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Does Your New Home Have Toxic Mold?

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Light micrograph of the hyphae and spores of t...

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The smell in your new home is funny, like an old, wet rag that has not seen the light of day in years, nor breathed any of its air. You know you have mold and it seems to be coming from behind the bathroom wall. What can you do, and how do you know if the mold is toxic?

These ideas will help.

  • Other than the strange smell, you may notice damp areas or mold growing in your bathroom tile. Dark circular stains on your ceiling or walls are a good indicator that you have toxic mold. Mold starts out kind of fuzzy and then turns pink or orange before it turns a toxic black, so pay attention to the stage your mold is in. Taking care of it early is always the safest solution.
  • Toxic mold may create watery eyes, congestion, and tiredness; symptoms that mimic allergies. If you are out and about and feel great only to return home and feel ill, you may want to check for the presence of mold.
  • Get some help from an attorney that specializes in accident injury in Los Angeles California or a lawyer in a city near you .
  • Hire a professional to check for toxic mold even if you only “believe” you have it. A professional will see things you will miss and know where to look for things that are not even considered in your realms of imagination.

Sure, a new home shouldn’t have toxic mold, but you’re not always told everything by the old owner. The ideas above should help you get through it.

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Moving Your Family from a House to an Apartment

May 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When you’re used to having a house, the move to an apartment can seem like a serious downgrade. For children and teens, any big move can be a source of depression, especially if they have to leave behind things like the yard that they grew up playing in, or a big bedroom. It should come as no surprise then that the best possible way to ease the transition between a house and an apartment is to maintain a positive attitude and involve everyone affected by the move.

Change Isn’t Always Bad

Look on the bright side: less space will give you and your family a chance to get rid of the excess stuff that everyone accumulates when they have enough space to store it. If you don’t use it, you probably don’t need it. The stuff you keep will be better organized. Talk about the other positive aspects of moving around your kids.

Make Moving a Family Activity

Pack together. When looking at apartments for rent, go as a family and let the kids help decide where their new home will be. Do walkthroughs together and let everyone get familiar with the apartment before you move in. Talk about where the kids will work on their school projects and other homework.

Keep the Familiar Things

Kids often feel uprooted when they move into a new place. Take along their favorite toys, clothing, even photos to hang on the walls, to make the apartment feel like home.

Making moving into a family affair will make the switch from house to apartment much easier on everyone.

 

Filed Under: Family Activities, Home Improvement Tagged With: , ,

Budgeting for Name Brands

May 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When you’re a hardworking parent and attempting to provide for your family, sometimes you have to “go without,” meaning that you have to sacrifice the things that you want, in favor of the things that you need, or that your family needs. It isn’t fun to go without all of the things that make you happy, like buying your favorite brands of clothing for example, and so often the best course of action is to budget for these items, and to buy them when your budget can reasonably support it.

Budgeting for Name Brands

Create a goal, such as deciding to buy a piece of Coogi clothing once per month. Set a financial goal, such as being allowed to spend a specific amount of money on that piece. Then work on saving enough money throughout the month to make this goal a reality. Unless you are living paycheck to paycheck and hand to mouth, and cannot reasonably afford to put a few dollars away per week toward this goal, it should not take much time or effort to save up enough money to buy the piece of clothing that you are lusting after this month.

Create a new goal every month, and add a nice piece to your wardrobe each month. This will allow you to have the wardrobe you dream of without having to break the bank in the process. A little scrimping and saving can really go a long way in helping you to achieve your fashion wardrobe dreams once and for all.

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