Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Spring Roads Can Be Treacherous

Earlier in our posts, we discussed the need to drive cautiously during winter weather.  Now that spring is upon us, defensive driving appears just as important.  Potholes have been in the news and areas still are minefields. The extreme climate changes have resulted in extreme ice covered roads.   

We are once again advising slow driving, if you can call ahead and ask are there any areas I need to be aware of when driving.  Keep in mind at anytime you may need to make a safety maneuver.  Try to remain in your lane. Swerving into another lane may result in a multicar accident.  Stay alert, avoid use of the telephone and minimize passenger interactions. 

 

Making Camping Fun

Making Camping A Sweet Experience

My family went camping for our summer vacation.  We took the usual items: pillows, clothing, towels, sleeping bags, tent and cooking gear.  This year we decided to make camping a bit more comfortable.
In order to camp in comfort we added a few more items to our list.  The first was ascreened tent to enclose our picnic table (provided by the campgrounds).  That made our eating experience much nicer without the buzzing of bugs.  The second was the essentials of camping: bug spray, sunscreen and first aid kit.  I cut my finger twice, my husband cut his hand and my grandson scraped his foot.  The bugs still bit since we did not realize they were fleas and not mosquitoes. 
We had electricity at our site so the air mattresswas wonderful; next time I’d add a mattress pad. The other thing we used electricity for was a fan.  It was hot and humid so the fan made all the difference between miserable at night and comfortable.  We slept in the screened tent one night due to the heat.
 
Color campfire crystals make the campfire more exciting.  The sparkles that change color once sprinkled on the fire is a like a box of crayon fairies dancing in the fire.  To enjoy your fire, folding canvas chairs with arms that each have a cup holder make the experience more enjoyable.  With each cup holder on the armrests you can have your drink and telephone safely stored.  
After enjoying the campfire a walk to the showers to remove the campfire smell before bed is very satisfying.  Just as in college, flip flops and a shower container makes the task much easier.  The container, mine was a small bucket, held a flashlight, toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, night clothes and tea tree shampoo body wash combination (another defense against bugs).  
It seemed we were either always eating or thinking about eating.  We took two coolersif they had with wheels  that would have been even better.  One cooler was for cold food and one for dry food.  We needed the cooler for dry goods to keep the mice away. Who knew we would have a family of mice (maybe a colony) joining us on our camping trip?

I included a small rug for our tent this year.  Placed outside our door, we were able to take our shoes (slip-ons or velcro shoes) off before going into the tent keeping the inside of the tent much cleaner.  I am a firm believer in velcro or slip-on shoes for camping.  If you have to go in and out of the tent you are not likely to remove your shoes every time if you have to untie and tie your shoes. 

Lastly is a camera.  If your phone has a good camera then you are set.  A camera captures the fun experiences like the bedtime stories with your grandson and even the not so fun experiences like picking up duct tape not realizing you captured a mouse in the duct tape.  You’ll have that one photgraph that reminds you of the glow of the campfire which immediately brings you back to enjoying everyone’s company wishing you were back at the campground.   


 If you have special equipment that you take camping to make camp life easier please let us know.  We are always interested in comfort. 

Credit Reports

I ran my free credit report through annualcreditreport.com.  I chose only one credit reporting agency.  You can receive all three from Equifax, Experian and TranUnion.  Since I am not making a major purchase i.e. car or home, I chose only one agency.


Once you fill in your information: name, address for the past two years and social security number, some security questions pop-up.  If you have a mortgage, they ask what the name of the institution is.  Do not be alarmed if mortgagee is not listed, mine was not.  They asked about a credit card I was issued in a specific year and to match the name of the institution.   All were easy to answer even for me and I am not a detail remembering type of person. 

 
The next screen is the breakdown of your credit history.  There is a pie chart, a listing of all lenders including how much you owe, what your limit is for each lender, when it originated and your debt to credit ratio.  I have been told 20 to 25 percent is a good number for your ratio.  I also have heard that 30% and under is a good ratio to have.  I think the goal is to have your debt to credit ratio be no higher than 25 to 30 percent.   At this point, you can figure your debt to income ratio by dividing your monthly payment as shown on the credit report by your monthly gross income.  I did just my income, I did not include my husband’s income.  I guess I could have included his income, since the mortgage and such are in both our names. 
 
not my actual pie chart
The screen with your credit breakdown also shows what credit cards have been cancelled, if you have applied for any credit in the past two years and any negative comments about your credit history.  Thankfully, I have no negative comments.  My identity has not been stolen, yet.  It was very interesting to see who and how often my credit report was requested.  The screen also indicates that the credit reports that were requested did not affect my credit score.  If you want your credit score then you can pay $7.95 to obtain it.  Since I am not making a purchase I am not interested in my score, I just wanted to know what the report stated.
 
not my actual score
Since I requested only one report from one agency, I can request another report in 6 months from a different agency and then request another a few months later.  By law, you can receive your credit report free every year.  I am spacing them out so I can keep track of any credit report requests for possible identity theft.  Once I decide to make a purchase like a new car in a year or two, I will request all three credit reports at once.  However, I will not pay for my credit score as I can obtain that free from a credit card company I have.  
 
I would like this to be my new car ....
I have a plan to watch my credit report since it seems so important to so many people.  Do you have a plan?