All Mum Said

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Archives for March 2015

The Hairy Questions + 50% off sale

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Growing up in a house full of girls my brother and step-dad were outnumbered. There was 4 of us and only two of them. This of course meant whether they liked it or not they had to endure conversations about boys, periods, shaving and bras. Just what every boy and man wants to talk about. Back then it didn’t really occur to me that girls don’t often talk to their fathers about this type of thing because my dad welcomed us to talk to him about anything. Well anything until the day we asked for a boy to be in our room, then the ball game changed.

I’m sure there are many dads out there who also have an open door policy when it comes to their daughters but there will always be the ones that are a little shyer and may feel uncomfortable talking about female issues or offering advice in these areas. While mothers obviously have more expertise with these subjects, it is nice for daughters to feel they can talk to their dads about this stuff too.

At some point in a girl’s life she is going to want to shave and of course the questions start. Is she old enough? Is shaving, waxing or hair removal cream better? How high up their legs should they go or should they stop just above/below the knee? Veet have created a ‘Hairy Questions Kit’ which has everything girls and even women could need to find out what option works best for them. The Hairy Questions Kit includes four great products that RRP $50 but can be purchased in the kit for only $25 with FREE delivery. That’s a bargain if ever I’ve heard one! You can purchase the Hairy Questions Kit here.

Veet have put together a short video where daughters ask their dads some of life’s ‘Hairy Questions’ and see if they can answer them. Some of the questions are about boys, fashion, how to get boys attention, PMS, etc. and their dads answers are well worth watching. (See video above)

Would your husband or father have answered them differently?

This is an S1 POST.

Three Ways to Increase Your Mortgage Repayments

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A mortgage can feel like a chain around your neck, holding you back from being able to live a full and enjoyable life, especially when money gets tight. It isn’t uncommon for those with a mortgage to start looking for ways to pay it off faster. One of the most efficient ways to do this is by simply increasing your repayments – easier said than done, obviously, but not impossible. Here are a couple of ways you could go about doing so.

Ways to Increase Your Mortgage Repayments

1. Generate Extra Income

Supplementing your current income with a bit of extra cash can be accomplished a number of ways. You could pick up some extra work, either through a business of your own or through a second job. That way, of course, leads to you spending less time in the home you’re trying so hard to pay off. Stock trading could be another way to generate a regular supplement to your income, but you have to be smart about it. There are plenty of education providers like Learn to Trade who can show you the ropes through a number of easy-to-follow online courses and training manuals, but you’ll also need lots of determination and intelligence for this method to pay off.

2. Pay Fortnightly Instead of Monthly

Many people end up making their mortgage repayments monthly. By halving your monthly total and paying that fortnightly, you end up making one extra payment per year. There are generally around 4.35 weeks in a month, so there are 26 fortnights in a year rather than 24. Paying $3,000 every month will lop $36,000 off your total every year. Paying $1,500 every fortnight adds up to $39,000 a year off your mortgage. The amount you pay doesn’t actually change; you just make your repayments slightly – almost unnoticeably – more quickly, and this could eventually cut a significant amount of time that your mortgage is hanging over your head.

3. Interest Rates Fall; Your Minimum Repayment Does Not

A trap that a lot of people fall into when interest rates decline is seeing that drop as a few more dollars in their back pocket every month. Wrong. It’s actually a great opportunity to really make a dent in your loan. Being disciplined enough to keep your repayments where they are will see you reduce your debt much faster under a lower interest rate. True, you still can’t have much fun, but this way you get to spend time with your family and actually enjoy the home you’re working so hard to own outright one day.

Increasing your mortgage repayments is about working smarter, not harder. With a debt of this size, every little bit helps; any advantage should be seized with both hands. Like any other debt repayment strategy, every path to increasing your repayments starts with discipline. If you can master yourself and commit to a certain amount every month, and pitch in more where you can, you’ll be well on your way to paying that mortgage off early.

What are your favourite tricks for increasing your mortgage payments?

Share them in the comments.

This is an S2 POST.

A Good Man in the Storm

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A few years ago my little brother (who is actually not so little – standing at 6 foot something huge) was enjoying an afternoon with his mates at his house. Sitting in the courtyard of their quiet country town townhouse having a couple of drinks and reminiscing years gone by; they hear a couple of people having a verbal altercation next door. While they let it be and minded their own business at first, when it started to get violent they felt they should take a closer look and thankfully for the guy laying on the ground getting the absolute life beaten out of him my brother raced over and attempted to stop the hot blooded guy hurting the already unconscious victim.

With a swift push my brother got the man away from the victim so his mates could drag him to safety and call the ambulance. Obviously the man was angry and so my brother had ended up being a fresh punching bag for him. Thankfully for my brother we have grown up around boxing and were taught from a young age how to defend ourselves, plus I think the hours he puts in at the gym helps too. He was hit, punched and scratched while he tried to contain the man from causing anyone else serious injuries and in the crossfire his front teeth were shattered and knocked out.

The ambulance and police arrives and the angry man is cuffed and taken to the station. The victim who was now in and out of consciousness and my brother were taken to hospital to be checked and admitted. The victim was put into an induced coma due to swelling of the brain and my brother received several stitches and was allowed to leave. Unfortunately for him he had just started a new job and was going to show up with stitches, bruises and no front teeth! What a way to make a great impression.  Luckily for him the dentist was able to replace his teeth with porcelain crowns. Sadly however, it cost him a small fortune reaching in the thousands.

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The victim had come out of his coma and police spoke to both him and my brother regarding the incident that took place. The officer suggested filing compensation claims against the man who caused the injuries so they weren’t out of pocket for injuries he had caused. Knowing how much the dental repair bill cost, my brother thought their was no harm in looking into it. There are many compensation lawyers like Firths that offer “no win no fee” terms which meant he would not be further out of pocket and opted for one of these as a result. He was only seeking costs of his dental bill and work lost as a result of the damage caused by the man and nothing more. He won his compensation claim and has put it behind him.

My brother is a good man in the storm. He will step in to save a stranger. He would put himself in harms way to ensure the safety of another (human or animal). If only everyone was more like this, the world would be a much nicer place.

This is an S1 POST.

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