Tag: Today’s Home Spun Wisdom

New year, new you, right? Sure! If you’re like most people, the new year is chock-full of health- and wellness-related resolutions—but why stop there? Your home could use some improvements in the new year too. If a major home improvement is on your list of resolutions, it pays to have your plans established before you […]

(TNS)—The recent news about high lead levels in the Flint, Mich., water supply has raised concerns about lead poisoning in general. Mayo Clinic experts say young children are at the greatest risk of health problems related to lead exposure, including serious brain and kidney damage. Lead poisoning happens when the metal builds up in the […]

(TNS)—No matter what grandma might have warned, simple exposure to frosty winter air won’t lead to getting the flu. But going to the office might. Doctors suspect the workplace ranks among the biggest culprits in spreading the virus. Nausea and other symptoms force Americans to take nearly 111 million sick days a year, contributing to […]

If your New Year’s resolutions include keeping a tidier, more organized household, home and garden experts provide a home organization checklist designed to help keep you on target. Engage the family by assigning daily and weekly chores to everyone who is at least five years old. Post your checklist where everyone can read it, and […]

(TNS)—Central heating systems are designed to maintain a warm and comfortable temperature in your home — even when the weather outside is exceptionally cold and frigid. However, extreme snow storms and dramatically cold weather can prevent your primary heating system from effectively warming up your house and can cause cold air to infiltrate various areas […]

(TNS)—Reverse mortgages have become the cash-strapped homeowner’s financial planning tool of choice. The first Federal Housing Administration-insured reverse mortgage was introduced in 1989. Such loans enable seniors age 62 and older to access a portion of their home equity without having to move. The bank makes payments to the borrower throughout his or her lifetime […]

(TNS)—Q: After a long search, we finally found a home. We outbid the other interested parties and are under contract to close later this month. But our lender just told us that the house did not appraise for the purchase price. What can we do? A: When you take out a mortgage, your lender will […]

For 2016, I’m introducing an ongoing series we’ll call ‘Prepping!’ In a single segment, or series, we’ll take on a subject related to your home – like ‘prepping for a new kitchen’ or ‘prepping for a new dog’ – and unpack that subject tapping the appropriate experts. So as we hinted, our first subject and […]

(TNS)—The fun of the holidays is over and most of us are back at work, hoping to focus on new goals. That brings us, inevitably, to the archenemy of goals: procrastination. A good example of procrastination, and I’m not making this up, is me typing one-and-a-half sentences of this column and then thinking, “Oh, I […]

(TNS)—It’s the time of year when we’re inundated with articles on how to be healthy, start good-for-you habits and dump the bad ones. But, what about giving some attention to another major investment in your life—your home. To help get your home in tip-top shape, here are five healthy home habits to start in the […]