You don’t really realise how much you rely on your appliances until one of them happens to break down. If your Westinghouse fridge was to stop working how would you cope without having somewhere to keep your food cold? One of the most important things you should do, in case you are to ever find yourself in such a situation, is to make sure that you contents insurance is kept up to date, that way your insurance can cover the cost of repairs or replacing the machine.

Washing machine
If your washing machine was to break down it is easy enough to take your clothes down to the nearest laundromat. Make sure you take plenty of gold coins and a good book or magazine to read because it can be a bit time consuming sitting waiting for a load of washing. If you are unable to get out of the house to do this because you have young children to care for or you work full time, you might be able to make use of a friends or family members machine in the short term until you can get yours repaired or replaced. If all these options are not available to you then you can wash your clothes by hand. Buy some good laundry soap and either use your laundry sink or if bigger items you can wash them in the bath. You will find that hand washed items will take longer to dry because it is hard to squeeze all the water out of them and you can’t get quite as much water out of your clothes as your spin cycle on your washing machine does. More »

Have you ever noticed how the most comfortable houses to be in are seldom – if ever – the most stylish?

That’s because they’re loved by their owners as opposed to created perfections designed only to impress others.

The final irony is that the homes which truly most impress other people are those created by their owners without visitors in mind. More »

Hybrids have been on the world’s roads since the late 1990s, when Toyota launched the Prius and Honda launched the Insight. UK Honda fans looking for a hybrid car can currently buy one of three different Honda hybrids – the family sized Insight, the supermini Jazz and the sporty CR-Z.

One of the main reasons drivers choose Honda is because of the car maker’s excellent reputation for reliability. In the Which Car? and Warranty Direct reliability survey carried out in 2011, Honda came top for an incredible sixth year in a row. The Japanese car maker’s HR-V and CR-V topped the same survey’s SUV category as well. Added to that Honda won the number two spot in the JD Power Owner Satisfaction Survey 2011. More »

When trying to make their lifestyle a more green and environmentally-friendly one, many people choose to embark on big projects or make significant resolutions. They decide to stop eating meat, start composting all their waste, and build a solar generator on their roof. All of these endeavors are beneficial and worthwhile ones, to be sure, but they often require an investment of time and finances that is not always easy to meet.

For this reason, it is important not to overlook easy fixes when searching for ways to make your lifestyle at home a more green-friendly one. And your utilities and energy costs are certainly the best place to start. If you’re looking for how to save electricity and the environment this coming year, here are some tips for doing both by reducing your utilities burden: More »

Long after the removalists have been and gone, there are a few things you need to do to mitigate risks in your new home. Sure, you can do this by taking out the relevant policies like home and contents insurance, but this isn’t the only way you can mitigate risks in and around the home… especially if you have young children.

Over the last ten years or so the market has overflown with products that promise to be the best child-proofing money can buy. But before you shell out your well-earned cash, let’s identify the risks firsts. The best way to do this is to crawl through your house to get a toddler’s view of your home. This will help you to identify what is and isn’t a potential risk and will give you ideas on how to mitigate them.

As a general rule of thumb you should:

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It’s hard to be green when you want to revamp your home with new decoration and furniture. But it can be done – it may just require a bit more effort and research.

Recycle furniture. Although there’s plenty of cheap furniture available, it’s not always possible to find cheap furniture with good green credentials. If you want to buy new, make sure you check with the retailer about the supply chain used to make the sofa or table that you are thinking about buying. Check whether the wood used has been forested responsibly, and find out whether any fabrics used are produced without using pesticides and toxic dyes. More »