There is nothing quite on the level of being locked out of your home.
Depending if you live alone or not, this could mean waiting outside your house for hours on end, waiting for another housemate or family member to come home, or worst of all – calling an expensive locksmith to come and remedy the problem.
So you’re not left out in the cold, we’ve put together 5 tips that you can adhere to to avoid being locked out of your house ever again.
Get a spare key cut
This may seem obvious to most, but the more surefire way to making sure that you don’t get locked out of your house is to get a spare key cut.
Some people keep this key in a pot plant outside your house or under the welcome mat home, but perhaps this might not be good idea as this could be the first place someone would look.
Brian much prefers to use a combination key safe, and keeps the combination in his phone so he doesn’t forget it
However, if you do get locked out of your house and you need to call some locksmiths in Melbourne, having had a spare key already cut will limit the amount of effort and stress you will have to endure after the event.
Keep a key at a trusted person’s house
Once you have got a spare key cut, if you don’t want to keep this key on the premises of your home, a good idea is to keep it at a trusted family or friend’s house.
That way, if you do get locked out of your house for any reason, you can promptly call up this trusted person and get them to deliver the key or you can go and get it from them.
One of the best ways to not get locked out of your house is to employ some effective prevention methods!
Make sure you have a designated ‘key spot’, for example on a hook right by the door, or in a dish that is on your bedside table.
Each and every time you come home, be sure to place your house key in this spot, and this will dramatically decrease your chance of losing the key or leaving home without it.
Become an organised person
Becoming an organised person is another great preventative measure that you can engage in to mitigate the chance of you becoming locked outside your house.
Each time, before you leave the house, do a mental check: keys, wallet, phone, diary, and any other belongings you may need to have on you that day.
Once you start these sorts of organised behaviours, it will only seem natural to continue them.
Don’t let one of the most annoying afflictions ever affect you again!
Make sure that each time you leave the house you do a mental check of everything you need for the day ahead.
What’s more, ensure you get a spare key cut, and leave it in a smart and safe place – whether this be on the premises of our home or at trusted family or friend’s residence.
Lastly, it’s always a great idea to have a designated ‘key spot’, as this will mean your key has a home, mitigating the chance of ever losing it.
With the installation, the bills and the upkeep, it can be easy to fall into thinking that a home security system is too much hassle.
However, that’s simply not the case.
The peace of mind as well as the safety that comes along with a security system is unparalleled.
Furthermore, in the case of a burglary or an attack, having a security system in place will vastly help police after the event.
The benefits of a home security system can outweigh the costs, and we’ve outlined why below.
Protect what matters most
Naturally, your home is where you store your most valuable things.
Where you house sentiments, memories, heirlooms and the like.
It would be absolutely counterproductive not to protect your most precious items.
You’ve worked hard to get where you are and to purchase what you own, so do yourself the favour of protecting these items.
Remember that not everything that is stolen is replaceable.
There is a wide range of home security systems on the market these days that are able to be customised to suit your every protective need.
Deter criminals
A home security system also doesn’t just have to act as a reactive measure, either.
An alarm, for instance, will deter a potential burglar from entering your home in the first place.
These measures, such as motion sensor lights, a dog barking and a security alarm, will save you a huge amount of time, stress and money down the track if it deters a criminal before they attack.
The more home security systems that exist in your neighborhood, the more likely it is for crime to drop overall.
Help your neighbors; help yourself.
Lower homeowner’s insurance
As well as the physical safety that you and your belongings will now experience, you may actually save some money even if a burglary doesn’t occur.
Yes, you are paying out-of-pocket to increase your home security.
However, depending on your homeowner’s agreement, having a home security system may lower your homeowner’s insurance by up to 20 percent.
Increase peace of mind
There is most definitely no price that can be put on peace of mind.
When you install a home security system, you will sleep easier at night knowing that you, your family and your valuables are safe in your sanctuary.
This extra layer of defense is perhaps the greatest benefit of all.
Improves electricity management
Many security systems offer energy efficient thermostats and outlets.
That means, if you’ve forgotten to change your thermostat before leaving for a holiday, these systems will allow you to control the thermostat on any device with internet.
Moreover, this works as a great tool to turn lights on and off while you’re on vacation to help give the home the appearance that someone is there.
There are many things to think about when it comes to home security systems – it can seem overwhelming.
However, there is no doubt about it: a well-installed security system has so many benefits for you and your household.
Of course, each and every security system will be different, and it’s up to you to decide just what processes you need in place to protect your valuables and your loved ones.
When I first arrived in Australia I lived in a rural area and I was struck by how impressive the stars looked at night.
Now I live in Melbourne the views aren’t quite as good.
A large part of the reason is lights shining upwards that illuminate specks of dust which make it hard to see the stars clearly and blocks out the fainter stars.
This slide shows the effects of various fitting and how to reduce light pollution.
For more information check out this slide show: Light Pollution
Harvesting your own flowers and vegetables from your garden backyard is one of the most rewarding endeavours for homeowners.
You need to make good preparation if you’re to avoid making costly mistakes later.
A garden in your backyard has several benefits supplying you with fresh vegetable flowers whenever you need them.
A garden enhances the beauty of your outdoor space and gives a reason to spend more time outside than usual.
Let this be the year when you start growing your vegetables and flowers and stopping running to the grocery all the time.
The success of any garden depends on the soil preparation procedures.
You will need to plan well and prepare everything before you can start growing your first plants in the garden. . . . so here are some steps in starting a garden from scratch:
Mark the area you want to create a garden
The first step is to mark out clearly the area you want to start your garden.
You can make use powder to mark it or even wooden sticks.
Saw cut small wooden stakes and hammer them into the ground around the edges of the garden.
You can then tie a string from one stake to another to mark the boundaries.
The size marked depends on with the area available and the size of garden you want.
It is always advised that you start a garden bed that is easy to maintain as starting a garden is just a tip of the iceberg, as there is much hard work in maintaining it afterwards.
The area chosen must be experiencing at least six hours of sunshine a day as this are some of the requirements of flowers and vegetables.
Clear away the grass
Most probably the area is covered by grass.
Getting rid of the grass should be your next step as these will be competing for nutrients with your vegetables.
Starting a new garden means sacrificing on some part of your lawn.
Get rid of all the grass and its roots for excellent results with your vegetables.
Dig the grass with a spade or sod cutter.
However, if you have time, you can cover the grass with several layers of thick newspapers and inches of soil compost and wait for the grass to die.
Dig up the soil
Now comes tilling your new garden to remove unwanted materials like rocks and roots.
All debris can now be removed before you can test your soils.
Tilling the garden must be done to depths of 8-10 inches deep which helps completely break up the soil and loosen it. A steel rake might be used to remove all debris that remains after tilling.
Test, and modify, the soil
You need to test the soil for pH analysis and nutrients to see if the soil as the ideal conditions for growing flowers and vegetables of your choice.
You can use a self-test kit found in almost all garden stores.
These kits come with all the directions and how to test soil and the recommended pH and nutrient levels. This will also be a good time to add some compost to your garden.
Depending on the condition of your soil after testing, you can add nutrients to modify the composition of the soil.
Acid soils can be balanced by soda ash and lime while alkaline soils can be balanced by iron sulfate.
An even layer of nutrients can then be spread over the soil before tilling them into the garden soil with a shovel or tiller.
Edge your new bed
Edging your new bed is one of the best ways to prevent weeds from crawling into your garden.
Make a trench of about 8 inches deep and some inches wide all around your garden.
You can even sink an edging material around the perimeter of your garden which will help stop even the worst invaders from crossing through to your garden.
Edging your garden is a crucial procedure that not only stops weeds crawling, but also keeps plants in the garden safe as the edge clearly defines the garden and prevents mowers and weed trimmers from affecting the plants.
Allow the soils to rest for a week or two
You don’t plant immediately after finishing with the preparation of soils.
The soils must be allowed to rest for a week or two to allow the nutrients to settle and start working.
Even before planting, you still need to rake the soil smoothly with a steel rake to give the soil the final preparation.
Site your plants
Don’t just remove your seedlings and plant them immediately.
You need to site them if you are to get the spacing right. It takes a little time to site all your plants on the garden but it is worth the effort.
You are now in the final step of seeing lovely plants in your garden and want everything to come out just fine.
This will also help you know the plants to place next to each other.
Get planting
When every plant is in the right spot, it is time to start planting.
ALWAYS loosen or tease up the plant roots before placing them in the soil.
This is very crucial especially if the seedlings were root bound.
This gives the roots space to spread out and hold into the new soils.
The vegetables or flowers must be planted according to their won specific guidelines.
Add some mulch
Adding 3-4 inches or organic mulch is one of the best ways to keep your garden healthy and well-maintained.
There are several things you can use as mulch. Shredded barks of trees, dried leaves, straw or newspapers all work fine as mulch.
Mulch is essential helping prevent the growth of weeds and keeps moisture in the soil.
The mulch decomposes over time adding more nutrients to your garden.
You will probably see the benefits of mulch during the dry season when the soil needs to retain enough moisture to keep the plants going.
Water your garden
By now your garden is planted and well-mulched.
Giving the plants a good soaking is highly recommended to give them good moisture levels.
If you used dry mulch, the mulch would absorb most of the waters before the soils.
It is always better to soak the mulch before using them or water them after spreading them in your garden around your plants.
As you can see, there are a lot of things that must be done before one experience the rewards of a garden.
There is nothing complex about starting a garden from scratch as long as you follow all the steps.
You will be able to see healthy plants growing in your garden in a few weeks.
Dianne Lampe blogs about gardening at www.igardenplanting.com She is passionate about all things related to gardening and blogs about indoor and outdoor planting as well as offering useful information about the best gardening products.
You’re finally getting out of the rental apartment and into your own home!
It’s an exciting time, but it can also be pretty stressful.
You have to make sure you’ve packed everything properly so nothing does missing or gets broken in the process.
You also make sure you want to tie up any loose ends you have around the old place, such as the thorough end of lease clean, at least with Whizz end of lease cleaning app you have one stress taken off your mind, but what about all the others?
With this being such an exciting and stressful time, it’s understandable for things to slip your mind. If you feel like you’re forgetting something, or don’t know where to start, here are 5 moving tips for the new homebuyer.
Make sure you’re connected
You’ve moved all the boxes and furniture into the house, now all that’s left to do is unpack.
Yet, when you go to turn on the lights you find you’re not connected to electricity yet!
Making sure your electricity, cable, and internet is all sorted out in advance so you don’t have anything extra to stress about once you’re finally in.
Have your boxes sorted out
It may be easy when you first start packing to just put anything and everything into boxes to quickly get it done, but when it comes time to unpack, this can make the process an unorganised mess.
You are also faced with the possibility that some of your items could break in the move if they haven’t been packer properly.
If you label your boxes and keep everything sorted together, unpacking will become an easy breeze.
Cull
When packing for a move to a new place, you should be prepared to do a cull of old possessions you may not use or want anymore.
Bringing old things with you that are no longer of use in your life can be dead weight to the move and just end up taking too much storage in your new home.
Go through everything you have as you’re packing it away and decide whether or not you’re going to use it.
If you choose to get rid of it why not give it away to a charity so it can be passed on to its next home.
Don’t rush your buying
When it comes to moving into a new home furnishing can be really expensive, especially if you don’t already have furniture that fits in with you.
Once you’ve moved in, figure out what you really need at the time so you can budget properly and not end up with nothing.
Simple decorative items can wait whereas chairs, couches, appliances, and bedding are definitely needed for a home.
Forward your mail
Before you move, it’s a good idea to notify any company that you receive mail from frequently, or at all, of your move, rather than just rely on a paid post office redirection.
Notify them of the address change so they can immediately start sending your mail to your new house, this saves the person moving into your old spot the hassle of sending your mail back, or just simply throwing it away.
While moving is a stressful time for anyone, it’s also extremely exciting.
Don’t let it get in the way of all the good things that are to come, you now completely have your own space to renovate, redecorate, and do whatever you want in.
The moving process is a small amount of a stressful time compared to all the amazing times you will have to come in your brand new home.
Here are some information about why water isn’t coming out of your tap and what to do about them.
Tap Washer Needs Replacing
Whether the pipe is dripping orand won’t work at all, the problem can be as simple as a washer needing to be replaced.
If you are confident you can isolate the tap, unscrew the tap head and swap out the existing washer with a fresh one.
If the problem is not fixed then it may just be beyond your expertise and you should seek some professional help.
The Isolation Valve (Stop Tap)
The water may not be running due to the fact that you or another member of the household has turned off the isolation valve for some reason and then forgotten to turn it back on (maybe while they were replacing the washers in the taps).
You can usually find the isolation valve near your water meter.
This can be down to a simple mistake, but you should check that your bills are up to date and that the water supply company has received your latest payments.
This problem can usually be remedied with a simple phone call to your water supplier.
Debris In Pipes
Sometimes corrosion can become lodged in the piping and then dirt and other debris can build up and block the water from getting through to your taps.
To fix this problem, the obstruction needs to be removed by flushing the system.
Pipes Are Leaking
Another thing that can cause the water to stop running is a breach in the pipes.
This can occur because the pipes have rusted, split or are just simply too old and need replacing.
This is especially likely to be the case if you have noticed leaking outside or a drop in water pressure recently.
Frozen Pipes (Unlikely unless you live in a mountain area of Victoria, Tasmania or New South Wales)
If the weather is around or below 0 degrees celsius for several days the problem could simply be frozen pipes.
You can try to remedy this problem using a fan heater over the exposed sections of piping until water flow returns.
If this doesn’t fix the problem, there may be water frozen in the pipes underground and you may just have to wait until it thaws naturally.
If you are unable to find the cause, you should check with your neighbours to see if they are experiencing similar problems, because if they are there may be a larger issue.
Always keep in mind that if you find yourself feeling out of your depth, or the problem isn’t just a simple fix, you should always cover yourself by using a licensed plumber.
This is a guest post written by Kylie from grohelps
For anybody that is looking at starting their very own home vegetable garden there are a number of important factors that you should be looking at getting to grips with before you begin.
After all, you will want to avoid making mistakes since it then leads to it becoming harder to grow those vegetables and actually being rewarded for all of that hard work that you are then putting into action.
So, these are some of the key factors that you really need to think about before you become too involved in your vegetable garden.
1. Size and Location
It is important that you think about where your vegetable garden is going to be located as you must think about the quality of the soil, how much light it gets in that spot, and what the drainage is like.
In other words, you cannot just go and start growing vegetables anywhere that you want since that can lead to disaster.
Also, you need to plan ahead and understand what you will be growing as this then determines the size.
Alternatively, if you are aware of your limitations in the space that is available then you should then measure the space and spend time researching the different vegetables that can fit according to the space that they need in order to grow.
2. Planning Ahead.
You really do have to spend some time planning your garden and this means knowing what is going to be growing, where they have to be positioned, how they will grow together, and even when the produce is going to be ready for eating.
Some vegetables compliment one another in the ground while others fight against one another and restrict their growth.
Planning makes sure that you get the maximum number of vegetables in the smallest area possible.
3. Preparing the Bed and Soil
Vegetables are only going to grow in the correct soil and it is therefore very important that you prepare the bed correctly before you start planting.
You need to break up the soil, perhaps even turn soil over, and remove any weeds.
You might also want to also incorporate some fertilizer and work that into the soil so that the plants are able to get a real shot of those all important nutrients as they start to grow and develop as plants.
4.Selecting the Vegetables to Grow.
Next, you have to really study what you are going to grow and there are a number of deciding factors that will help you out.
First, learn about the vegetables that give you the best return for the effort that you put into getting them to grow.
Also, think carefully about what your family likes and take full advantage of those vegetables in the space that you have available.
You also have to think about what is the easiest to grow since this does also vary and if you are new to it then you do not want something too taxing.
5. The Care and Maintenance
This point is all about care and maintenance of your vegetables and the plot. As you can imagine, there are a number of things for you to think about with this and we will look at each point individually to help you to really make sense of it all.
Plant Supports for the Vegetables
You have to be aware of the fact that some vegetables are going to require some support to help them to grow.
This includes the likes of peas, runner beans and a number of other vegetables that tend to grow to a reasonable height. If you do not support them then their growth will be restricted.
Fertilizer.
If we can go back to fertilizer as it does play an important role throughout the duration of the growth and development of the vegetables.
You need to understand the kind of feeding that different vegetables prefer and also how often they need to be fed.
This will more than likely increase when they are at the part of developing the actual vegetables, so you have to be aware of the growth cycles so they can be fed at the correct moments.
Watering
Water is important if you want impressive vegetables, but you also need to understand how much water the different vegetables like when they are growing.
Some such as leeks love to have their roots soaked while others are not so happy with that.
Understanding the watering cycle for different vegetables can also make it easier for you to plan the garden in the first place.
Weeds
Vegetables hate weeds as they are just going to compete for the various nutrients that are in the ground and they can also start to fight against the roots and inhibit the growth of the plants themselves.
It is important that you weed the vegetable garden on a regular basis to keep on top of this issue.
Mulching
Mulching is something that you can use in order to boost the fertility and overall health of the soil and the best part is that you can even use old food scraps from your kitchen and throw it into the soil.
The plants are going to extract the nutrients and this will then boost their growth.
6 Protecting Your Vegetables
Protecting your vegetables is also just as important because you can easily get to a point where they have been destroyed and you are left with nothing in return for all of your hard work. Once again, we will look at several points individually.
The Problem of Pests
Different vegetables can be affected by different pests and that just means that you need to be aware of the most common issues for the plants before you go ahead and start your vegetable garden.
In addition, it is important to know that you can use organic insecticides to deal with the issue as at least then it is not going to give you any cause for concern with the health of the vegetables.
Dealing with Disease
One major problem with vegetables is that they can often be prone to different diseases.
As with the pests issue it is important that you know the main diseases that tend to affect the plants or vegetables so you know what to look out for in advance and how to deal with it.
Once again, there will be organic options for you to use that can be just as effective.
Dealing with Wildlife
Finally, there can often be a problem with wildlife and of course you then want to deal with them.
We are talking about more than just birds as well, so you might want to look at the idea of investing in some netting to protect especially the young plants.
Also, you have to think about the ways in which they are going to attack the vegetables and then counteract those problems.
As you can see, there are a series of things for you to think about when growing vegetables at home and the main thing is that you spend time getting to grips with the basics before you then go ahead and get started.
However, there is nothing complex here so keep that in mind and ultimately you should end up with some vegetables that you can be proud of.
I heard on today’s news that there have been bush fires in NSW, in the first week of November!. . . . so I thought it was worthwhile reminding people about making an Emergency Plan.
If you have just moved into your new house make sure you spend time thinking about what you would do in an emergency.
Even if you house is still being being built its not too soon to start thinking about emergency planning.
Don’t think this doesn’t apply to Houses on new urban estates. Your house can still be affected by things like grass fires and flooding.
I and many others have said “If you don’t plan, you are planning to fail!” . . . and the consequences of failing can be fatal.
Emergency Planning Guides
If you look on the websites for your States Emergency Services or Fire Brigade you should find sample plans.
The Australian Red Cross also have a great downloadable planning guide at this link Red Cross Emergency Planning.
Emergency Planning Guides
If you look on the websites for your states Emergency Services or Fire Brigade you should find sample plans.
The Australian Red Cross also have a great downloadable planning guide at this link Red Cross Emergency Planning
Potential Emergency Scenarios
Having seen a lot of emergency plans one thing that they often miss is planning for different scenarios.
Remember emergencies can happen without warning. . . . so check you have a plan for
Everyone at home with vehicle/s and time to leave safely.
Everyone at home with vehicles BUT no time to leave.
One parent away from home with vehicle.
Both parents away from home, but children home.
Adult/s home but children away from home.
If you don’t have a plan for any of these scenarios . . . . then don’t let that scenario happen.
