Mommy Has to Work

Keeping Your Family Safe During the Holidays #IDSafetySeason @FellowesInc

December 31, 2013 By Anne

#spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between our site and Fellowes. This could include the Fellowes providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.

Did you know that there was one incident of ID fraud every three seconds in 2012? That’s a scary thought. I do a lot on-line and I have to say it has crossed my mind a few times. During the holidays I did a lot more shopping than normal and passed out my info more than I wanted to. But it was so convenient. I have to cancel one of my cards because of a breach in credit card information. I’m sure you hears about it.

So what can you do to protect your information?

Check your credit report a few times a year and make sure nothing is on there that shouldn’t be. I just checked mine and all was good.

Use a reusable Visa gift card to purchase items on-line. Then you are not giving out your personal card numbers.

If you do pay your bills on-line or make purchases on-line make sure you are using a secure website and don’t use public WiFi. If I use public wife I only surf the web. I never check my email or go on anything I need to use a password for.

If you don’t have one already get an anti-virus protector on your computer. There are lots of free ones out there so there’s no excuse.

Shred those papers at home! I use to just rip up papers and throw then in the trash. My husband would cringe when I did that. But we have a Fellowes Shredder now so that’s we use. You never know who’s going through your trash!

You can get a great Fellowes P-12C Shredder at Walmart or Walmart.com for only $99.97.

Fellowes in the leader in shredders and I love mine. It’s small and compact and doesn’t take up a lot of space.

It has Cross-Cut blades that can destroy 12 sheets of paper into approximately 309 particles per sheet, making it extremely difficult to reassemble. That’s a lot of tiny pieces of paper!

With little ones around the SafeSense® technology makes perfect sense. It automatically disables the shredder when hands touch the paper opening.

You can also shred credit cards, paper clips, staples and junk mail. No need to try to remove all those pesky staples.

Start your New Year off right and protect your identity!

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Why Buy It – When You Can Win It!! #win #giveaways

December 31, 2013 By Anne

Check out my giveaways below then link up your giveaways here….

Wellness Cat Food

Anne

Caring and Curing Go Hand in Hand When Dealing with Patients

December 30, 2013 By Anne

This is a guest post.

The role of the medical professional is to help a patient through their illness, offering them medical treatment, which will either cure their ailment or ease the severity of the symptoms. But patient care should go beyond simply regulating medicine doses and offering advice on how best to deal with an illness. Instead, those that are dealing with the sick and injured need to be on hand to offer patients emotional support and ease their fears and concerns whilst being a confidante about their feelings surrounding their situation.

Studies have shown that doctors and nurses, particularly the latter, that have a caring and understanding approach encourages patients to be receptive and can make the entire experience far more manageable.

Every part of the medical process should be made as easy on the patient as possible from consultations, stays in hospitals and even physical therapy billing for example.

Usually, patients will have their own support systems around them. This typically involves family, friends and loved ones but it is often the medical point of view that can be far more reassuring. A medical professional will be able to identify exactly what it is the patient has to go through and how the situation will make them feel. The reassurance of the emotion range being normal and the appreciation for the serious nature of the illness or injury can allow the patient to be put at ease.

Medical care is something that is a right and the treatments and future of the suffering patient should always be discussed and regularly enough to keep the person up to date with their personal progress. But a simply conversation about the emotional effects that are being experienced can also go a long way to help the healing process.

Anyone that has ever had to have long stays in hospital or receive a increased amount of medical treatment will know that it is a difficult time and something that puts a great deal of stress onto both the patient and the people around them.

The patient is less likely to want to bombard family and loved ones with how they feel, wanting to ease the worry that is being felt in the people closet to them. They should be able to turn to someone that has far more knowledge on their case as they have seen it before in other patients.

Getting a person through a period of illness is not simply about patching them up and sending them on their way it is about reassurance and creating a strong unit behind that person to help them work their way through their problems.

Debbie Fletcher is an enthusiastic, experienced writer who has written for a range of difference magazines and news publications. Follow her here: @Debbie_Fletch18

Photo credit: Foter.com / Public Domain Mark 1.0

Anne

Helping with College Finances

December 27, 2013 By Anne

This is a guest post.

A college education can be incredibly valuable for a number of reasons, but it can also be incredibly expensive. Most students end up paying their tuitions with financial aid and student loans, but these don’t cover everything, and even when they do they put students deeply in debt.

In many ways, going to college is about financial management—for students and their parents. Most college students who have just completed high school don’t have the means to support themselves without help. Many of them are living on their own for the first time, and they often don’t know how difficult it can be. Many of them have to rely on their parents for some financial support, but that can be just as hard on parents. If you are a parent who wants to support your children as they go to college, here are some things you should consider.

Talk to Your Children About Money Management

It can be tough to teach children how to live on their own and on a budget before they actually move out. But you should at least be teaching them the importance of keeping a budget and managing their finances. Help them manage their money if they have a part-time job. Instead of letting them spend all their money on whatever they want, encourage them to set some of it aside. Make sure they know what needs to be saved to pay bills and pay for food every month, and teach them how to make wise purchases that will save money.

Take Advantage of Online Courses

Many universities and institutions, like MIT, Harvard, University of Maryland and much more, offer a wide variety of their courses and programs online either partly or fully – and some are completely
eligible for credits.

Even though there are a whole lot of them to choose from, you can check out this list to take a look at some of the best.

Review Your Child’s Financial Aid Awards

If you and your child applied for financial aid and have earned at least some financial aid awards, make sure you review them to learn exactly what your young college student will be receiving. A savvy and thrifty college student can practically live off financial aid while he or she is in school, but you will want to make sure that is a possibility. Contact the college’s financial aid office to learn about your child’s financial situation, and make sure that you let them know about any major changes in your child’s financial situation that may occur.

Apply for Scholarships

One of the best ways for a student to pay for his or her college education is to apply for scholarships. These do take a little bit of work, and there’s always the chance that your child won’t qualify for some of the best scholarships, but it never hurts to apply for as many scholarships as are available. If your student plans to study in Canada, consider applying for country-specific scholarships, such as the one where RateSupermarket.ca giving away $5000 to lucky students, if they have dual citizenship. Otherwise, talk to the financial aid offices at your student’s possible schools for other scholarships. You should encourage your child to talk to a high school guidance counselor as well because they can be a great resource for possible scholarships.

Choose Your Child’s College Wisely

If your child is serious about a college education, he or she will probably have one or two “dream schools.” Earning a degree from an expensive Ivy League college would be nice, but not if it will plunge you and your child too deeply into debt. If money really is an issue in your family, don’t be afraid to suggest a cheaper school. There are plenty of colleges that will provide a quality education without putting students in debt for the rest of their lives.