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Give Your Kids the Gift of a Financially Stable Future

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Without financial literacy, your kids may become lost adults. They may make poor money decisions or find it challenging to live a comfortable life. To ensure your kids have a stable future, start teaching them about financial literacy while they are still young.

Start With Practical Knowledge

No matter their age, all kids can start learning the importance of money. As toddlers, introduce them to coins and dollar bills. Play coin identification games or play store to help introduce them to exchanging money for goods.

For older kids, start with an allowance. Allowances are good ways to introduce your kids to saving their own money. Likewise, it helps motivate them to help around the house. Once your kid receives an allowance, talk about where you can put the money. Instead of a piggy bank, consider setting up a savings account for your child. Savings accounts not only give your kid a way to save their money, but it also provides them with a way to learn about interest and money management.

Allow your kids to accompany you while shopping and if you ever have to say no to something your kids want, explain why you have to say no. Involve your kids in financial decisions and talk to them about your finances. Some parents hide their finances for fear that it may stress their kids. If you are in the process of cleaning up your finances, talk to your kids about it. Show your kids how you weigh out your financial decisions and how to limit what you buy to save up for essential purchases.

Explain Homeownership and Its Importance

Homeownership and owning property are crucial to building assets and creating financial security. Explain to your kids how to navigate the market, from house-hunting to obtaining approval for a mortgage. According to the experts, there are various home buying programs available. Teach your kids about the different types of loans and funding available for potential homeowners. The more you talk to your kids about the process, the less stress they may feel as adults entering the housing market.

Explain to your kids how the housing market favors sellers or buyers and that you may have difficulty selling a house if you live in an area with a struggling economy. Likewise, if you have a large inventory of houses on the market that favors buyers, you can have a more challenging time selling the home.

Kids may also benefit from learning the importance of being environmentally friendly. Start eco-friendly habits around your house and explain how being green can not only save money but can save the planet.

Discuss Income and Financial Literacy

Did you know that most kids have money habits by seven? They model their practices after you. Do not be afraid to discuss your income with your kids. If they want a big-ticket item or if you need to shop for a car or something expensive, explain the value of that item and why you cannot afford something like that all of the time.

Teach them how to start their own business to earn an income, even if they do not have capital. There are a variety of loans available for business owners. Talk to them about microloans, crowdfunding, and angel investors.

Financial literacy is vital for all people to understand. The younger you start teaching your kids about money, the more likely they will have financial stability in their future.

Going Green: Embrace Responsible Homeownership with These Easy Tips

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Going Green: Embrace Responsible Homeownership with These Easy Tips

Being more “green” is a hot topic these days, but for some homeowners it sounds like a complex or expensive proposition. Thankfully, you can embrace more eco-friendly living without scientific equations or significant outlays of time or money. Here are some simple tips for being a more efficient, responsible homeowner.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Living green now

Are you in a home that reasonably meets your needs, but you want to tidy up your ecological footprint? There are a number of cost-effective ways to make your house more eco-friendly.

Lighten up

Simply changing your light bulbs can pack a wallop. Switching from an incandescent to a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) reduces energy usage by 66 percent and lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 400 pounds. Another great option is light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. Some studies show that LED bulbs release very little heat, while incandescent bulbs release 90 percent of their energy as heat, and CFL bulbs release about 80 percent of their energy as heat. Also, LED bulbs use a bit less energy than CFL bulbs. LED bulbs typically last 15-25 years, while CFL bulbs last about 10 years.

Warm fuzzies

One way many homeowners stay warm is snuggling with the cat or dog. No pets? No problem! Add layers of clothes and throw on a lap quilt for warmth. Also, putting a throw rug on your bare floors not only feels good under your bare feet, it can save 4-6 percent on your energy bill.

Don’t be a drip

Save water by watering your landscaping with recycled water. Some professionals suggest gathering rain water in a barrel for your lawn and plants. And when you warm the water for your shower or bath, collect it for use. You can pour it into a watering can for potted plants.

Water wisdom

Several simple fixes around your home can also help you save water.  Repair leaking toilets and faucets, install a low-flow toilet and shower head, rinse all your dishes at once instead of turning water on and off, and wash full loads when you run your dishwasher or laundry machine.

Go paperless

Are you still receiving hard copies of statements and invoices in your mailbox?  According to GreenBiz, e-billing is probably the most overlooked way to go green.  Switch from snail mail to electronic billing and payments, and save big time. It saves the company that is billing you on both paper and time, it saves your bank when it sends the payment, it saves the energy, products and time used by the postal service for delivery, and think of the greenhouse gas emissions saved throughout the process. You can even set up automated payments for many bills to ease your mind and effort.  It’s a winning solution all the way around!

Home shopping and building

If you’re in the market to build or buy a home that is eco-friendly, consider construction with recycled materials whenever possible.  For instance, HGTV suggests composite decking made from wood waste and plastic. It’s durable, long-lasting and low maintenance. Also look for sustainable materials, such as paper-based or bamboo countertops, Kirei board paneling, and bamboo or cork flooring.  Other great flooring options include hemp and wool carpeting, which is natural, strong and biodegradable, and natural linoleum made from all raw materials.  Remember to look for key items like energy-efficient windows and appliances as well.  If you’re buying an existing home and planning to add eco-friendly options, budget carefully.  Use an online calculator to estimate how much house you can afford, get some estimates for what you want to replace, and crunch the numbers to budget for your changes.

Simple and green

 Embracing a more green lifestyle is easy.  Make some simple changes in how you handle resources.  Your home will leave a smaller footprint, and you’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing you’re being a more responsible homeowner.

Author

Suzie Wilson is an interior designer with more than 20 years experience. What started as a hobby (and often, a favor to friends) turned into a passion for creating soothing spaces in homes of every size and style. While her goal always includes making homes look beautiful, her true focus is on fashioning them into serene, stress-free environments that inspire tranquility in all who enter. The Ultimate Guide to Prepping Your Home for an Open House is filled with tips, tricks and other advice based on Suzie’s years of experience in interior home design that will set you up for success.

 

Power Grids Can’t Handle Heatwave : Forbes

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A recent report in Forbes says America’s power grids are incapable of handling the heatwaves that are hammering the country.

Of course, peak demand in Texas occurs during the summer months and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, also known as ERCOT, expects demand in August 1028 will exceed the record levels of 71,000 megawatts already surpassed in July.

In order to meet consumer demand, energy providers are often forced to reactivate aging, inefficient coal and nuclear power plants. In many areas, this causes electricity prices to surge and high demand can even lead to blackouts such as those that have cropped up on the West Coast.

Still, despite the push for renewable solutions, generation capacity cannot fully meet the demand.

Today, the continued closure of legacy coal and nuclear generators, along with the lack of incentives for building new baseload generators, have pushed systems in the U.S. to the breaking point. Los Angeles has learned it. Other markets may well face it before the summer is over.

So, what does this mean for Texas? Typically, consumers in the Lone Star state are not subject to the same types of energy challenges facing the rest of the country because ERCOT has done a good job maintaining, forecasting, and improving the power grid infrastructure. Still, consumers are encouraged to save energy when they can because it not only lowers stress on the power grid, it can also result in lower electricity prices.

If you are looking for electricity rates in Dallas or Houston or anywhere in between, be sure to check out the competitive offers from the various Retail Electricity Providers available at FirewheelPower.com.

Cryptocurrency Miners Thrashing Electric Grid and May Cause Higher Electricity Prices

Bitcoin Cryptocurrency
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Wow, how about this story out of Chelan County, Washington!

The Seattle Times is reporting that Chelan County and its neighbors have become ground-zero for cryptocurrency mining since 2012 because of the low rates afforded by the region’s hydropower resources.

Unfortunately, some of these “mining” efforts are taking place in the garages, basements, and bedrooms of residential neighborhoods, stressing the electrical grid. In one case, a home mining operation overloaded a transformer causing it to overheat and start a small grass fire nearby.

“[It’s] a very different kind of problem than anything we have addressed before.”

— Steven Wright, GM of Chelan County Public Utility District

Typically, the county and its 73,000 residents account for roughly 210 megawatts of power in a given year with a growth rate of roughly 4,500 megawatts per year.

But miners are requesting an additional 210 megawatts in order to conduct the trillions of computer calculations needed to process cryptocurrency.

As a point of reference, the story points out that a typical fruit warehouse uses about 2.5 megawatts in a six month period. During the same timeframe, cryptocurrency miners have requested approximately 50 megawatts.

Energy authorities have asked for a 3-month moratorium on new mining operations for the purpose of researching how to better-respond to increasing demands.

Ultimately, it could mean higher rates for area consumers. The more electricity is sold to local, large mining outfits, the less the utility is able to export. Those exports are the factor that keep residential rates low for subscribers. In order to meet the demand,  the utility may be forced into investing in more infrastructure, such as substations and power lines. Those actions will have a significant effect on utility rates, too.

 

 

Energy Officials: Lock In Rates Soon Before Summer Price Increase

Powerlines and Blue Sky
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Texas temperatures have already hit the 90-degree mark with summer still more than a month away and ERCOT is expecting power demands to reach high levels between June and September.

A growing economy and retirements of generating units will tighten reserves available on peak summer days.

— Bill Magness, President and CEO of ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas

In a recent press release, Magness states that ERCOT expects to have “sufficient generation to meet customer demand this summer.” Still, soaring temperatures will result in increased demand and, in turn, consumers who are shopping for the best electricity rates should probably lock-in sooner than later according to Andrew Barlow, spokesperson for the Public Utilities Commission.

The best bet is a fixed-rate contract. A plan that changes month-to-month is not prudent under these circumstances,” he said. “Make the changes now so you are not worried about market prices come August.

— Waco Tribune – May 4, 2018

ERCOT manages about 90% of the state’s electric load and the Council has gone to great lengths to establish reserve generation margins that are expected to last through the year 2022. Since March, Texas’ generation capacity has increased by a total of 500 MW thanks, in part, to previously-mothballed units coming back online and the addition of a gas-fired plant going into operation earlier than expected.

But with consumers experiencing summer-like temperatures long before the official start to the season, spending a few moments reviewing the latest electricity rates could be beneficial to keeping summer comfort within the household budget.