Four on a quarter blog

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admin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:47:35 +0000

Why Get A Quote Online?

Getting an online insurance quote is one of the smartest things you can do to improve the quality, cost and type of insurance available to you. Many insurance companies now make it very easy to get a quote online. You simply need to visit their website, input your information, select the types of insurance you want and you can get an instant quote. This type of quote works well for car and house insurance, while medical and life insurance may require further questions and screenings prior to being approved. The good news is that in all situations, the process is simple.

In most areas, there are numerous locations where you can visit local agents to get quotes. Yet, you do not have to leave home to get the information that you need. In fact, when you use the web to get a quote, you can get multiple quotes quickly and without a lot of investment on your part in terms of money. You also do not have to worry about telling an insurance agent that you are not interested like you would have to do in person. The most important reason to use the web to help you get insurance quotes is that you can get quotes online and compare them to each other in a number of ways.

To get a quote, all you will need to do is the following:

Gather your personal information. For auto insurance, you will need the make, model and year of the vehicle you have, the mileage and the features of it. For house insurance you will need the age, type of structure, location and perhaps the parcel identification number. For health and life insurance, you simply need your personal identification and perhaps some medical history information.
Visit the website of the insurance provider. There, you will be able to find the information you need to get a quote. The process often involves just logging into the website with a created username and password.
Answer the questions about the insurance you are interested in. They will ask you to fill in questions and answer yes and no to some. Best of all, you will easily be able to go through it. Nothing is too complex and most insurance companies make sure that their quote software is very user friendly. You do not need to be an expert with insurance to know what they are asking you.
Once you go through the information, the next step is to submit the information. It will then provide you with the quote. In some cases, it may send this to your email. In all cases, you can print out the quote. That is just what you want to do. Then, you can compare it to other quotes.

Go through this process with several insurance companies. In nearly all cases, you will not need to give your social security number, but you may have to identify yourself through name and address. This should not worry you especially if you are at a secure site of one of the insurance companies you know and respect.

Now that you have a few quotes to compare, it is time to look at them closely. Online quotes are a great way to find out what is available and to get the lowest price on it. Since there is a great deal of competition, expect good offers with short deadlines to accept them. Don’t fall for it. If you have less than 24 hours to get back to them, that does not mean they are the least expensive, nor does it mean you should work with them.

Consolidation Programs

admin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:38:57 +0000

Getting Help

Personal debt consolidation can help you to save money and pay off your debts faster. Those who need consolidation often have numerous lines of credit that make it difficult for them to zero in on any one debt to pay down quickly. By using any of the debt calculators available online, you can quickly see that by having one loan, with the balance of all your smaller credit lines rolled into one payment, you can apply more payment to the loan each month and pay the loan down faster. This saves you money on interest charges and can help you to get out of debt for good. Those who need this help are people who are in debt, have several loans and those who qualify.

Types of Consolidation

There are several types of debt consolidation loans available. There are other forms of debt consolidation that are not loans at all (though many people confuse them as such.) Look at the following options you have, then select the most appropriate option for your particular situation

Unsecured Debt Consolidation Loan

One type of debt consolidation loan is the unsecured version. To qualify for this type of loan, you may have to have a good or better credit score. Unsecured loans are those not backed by any assets. This means that the credit lender must see that you are not a risk. They are willing to provide you with funds assuming that you have a good track record of making payments on time. Unsecured loans are harder to obtain by those who are maxed out on credit cards and personal loans. If your credits core is low, you may qualify but with a lower limit. Be sure to request this type of loan from the lender so they know you will be paying off your other debts through this new loan.

Secured Debt Consolidation Loan

The opposite of an unsecured loan is a secured debt consolidation loan. Here you have a loan that’s value is backed up by the value of some asset. The most common asset used is the home. If your home has equity in it (the home’s value minus any mortgage balance you have on the home equals equity) then you may be able to borrow against that value. By doing this, you will be putting your home on the line; defaulting on the loan will cause you to lose your home. Make this decision carefully! These types of loans are easier to obtain because there are fewer risks involved to the lender and therefore they are willing to offer you a lower interest rate and more of a loan (the value of the loan is based on the amount of equity you have.)

Debt Consolidation Programs

It is also important to take note of another option you have: the debt consolidation program. For those who do not want to take out a new loan, or those who may not qualify for this type of loan, but need help in getting caught up on their debts, these programs work well. These programs employ the use of a third party, called a debt consolidation company. The company works with you to develop a budget and a set amount of money you will pay direction to the consolidation company. They then work with your lenders to determine how much they will accept per month to pay off the debt over a period of two to five years. Once an agreement is made, the debt consolidation company will collect the monthly payment from you, then pay it out to each of your lenders. Your accounts with these lenders is closed. These programs can reflect negatively on your credit report.

Yet another photograph

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:47:01 +0000

Nice…

More coming soon

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:43:41 +0000

Just a nice photograph for now…

Welcome

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:11:30 +0000

Welcome to our new site… More to come real soon…

General

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:24:01 +0000

New Year, New Question

Wow, I guess I wasn’t kidding about being a mama bear because I’ve seriously been in hibernation mode over the last few weeks! We had a very merry (and bikey!) Christmas and enjoyed a full two-week vacation together. Santa made Vivi her very own little fixie-styled balance bike and mama got a new bike, too! Yay – can’t wait to get some pictures up once Red Rider is back from her check-up.

I spent a great deal of time over the break thinking about this challenge. Though we are only two months in, it’s becoming fairly obvious that we’ve already answered the question we set out to ask: can a family of four in Orlando live on only 4,000 car miles. Based on our experiences thus far, I think I can pretty confidently say: absolutely. I think we are a good example of a typical family in the sense that our lives are busy and require a great deal of getting around: we both work full-time, we are active volunteers, kids at two schools, extracurricular activities, etc. In spite of all this, we’ve been surprised how often we can bike and are discovering new bike possibilities nearly every week.

Mama Bear on a Mission

The more I try to get around Orlando by bicycle, the less simple riding a bike becomes. I’ve enjoyed a great deal of freedom riding my bike–you have to love anything that makes you go “wheeeeeeee!” down a hill on a regular basis. However, riding has also brought about a great deal of awareness. It seems that so much, down to how and where you ride, becomes political.

Our Set-up Part I: The Radish

I’m always extremely curious about other people’s bike set-ups; I like to see what works for other people, particularly stuff tested out by other biking families. When Jesse and I first considered diving into the world of kids-on-bikes, I went into an internet-searching frenzy. Unfortunately, we don’t have any bike shops that carry cargo bikes and there’s no Consumer Reports for cargo biking. Along this mode of thinking, I thought I’d post about our bikes. First up is the Radish!

Peace, Love, Hope, and High School Students

‘Tis the season to be jolly and pretty much nothing makes me happier right now than my hubby’s amazing high school students. My husband has been teaching at the same school for several years now and, since both my daughters have been enrolled in the on-campus daycare program, I’ve grown to have pretty high expectations for the students. However, what I’m seeing lately blows my mind.

Month One Update

I’m happy to report that I have survived the first month of this challenge–yay! Unfortunately, I still have a lot of room for improvement. We put a total of 449 miles on the car in the first month; if we keep driving at this rate, we’ll be looking at 5,388 for the year–well above even the 25% goal.

After all, tomorrow is another day!

Alright–I’m going to mix things up a bit. In a new twist on the Friday the 13th norm, I’m actually going to STOP freaking out. I’ve spent most of this week kvetching and I’m ready to move on now (I’m sure this is wonderful news to my hubby).

I went out for a nice walk with Viv today and was sort of processing a SWOT analysis in my head. Yes, my brain does strange things when under stress. Since it would clearly be a bit too much geekery to actually write out a SWOT, I’ll just list some of my thoughts:

I love you Orlando, but we need to talk…

Orlando, I heard the news and I think we need to have a talk. I love you, but this just isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to prove to me you’re willing to make a change! I thought we had come so far together–and now there are kids involved! Who stood by your side when people said that you’re nothing but a second-rate, wannabe metropolis? This is the best you can do?

It was bad enough discovering that you are actually a set of triplets pretending to be one city or finding out that your unhealthy habits had left your arterial roads nearly permanently clogged. But this…it’s enough to seriously test my commitment to you.

Wait, what am I saying? No–this is for better or for worse. I’m not like those other girls that said they loved you, thought they could fix you, but left as soon as the going got tough. This love is for real! I’m gonna’ keep riding your streets, Orlando–because I believe in you! I know you can be better than this! It’s okay–a lot of cities at your age do the whole “fast cars” thing, but you need to settle down now and start focusing on your family. I know you’re trying. You’ve worked really hard on the trails and Baldwin Park was a big step for you! But now is the time to step it up–let the world see what I see.

How did I get here?

Once upon a time, in a fit of unchecked idealism, I hatched up a plan in which my family and I would try to live on only 25% of the national average of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Then I decided to raise the stakes and make it an even 4,000 – less than 25%!! Because this plan would require me to start commuting to work by bike, and said bike would also have to carry my daughter to school, I decided to apply to the Xtracycle sponsorship program. Imagine my surprise (and panic) when the wonderful folks at Xtracycle said, “We think that’s a good idea” and gave me a partial sponsorship!

Family Biking Adventures

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 09:21:39 +0000

The best laid plans

My lovely new Xtracycle Radish came just in time to take it out for the Pedal 4 Pride community bike ride that Jesse and I were set to volunteer for on Saturday. Friday night before the ride, Jesse and I stayed up super late (well, what passes for late in these parenting days) working on our bikes to ensure they were ready for the ride. The ride required that we ride down to the Parramore District and then lead a bike bus over to the VegFest and then drive the bike bus back to Parramore and head home. This was no small feat for our family of four, so we wanted to be prepared! Finally, after adjusting seats, filling tires, attaching lights, we were good to go. I was rotating my pedals when we heard a slight “swoosh” sound.

Challenge

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 09:19:42 +0000

How did I get here?

The Right Way

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:00:54 +0000

The Right Way

I’m so angry, I’m shaking. This isn’t what I want to write about it. I want to write all kinds of good things about Monday night’s panel (which I will), but I’m just so over it. As seems to be the case so very often, some mundane task has to end in conflict simply because I’m on a bike. This is getting old. One of the things I said at the panel on Monday night was that you have to be thick-skinned to ride around here. I’m realizing now I’m not as thick-skinned as I thought.

I just got back from a short ride to the grocery store, which is about a mile away. My route is nothing but very quiet back streets and leads me directly to the grocery store parking lot. I was on my way back, riding with a smile, when I hear an obnoxiously loud honk and then some [exercising every ounce of restraint here] person revs her engine and passes me super fast to get to the light that is maybe 10 feet away.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I gave her a single finger wave–I’m usually very good about that, but it really pissed me off. Then I rode up next to her and waved at her to roll down her window. She ignored me for a bit but finally rolled it down. We had an exchange that went something like this:

M: “You know this is a residential street, right?

B: “Well you’re riding right in the middle of the lane! Why don’t you get out of the road?”

M “Because it’s the law. You should learn the law. And this is a 25 mile per hour residential street!”

B: “Well if you don’t want to get hit, I wouldn’t ride like that.”

M: “Is that a threat?”

B: “I wouldn’t tell my children to ride here. You should get out of the road.”

M: “Then that’s a problem that you should work on changing. This is a residential road. And you should learn the law.”

At that point, she shook her head and rolled up the window. I gave her the peace sign and just yelled, “Peace to you, lady.” Nothing conveys peace more than angrily shaking the peace sign at someone, I’m sure.

Then I cried the whole way home. It’s so lame. To be fair, my entire family (including me) has had the stomach flu since Monday night, so I’m not exactly mentally stable at this point. But I’m just so frustrated. I wish I knew The Right Way to handle conflicts like this. Or even better, I wish they would stop happening so much. Conflict like this just wears me out. I defuse enough fights with two kids that I simply don’t want this risk hanging over my head every time I make a run to the grocery store. To be honest, this plays a significant part in why I dread my ride to work–I feel like I am always on edge, waiting for that honk. I JUST WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE, PEOPLE!

Is there a right way? Should I write a script so I can calmly convey all the points I want to get across next time? Is it possible to handle these situations in a way that leaves you at least feeling like you made some headway?

Happiness by bike

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:03:44 +0000

I’m in the Gator Club!

Considering how much I love being in the bunny club, I’m not sure if this qualifies as good or bad news. Either way, I’m now officially in the Gator Club. I was cruising along the Little Econ, looking for bunnies, when I saw a gator just cruising around in the water. I tried to get a picture, but I was too scared to get close to the bank. I also heard a lot of gator activity at different points on the trail–I wonder what it will be like in mating season!

My commutes were wonderful this week. The ride itself has become much easier and, at the same time, I feel like I am getting faster. I tried a different strategy this week and drove twice and rode twice. Jumping in full-force the first week was a bit overwhelming and I need this to be sustainable. Next week, I plan to ride three times, drive once, and work from home one day. I’m feeling far less pressure, which is really allowing me to fully enjoy the ride. I’m tacking on a few unnecessary miles but, in true Scarlett O’Hara fashion, I’m just going to have to think about that tomorrow.

This should be interesting

So you know how I like to jump in headfirst? Well, back before my Radish even got here I booked us a campsite to go camping–by bike. Yep.

We did a test pack tonight and I’m quite pleased to see that it looks like I will be able to carry all of our camping gear on my bike without the trailer! I’m really happy that I don’t have to worry about pulling the trailer and adding to the length of my bike. Jesse will carry the kids, the dog (yep), clothes, and the food. I’ll carry the 8-person tent, two adult camping chairs, the stove, air mattress, sleeping bags, and the kitchen gear.

My Radish is like the Volvo of Bikes

It’s official–I learned how to ride a bike this week! Yesterday, I finished up Part II of the “Confident Cycling” class. This was a pilot class for the Florida Bicycle Association; Part I was a three-hour lecture-style class and Part II was a six-hour road class. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of adding on one more thing to my already crazy week (especially 30+ miles for the class on Saturday!), but I am really glad I went.

Wonderful weekend followed by a slight case of the Mondays

Another lovely weekend by bike. Saturday a friend called and invited us out to Lake Eola (downtown) for the Fall Fiesta in the Park. My first thought hovered somewhere around the idea of “don’t you know we have to bike everywhere now?!?” However, one of the most important rules we made about this challenge was that we would never turn something down because of biking. If we didn’t want to go, fine – but not going because it was too many miles out of our total or too hard to bike to was not an option. Otherwise, what’s the point? Anyone can live on 4,000 miles if they stay inside all day!

I can’t believe I almost missed it.

It was so chilly in the house this morning and the fan was doing it’s lovely white-noise thing and I just didn’t want to get up. I kept thinking about how long 17 miles sounded and how tired I was. Instead of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, I think it was more like a cat and a puppy:

Keeping the faith

Sometimes it’s hard to keep the faith. I avoid sensational news for this very reason – seeing all that ugly gets depressing, especially when you’re trying to shepherd kids through the world. Unfortunately, sometimes riding your bike brings you face-to-face with the anger and tension other people are carrying around. This morning, I was using a relatively busy street to cross a major highway. I was first at the light and as soon as it turned green, I heard “HOOOONK!” The driver behind me laid on the horn the entire time we were crossing. I’m finding it all very humorous at this point, because really—it’s been all of 10 seconds. Normally, when I’m behind other cars, I experience the same delay trying to cross and I’ve never thought of ringing my bell like a maniac. As soon as we get to the other side, she pulls into a left turn lane next to me (I was controlling the lane, as I always do) and screams at me through the passenger window, “I AM IN A CAR!! GET OUT OF THE ROAD!!!!” I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I just smiled really big, waved, and gave her the peace sign. I’m sure this infuriated her even more, but I was truly at a loss. As soon as she sped off, I wished I had said, “This is a vehicle, learn the law” or “Nice role-modeling” considering she had to lean over her kid to scream at me (a child that looked way too young to legally be in the front seat, I just can’t help but add). And I don’t know why, but it made me terribly depressed. The thought of someone being so incredibly angry over a 15 second “delay,” the thought of someone acting like that in front of their kid, the thought of someone screaming at a stranger – it left me overwhelmed.