Insurance; is it worth the money?

WHY, AND WHAT INSURANCE TO GET

Insurance is a necessary evil in today's society. If you were unfortunately robbed or involved in an accident, could you afford to replace all your lost or damaged items?

Insurance is to protect you if something bad happens. That being said, finding the right insurance may be difficult, so here’s what insurance you’ll need for what, what to look for in your insurance and why you want it.

RENTER’S INSURANCE

Anyone that’s going to rent an apartment or house NEEDS renter’s insurance. This’ll protect all of the stuff in your apartment/home in the event of a robbery or if they’re damaged. On top of this, you’ll probably need other types of insurance for things like natural disasters, but this really only applies if you own your home. Homeowners insurance is practically the same thing, just for a house.

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HEALTH INSURANCE

Health insurance is what saves you when you get your medical bill. Nowadays you can stay on your parent’s health insurance until you’re 26, so it shouldn’t be of concern for most of you quite yet. If that doesn’t quite work out, then colleges often have their own health insurance programs and there is also always government-funded health insurance. Keep in mind that this only goes for people in America, since other countries have different systems it may be different, depending on where you live.

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CAR INSURANCE

There are lots of different types of car insurance which may or may not be needed, based on your situation. First off is liability insurance, which protects other people’s things and health in the event of a car crash you caused. Then there’s personal injury protection (you can figure that one out on your own), collision insurance which protects YOUR car and things in the event of a car crash. Then there’s comprehensive insurance which protects you from “Acts of God” (so if lightning strikes your car or a tree falls on it, you’re covered). Finally, you have uninsured insurance which is an oxymoron that protects you from people who are lacking liability insurance.


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WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN INSURANCE

LOW PREMIUMS

Your premium is kind of like your bill. Always look for an affordable premium alongside a good insurance policy (a good insurance policy for you, everyone needs different things covered remember, that part is up to you) or you’ll go broke.

LOW DEDUCTIBLE

Let’s say you go to the hospital and come out with a $1000 medical bill. Now let’s say you have a deductible of $500, this means that once you pay the first $500, the insurance company will cover the rest.

Keep in mind, low deductibles typically mean higher premiums and the same for the other way around.

COPAY

Your copay is a percentage of your medical bill that you have to pay. Typically it isn’t all that expensive, but everything can add up easily.

How to clean and organise your home

A house should be a peaceful, tidy, cleanly place for you to come home to everyday and relax. Here’s how you keep it that way.

Setting your day up

Setting yourself up for a productive day starts with making your bed. Get into the habit of making your bed right after waking up. By doing this, you have already completed the first step in keeping your home tidy and organised.

Vacuuming
Vacuuming every week is probably your best option. Remember to use the little tube on the side to get hard to reach areas like right under cabinets. If you don’t want to spend time vacuuming, get a robot to do it for you. A few more things people tend to forget about when vacuuming are the stairs and the couches. Make sure to lift up the pillows on a couch and give it a good vacuum every once in a while.


Bathrooms

For mirrors, the counter, and toilet (not the inside of the bowl) you can use Windex and a clean cloth rag. For showers, use Comet (the type that has bleach) for the tub part. To unclog a drain: pour boiling water down the drain, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain (wait 3 minutes), pour half a cup of vinegar and 1/2 a cup of boiling water then cover the drain (wait 15 minutes), rinse with boiling water. For toilet bowls, you use toilet bowl cleaner (pretty self-explanatory) with a toilet bowl brush. Make sure with toilet bowls you get around the rim too. Try to clean your bathroom every two weeks.


Kitchen

Simple Green is a gift from the heavens when it comes to kitchen cleaning. Use it to clean all counters, stovetops, and greasy pots and pans. For any stainless steel, make sure you use stainless steel cleaner otherwise you’ll leave streaks - or worse: scratches. Remember to clean out the inside of the microwave, toaster, oven, sink, and coffee machine every once in a while too. One last thing people often forget is the drain of their dishwasher. This can get clogged very easily and stop your dishwasher from working. Reach down underneath the bottom rack of the dishwasher and there should be a mesh drain you can pull out and empty.


Trash

Fun fact about trash, if you throw something in the trash that smells bad, it still smells. Don’t dump fish, raw meat, rotting/moldy food, etc. in your indoor trashcan, take it outside or everything will smell wherever the trashcan is. Take the trash out whenever necessary, don’t let it pile up. Squishing it down to fit more in can only work for so long.



Dusting

For wood, dust with a little bit of lemon oil once in the while. It’ll make everything smell nice and oils your wood, which is good for it. But only once in a while and only a little bit of oil. It can get streaky if you don’t rub it in well enough and can collect dust if you use too much of it. For everything else, use a microfiber cloth or a duster. Make sure you lift things off of shelves to dust instead of dusting around them. Try to dust once every two weeks.



Gardening

No one’s asking you to be a botanist, but if you’re going to have a plant, make sure you know how much light and water it’s supposed to have. And remember to water it. It really isn’t that hard.