The True Financial Costs Of An Insurance Claim Following A Car Accident

 

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Auto insurance is an interesting concept in that it exists to protect you, but then it also has negative financial effects following a claim. If you’re involved in a car accident, your natural next step is to file a claim with your insurance provider to cover the costs of repairs, injury recovery, etc. In theory it should be a simple solution: you’re paying an insurance premium, so the insurer should just pay what’s due. 

The reality is far more complicated than this, and making an insurance claim after an accident will end up being more costly than you think. 

The True Costs Of Auto Insurance Claims

You can break down the additional costs of an auto accident claim into two parts: 

• Excess Payments

• Increased Insurance Premiums

When you agree to an insurance policy, you agree to pay a voluntary excess before any payments come through from your insurer. You set this, but the insurer also has a compulsory excess that you must pay regardless. It can immediately mean you’re spending close to a thousand dollars of your own money. 

But the more damaging part of an insurance claim is that it affects your insurance premiums for years to come. Even if you’re not at fault, next year’s insurance premium will be catastrophically higher than what you’re paying right now - and it can stay like this for up to five years following the incident. Not to mention that most insurance providers offer discounts for customers who’ve not made a claim - your discount gets wiped out right away. 

So, despite being involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you’re now paying hundreds or thousands more on insurance premiums for the foreseeable future. Factor in the excess payments, and it can end up costing more money than any repairs or medical bills! 

How To Reduce The Financial Costs Of A Car Accident

Genuinely, it might be cheaper to just pay for any repairs yourself after adding up these hidden costs. Or, an even better approach would be to hire a personal injury lawyer who will file a case against the at-fault driver. This way you bypass your insurance provider, don’t make any claims, yet still gain money to pay for any repairs, medical bills, and so on. 

Going down the legal route also means you get more money and can even claim for funds to help cover a lack of money because the accident stops you from working temporarily. After calculating the legal fees, it’s still more financially beneficial than going through your auto insurer. 

Does this mean you should never make an insurance claim after a car accident? It all depends on how much it will cost when you factor in excess payments and any changes to future insurance premiums. That being said, it is normally better to go down the legal route, especially if you need a lot of money to cover repairs - or even to buy a new car because yours is totaled. Insurance providers also drag out the claims process, meaning you deal with more stress and get less money. All in all, it’s more of a financial burden than you realize.

The Best Way to Use a Steam Cleaner to Keep Your House Clean

 If you’re looking for an easy and eco-friendly way to keep your home clean, a steam cleaner is one of the best tools to have on hand. Steam cleaning uses high-temperature steam to sanitize surfaces without harsh chemicals, making it perfect for families, pet owners, and anyone who wants a safer, greener clean.

Why Choose Steam Cleaning?

Steam cleaning offers a powerful yet chemical-free solution for dirt, grime, and bacteria. The high heat kills germs, dust mites, and allergens on contact, making your home healthier and fresher. Plus, it’s versatile—you can use it on floors, countertops, bathrooms, and even upholstery.

How to Use a Steam Cleaner for Basic Cleaning

1. Read the Manual First
   Before you start, check the manufacturer’s instructions for your steam cleaner. Different models have different guidelines for water levels, attachments, and safe surfaces.

2. Start with Hard Floors
   Steam cleaners are amazing for tile, sealed hardwood, and laminate floors. Fill the water tank, let it heat up, and slowly glide the mop over your floors. The steam lifts stuck-on grime without the need for floor cleaner.

3. Tackle Kitchen Surfaces
   Use a handheld steam attachment to sanitize countertops, sinks, and even your stovetop. Steam loosens grease, making it easy to wipe away.

4. Freshen Up Bathrooms
   Steam cleaning is perfect for bathroom tiles, grout, and even shower doors. The high heat helps dissolve soap scum and disinfects without bleach.

5. Don’t Forget Upholstery and Curtains
   Many steam cleaners have a fabric attachment. Use it to refresh couches, chairs, and drapes. This removes dust and kills dust mites—ideal for allergy sufferers.

6. Finish with Touch Points
   Door handles, light switches, and other high-touch areas can harbor germs. A quick blast of steam is an effective way to sanitize without chemicals.

Tips for the Best Results

• Always vacuum or sweep before steam cleaning to remove loose dirt.

• Test fabrics in an inconspicuous spot before steaming.

• Use distilled water to prevent mineral buildup in your machine.

Why Steam Cleaning is a Smart Choice

Steam cleaning isn’t just about spotless floors—it’s about creating a healthier home. No harsh chemicals, no sticky residues, just clean, sanitized surfaces that look and feel fresh.

Making Christmas Magical: How to Get Your Kids Involved in Decorating, Baking, Wrapping & More

Christmas is a season full of warmth, wonder, and the joy of togetherness. While it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle of gift-buying and to-do lists, one of the most meaningful ways to celebrate is by involving your kids in the heart of the holiday preparations. Not only does it create lasting memories, but it also helps children feel valued, connected, and excited to contribute to family traditions.

1. Deck the Halls—Together

Let your kids be part of transforming your home into a Christmas wonderland. Hand them a string of lights, a box of ornaments, or some garland and let their creativity shine—literally!

Tree Trimming: Assign each child their own section of the tree or invite them to hang up their handmade or favorite ornaments.

Kid-Made Decorations: Salt dough ornaments, paper snowflakes, handprint wreaths, and popcorn garlands are perfect DIYs that kids can help make and hang.

Window Art: Let them use window clings or washable paint pens to create snowy scenes on windows or mirrors.

2. Bake Holiday Treats as a Family

The smell of cookies baking is one of the best parts of the season. Let your kids become your mini sous-chefs for some kitchen fun.

Cookie Cutters & Decorating: Sugar cookies are perfect for little hands. Provide frosting, sprinkles, and candies for a decorating station.

Family Favorites: Teach your children the recipes that have been passed down, whether it's grandma’s fudge or your go-to gingerbread.

Gift Baking: Have them help assemble cookie tins or hot cocoa jars to give as gifts to teachers, neighbors, or friends.

3. Turn Wrapping into a Fun Event

Instead of doing all the gift-wrapping solo at midnight, turn it into a cheerful activity.

Wrap with Style: Give your kids simple tools like tissue paper, ribbons, and gift bags. Let them help wrap gifts for siblings or relatives.

Personal Touch: Kids can draw pictures or write names on tags. Fingerprint reindeer or snowmen tags make wrapping personal and fun.

“Santa’s Helpers”: Assign each child a secret wrapping mission, like wrapping all of Grandma’s gifts in her favorite color.

4. Let Them Help with Shopping

Bringing your kids into the process of giving helps them understand the true spirit of the season.

Budget-Friendly Choices: Give them a small budget to choose a sibling or parent gift. Even dollar store finds can become treasured keepsakes.

Handmade Gifts: Encourage crafting personalized gifts like photo frames, beaded ornaments, or coupon books.

Giving Back: Involve them in donating a toy or volunteering to shop for a family in need. It teaches compassion and gratitude.

5. Create Your Own Christmas Traditions

Kids love the predictability and comfort of family traditions. Involve them in choosing or creating ones that reflect your values and personality.

Christmas Eve Box: Let them help fill a box with pajamas, a movie, popcorn, and hot cocoa for a cozy night.

Lights Tour: Choose a night to drive around town in pajamas with cocoa, rating the best-decorated houses.

Ornament of the Year: Let each child pick or make one ornament each year to add to the tree and build a memory collection.

Story Time Countdown: Wrap 24 Christmas or winter-themed books and open one each night for a festive bedtime routine.

When you involve your kids in decorating, baking, wrapping, and new traditions, you’re doing more than just checking tasks off a list—you’re creating lifelong memories. These small moments help shape the way they’ll remember Christmas—and maybe even how they’ll share it with their own families someday.

Find more favorite Christmas crafts here:

Mickey Mouse Gift Tags

Button Tree Ornaments

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

 Double the Chocolate, Double the Delight: Easy Homemade Chocolate Chip Bars

Hey fellow dessert lovers! Are you craving something rich, chocolatey, and utterly irresistible? Look no further! Today, I'm sharing my go-to recipe for easy homemade double chocolate chip bars that are guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth. This recipe is great because it doesn't use any butter, making it budget-friendly!

These bars are the perfect combination of a fudgy, chocolatey base and an abundance of melty chocolate chips. They're quick to whip up, require minimal ingredients, and are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Whether you're baking for a cozy night in, a potluck, or just because, these bars are a must-try.

Why You'll Love These Double Chocolate Chip Bars:

• Easy and Quick: No fuss, no complicated steps. You can have these bars ready in no time.
• Double Chocolate Goodness: A chocolate cookie base packed with even more chocolate chips. What's not to love?
• Perfect for Any Occasion: From casual snacking to special gatherings, these bars fit right in.
• Customizable: You can easily adapt the recipe to your liking by adding nuts, different types of chocolate chips, or even a sprinkle of sea salt on top.

Let's Get Baking!

Before we dive into the recipe, let's talk about a few tips to ensure your bars turn out perfectly:

• Don't Overmix: Overmixing can lead to tough bars. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
• Use Quality Chocolate: The better the chocolate, the better the taste!
• Cool Completely: Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing for clean, even cuts.

Recipe: Easy Homemade Double Chocolate Chip Bars

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Bake Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients:

½ c shortening

⅓ c granulated sugar

½ c light brown sugar, packed

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla

¼ c cocoa powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

1 ⅓ c flour

1 c chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl combine shortening, granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and baking powder and mix until combined.

Add chocolate chips and stir.

Transfer the dough to your prepared baking dish.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, the top should be set, but you want the interior to be a little gooey.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.

After the cookie bars have cooled, lift the parchment paper from the dish and cut 4 times across, and 4 times the opposite way, to make 16 fudgy cookie bars.

Variations and Add-ins:

• Nuts: Add chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds for a nutty crunch.
• Different Chocolate Chips: Try using white chocolate, peanut butter, or even dark chocolate chips for a unique twist.
• Sea Salt: A sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top enhances the chocolate flavor.
• Espresso Powder: A teaspoon of espresso powder added to the batter deepens the chocolate flavor.

Serving Suggestions:

These double chocolate chip bars are delicious on their own, but here are a few ways to elevate your dessert experience:

• Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• Drizzle with chocolate or caramel sauce.
• Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee.

Final Thoughts:

These easy homemade double chocolate chip bars are a guaranteed hit! They're simple, delicious, and perfect for any occasion. So, grab your mixing bowls, preheat your oven, and get ready to indulge in some serious chocolatey goodness.

Don't forget to share your baking adventures with me! Tag me in your photos on social media and let me know how your bars turned out. Happy baking!

Find more tasty treat recipes here:

Homemade Rice Pudding

Instant Pot Banana Rice Pudding

Nilla Wafer Bark

How to Prevent Common Sports Injuries

 Playing sports is a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle and helps to give you a sense of focus. However, they all involve a degree of risk when it comes to injury and some of the more vigorous activities have a very high risk. So, you will want to do all you can in order to prevent these injuries from happening.

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Of course, there is no 100 percent guaranteed way to prevent sporting injuries, and if it was caused by something that was avoidable and not your fault then you may need to contact a n injury lawyer. Of course, prevention is always better than the cure so let’s look at exactly how you can do this.

Be in the Right Physical Condition

If you have never played a particular sport before, you should make sure that you don’t get in over your head and try to do too much, too soon. Even if you are experienced, you need to be careful about pushing yourself too hard. When you are in the heat of a sport, you can often be tempted to go too far, but always try to be aware of your limits as the warning signs are often there and given off by your body.

Wear Appropriate Protective Equipment

There is a whole host of different protective equipment out there that you should always wear as it has been specifically designed to keep you safe. Make sure that anything you are wearing is the right size for you and that it is fitted correctly so that it can do its job properly. This particularly includes impact sports like American football where you are obviously going to need the right helmet to protect yourself.

Rest In Between Sessions

You are much more likely to sustain injuries if you take part in sports on a high number of consecutive days. Remember that rest is a key component of proper training and you need it to make you stronger in the long run. Injuries relating to overuse, fatigue and poor judgement can all be tempered with an appropriate amount of rest.

Warm Up Properly Before Playing

So many people don’t warm themselves up properly before playing sports but it is something that is so important. Of course, different warm ups are required for different sports but what you are essentially trying to do is prevent muscle injury by making sure that they aren’t too tight before you actually start playing. Start off gently and build up a little more intensity during your warm up routine.

Recognise Tiredness or Pain

Tiredness and pain are two ways that your body is telling you not to overexert yourself. If you ignore these signs then you really are asking for trouble. Though it may be difficult – particularly if you really love playing your sport – you need to be the judge of exactly when it is time to say no.

By following this simple advice, you will significantly reduce your chances of sustaining an injury and you are more likely to be able to enjoy your sport injury-free.