5 ‘Hidden’ Credit Card Perks

Credit cards are usually known for high interest rates and extra fees, but did you know they also have some hidden benefits? Policies vary by company, but here are five perks your credit card may provide: • Rental car insurance. One-third of drivers tend to buy extra collision insurance when they rent a car. Most credit cards include collision insurance. You could save $140 on a week’s rental, but it may not apply to trucks, campers, and SUVs. • Cell phone replacement. If your phone gets damaged or stolen (loss may not be included), certain cards such as Citi will pay for a new cell phone, although you’ll have a $50 co-pay. • Trip cancellation. A Discover card may give you up to $2,500 if you have to cancel your trip due to illness. It has to be a serious illness with a doctor’s note or an event like death in the family. Also, American Express cards usually offer travel perks, such as double reward points to use on hotel and airfares. • Price (or return) protection. If you buy an item and find the same one advertised for a lower price elsewhere within 30 to 60 days, your card might refund the difference. Exclusions could include cars, cell phones, online sales, and purchases on eBay. Plus, most cards let you dispute a purchase if your merchandise isn’t delivered. • Extended warranties. Visa and AmEx cards automatically double the length of any manufacturer’s warranty. You need documentation and some products aren’t covered but it can save you money. See page 2 for more information on extended warranties. Read your credit card agreement to find perks you may be missing!

The Key To A Longer Life

Friends—According to Harvard’s School of Public Health, men who have lots of friends, social contacts, and relatives live longer, more satisfying lives. In a study of 28,000 men in their early 40s to late 70s, researchers found that men who were socially isolated loners were 20 percent more likely to die prematurely. The socially isolated group also was 53 percent more likely to die from heart related diseases and stroke. Unmarried men included in the study had markedly higher death rates than married men with a strong family support system did. It appears that making friends and nurturing social relationships not only will make you healthier, but it could make you a lot happier too!

Plane Facts

Aviation is still the safest form of transportation. The International Air Transport Association says the 2012 global accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft was one accident for every 1.4 million flights. If you were to take a flight daily, you could go 3,859 years without an accident!

Fast Sale? Higher Price? Focus on Landscaping!

Good landscaping can increase your home’s resale value by 14 percent, according to the Associated Landscape Contractors of America. Better curb appeal may speed up the sale by as much as six weeks. Professionals recommend that you invest 10 percent of your home’s value in landscaping. More than just plantings, this includes structural features such as lighting, outdoor rooms, fences and pools. Here are some helpful tips: • Determine what you need. Are you landscaping to sell your home or to enjoy the property yourself for the longer term. • Get professional guidance. Depending on the scope of your project and budget, consider hiring an arborist, a landscape designer or a certified landscape architect. Ask friends for recommendations or search web sites such as the one for The American Society of Landscape Architects. • Develop a plan. Set your priorities ─ what needs to be done (have you solved that drainage problem?) versus what you’d like to do (put in an outdoor entertainment area). If you take a piecemeal approach, the result will look disorganized and cost you more money in the long run.

Get Your Child Excited About Reading This Summer

Does your child spend too much time watching TV or playing video games and not enough time reading? Here are 7 quick tips to make reading fun and exciting: 1. Let your child choose books they’re personally interested in. This way they won’t get bored right away. If they can’t decide, help them by matching a book topic with one of their interests. 2. Encourage them to act out the book as a play. Kids love to perform for others, and this will help them remember more. 3. Ask your child to draw pictures of the characters. This gets them to really think about the details, plus it’s fun! 4. Read chapter books. These have more surprises and character development, which will help your child visualize the words more. 5. Take turns reading and let them ask questions. Also, have them read aloud to their siblings or friends. 6. Work with other parents to start a book club for kids. Here’s a video: www.howdini.com/howdini-video-14452277.html 7. Get your child an eReader. If you can’t get them away from video games, at least make their time in front of a screen more productive. If you have an iPAD, go to www.progressbythepage.com to find a reading app. It comes with a list of free eBooks, and ways to monitor their time spent reading.

How To Organize And Get Things Done

Do you feel like you’re always working to keep up, but don’t really get anything done, especially around holidays? In his best-selling book Getting Things Done, David Allen gives you an effective time management system to help you organize your stuff, your work activities and your personal life. Allen’s key idea is to start with a “mind sweep” ─ get everything out of your head and down on paper (or other written form). Once your mind is cleared, your productivity goes up and you can focus on creative action. His five basic stages of mastering your personal or professional “workflow” are: 1) Collect. Capture anything and everything that is on your mind. 2) Process. Decide what each thing means. Is it something you should do? Do it now or later? Can you delegate it (and track on a “Waiting For” list)? 3) Organize. Place the items in categories, such as Projects, Calendar, Next Actions and Waiting For, and sub-categories of your choice. (To help you visualize this, he includes a diagram for navigating through the processing and organizing phases of your workflow.) 4) Review. Go over Calendar and Action lists daily and do a weekly customized review to get clean and current. 5) Do. Make choices about your actions based on what you can do, how much time and energy you have and your priorities. Another one of his most popular methods is the “two minute rule.” If any task can be completed in less than two minutes (for example, a quick email response), do it immediately. Stop putting those little things off.

Clever Uses For Hydrogen Peroxide

• Disinfect countertops and cutting boards. • Pour a little over your toothbrush after every use. • Mix 1 oz in 1 quart of water and water your plants. It adds oxygen to the soil and helps roots grow.