professionals like family law experts in Sydney, can help settle disputes and mediate the whole proceeding. That way you can have someone to rely on to help you go through this uncomfortable process.

It is OK to mourn

You need to give yourself time to deal with what is happening. You have invested time and emotions into this relationship, there are a lot of memories that bind you, some beautiful some maybe not as much, but still, you have shared your life with this person and it is not an easy thing to get over. So it is important that you give yourself time to be sad about what has happened and in a sense mourn your marriage. Going forward without dealing with all the emotions is definitely not the best options, because sooner or later you need to deal with them, and sooner is always better. And if you feel overwhelmed turning to a professional is always advisable, as a therapist might be able to help you understand the situation better and provide you with the right emotional tools to deal with the whole thing.

Don’t let others define you

Most people feel ashamed when they have to admit they are going through a divorce. They feel like failures even though they know all too well that there is nothing to be embarrassed about. They have done their best to save the marriage and it simply wasn’t meant to be. So now it is time to deal with the questions and the silent judgment. Well, first of all, you are not in any obligation to explain your situation to anyone. It is no one’s business but yours and your partner’s. So simply politely decline to answer all the why’s and how’s. You will feel a lot better, that is a given. Next, don’t put a label on yourself, your relationship status shouldn’t be divorced, it should be single. You don’t have to advertise, just tell it to people if you want to. Going through something as traumatic as a divorce should be a personal journey and you don’t have the obligation to share it with anyone you don’t want to. Remember that. People sometimes feel like they have the right to demand answers from you, but they don’t.

Don’t play the blame game

When something monumental happens in our life and divorce is as monumental as it can get, make no mistake, we tend to look for someone and something to blame or thank for it. So even an amicable divorce can turn ugly if you start putting the blame for things on one another. And you are going to get asked about it a lot, people always assume one person is to blame more than the other in situations like this. But as always it takes two to make or break something. So instead of looking for someone to blame try to develop a good relationship with your ex. After all, they are bound to have some characteristics you love, otherwise, you wouldn’t have married them. So focus on that, be cordial and move on. Stooping down to a blame game can be damaging for both of you.

Don’t expect divorce to be easy, even under the best circumstances. When we get married we feel like we are binding our life to another’s, and it is a really big deal. So now having to detach from that, and sand alone once again can be quite scary, but at the same time, if that is what you feel is the best for both of you then embrace it and find your way back to yourself and your independence.

Selling your home can be a daunting task, especially when you have children. It is not easy to make sure your home is ready at all times for potential buyers. Here are a few suggestions to make it easier on yourself and your children.

Make it a Family Affair

Moving can be difficult for children. They might not want to leave their friends and can be anxious about getting used to a new school.

Talk to them about the move and help them work through their fears and concerns. Enlist their help in preparing for the move, including keeping the house neat and clean. They will find some comfort when you make them feel like they are part of a family decision and planning for a significant event like moving.

How much understanding and help much you can expect from your children will depend upon their age. If your children are very young, you are going to have to deal with the messes they create such as:

• Crayons or paint on the walls
• Dirt and mud from their shoes on your floors and carpeting
• Chocolate and other food stains on counters, furniture, and walls

If you explain to them the importance of trying to keep the house as clean as possible, you might have less cleaning up to do on a daily basis.

Get Rid of Clutter

Nothing makes a house look worse than clutter. This mean all the extra stuff you have hanging around your home. The last thing you want to do is drag your junk from one house to another. If it is broken, you don’t use it, or you don’t need it, get rid of it.

When you have children, you are going to have a lot more stuff lying around the house including their toys, bicycles, and other play things.

Your children’s fun things are the last items you want to store away because you don’t want them to feel like they are being deprived. However, it is perfectly reasonable to put away or store things they might not be using.

If your house is on the market during the winter, their bikes, pails, shovels, and baby pools won’t be missed until the weather gets warm again. They also won’t miss their sleds and ice skates during the summer if that is when you are selling your house.

Out of season items are not just for your children. Think about all those bulky winter clothes, boots, holiday decorations, skis, snowboards, skates, hockey gear, and snow tires that are taking up space in your closets, basement, and garage.

A helpful option is to rent a full-service storage unit where you can store some of these things. As this full storage provider, an alternative to the typical self-storage, operating out of Seattle says:

“If winter is your favorite season and storing away all these items is a sad move for you, don’t worry, they will only be away till the next year! For now, they are getting in the way of your clutter-free living”.

By storing these winter items in a safe place and out of the home you are trying to sell, you will be amazed at how much neater and less cluttered your home will look and feel to potential buyers.

Restrict Visiting Hours

Most realtors will tell you that you have to be available any time a potential buyer wants to view your home. For the most part, this is a true statement.

However, some people have found that it is much less stressful to ask for 24 hours-notice before a showing. They have also found that it is less disruptive to their children’s lives and schedules if they have a cut-off time such as when it is time for their children to go to sleep.

This is a decision you will have to make with your realtor or on your own if you are not using a realtor. It might extend the length of time your house is on the market if you limit when you will show your home. Look at the pros and cons and make the best decision for your specific situation.

Hire a Professional Cleaner

No matter how you try to keep your house clean, it will benefit you to hire a professional to do a deep cleaning.

There will always be dust build-up in hard to reach places and corners you might not be getting to on a regular basis. Even though it costs more money to hire someone to do the cleaning than if you were to do it yourself, it is a wise decision when you have children.

You will be giving yourself less stress and more quality time to spend with your children instead of wasting your valuable time cleaning and picking up after them.

There is no getting away from the fact that selling your home will be stressful. You can only do your best to make it easier by following some of the above suggestions. Remember that your children’s well-being is more important than a few toys or a little dirt on the floor.

Try not to get stressed over the little things and enjoy your children while they are young. You and your children will be better for it when you finally do move into your new home.

For all the moms who have getting rid of that old mattress at the bottom of their priority list….

Find the next destination of the old mattress sitting in the basement collecting dust. Based on the condition of your mattress, we will help you decide if it should be recycled or donated – never dumped.

For all the moms out there itching to do some spring cleaning, you’re going to want to read this.

Have you ever wondered what to do with your old mattress? Maybe your kid’s old twin beds have been sitting in the basement for the last five years. Or perhaps, you’ve had a teenager leaving for college and you are stuck with their old furniture. How inconvenient.

Getting rid of a mattress is probably at the bottom of your priority list. Why? Because it’s a hassle. Who wants to lug an 80 lb bed through the house? You have more important things to think about.

For an item purchased every 7 to 10 years, it’s not surprising people have no clue how to get rid of it when it reaches the end of its life. The general assumption is to leave it on the curb for your city’s bulk waste pickup to deal with. Unfortunately, that’s illegal in most places.

That’s why we are giving you two easy steps for moving that old, lumpy mattress out of your house and onto bigger and better things (than rotting in the basement).

Step 1: Assess the condition of your mattress

If the mattress you are getting rid of belonging to a child, chances are it has a few rips or stains. If that’s the case, you’ll want to recycle your mattress. There are laws against donating mattresses in poor condition. This is for the health and safety of the next owners of your old bed.

However, if the mattress is stain free and appears to have no major rips or tears, that’s great! Consider donating your mattress to a family in need. You might even consider your own family member or friend that needs a new bed.

Step 2: Identify a charity or organization in your area that will take your mattress

Here’s the thing. Mattresses are 85% recyclable. That’s why you should avoid sending your mattress to the dump at all costs.

Thirty-three million mattresses are manufactured every year in the United States and 20 million are dumped. That’s a lot of mattresses to go in a landfill.

Based on the condition of the mattress, you should either find locations to recycle near you or call the local charity in your area to see if they accept mattress donations. It’s important to note, laws regarding reselling mattresses vary from county to county. While one branch of a charity may accept your mattress, another may not. All you have to do is make a few calls.

Regardless of whether you donate or recycle, the good news is most organizations will come to pick up your mattress for you! All you have to do is open the door.

Both of these options are just as simple as taking your old, lumpy mattress to the dump – not to mention, it’s better for the planet. And if you’re not in love with either, yard sale season is in full swing!

Once your old mattress is gone, find the next best mattress to replace it!

Happy cleaning.