Your Child's First Car and What You Need to Know (and What if They Wreck it?)

Please check out the update, originally from October 17, 2017, at the bottom of this post! This is a sponsored post.

My 16-year-old son Joel will be hunting for his first car soon! This is him driving us all from Kansas City to Nashville

Cars offer the freedom and mobility to go where you want. This independence is crucial when you live in an area that doesn’t have an extensive public transport system. While getting your teen a car will let them test their limits and makes them more responsible, nothing will beat the life lessons they will learn, but you may have to help them buy their first car. To help your teen buy their first car, follow this quick guide and check out CarCareNinja for more information about reliable cars:

Encourage Your Teen to Get a Job

Before a car can ever come into the equation, your teen first needs a job. A job is a rite of passage for many teens, as it will help teach them about real-world responsibilities. The job will help them expand their social abilities and it will also provide them with an income that they can do whatever they want with. After all, they will need to be able to pay for the car’s fuel!

Have a Budget

There are many ways a teen can finance their car. They can either have enough savings to buy a used one outright, they can finance it by themselves, or you can help them. A great way to help them buy a car is to pay for the deposit as a gift to them, and to then let them finance the rest. Regardless of how you and your teen plan to pay for the car, work out a reasonable budget beforehand. Remember, the longer the lease, the more you pay over the original ticket price.

Insurance

Insurance is a must, and a premium insurance can help protect your teen better than the basic level one they can probably afford. It’s usually cheaper to add your teen to your own insurance, and can give them more room to make their car payments. It’s important to note, however, that not all accidents mean that your insurance will be affected. If either you or your teen was in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, it’s important to contact a Stuart car accident law firm to get you the compensation you deserve.

Do Your Research

When your teen wants a car, you need to make sure that they choose one that has high safety ratings to today’s standards. There are a lot of old cars that, technically, have high safety ratings, but only in the context of the year they were produced. Steer your child away from flashy cars and instead towards safe, reliable cars that will keep them safe for years and years to come.

Once you’ve chosen a good car within your budget look up what its manufacturer price is and negotiate the car down to a much better price than what the ticket says.

It can be scary to see your child drive off without you in the car, but it’s an important life skill that gives everyone the freedom and mobility necessary to be an independent adult. Help your teen buy their own car, and they’ll be accountable for it, ensuring they are more careful, and safer. 

UPDATE:
Last night after work, my now-18-year-old son Joel was heading to the gym. He was driving straight and another man turned in front of him and they collided. Both of them now have a messed-up front right end of their vehicle. Both of them got towed. Now what? My son was towed to a collision center at the expense of our insurance company because we recently got emergency roadside assistance. But what now? If they can't fix it and we can't get a fair price from the insurance company, I'm thinking we should give something like this a shot where they buy cars that have been in an accident for cash.

Promoting Great Dental Health for Your Family

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Your teeth are one of the essential parts of your body. While you don’t need pristine, pearly whites like those you see in Hollywood movies, it’s still important to ensure that you and your family maintain excellent dental hygiene habits. Neglecting this can lead to rotting teeth, gum disease, and bad breath, which is not at all what you want. Here are some tips to help you promote great dental health for your family. 

Cut Down On Sugar

One of the leading causes of tooth decay is having too much sugar in your diet, and if your family struggles with a lot of dental health issues, this could be the main reason. 

Cutting out sugar can be hard, as the rush from it is addictive, especially for kids. But if you want to maintain fantastic oral health, cutting down or eliminating sugar altogether will bring an array of benefits. There will be less discoloration of the teeth, and you’ll have better breath. Plus, not only will it improve your dental health but also overall health, too. 

Take Time and Don’t Rush 

When brushing your teeth, people think it’s more effective to go hard and fast, however, while a little pressure is good, applying too much can scrape the protective enamel from your teeth, making them more susceptible to decay. 

Instead, it’s recommended to brush gently for between two to three minutes. You can time this by finding a toothbrush with a timer or listening to a song. It’s also important to target all of your teeth, not just those at the front as often, there is food trapped in the molars at the back of the mouth, so getting rid of any leftover food will do wonders for your dental health. 

Soft Bristles

For kids, soft bristles are ideal for making them enjoy brushing their teeth and not dreading it. The package will tell you whether the bristles are soft or not, and these are more gentle on sensitive gums and prevent bleeding. 

You should change the toothbrush every three months, although it might be sooner depending on how hard your family brushes. You can find brushes with bristles that change color when the time comes to replace them.  

Get Advice When You Need It

Regardless of how well you and your family look after their teeth, there’s still the chance for issues to arise, such as severe toothache or infection, perhaps from a growing-out wisdom tooth. When this happens, it’s crucial to seek advice instead of waiting and hoping for the pain to go away. 

For more serious issues, finding a good dentist is crucial to maintaining excellent dental health. They can provide the correct treatment and explain what should and shouldn’t be done to prevent a repeat of these issues in the future. This advice can be invaluable for you, your partner, and your kids, so take it on board. 

Happy Smiles

While there may be some resistance from your family, it’s not too difficult to maintain excellent dental health to ensure everyone grows up with beautiful, shining smiles that become the centerpiece of every photograph from now on. 

Protecting Yourself Now For A Brighter Future: The Things To Think About

Many of us will head out to work each day to earn our income, and while that’s what we feel we are supposed to be doing, where do you draw the line? You see it is all well and good working hard and investing money into things like property or future retirement plans, but are they really protected should things crumble around you? This is why it’s vital to ensure that not only do you make those sensible investments for your future, that you also take the time to protect them. So here are a few solid ways you can do that. 

Image source - Pixabay - CC0 License 

Write a will

Working hard to buy a house, invest for the future and your retirement isn’t something that you just happen to acquire. At some point, you will have sacrificed, maybe worked extra hours or done jobs you didn't enjoy. But, what we can all agree on is that we have no idea what the future holds, and at some point in our lives, we will no longer be here. When that happens, no one really knows. This is why having a will in place to protect your assets and finances is so important. It ensures that your entire estate, what you have worked so hard for, stays with the people you care and love the most. 

Make sure you have all relevant insurances

Some of the investments we make, be that property or savings for the future, have quite a high cost or value. So it’s vital that we make sure we protect ourselves in other ways. This is where insurance policies for the property you own, contents you have in it, and even policies on other assets like cars and your life are essential. Should anything go wrong your insurance policy covers you. 

Amicably discuss what will happen if a marriage breaks down

I’m sure anyone of us who enters into a marriage intends for it to stand the test of time, but as divorce rates are rising, it is becoming a sad fact that more relationships seem to break down. It is never a pleasant conversation to have, but it could be a good move to discuss your financial position and assets should the worst happen. 

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Some of us may have been privy to some of the financial crises that have happened over the years. Which is why it could be a good move to ensure that you spread your savings in different establishments. Some people were unfortunate to lose a huge chunk of their savings when the last financial crash hit. Protect yourself as best you can. A great idea maybe to discuss your financial savings and investments with a wealth management company. Ones that can help you to make the right choices and to ensure you feel happy about the prosperity of your financial future. 

Put small amounts away for a rainy day

Finally, it’s always advisable to save to protect yourself. So it could be a great idea to save small amounts each week or month for a rainy day. This can build up over time, and could really help you out should disaster strike. 

Let’s hope these ideas help you protect your finances and assets for the future. 

Technology That Can Add More Benefits To Your Life

Technology has certainly come with many advantages, it has very much changed how we function in day-to-day life. Here are some tips to help you introduce more technology into your life that will help benefit you even more.

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Making Shopping More Effortless

Shopping online has never been easier, especially as there are now plenty more ways of paying, just click here to see how merchants are improving the way they take payment in-store. For online shopping, though, a lot of brands are now turning to social media to sell their products. Instagram as an example, has a shop feature where you simply need to swipe up, press a few buttons, and you’ve got what you need ready in your basket to go. It helps that they style all the outfits so you can see what they can be paired with. It’s dangerous because you are likely to end up spending more, but it definitely makes shopping a little easier and less of an effort. 

Control Your Home Appliances With Apps

Having more control over our home appliances is something we definitely could benefit from, and with so many advancements in technology, more of the things we use at home can be controlled by apps. So look at the home appliances you get for your home, like your heating, for example. You want to take advantage of things that replace the thermostat with an electronic one that can be controlled remotely. Imagine coming home to a warm home because you’ve managed to crank up the heating before you walk through the door. With electronic devices like Alexa and Amazon Echo, there’s so much now in our homes that can be controlled with technology and at the touch of a button.

Organizing Your Life With Task Management Software

A lot of us may find that having some organization in life is important, and a task management software is one way that you can have more ownership over what needs to get done in your life. It can be handy to have a to-do list or to when it comes to a hectic lifestyle. These can be controlled via your phone, your computer or an iPad. There’s definitely plenty of benefits by using technology to help add more structure and organization to your life.

Communicating With Family And Friends

As much as the internet has it’s dark sides, there are definitely some benefits from having the technology and the internet. The main thing is that you have that communication with family and friends, no matter where you are. It wasn’t so long ago that you didn’t have phones to call people or the web to a video message. We’d be lost without these because it can help connect long-distance partners and family members.

There are so many benefits that come from technology, and if you wanted to embrace it, even more, it could help bring something more to your life, whether that’s a bit more structure or social connection with loved ones. However, you use technology, appreciate that it’s here for us to use.

Tips to Create the Ultimate Garage Man Cave

Many men need a space to call their own. Enter the man cave. But where do you put it? With a few key tips, you can turn your garage space into the man cave you’ve been dreaming about.

Floor

Who wants to look at that cracked and stained concrete floor? Fear not. Garage floor epoxy can easily and affordably transform the garage floor to handle whatever you throw at it. Whether you want to work on your next woodworking project or have a beer while watching the game, epoxy provides a beautiful covering that can handle your mess. Drop a tool or spill some grease without worrying about damaging the floor. Even if you do mess up one spot, you can easily patch it good as new. You can pick from a variety of colors to suit your style.

Organization

Organize your space for your tools and other items. Put in some cabinets, over-the-head storage, pegboards, workbench or shelves. Customize the space to have the organization you need for whatever project you want to work on. A rolling cart is handy for working on vehicles. Pegboards offer easy access to key tools you use regularly. Good organization makes working in the garage fast and efficient. Plus, when your spouse comes through the door, they have minimal to complain about.

Décor

Place your favorite companies, logos and sayings around the room. Outfit the space with a couple of recliners or a couch to enjoy a game or movie. Have some folding chairs available for when the guys come over and you need extra seating. Match the floor color to that of the cabinets and wall or purposefully mismatch it. Add a neon beer sign in one corner or that mounted deer head your spouse won’t let you have in the bedroom. Whatever décor you want up, the garage has plenty of wall space to mount it. Avoid putting anything beyond stickers on the door to keep the garage door properly functioning.

Extras

A true man cave needs a space for your drinks. Incorporate a mini or full-standing fridge into the garage. There’s plenty of space and you have your beer, water and snacks right on hand. You never even have to enter the house to keep the party going. Set up a big-screen TV in one corner to watch the big game. You keep the noise in the garage without interrupting the family inside. Those later games are no problem any more now that you have a place to watch them.