A Reliant Now Corp. A Reliant Now Corp. 2012-08-06T18:25:50Z http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/feed/atom/ WordPress admin <![CDATA[An Emergency Kit That Will Keep You Alive]]> http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/?p=64 2012-08-06T18:25:50Z 2012-08-06T18:14:29Z You never know when you are going to be in a natural disaster. Don’t think for a second that because you don’t live in California or Florida that you probably won’t need to prepare for one.

Every part of the US is prone to Mother Nature’s fury. It’s never a matter of if but rather when. So how do you prepare a kit for a natural disaster? Or rather, what do you put inside it? Well, here are some ideas.

The first thing to put in this kit would be food. Some might say water but you can also find water in food, so this would be at the top of most agencies lists. Obviously, this needs to be food that can survive not only the disaster but also the time waiting for the disaster.

After all, you can’t really predict these things, so packing foods that have longer shelf lives is important. Canned goods meet these two criteria so that would be a great place to start. However, don’t included any foods that are high in salts as water may be in short supply.

Water, then, would be the second thing you should put into your survival kit. This water is what you are going to be using not only to hydrate yourself with but also possibly cook with and use as a medical tool if necessary.

This is to say that you should pack enough of this into the kit so that you can survive for at least three days. If the disaster is such that three days worth of water isn’t enough then you may have bigger problems to worry about (like nuclear radiation).

First aid supplies would be the next item on the list. The idea here is obviously to keep yourself alive until help comes. Now, it’s understood that most of us aren’t doctors so assembling a strategic assortment of medicine cabinet goods will probably have to do.

This would include gauze, wraps, bandages, and a collection of various pills such as pain relievers and antibiotics. Again, this is something that you’ll need to research to determine what suits you best. This kit shouldn’t be much larger than a carry-on suitcase, so keep that in mind.

Finally, emergency money is always a good thing to have. If your house is gone or somehow you don’t have access to your money, knowing that you have a bit in the emergency kit can get you what you need until larger resources become available. If you have any questions or concerns about these kits, please go online and do a quick search as there is more than enough information available on various websites.

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admin <![CDATA[How do I Compare Health Insurance Prices?]]> http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/?p=51 2012-08-04T15:58:37Z 2012-08-04T15:56:50Z Health insurance is a necessary but expensive evil which is quite confusing.  While health insurance prices climb, the insurance plans fall short of what we really need.  One of the easiest ways to start your research is to speak with your employer.  Employers often offer a better health insurance plan with the best rates.

Of course, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of the individual health insurance plans provided by your employer. Insurance brokers are another good source of information.  It may take some time on the phone listening carefully to what a certain plan costs and what it covers.  However, this is a good way to compare health insurance prices

However, no matter how much you compare health insurance prices, it won’t be of any help to pick the cheapest plan unless you know just what it is you (and your family) need in terms of coverage.  You should know before you sign up for any plan what it means when the following are mentioned:  Existing medical condition provision, doctor availability; whether or not you will be allowed to visit any doctor or specialist, and renewal clauses.

Insurance plans come in all prices, with various coverage’s.  You may find a plan with a low price, but it may have many restrictions.  If you are shopping for insurance based only on the price of the plan, you will likely have a plan that will tell you what doctors you will see, as well as other restrictions.  When you compare health insurance prices, it’s important to compare apples to apples and make sure the coverage’s are similar.

Though for some people, they can barely afford medical insurance as it is, and so they just compare health insurance prices and go with the cheapest.  That’s not the best, but it’s better than nothing at all.  Regrettably, and obviously, the best insurance plans are also the most high-priced ones.

Do not forget to check the plan’s drug prescription clause as you compare health insurance prices.  Prescription drugs have become quite costly, but your plan may help lower those costs.  For comparison, it would be wise to write down what you normally pay for your prescriptions then you take the amount of coverage of each plan and deduct it to see if it will make an impact.

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admin <![CDATA[Think Your Credit Score Is Not Important? Think Again.]]> http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/?p=40 2012-08-03T16:10:18Z 2012-08-03T16:06:16Z Credit scores are an important part of your everyday life. This may be hard to believe for some of you as credit scores can seem like just some abstract concept – a number that has little to do with day-to-day living.

However, nothing could be further from the truth as your credit score affects nearly every part of your life, especially as you start to get older and look to buy or invest in some of the nicer things in life. For those of you who still don’t believe that credit scores are important, here are a few reason why they are.

One, your credit score (also known as your FICO rating) represents who you are financially as person. Yes, it’s only a series of three digits, and you may be saying to yourself that three digits can’t fully represent the financial you. And while this may be true, creditors cannot take the time to get to know each and every detail about the financial you.

According to the website LoansAndBadCredit.org 8 billion people live on this planet and while they all don’t do business with your bank, creditors don’t have the time or man power to give in-depth reviews of even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of those 8 billion people. Simply put, a FICO rating is the easiest way for a creditor to know who they are dealing with.

And two, knowing who they are dealing with leads to all sorts of opportunities or lack thereof for you. Now, everyone knows of at least one or two people who were denied something because they had a poor credit score. Whether it was an apartment, a car, a loan, or something else, people can’t live the life they’d like to often because they can’t afford and haven’t shown that they are reliable people to lend to.

You score is important because more than likely you’ll want something in the future that you can’t afford in the present. And if you don’t have a good credit score then you can just forget trying to get it. Businesses don’t provide products or services unless they know they are going to get paid for them.

An easy way to find out your credit score is to go online and Google one of the three major credit score providers. Now, be careful though, because some offer what is supposedly a free credit report only to give you a bit of your credit information and then demand money in order for you to get it all. By law, you are legally entitled to one free credit report per year.

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admin <![CDATA[The Value of Parking an Advertisement Right in Front of Your Windshield]]> http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/?p=26 2012-07-31T23:27:20Z 2012-07-31T23:14:42Z One might think that all the possible ways to advertise have been explored. After all, what else could companies put a logo on? Obviously, though, for those of us here in the States, advertising is showing no signs of slowing down.

For example, recently the NBA has broken a big taboo and decided to sell the space on the player’s jerseys. That’s right, now you are not only rooting for Cleveland, you also rooting for Coca-Cola, Downy, and/or Rice-a-Roni.

Mobile advertising is an extension of this relentless need for companies to fill all and every available space with images of their brands and slogans. If you haven’t seen mobile advertising in action then you first need to stop living on the moon and second you need to take a quick look around because it feels like it’s every where.

If you didn’t know, mobile advertising is best exemplified by those big trucks that have billboards on the back of them. No, not trucks hauling something else with a big sticker or something on the side of their box or container, but a truck that’s specifically designed to haul around a huge sign and only a huge sign.

The idea is that it gives a company an advantage over typical advertising methods. With a newspaper or magazine, you can simply turn the page or throw the publication out. While a billboard is only visible for a few seconds before you pass or ignore it.

With mobile ad networks though, if you are caught in traffic, you may have to look at a 10 foot high box of fast food french fries. The idea is to expose you long enough to their product that your mind short circuits and has no choice but to stop at the nearest restaurant and super size yourself.

Advertisers also like it because it is typically less expensive than billboards. By most estimates, a billboard can cost a company about $8,000 for a months worth of exposure. For that same length of exposure though, a mobile advertising unit might cost somewhere around $4,000.

Of course, there’s concern that because these mobile advertising trucks do nothing but pump out exhaust, they are damaging to the environment. Obviously, companies are sympathetic to this if only because they realize it affects their public image. More and more you’ll see bi-fuel and hybrid trucks out there. After all, this “in your face” advertising is too valuable to not do.

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