Insurance Riders: Do I Need One?
By Stephen Hadhazi, our guest insurance blogger, public insurance adjuster, and publisher of DocuDamage.com
You pay your homeowners premiums on time and feel reasonably comfortable that you are well covered should disaster ever strike, right? Wrong. Even if you think you have adequate coverage, you could be drastically underinsured. The typical homeowner’s insurance policy includes the [...]
Four Professionals Everyone Should Keep on Speed Dial
Productivity and frugality blog, WiseBread, has a great post about the top 6 professionals that you should have in your phone’s contact list…just in case. I’ve narrowed their list down to three and added in one extra professional I think you really should have in case of emergencies:
Attorney: Whether it’s a car accident, medical lawsuit [...]
Starting an Emergency Fund
You might have heard about emergency funds before, but why do you need one and just how much is really enough? Here are a couple of tips to help you find those answers for your own situation:
What is an emergency fund?
An emergency fund is a extra pool of money - either in the form [...]
Daylight Savings Time!
Remember, it’s time to “fall back”, meaning we’ll need to set our clocks back one hour on Sunday morning (except those of you in Hawaii and Arizona!).
This is also the time we recommend that you check and replace your batteries. Why? Because it’s easy to remember (do it again in March!!).
Items you’ll need to check [...]
Talking to Kids About Tragedy
While I was down covering the bridge collapse last week, I noticed that many curious bystanders had chosen to bring their children along with them. It’s important to remember that kids, as well as adults, may have a hard time dealing with the graphic images of the bridge collapse, especially the footage of the school [...]
Real-Life Story: Tornado
Over six years ago, an F-3 tornado flattened the town of Siren, WI (read the full story about the tornado here). This past weekend, Cheryl Rand told me her story of what happened that fateful day:
“Well, you’ll get to see what are storms are like up here.”
Cheryl Rand’s brother was visiting from out of state [...]
Americans Are Still Unprepared Two Years After Katrina
Almost two years after Hurricane Katrina, citizens are still unprepared for major disasters especially along the Gulf Coast, according to a new survey from Harvard University.
Here are some of the survey’s statistics (from USA Today):
Those would not evacuate for a major hurricane:
New Orleans: 14%
Other areas: 32%
Don’t know the location of a shelter in their area:
New [...]
Stash Some Cash
One of the must-have items in any emergency kit has got to be cash. Why? Well, if the power’s out in your town, you won’t be able to use an ATM and you won’t be able to use your credit card at some stores (those card-swiping machines won’t work!).
So how much cash should you have? [...]
Apartment Checklist
On Friday I wrote about the top four things apartment dwellers should do when they move into a new place. I’ve just moved into an apartment and turns out I didn’t accomplish everything on that list over the weekend!
#1: I do have renter’s insurance but need to check my coverage.
#2: I’m still short a fire [...]
Restoring Memories
I just read an amazing story from the LA Times that I thought I’d share with you.
A photo assignment editor at the Free Lance-Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, Va., decided to set up Operation Photo Rescue after seeing the destruction and damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
“[David] Ellis was touched by one particular photo, which showed a [...]