Matti Daniels

If you are a gardener or are thinking about gardening, spring is definitely a welcome season. Gardening can save you a significant amount of money at the grocery store. If you are planting a produce garden, it can also add curb appeal to your home increasing your home’s value. However, did you know that there are some considerations that you should keep in mind to save money when planning your spring garden? Be patient. While it may be tempting to start your garden at the first sign of spring, hold off a bit. You will want to make sure that frost season is over before planting. Think about your yard’s sunlight. Before...

Balancing your personal life from your professional life is no easy task! In the world we live, it is increasingly difficult to say no to work assignments and yes to spending time with family. Some of us long to get promoted with our jobs and steadily climb the ladder. Others have kids to support and without a lot of help. Therefore, we are working three jobs or late nights just to make sure there is food on the table. But are we missing out on the real purpose if we don’t get to spend time with those we love? When possible there are ways to balance work with life to make for a...

Managing finances as a single parent can be difficult. Single parents are faced all at once with the tasks of adjusting to one income, creating and maintaining a budget and planning for their financial future. As a result, single parents may often feel overwhelmed when it comes to managing their finances. There are several tips that you can follow to create a financial plan to help you and your family be financially successful. Tips for Financial Success: • Create a budget that works for you. Developing a monthly plan for your money is important. Make a list of all sources of income as well as your monthly expenses. Be certain to...

Have you ever heard of a Fitbit or a Jawbone? Perhaps you have an iPhone and have looked at the App that has a heart on it and seen that it has a bunch of health signs open. If you are or want to be physically active on a regular basis, a fitness tracker can give you great information about how many steps you are taking on a daily basis. There are activity trackers that also offer different information beyond just steps if you are looking for something more. What are activity trackers? • Activity trackers are the modern version of pedometers. One of the great things is that they do more...

Recently, national media have reported that freezing your credit could be one way to proactively protect yourself against identity theft. Unless you have had your identity stolen, it is best to consider other methods first. These methods will allow you to reduce your risk of identity theft but still allow you flexibility to obtain credit. Freezing your credit restricts access to your credit report. It will make it more difficult for thieves to open new accounts in your name, but it can also make it harder for you to open new credit accounts, too. Even if your credit is frozen, identity thieves can still access your current credit lines. Kentucky charges a...

The new dietary guidelines were released in January and encourage all of us to make healthy eating choices throughout our lives to minimize our risks of becoming overweight or obese or developing a chronic disease like heart disease or diabetes. These conditions are often linked to poor diets and physical inactivity. These guidelines serve as a tool for public health professionals and food service program managers to help individuals two years old and older to get on a path to healthier living. They also serve to guide policy makers. The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services work together to update and revise them every five years. The latest...

Back in January, Greg McKenna, using the name Lacey Noonan, received media attention for his novel featuring New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots objected, but Amazon.com only pulled the self-published e-book off the market because of an Ohio couple’s lawsuit regarding an image on the book’s cover. The plaintiffs claim that the cover photo is one of their engagement pictures from their Facebook page. They say the author did not ask the couple for permission to use the photo, and they call the author’s work “offensive.” The couple is also suing the companies that sold digital formats of the book without their permission. This case is now...