La Quinta California Real Estate

1. Clean home before leaving to you return to a clean home

2. Turn off all lights except for those left on for security

3. Clean old food and sauces from refrigerator

4. Have a meal in the freezer ready to go for your return

5. Water plants

6. Unplug small appliances and computers to avoid blow outs from energy spikes and also to save energy

7. Notify neighbors to watch the home

8. Stop the newspaper delivery and even themail if you are gone more than week

9. Pull blinds and drapes

10. Be sure your favorite TV shows areprogrammed to record on your DVR while you are away

11. Be sure all bills arepaid ahead while you are away

12. Let your credit card company know you are traveling

13. Leave plenty of time for last minute details

14. HAVE A FUN TIME!

1. Lower the temperature on your water heater

2. Lower bulb wattages and switch to compact fluorescents

3. Turn off lights

4. Unplug all unused appliances and lamps

5. Use cold water to wash clothes

6. Do not let your car run when not moving like when in the gas station ot picking up children

7. Bundle cable and internet and phone servcie

8. Drive 5 mph slower. This will save 5% on gas.

9. Keep tires inflated. Empty your car of weight.

10. Cut back on gifts. Spend less.

11. When you buy gift cards, get a rebate. Albertson's is offering $20 in groceries for every $100 in gift cards

These are ways to save at least several hundred dollars each year without impacting your life.

If you were incapacitated, would anyone be able to find and access your important records and take care of your financial or business matters? Having papers accessible and organized is very important in a crisis or emergency situation.

1. Location - You may try a home safe, fire security box, or offsite safe deposit box. The container should be securable and fire .

2. Who knows? - Does someone besides your spouse know where the papers are and how to gain access? A CPA, attorney, relative, or family firend are good people to know this information.

3. Which papers? - These items are usually a part of an 'important documents" list. Safety deposit box key, life insurance policies, deeds, contracts, leases, titles, mortgages, loan notes, banking, savings, investment, and retirement records, will, burial arrangements, all other insurance policies( health, auto, home), birth certificates, passports and copies of passports, copies of driver's license and social security cards.

I had a dinner party last night for a few of my agents and some clients. One of our guests spilled alot of red wine on the shirt of another guest. I had an old remedy to get rid of red wine stains that was given to me by a lady at a wine tasting where I had red wine spilled all over a white sweater. I have used this through the years and it works like magic.

Put ALOT of salt on the red wine and pour on boiling water. Reat if necessary a few times. It works like magic. You can see it disappear.

I even used this on light colored carpet at a party when a guest spilled red wine. One of my agents suggested I share this tip on Active Rain.

Over the next 20 years, 80 million people can join social security. Currently, people born between 1945 and 1954 can receive full Social Security benefite at age 66. The full retirement increases  each year by 2 months for those born 1955 -1959 until it reaches age 67 for those born in 1960 and beyond.

You can start collecting at age 62 at 75% of full benefits for those elgible for full retirement at age 66. It will be 70% of full benefits for full benefits at age 67.

A spouse who had little or no employment can receive half of the other's benefits when the working spouse applies for social security. Thus, a married couple in oone wage earner family receives 150% of the working spouses benefits.

If you were married 10 years or more before divorcing, you are elgible to receive spousal benefits at age 62 even if your ex-spouse has not requested the benfits begin. If you remarry before age 60, the benefit disappears.

Also, beware of tax implications. If your adjusted gross income plus interest on tax-exempt bongs plus your social security benefits exceed $25,000 and $32,000 for married couples, 50% of the income is taxable up to $34,000 for single and $44,000 for married and 85% over those amounts .

Where you retire can affect the taxes on your benefits. Some states tax Social Security benefits. California does not.

It is good to plan now for your life and income down the road when you retire.

It is well established that barbequing can cause cancer. Consider these tips to prepare your BBQ safely avoiding HCA ( heterocyclic amines).

1.  Marinate your meat but not with BBQ sauce - Teriyaki sauce or a glaze of turmeric and garlic can reduce HCA by as much as 60%. The standard BBQ sauce which is actually primarily sugar and tomato sauce in many cases increases HCA. If you truly love BBQ sauce, slather the meat in BBQ sauce after it is off the grill.

2. Include fruits or spices -Adding fruits to your marinade serves as an anti-oxidant and decreases the chemical producing HCAs. Garlis can other spices can protect the meat more than when it is grilled just plain. One study showed that a marinade of 2 parts garlic, 2 parts onion, and one part lemon juice was the most effective for eliminating cancer causing agents.

3. Remove the fat and skins - Reducing the fat from your steak and the skin from your poultry will curb the cholesterol risk to your heart and also lower charring of meat which causes another type of cance. Scraping off the charring will reduce exposure to one type of cancer, but not another which goes deeper into the meat.  Cooking at a lower temperature reduces HCA.

4. Do not overcook the meat - The more you cook the meat, the higher the carcinogens. There is a correlation between eating well done meat and stomach cancer. It is more healthful to eat your meat medium or medium rare.

We are lucky to live ina time where there has been so much knowledge to protect us and our bodies from unnecessary exposure to carcinogens.