Being prepared for the unknown is something most people know we should do, but the majority of us don't take time to actually do it! We have lived in a state prone to hurricanes for eight years and didn't really have anything ready in case of a natural disaster. Recently, we moved closer to the coast in this region which forced us to make a hurricane emergency kit. If you don't feel like putting together your own kit, you can order one from Amazon! Here's an affiliate link to one that's for four people. (Four Person Perfect Survival Kit Deluxe) They have several variations to choose from. Preparing a Hurricane Emergency Kit I will walk you through a few things to consider when preparing an emergency kit. Saving Money I would be lying if I didn't say that I was financially driven to prepare a kit. The state of Virginia has one three-day sales tax holiday weekend beginning the first Friday in August. Yes, saving on tax pushed me to buy a bunch of stuff that I just may need one day. In addition to saving taxes on emergency preparedness items, customers can save tax on clothing, footwear, school supplies, and Energy Star and WaterSense products. For complete details on qualifying items and more, please go to Virginia's Government Tax Page. Not in Virginia? Search "your state" + "emergency preparedness" or "emergency kit." You can replace "hurricane" with "earthquake" or "tornado" or any other applicable term for your area. Depending on how much you purchase, the saving on taxes can add up pretty quickly. Be Prepared Before Preparing Heading out on a tax-free shopping spree won't save you much money if you're buying items that don't qualify for the tax-free holiday, or you buy a bunch of items you don't actually need or won't use. The National Hurricane Center offers supply lists and emergency plans, along with a ton of resources to help you gain focus. Question: What issue did the person push to address to those living in hurricane prone areas? Options: - save tax on clothing and footwear - not enough information - The be prepared with an emergency kit - to head out to do tax-free shopping === The correct answer is
The be prepared with an emergency kit

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New Year's resolutions are great, unless you don't really resolve to do anything. Then they become a list of wishes. Unless you are going to determine steps to make your wishes turn into goals AND you're going to follow through with those steps, you probably should not make New Year's resolutions. Full disclaimer before we completely dive in: I'm not against setting goals. I have always been a goal setter and sometimes even a goal achiever. If you're the same, you may enjoy this audible, or if you're interested in developing and achieving SMART goals try this e-book or this book. Why You Shouldn't Make New Year's Resolutions You'll probably write the same things on a sheet of paper that you did the year before. Some of the common resolutions we've all heard are: Lose weight, exercise, spend less, save more, travel, go to church, and so on and so forth. There's a reason these are common. We hear them (or write them) time and time again andnothing changes. By mid-January, they'll be long forgotten. Maybe even before January 15th, they aren't a thought in our minds. They were good ideas two weeks prior (and the years before that), but that's what they have remainedideas. You didn't think of a route to your destination. Saving money sounds great, but do you know what you're already spending? Do you know what you need to cut and where you'll put that amount? Have you factored in your new gym membership? What will you do with it? Will the autodraft payment that comes out each month help you shed those pounds? What churches are in your area? Do they have programs your family will be interested in? Do you know when the services are? You're overwhelmed. You try to better yourself constantly. Maybe. Let's say some of you try to better yourselves constantly. Which can be a good thing. But it can also be the reason you fail yourselves time and time again. You say yes when you should say no, sign up when you should wait a few more months, and have a list of ten New Year's resolutions when you should focus on two. Question: After the end of this story, the narrator probably is Options: - not enough information - Still cynical - Happy - Annoyed === The correct answer is
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Still cynical

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it! If you're like us, you have an extra pumpkin around the house right now. I'd like to challenge you to Thirty Days of Thankfulness for the month of November. By the end of the month, you'll have one thankful pumpkin on display to kick off the holidays! You'll also have a family that realizes they have much to be thankful for! I thought of this idea one year when I was visiting family. I was trying to think of a way to use a little pumpkin that my niece and nephew had for decoration. So we sat around the table and tried to list everything we were thankful for. As they contributed, I wrote keywords with a marker all over the pumpkin. Even when we were done with our brainstorming activity, they would think of things to add to our thankful pumpkin. It's a simple yet meaningful activity that encourages children (and adults) to find things they are grateful for in their lives. When you're not writing on it, place the pumpkin in a spot where everyone can see it every day. It serves as a reminder, not only for all the good things in life, but also to continue the challenge with quality family discussions. If you made these decorative pumpkins, and don't want to save them, you could paint them a neutral color and write or paint all over them too. We're going to use a regular picked-from-the-patch pumpkin in our house. The following document gives brief instructions for this activity. You can clip it to the fridge for this year and/or file it away for next year if you'd like. Or, you can make the conversation more interesting by cutting out the prompt strips from the document and placing them in a jar or container. Each day when you sit down to write on your thankful pumpkin, you can have your child choose a strip to start the discussion. Question: The author thought of the Thanksgiving idea: Options: - when a pumpkin fell from the cabinet - not enough information - a year ago when visiting family - while visiting her niece and nephew === The correct answer is
a year ago when visiting family