Lake Ariel Realty
After months or even years of work on your garden and landscaping, there is nothing more frustrating than the local wildlife devouring your plants, vegetables, and fruit. Deer, rabbits, and groundhogs will all enjoy the buffet in your yard. However, the following tips will help prevent animals from making a meal of your greenery and produce.
Deer
If you notice deer are beginning to use your yard as a feeding area, one of the first steps to deter this behavior is to startle them away. Add...
Cutting down on energy use is great for the environment. It can also save you big bucks. Alternative energy proponent IGS Energy suggests four green and easy ways to do both:
Minimize ‘phantom loads.’ The term ‘phantom load’ refers to the energy that an appliance or electronic device consumes when it is not actually turned on. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), some 75 percent of the electricity in an average home is used to power electronics while the products are off. A report...
Overspending is easy to do with a credit card – way too easy – and can often lead to debt.
Researchers have found that even for people who don’t carry a balance each month on their credit card, they overspend when using a credit card instead of cash. Credit cards can make people more willing to spend twice as much for something than they would when using cash.
A simple solution can be to keep your credit cards out of your wallet or purse so that you don’t conveniently have them at hand when you...
If you’ve checked your credit reports lately for errors, congratulations! That’s a smart first step to improving your credit score, which can make getting approved for home loans and credit cards, along with getting the best interest rates, a lot easier.
Errors can be as simple as a misspelled name, wrong phone number or address, or as serious as an account wrongly reported as delinquent.
The next step is to fix them. Here are some ways to resolve errors on your credit reports:
Write the Credit...
When you decide to make the investment in a home improvement project, you’re likely entrusting a professional contractor to bring your vision to life on time and on budget.
Remodeling contractors are diverse, so it’s important to take your time, ask lots of questions and do your research before selecting the right one for the job. Keep in mind these considerations from the experts at the National Association of the Remodeling Industry:
Choose local. A local home improvement contractor with an e...
If you’re burdened by debt, the stress of having bills you can’t pay and receiving calls from creditors can be overwhelming. You might even be considering declaring bankruptcy. Before you take such a drastic step that could significantly lower your credit score and limit your future financial options, look for other solutions.
Earn More MoneyIf possible, increase your income. If you have been at your job long enough and your boss is pleased with your performance, ask for a raise. If that’s not...
The average length of retirement in the United States is 18 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
How do retirees pay for those 18 years? Retirement plans vary, though most people eventually collect Social Security and Medicare benefits. Here are some strategies for making the most of your money that’s set aside for retirement:
Maximize Social SecurityTo get the maximum in Social Security benefits, anyone who is 62 in 2017 would need to wait until they’re 66-67 years old to receive full r...
