Back in 2004 I was able to travel to UK and stayed there for almost 7 months in my cousin's house. It was their first house in UK and they were very excited to become a homeowner there. Before I came there, she already told me about the big difference of the lifestyle as well as on how you take care of your stuff. I think wherever you live house insurance is a must if you own a property. But she told me that you can also purchase contents insurance to secure your belongings in case something happened.
I was really ignorant about it back then. When I first learned of it, of course I thought it was neat. Now that I am here in the US, insurance providers also carry those services. Most home insurance also cover contents of your home but there are some restrictions I believe. This is really a great deal since you will have peace of mind knowing that you can still recover something in case of any loses.
Aside from the insurance, we also purchase extended warranties for big appliances we have. Just recently, our microwave handle have some chipped on it. My husband called the company and since it is under warranty, they replaced the handle at no cost. I like how fast the services also. This is why we are happy with our decision about securing not only our house but the contents of it as well.
Content Insurance
Our Tree this Christmas
I thought we can get a real tree this Christmas, but we decided to make use of our artificial one instead. So after Thanksgiving we had the tree up and we're working on the decors. I have red and gold for color theme this year for our ornaments as well as other house decorations.
I was at the store to get some Christmas bows but I am aghast at how pricy it can be. One bow will cost you $5. So I went to youtube and watched some instructions on how to make one yourself. I found a good how-to video which is very easy and voila I did my own Christmas bows. I had fun doing it. I utilized my old wired ribbons for my trial ones. It came out good and from now on I will do my own Christmas bows.
This time around I did not buy too many gifts for everybody. I just picked out 2 each for our girls and also for hubby. Our DD1 also picked out something for her teachers at school that she gave to them on their last day before their Christmas break. In all, I think for next years to come I will do a 2-color theme for decorations. It looks neat. I can recycle one color a year and pair it with another one for next year. We'll see if I can keep it as our family tradition as well.
Last Week of Christmas Shopping
One week more and it's already Christmas day. If you are not yet done with your Christmas shopping, then this is the last week to do so. For those who are buying electronics or any gadgets for make sure to check out coupon codes so you can save money. I know most stores are having their Christmas sale. With their sale going on and the coupon codes that you get through the site like geek alerts.com, I am pretty sure you can score a great deal.
A friend of mine was thinking of getting another laptop and I told her about MacBook Air sale that she can snag. If only I have enough savings for another laptop, I will get one for myself as well. I will just hope by the time I am ready to buy one, I can still get a coupon code for it at geek alerts.
Geek alerts also have another great savings for electronics at best buy. Get the best buy coupon code and see what great deal you can snag from them. Every little penny counts this time. Be a smart shopper.
Watching Television
How many hours of television time you should let your toddlers watch in a day? I have read in some books that you should not let them watch telly over 2 hours in a day. I am so guilty of this because I let my kids watch their show on PBS or Nick channel more than 2 hours a day. I just don't have other means of bribing them to stay away from me to do my school work.
I let them watch television once they get bored playing or doing art work in their toy room. My consolation is that they are watching educational shows anyways. I know, it's my bad but I got to give them something to occupy them. Most of the time, even if they are watching telly, they are still bothering me. If this happens, I can no longer be in front of the computer, I need to be with them because the concentration blows out of the window already.
This is why you can wish you have someone to watch your kids even if you are at home. We don't have the luxury of that here, so I need to deal with it and improvise. I know in the end I can see the fruit of my sacrifices.
