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January: National Bath Safety Month

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 45% of bathroom related injuries occur to children age 10 and younger. They also make up 75% of bathroom related fatalities. Slips and falls are the main source of injuries in the bathroom, while only 100 people drown in bathtubs and 70 people die from burns in the bathtub every year.

Most of these incidences happen when the child is not being supervised by a responsible adult and usually when the adult has only stepped away for a moment.

Here are some ways you can make your bathrooms safer:

• Put a lid lock on your toilet seat.
• Have a non-skid surface in your bathtub.
• Never leave small children alone around any container of water. This includes toilets, tubs, wading pools, spas, aquariums, and buckets.
• Before bathing children, gather the soap, shampoo, toys, towel, diaper, clothing, and any other needed items you might need before running the bath water. Place these items so you can easily reach them.
• After running bath water, check the water temperature before placing the child in the bath water.
• Once your child is in the bath, don’t leave for any reason. Children can drown in just a small amount of water. They can easily topple into the tub or toilet. It only takes a few seconds for a drowning to happen.
• If you must leave the room for the telephone or door, take the child with you after taking the child out of the water and wrapping him in a towel.
• For people who are elderly or have disabilities, consider installing grab bars on walls around the tub and beside the toilet and a portable, hand-held shower head.
  
• Check that the following items are not in reach of children:
  • Medicines
  • Cosmetics
  • Nail polish and removers
  • Hair products
  • Toothpaste with fluoride
  • Perfume
  • Cleaners
  • Air deodorizers
  • Mouthwash
  • Personal hygiene products
    

(Sources: CPSC.org, NSC.org, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services)

National Safety Month: Week 4

Week 4: Dangers of Cell Phone Use While Driving

Currently 38* states have some version of a law limiting or banning the use of cell phones while operating a vehicle and many others have bills on their way to being signed.  It is clear that the use of cell phones while driving is dangerous.  Approximately 1.6 million car crashes per year are caused by drivers who were using their cell phones.

The National Safety Council promotes avoiding using cell phones completely while driving but, for some of us, that just isn’t possible.  Fortunately, many states have completely banned the use of cell phones (calls and text messaging) with the exception of using a hands-free device.  Hands-free devices can be a head-set that comes with the phone (usually looks like headphones with a mic) or a Bluetooth head-set.  When purchasing a head-set for your phone, make sure you know which ones are compatible with your phone (this goes for both wired head-sets and wireless Bluetooth head-sets) because not all phones are the same.

To learn about what the specific cell phone law in your state is, visit www.DrivingLaws.org.

*Georgia’s law effective July 1, 2010, Connecticut’s law effective Oct 1, 2010

Week 1: Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention
Week 2: Teen Driving Safety
Week 3: Preventing Overexertion at Work and Home

National Safety Month: Week 3

Week 3: Preventing Overexertion at Work and Home

Overexertion is caused by straining your body and asking it to do what it is not prepared for or isn’t supposed to do.  According to the NSC,

“Overexertion injuries, mainly sprains and strains, to the back or spine comprise about 40 percent of both on and off-the-job injuries.”

Preventing overexertion is simple. We should all know these tips, even if we don’t always want to follow some of them.

• Before doing any strenuous work or heavy lifting, warm-up your muscles and stretch.
• Always lift with your legs, never bend over and lift with your back.
• Exercise regularly to keep your body fit and healthy, even if your exercise is just going for a walk, anything is better than nothing.
• Eat a well-balanced diet, make sure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs.

Week 1: Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention
Week 2: Teen Driving Safety
Week 4: Dangers of Cell Phone Use While Driving

National Safety Month: Week 2

Week 2: Teen Driving Safety

You may not be surprised to find out that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and injury for teens ages 15 to 19.  About 17 people die per day  from teen-involved auto accidents.

Edmunds.com has a 5-part series on how to help your teens be better drivers.

Part I: How To Crashproof Your Teenager
Part II: Laying Down the Law for Your Teen Driver
Part III: Finding a Driver’s Ed Program That Really Work
Part IV: Choosing the Safest Car for Your Teen
Part V: How To Keep Tabs on Your Teen Driver

In addition, you may want to check out these 10 Tips For Keeping Your Teen Driver Safe.

Week 1: Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention
Week 3: Preventing Overexertion at Work and Home
Week 4: Dangers of Cell Phone Use While Driving

National Safety Month: Week 1

The month of June is National Safety Month.  The National Safety Council has broken down the month into 5 categories to discuss.  I will be posting information on each of these topics as the month goes on.

Week 1: Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention

The abuse of prescription drugs (painkillers, depressants and stimulants) is a very real and dangerous threat.  Many people are more concerned with the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs (cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants) that they forget about what may be in their medicine cabinet.

According to the 2008 National Survey of Drug Use & Health, 1.5% of youth ages 12 to13 use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes.  Only 1.0% use marijuana, making prescription-type drugs their drug of choice.  The survey also showed that 2.9% of all youth ages 12-17 use prescription drugs non-medically.

Prescription drugs are often, mistakenly, thought to be safer to take than illicit drugs.  While properly taken under prescription they can be safe and beneficial to a person’s well-being, however, overuse of prescriptions can be just as damaging and addictive (if not more so) as other drug choices.

Teenagers are not the only ones to worry about.  Painkillers (such as Vicodin, Tylenol with Codeine, OxyContin, and Percocet)  are often abused by those to whom they were prescribed.

To learn ways you can help prevent prescription drug abuse in your own family visit www.theantidrug.com.

Week 2: Teen Driving Safety
Week 3: Preventing Overexertion at Work and Home
Week 4: Dangers of Cell Phone Use While Driving

The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Home, Your Family

Allow me to introduce you to a fantastic book, “Be Alert, Be Aware, Have A Plan” by Neal Rawls.

In this book is advice and plans to protect almost every aspect of your life; personal security, home security, car security, protecting children, fraud, natural disasters, terrorism, and so much more.  It is a good read (especially if you are genuinely interested in the subject).

Among the many careers and accomplishments that make Rawls qualified to write such a book, he is a former police officer, former bodyguard for a corporate executive, and a Homeland Security Specialist.

“Both timely and timeless. With the street smarts of a savvy undercover cop, Rawls energizes the reader’s latent survival instincts with time-tested actions and techniques to prevent attacks.” William F. Powers, Director (Ret) US Dept. of Justice Special Programs

I recommend everyone who wants to have a safer and more prepared life to read this book. I’ve read it once through and plan to read it many more times over.

For an overview of what is in the book and to buy it visit the website http://www.bealertbeaware.com/.

Be a Cheap Shopper!

Of course, when I say cheap, I mean frugal.  Wanting to save money while shopping doesn’t always mean you have to buy  poor quality products.

Here are some websites that will help you save money when you shop!

Printable Coupons:
A Full Cup – This website will help you find coupons from all over.
Coupon Mom – Also offers shopping tips and advice.
Coupons.com
Valpak

Internet Coupons & Codes:
Retail Me Not – Also has printable coupons
Ebates – Get a $10 gift card just for signing up! (I received a Target gift card.)
Coupon Surfer
Cool Savings

If you or someone you know is a college student, look at Upromise.com for more savings.

10 Ways to Cut Costs

(in no particular order)

1. Ditch the cable or dish.
With faster connection speeds, internet is becoming more and more useful.  If you have favorite TV shows, chances are you can watch full episodes (some even in HD) for free on their network’s website or on Hulu.  This will save you a monthly bill and you can watch the show when you want.  If you are technically skilled, there are even ways to hook your computer up to newer televisions so you can still watch your shows on your big screen.

2. Cut your home phone bill.
More and more people are completely getting rid of land-lines and just using their cell phones.  While I still recommend having a land-line for emergencies (if power goes out for a long period, you won’t be able to charge your cell phone) there are ways to cut your spending on home phones.

First you could get rid of all the bells and whistles on your current plan.  Do you need call waiting on your home phone? Do you need long-distance if you have a cell phone that you could use for long-distance calls?  If that doesn’t work for you and you DO need the bells and whistles, consider switching to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. These services use your internet connection to make calls.  You may have heard of Vonage that offers this service starting at $24.99/month.  But between you and me, I’ve heard their service is not very good.

A service that I know for a fact is good (it is what I use) is Ooma. Ooma can eliminate your phone bill completely.  After purchasing the Hub (the box that has to connect to your internet) you never have to pay for service. (UPDATE 6/8/10: Ooma now charges taxes and fees that vary depending on where you live. Where I live I only pay $3.47/month, still can’t beat that deal.)   They do offer a “Premier Membership” which is only $12.99/month, but this is if you want features that you most likely don’t use now.  Their free service includes many features including, but not limited to, call waiting, caller-ID, and a voice mailbox, which can also be checked from your account on their website, so you can check your messages from anywhere with an internet connection.  With this service you can also choose to keep a very basic land-line, so if you lose your internet connection you can use your land-line to make calls.

3. Do your laundry frugally.
Only wash full loads of laundry and use cold water when you can.  The only laundry I wash in hot water are undergarments and bed sheets.  Your clothes will be just as clean washing them in cold water.

You could also try making your own laundry detergent and save hundreds of dollars a year. Here are recipes for both liquid and powder detergents.

4. Make a shopping list.
Before going grocery shopping make a list of everything you need to get.  Add toiletries and other items as well if you need them.  When you go shopping DO NOT put anything into your cart that is not on your list.  It is so easy to spend a lot of money on items we don’t need or didn’t want until we saw them at the store. Don’t impulse buy.

5. Use the 30 day rule.
You may have heard of this before.  If you want to buy something not considered a necessity (i.e. food and toiletries) put it on a list.  Write it down on a piece of paper and forget about it for 30 days.  After 30 days, if you still want it AND can afford it, you can buy it.

6. Skip the movies.
The price of 2 adults going to a movie theater is more than the price of buying the movie on DVD.  There is a place called Redbox (you may have heard of it) where you can rent movies for $1 a night. If you watch a lot of movies get a membership with an online rental service such as Netflix.  If you HAVE to see a movie in the theater, go to a showing during a weekday ( matinees are cheaper) or find a dollar theater.

7. Stop buying bottled water.
American’s spent over $15 billion dollars on bottled water in 2007.  If it’s your health you’re worried about, city tap water is not going to hurt you. According to the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) “bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water.”

If it’s the taste that you can’t stand, buy a water filter.  Either a filter that hooks up to your faucet or a pitcher with a filter will both work fine.  Recycle your old water bottles by refilling them with your new filtered water to keep the same convenience as buying bottled water.

8. If you’re not using it switch it off.
This goes for water, lights and appliances.  Specifically for appliances, even when they are turned off, small lights that stay on can draw power usage.  Consider plugging all your electronics for your entertainment system or computer into a power strip that can be switched off when not in use.  In my home we have done this and then plugged our power strip into an outlet that is connected to a light switch so we can easily flip the light switch if we want to watch TV and flip it off to cut off all power.  I can testify from experience that doing this can save you money on your electric bill.  The first month we did it we saved $5.

9. Draft proof your home.
Make sure your home is not working against you. In the winter, you may be losing your warm air from drafty windows and doors. In the summer you may be losing your cool air.  Replace old windows if needed.  If you can’t replace your windows or they still let in cold air in the winter, use plastic to cover them up.  You’d be surprised how much cold air plastic can keep out.  Install weather seal around your door opening or make or buy a draft guard.

Another way to cut on heating and cooling costs is to close vents in rooms not being used.  If you spend most of your time in one room, close the vents to the other rooms until you plan to use them.

10. Eat at home.
Eating out isn’t good for your wallet and it isn’t good for your body.  Make meals at home using quality, whole ingredients; whole, meaning as basic as you can get it.  Don’t buy frozen and pre-made meals either, those are way overpriced and not healthy for you.  If you don’t know how to cook, learn to. There are plenty of websites that offer great homemade recipes; AllRecipes.com and RecipeZaar.com to name two.

New Life Preparedness Blog

Some of you may know that JoAnn and I started a blog called Life Preparedness a while ago. I recently changed it from Blogger to WordPress, which means it has a new web address.

http://lifepreparedness.wordpress.com/

Also I want to note, I’m doing a much better job at posting so there is new content.