Category: Home

Burglar Proofing Your Home on a Budget

It’s estimated by the FBI that every fifteen seconds, somewhere in America, a house is broken into. And with the state of the economy today, that rate only seems like it will go up. After all, everyone across the board – even burglars – is losing money, but that’s no reason to be a victim. Here are a few cheap ways to make your house safer and more burglar proof.

First of all, it’s a good idea to invest in some lighting systems, which can be bought on the cheap in most home improvement stores. It’s proven that robbers are less likely to target a well-lit house. After all, if a house is well-lit, there’s a greater chance that they’ll be seen even in the dark of night and that someone will come to investigate. Thankfully, there are a lot of relatively cheap ways to effectively light your house. Many places sell motion-detecting light systems for cheap, and those are almost sure to startle a burglar away from a house that seemed dark and vulnerable right up until he walked close to it and suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a spotlight that would put a Broadway stage to shame!

Another wallet-smart – and yet surprisingly often neglected – method to make your home safer is to install a peep hole in your doors. These have been around forever, can be found in most hardware stores, and installation is relatively cheap. Not to mention, it’s an indispensable- and safe- way to figure out just who that shady character walking up your drive way is, and whether it’s someone you’ve never seen before or just Uncle Moe come to visit for the weekend! For the installing of the blaux portable ac, a budget can be prepared to meet with the requirements. The cheap quality should not be selected to meet with the specifications. The elements of the ac should be high-quality to offer in reasonable rates. The budget will suits the requirement of the home owner. 

While on the subject of doors, it’s generally a smart idea to have more than the simple lock that comes installed in the handle. For less than ten dollars on average, you can invest in a deadbolt, which is cheap and effective and sure to stop any burglar with just the old credit card trick from getting in.

Now onto the windows! Being so open and – in many cases – low to the ground, the average window is often a perfect target for burglars. Not to mention, a lot of windows have weak, and easily broken, locks. Window security bars are a good remedy for this situation. They range in price from under ten to over thirty dollars, and when in place, they make it a heck of a lot harder for a burglar to get a window open, broken lock or not. Just make sure to get one that also has a quick release latch; it would be bad if they couldn’t be removed quickly in an emergency.

My final suggestion for cheap home security is investing in a set of security cameras. True, these can be a little expensive, but at the same time, security cameras are a lot cheaper than they used to be, and it shouldn’t be hard to get a good system for a few hundred dollars. With a good camera system, you can have eyes all around your home, along with the two in your head!

As sad as it is, no one can be completely safe from robbery all of the time. But with these simple and cost-savvy methods, at least you’ll have the peace of mind that you’re that much more secure.

Dyson Animal Vacuum Really Never Loses Suction

Over the years I have gone through more vacuums than I care to write about. I am so happy to share my newest find. It is called the Dyson Animal DC14. I bought this a few years ago so I don’t know the model numbers of the newer Dyson vacuums but I am excited to tell you about the one I have.

I have two dogs and a cat. My big dog weighs in at about 115 lbs and is three quarters Golden Labrador and one quarter Golden Retriever. My other dog weighs in at about 22 lbs and is a King Charles Cavalier. My cat only weighs about 12 lbs and I have no idea what breed. So needless to say I need the best vacuum out there. Did I mention that I personally have the worst allergies and asthma? Maybe having three animals wasn’t the brightest idea but I love them they are my children. With the purchase of hepa Filter Vacuums, the benefits are enormous with the person. Complete research should be done through the person to meet with the right results. 

Two years ago my husband and I built our dream house. I knew that I wanted to put hardwood down in all of the rooms but there was no way we could afford to do it all at once. The only room we ended up putting the hardwood down was the dining room. We put tile in the foyer continuing on to the kitchen, the bathroom and the mudroom. We had to put carpeting in the living room, family room, and all 4 bedrooms. I found myself breaking out into allergy attacks all the time and my asthma was pretty bad. I have started noticing that my 2 year old son was sneezing a lot as well. I needed to get a new vacuum desperately. My old one just wasn’t doing it for us anymore. As I said earlier we just built a new house and with new construction comes a ton of dirt from the outside and dust setting on the inside. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle. So I needed a solution.

My husband had heard about this new vacuum called the Dyson Animal. It was supposed to be excellent in picking up animal hair and it was never supposed to lose suction no matter how full it got. I figured it was worth a shot. The only problem was that this particular model was very expensive. It can cost anywhere from $400 to over $500 depending on where you made the purchase. There was no where we were going to spend that kind of money on a vacuum cleaner. No way. Well, as luck should have it, It turned out that my husband was able to cash in reward points with his American Express credit card for Home Depot gift cards. After work he went to Home Depot and picked up the Dyson Animal DC14. This is the one that comes in purple. The Dyson vacuums come is different colors. It depends on which one fits your needs best. The one that I have is called the Animal because it is designed to pick up all of the animal hair. I can’t believe how well this works. I was amazed after I was done vacuuming how much hair it picked up. We must have been living with tons of hair in our other house which disgusts me when I think back now.

This particular vacuum does not use bags either which is great. You don’t have the added expense of buying replacement bags every other week. This model comes with plenty of attachments to help get under the furniture and hard to reach places. I would suggest turning the vacuum over every two to three cleans and clean out the roll. I was surprised to see how much hair was stuck and wrapped in the roller. It would have eventually started to smell like burning hair.

This vacuum also works well on tile and hardwood. All you have to do is switch the button on the bottom of the vacuum from carpet to bare floors. I use this vacuum to clean my entire house. After 2 years of giving this vacuum an unbelievable workout it is still going strong. By now my other vacuums would have started to break and who wants to spend money fixing vacuums. To this day it has not lost any suction. It still picks up the dirt and hair just like the first day we got it.

I highly recommend purchasing any Dyson vacuum. My mother in law and father in law just purchased the same vacuum from Dyson.com for $400. Get this, they don’t even have any pets!

Beazer Homes Homebuilder

Beazer Homes homebuilder background

The remarkable Beazer Homes homebuilder is a homebuilding firm based in the United States of America and is listed in the Fortune 500 list of companies. The headquarters of this firm are based in Atlanta, the capital of Georgia. Beazer Homes homebuilder stands among the top 10 homebuilders in the country and this rating is depending on the total figure of houses closed on. The operations of this are going on in different geographical locations within the United States and Beazer Homes homebuilder is into home construction in over 16 states in the US. The homes designed by Beazer Homes homebuilder are said to be quite appealing to many homebuyers across the US since it offers homes to suit various budgets. 

Beazer Homes homebuilder construction and sales

Beazer Homes homebuilder is into construction as well as the sale of most homes for single-family occupancy. Along with providing homebuilding services, Beazer Homes homebuilder also provides customers with house mortgage options that are channeled through the subsidiary of the firm called Beazer Mortgage Corporation. Beazer Homes homebuilder was awarded with many prizes in the two consecutive years of 2006 and 2007. These awards were won during the different ‘Parade of Homes’ events in many states across the country.

The awards are merely a statement that Beazer homes are one of the best builders in the United States and every new home builder in PA aspires to become like them, which is a testimony of their skills.

Beazer Homes homebuilder styles and designs

Beazer Homes homebuilder as a construction firm offers a wide variety of services like designing, construction, and selling of homes that range from single- family houses to multi- family homes in almost 20 states of the United States of America. Beazer Homes homebuilder has a wide range of offers for different categories of buyers like move-up, entry-level, retirement oriented buyers as well as those who want luxury homes. This firm has been functioning in the real estate sector since the year 1985.

Beazer Homes homebuilder top ten home builder in the US

Since the year 1994, Beazer Homes was included as part of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Being one of the top ten-homebuilding firms of the United States, this firm has expanded very widely into the market. Beazer Homes homebuilder is now covering almost 40 markets that spread over Central, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, West and Southeast regions of the United States. The firm is also a national sponsor of non-profit nationwide program called HomeAid America. The Beazer Homes homebuilder is also a member of the Public Home Builders of America, which is a non-profit association that aims at elevating the standards of business customs relating to the homebuilding firms.

Beazer Homes homebuilder loan-lending and development

The firm also works in association with one of the important home loan-lending firms, called Countrywide, in order to help its customers to sort out their finances while they are in the process of buying a house. Beazer Homes homebuilder also offers services for community development where many homes are constructed with complete facilities in noteworthy communities like Rancho Cordova, Beazer Capitol Village, and the Communities of Glenmont Estates. The wide range of services that Beazer Homes homebuilder offers in the homebuilding sector has made it one of the business giants in the field of specialization.

Beazer Homes homebuilder has plenty of reason why it should be on the list of top ten homebuilders in the United States, and everyday they are working hard to keep up their standards and improve the quality of the homes they build.

How to Make Friends as a Stay at Home Mom

If you are a stay at home mom then you would know how difficult it can be to make friends. Your day may consist of carpool, play dates, and errands leaving you little room for a social life. When you do however, find an opening in your schedule for some social time you are left not knowing what to do with that time. Sure you would like to have some coffee with a friend or meet up with a friend and enjoy a nice day in the park with the kids. But you can not do any of these things because you don’t have any friends. You detached yourself from the social scene a long time ago when you became a parent.

If you are interested in building friendships but do not know where to begin take a look at some of the ways and places you can go to meet friends.

Before attempting to make friends you have to exude confidence and be very optimistic. Some parents may not be willing to open themselves up to a friendship but this should not discourage you.

Go to the park and let your child play with the other children.

If you notice that your child shows a particular interest in one child at the park, look for that child’s parent and spark up a conversation with her. You could start by asking the parent how old her child is. If the parent is more of a gregarious person she should have no problem continuing the conversation. Take a look at her body signs, if she appears to be open to talking then continue to talk with her. If she seems annoyed or uninterested with your presence do not continue talking to her. If the two of you hit it off well you could let the other parent know that you are looking for playmates for your kid, if she is interested offer her your number.

Enroll your child in extra curricular activities.

Think of some activities your child might be interested in and enroll him/her in them. When you pick up your child from the activities ask him if there is any particular kid that he enjoys playing with. The next time you go to pick up your child ask him to show or introduce you to his friend. Now that you know how your child’s friend looks you will be able to easily spot out the child and his parent. If you notice the child and his caregiver ask the parent if she would be interested in play dates. If she is interested then you could exchange numbers.

Go take your child out for a walk.

You never know what people you will meet on your daily walks. A parent may just come up and strike up conservation with you out of nowhere. If you do meet some pleasant parents, exchange numbers and schedule play dates.

Post ad on internet.

If you feel comfortable meeting others online you can post an ad in the parenting section of such websites as craigslist.com. You can mention that you are looking for mommy friends (or want to start a mommy group) to do play dates with. You will be surprised at how many responses you will get back. If you choose to do this make sure that when you first meet the person, you meet in a well lighted area where people frequent.

Engage in a hobby –

Such as cooking class, music class, gym class, whatever class interests you. Get to know the people in your class. You might find that some people have kids the same age or near the same age as your kid. Exchange numbers and meet up for a couple of play dates.

Go to mommy group-

This is the easiest way for parents to meet other parent. Almost every town has an organization that funds mommy groups. The local library usually holds weekly story hours for children and their parents.

Know your neighbors.

Get to know your neighbors and find out if they have children close to the same age as your child. Exchange numbers and invite them over to your home. Within time your friendship should prosper.