Category: Lifestyle

There’s no doubt that moving houses is an exciting process. You may already have a vision of how you want to decorate your new place, and you’re excited about all the changes you’re going to make so that it feels like a home. Your new home is basically a blank canvas you can use to express your personality and creativity. The fact that it’s currently a bare and empty space is precisely the reason why you need to give your new home a deep clean before you move in.

Not only is cleaning an empty home easier compared to a place filled with all the boxes and furniture, but it’s also a way to give yourself a peace of mind knowing that you’ve taken care of all the nooks and crannies previous owners may not have. Whether you’re renting or buying, here are some tips on what to clean when you move into a new home.

 

Tackle the bathroom first

This is the most used space in the entire house, both during the move-out and the move-in. This is why it makes sense that you’d start by cleaning the bathroom first. Start at the top, as you would with any other room, dusting and vacuuming the accumulated dust and cobwebs. Rely on an all-purpose cleaner to wipe down the windows, cabinets, vanity drawers, and linen closets. Then, move on to the tub, shower, sink, and toilet, giving them a thorough scrub using a disinfecting cleaner.

Remember to disinfect all the switches, paper holders, door handles, faucets, and make sure to change the toilet seats. If you’ve got your dryer next to your washer, be sure to give them a thorough scrub as well. Clogged dryer vents are notorious for starting dryer fires. Cleaning the vents regularly prevents the buildup of dirt and lint, and the same goes for ducts and filters.

 

Move on to your kitchen space

Now that you’ve got your bathroom in order, it’s time to tackle the heart of the home – the kitchen. The best place to start with disinfecting your kitchen space is the fridge. You need a place to store all your perishables, so this is the step of the move in cleaning process that you shouldn’t put off. Remove all the shelves and drawers and use soap and warm water to clean them. Repeat the process with the freezer. Rely on vinegar and water to clean the inside of the fridge, and return everything once it’s dry.

For the rest of the kitchen, start at the top, tackling the ceiling, lighting fixtures, walls, and the upper cabinets. Move on to the appliances, countertops, and sink, using hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to remove stubborn stains. Finish by cleaning the inside and the outside of the cabinets and disinfecting all the handles.

 

Tackle the rest of your living space

For the rest of your living space, you’ll need to change your cleaning routine a bit. Instead of cleaning room by room, tackle the dirt and grime by going item by item and working with gravity.

Take your duster, microfiber cloth, and your vacuum, tackling all the ceilings, walls, corners, and lighting fixtures at first. Pay special attention to ceiling fans, shelving, and other elements close to the ceiling that tend to get neglected. Speaking of the areas where the dust tends to accumulate, remember to change the air filters in your HVAC units. Scrub down glossy paint walls, and take a gentler approach to cleaning wallpapers and flat paint. Make sure to wipe all the moulding, trim, window casings, too, leaving your bedrooms, hallways, and living room spotlessly clean.

 

Finish things off by tackling the floors

A proper cleaning process always starts at the top and finishes at the bottom. Start by vacuuming the remaining debris and using the right attachments to tackle edges and corners. Depending on the type of flooring, you want to make sure you’re using the right cleaning products.

Mild and wood soaps work best for laminate, hardwood, and engineered wood, while stone, linoleum, tiles, and concrete floors will all require different cleaning solutions after being swept or vacuumed. Carpets and rugs, on the other hand, will benefit greatly from a professional steam cleaning. They often harbor bacteria, germs, and allergens that can be successfully eliminated with deep floor cleaning done by a professional.

 

Wrapping up

A new home comes with new possibilities, allowing you to be creative and transform it into a place you’ll love. That said, it also comes with a list of cleaning tasks that need to be tackled sooner rather than later. Keep this list in mind next time you’re moving homes, and you can rest assured you’ll be starting this new chapter in life off on the right foot.

Human resources are the soul of every organization both large or small. Here’s what we think many may not know, though. How do HR managers measure the performance of their employees?

Wondering why a certain colleague gets recognized and awarded during their company’s annual dinner event and more than once, too? We know what that’s like.

What’s their secret? Read on to find out. 

Those employees know something others don’t. They know the key performance indicators of an employee in that particular organization. Different organizations have their unique policies and mode of operation. This also applies to their key performance indicators. All of this is taken into account during performance management review.

What is measured in an affiliate marketing company will be different from what is measured as performance in a book publishing company. However, certain key performance indicators are commonly measured. 

So what are these key performance evaluation tools that the HR managers use to measure employees’ performance in an organization? Why is Henry getting awards at the annual company’s dinner event and others don’t?

Let’s delve right in to know why. The first performance metric is clients’ satisfaction. 

 

Clients’ Satisfaction

No organization will be in business without its clients. It’s a common performance metric for employees. So how do they relate with the organization’s clients?

Let’s look at a telecommunication firm, for instance. Gemma is a customer care representative at the firm and is in charge of fielding calls from subscribers phoning to lodge complaints. Unfortunately, Gemma is temperamental and easily loses her cool when a client gets insistent on certain requests. She becomes rude, forgetting she is projecting the image of her firm to the subscribers. This goes on for a while until the firm notices that they are experiencing a significant decline in subscribers. A quick investigation into the source of the problem is launched, and HR discovers from the reviews online that the firm has one of the worst customer support centers.

An unsatisfied client is an unhappy client. An unhappy client is bad for business. When a business becomes bad, it will reflect in the performance metrics of that organization. The customers’ rate of satisfaction with the products and services is a key performance metric for every company. Conversely, organizations experiencing a surge in growth and stock value are keeping their clients happy. 

On the other hand, when the clients are not happy, they will seek satisfaction elsewhere (going to the competitors). This can gradually lead to a decline in business and the company’s market value. This metric can be quantified or measured by the number and nature of reviews, recommendations, and testimonials about the company’s products or services. 

 

Employees’ Productivity

HR managers look at the quality of work done by the organization’s employees to gauge their performance. It’s beyond keeping up with task deadlines, working efficiently, getting the job done, and doing it well. No supervisor will applaud a staff who delivers work on time when the work is far from impressive.

Hank is a staff in the administrative department. His desk is regularly saturated with tons of paperwork to type, proofread and submit before the close of work each day. Then, finally, his boss hands him a particular file, telling him to prepare a comprehensive report on it and submit it before closing for the day. Two hours before the close of work that day, Hank is back with the typed report and submits it to his pleasantly surprised employer. Only that satisfaction is short-lived once he takes a look at the document and finds it poorly structured and riddled with typos. 

This is a subjective performance metric. Employees handle different tasks, but how they’re measured depends on what they’re doing. However, one common denominator is the quality of the task done. If it’s impressive work, then it speaks well of the employee’s performance. But if not, such work will be turned down, which leaves a dent in that employee’s performance. 

 

Individual Targets

A lot of times, employees are given separate targets or goals to accomplish. As much as teamwork is a thing, so are individual tasks. Teamwork can shadow low-performance employees due to the brilliance of others covering for them. However, in an individualized setting, it’s every employee for themselves. Organizations usually give employees quantifiable or measurable targets. 

Typically, nominees for “employees of the year” are those whose individual achievements and contributions have been instrumental to the organization’s success. The appraisals of employees’ accomplishments are used to measure this performance metric. In-house company reviews can be carried out monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or annually where the employees’ output will be analyzed and evaluated. 

How about we paint a scenario with this?

Henry is a staff in the firm’s marketing and sales department. Along with his co-marketers, he has been given an individual monthly target to sell 50 of the company’s products. After every month, a performance review is conducted by the head of Marketing and the HR manager. A couple of them were able to sell 20 products, some 25, others 30. Some performed below expectations and were able to sell only 10. Henry delivered and sold all 50 products. So naturally, he gets the highest performance ratings for that month and a noteworthy appraisal from his superiors. 

With this scenario, it’s easy for you to know how the performance metric for each marketer will be like. If the metrics are graded via percentages, those who sold 30 products had a 60% success score. Those that sold 25 products achieved a 40% success score. Henry, who sold every single product allocated to him, had a 100% success score. 

Indeed, percentages may not be used. It’s up to the company to decide how to quantify their employees’ performance data. 

 

Conclusion

In summary, the clients’ satisfaction, the employees’ productivity, their quality of work, and setting individual targets for employees are some of the key performance metrics that HR managers based on for their employees’ reviews. Using a tool like a good HR Software in India can be very useful to HR managers to keep track of everything.

So, what other performance metrics do you think HR managers use? Please drop your comments. We’ll love to know what you think. 

 

References

https://blog.namely.com/the-4-metrics-you-need-to-gauge-employee-performance

About AbstractOps

Do you want to implement performance based metrics? AbstractOps handles and automates your HR ops so that you can focus on your customers. If you have any questions about how to implement performance based metrics, email us at hello@abstractops.com. We’ll do our best to help.

Running a family can be time-consuming to the extent that you hardly have enough time for yourself, let alone coming up with a family budget. However, creating a family budget is the best step to attain this financial freedom when you need fast title loans only if you want to travel abroad.

We should say that learning the dos and don’ts of setting up a family budget requires deliberate effort from you to understand its technicalities. Having said this, grab a seat and a cup of coffee as we walk you through tips on how to prepare family budgets:

 

1. Choose a Suitable Budgeting Tool

If you’ve been wondering what are the components of the family budget, and where you can start from, we have the answer. Start from the basics! Understand the type of budgeting tool that will work best for you in recording and analyzing your family budget.

There are currently two main types of such tools: the good old pen and paper ledgers and the second are digitized budgeting tools. If you like paper more, acquiring accounting ledgers is easy and affordable. This tool will help you track your incoming and outgoing money as it corresponds to your bank statements.

On the other hand, you can choose the easier way and get a family budget tracker online. This digitized budgeting tool will help you track your expenses and show how your credits and debits affect your financial goals. What’s more, the software they use will eliminate the need to write down and balance your sheets daily manually.

 

2. Factor in Your Bank Statements

Do you want to know how to manage the family budget? You need all the tools that summarize your outgoing and incoming funds. The best for you to start is with your bank statements and other devices such as receipts, loan interests, and credit card and bill statements.

After gathering all these tools, your next step should be placing them into either outgoing funds or incoming funds categories. Once you’re done, you should tally them and compare the totals from both categories. It’s common to find that your total outgoing amount is higher than the incoming amount, which shouldn’t make you too worried. You’ll see the tables turning once you learn how to make a family budget for a month and follow it to the letter.

 

3. Highlight Your Variable and Fixed Expenses in Your Family Budget

So, what are the elements of the family budget? Among many others, there are fixed and variable expenses. They are a crucial category that you need to bring out. Once you have the totals of your expenditure, you should subdivide this debit section of your family budget into subsections for better analysis.

These sub-categories could include fixed utilities such as water and electric bills and debts like a mortgage. Out of the many sub-sections that you can come up with for your expenses, the one you should pay close attention to is your discretionary expenditure (snacks, clothes, travel).

The reason for this is these expenses tend to accumulate quickly, and you’ll be surprised that they even surpass some of your fixed bills put together. At this point, you may be wondering how to plan family budgets and have more cash at the end of the month. The best way to achieve it is by monitoring and cutting costs in this sub-category.

 

4. Kickstart Your Ledger or Family Budget Program

Now when we understand what’s family budget is all about and how to plan for it, ensure that your budget categories and their totals are well prepared. After doing so, add them into your digital budget program or open them and watch as your family budget begins to gain momentum. Always remember that your immediate goal is to ensure that your income is always more than your expenditure.

With your financial numbers well laid before, you can tackle your family budget more objectively. As we said before, your discretionary expenditure could be the main game-changer. You could allocate money every month only for the necessary expenses, and cultivate a culture of not spending even a dollar more than you plan.

With less overspending, you can use the extra cash to accumulate better savings and reduce your debts. Consistency with the above steps will pay off in the long run, and you’ll be headed towards financial freedom in no time.

 

Conclusion

Money and budget management are not as complex as you think. Once you follow the step-by-step guide above to develop a realistic family budget, controlling your family’s finances will be much more manageable. Get a good hold on how much money you earn, how much money you owe, and where your money is going.

After this analysis, set up structures to help you cut back on unnecessary expenditures and use the extra cash to achieve your financial goals.

Do you have any other proven steps of coming up with a reasonable family budget? Kindly share with us by commenting below.

 

Daniel Miller is an experienced specialist in the business and financial area. Daniel has also worked as a financial advisor at a bank and provided consulting and advice about budgets, savings, insurance, stocks, retirement funds, tax advice, etc. He is currently doing specific research on the topic.

One of the most important tasks we, as a humanity, have is to provide our future generations with a healthy and bright future. However, the way things are going right now, it seems like we’re failing our task miserably.

But not all is lost just yet. While big corporations need to change their ways from the root and be held accountable for their eco-terrorist actions, we as individuals can also help preserve nature with smart waste management and recycling. So what are the benefits of these two green actions? 

 

Improving human health

One of the more surprising benefits of smart waste management and recycling is their effect on human health. If you want to be more conscious of your health and do something good for you and your loved ones, you can make a big difference by removing waste in a responsible way.

Being surrounded by trash can harm your health in more ways than one. It pollutes the air you breathe so it can result in respiratory issues, but it also causes various mental health problems that can ruin your day on a subconscious level. 

 

Reducing pollution

Pollution of air, water and soil that results from industrial and residential waste like chemicals, cans and plastics, can wreak havoc on the environment. By properly disposing of these materials or recycling them, we can help minimize that pollution. Instead of throwing away waste, first, consider how waste items can be used.

Stopping global warming

Today, global warming is literally a burning issue, since every year, we break heat records. Constant greenhouse gas emission feeds global warming and affects climate change. However, recycling can reduce global warming. Proper waste management can minimize the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur, all of which contribute to climate change. Since the recycling process produces minimal waste, we can burn less fossil fuel and use fewer chemicals, thus producing fewer greenhouse gases. 

 

Creating a sustainable business

When we think about environmental pollution, most of us imagine big factory chimneys and oil and gas platforms, but they are not the only ones to blame. Even small businesses and residences can help improve the situation.

The truth is that we can all do more by investing very little time and money, especially when it comes to better waste management and recycling. That’s not hard to do, especially with the appropriate garbage compactor designed for small, medium and large businesses that can make waste management fast, easy and hygienic. These machines save money, space and time and improve the hygiene of every space.

 

Conserving wildlife

Improper waste disposal and lack of recycling can destroy natural habitats and leave many animals without food and a home. When animals lose their natural habitat, they can disappear due to starvation and exposure. Many raw materials we used previously come from rainforests and other habitats rich in timber, minerals and water. However, if we boost recycling, we can cut back on new material needs, help preserve natural habitats and give flora and fauna a chance to heal and grow like before. 

 

Reducing the size of landfills

Recycling has one great benefit—it reduces the strain on our environment by utilizing waste products and reducing the size of landfills. With the growing population, managing and controlling landfills is very hard. And when landfills start overflowing with garbage, nature and city inhabitants face pollution, poisoning and other health problems. Recycling keeps this pollution lower and helps decrease waste every day. 

 

More employment opportunities

We all think that every individual is responsible for their own recycling, but in reality, an entire industry stands behind one recycled product. After you sort products at home and deposit them for recycling, they are sorted again in plants and shipped to recycling plants. Recycling processes are done by thousands of people employed in the industry. Thus, recycling creates more jobs in the community than waste disposal and provides financial stability to many families. 

 

Cash back benefits

Even people who are not so altruistic or don’t trust scientists on subjects like climate change and global warming can see benefits from recycling. People who don’t want to recycle for the benefit of the world can reap monetary benefits. Many governments have programs that provide financial benefits to people who recycle.

Taking aluminum cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles to recycling plants can get you cash back benefits. It’s an easy way to get some extra money on the side while doing something for the greater good. Today, you can sell old newspapers, plastic products, rubber, steel, appliances, copper and cans for money.

Even with all the benefits in place, many people are still not willing to invest time and money into proper waste management and recycling. Hopefully, we will all realize just how important these processes are for the good of individuals and the entire humankind. Don’t be lazy to recycle. Once you get used to it, you’ll see how easy it can be to take good care of our Mother Earth. 

 

 

Just because the world is currently battling a health crisis, it does not mean that people should solely focus on this problem and ignore other pressing environmental issues like pollution, the degradation of ecosystems, and climate change. These environmental crises still have a profound effect on our daily lives, whether you realize it or not. While it can be difficult to enact positive changes towards sustainable living during these times, it’s something that everyone needs to contribute to if they want to do their part in saving the planet.

Perhaps the one silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it offers a chance for a “hard reset.” As you continue adopting new habits to adjust to the changes brought by this global health crisis, you can also learn to make sustainable choices in the new normal that can benefit the environment. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

 

Wear a Reusable Antimicrobial Face Mask

Wearing a face mask, even if you are fully vaccinated, still makes a lot of sense, especially if you are traveling or attending large gatherings. After all, as of the time of writing this article, the United States has yet to achieve herd immunity, and the vaccines do not offer 100 percent protection. As such, you can’t be too careful when it comes to your health. 

When choosing a face covering, be sure to avoid disposable masks as they pose an environmental risk. According to the research conducted by a nonprofit marine conservation advocacy organization OceansAsia, over 1.5 billion single-use face masks entered the oceans in 2020. Imagine the state of marine plastic pollution in the succeeding years if the general public will continue using disposable masks.  

Instead of single-use masks, enjoy the benefits of using an antimicrobial face mask. Apart from being a more sustainable option, antimicrobial cloth masks are made with specially treated fabrics to inhibit the growth of viruses and bacteria and make them odor-resistant. Essentially, such face coverings are designed to stay clean as it keeps you safe and protected. 

 

Purchase from Zero-Waste Shops and Delivery Services

As you shop and opt for delivery services under the new normal, make this an opportunity to support zero-waste stores and businesses working the extra mile to help the environment. Unlike the usual supermarkets and delivery concepts that use tons of plastic and cardboard packaging that end up as trash, zero-waste businesses utilize reusable containers. 

For example, after you order online, such shops will deliver the items to you in mesh bags or glass jars instead of plastic bags. These containers will be collected for reuse the next time you order again, which means no packaging goes to landfill sites or gets thrown in the ocean. 

 

Shop Locally

Another sustainable habit you can adopt as you adjust to the COVID-19 era is buying locally. When you purchase goods produced in your community, you are significantly reducing the environmental impact of your food. You may not realize it, but many of the food products you buy from the grocery stores travel thousands of miles to reach your dinner table. On the contrary, local food items do not generate large amounts of carbon footprint through air travel or long truck trips. Besides cutting down on air pollution, local markets save energy since they do not need the same level of shipping, packing, or refrigeration as with imported food products. 

Moreover, local businesses are more accessible. You can easily walk or bike to the market to get what you need. Remember that you are significantly reducing your carbon emission whenever you don’t use your car to go to places. 

At the very least, you should consider buying products that are made in your own country. Whether it’s USA-made antimicrobial socks, toys, bags, grocery goods, or outdoor gear, you can be sure that you are reducing your overall personal carbon footprint and helping the local economy by choosing to purchase items that are made domestically..

 

Grow Your Own Vegetable Garden

Since you spend most of your time at home, you can also try growing your own vegetables or backyard farming to help the environment. Just like buying locally, producing your own food can reduce greenhouse gases resulting from the burning of fuels during the delivery of non-local produce to supermarkets. Also, harvesting what you need in your garden is more environmentally sound than using your car and emitting harmful gases into the air when driving to the store. 

 

Install Residential Solar Panels

Perhaps you have thought about installing solar panels in your home to reduce your energy bills before the pandemic. If so, now is the best time to push through with your plans since you are most likely staying at home most of the time. Besides lowering your electric consumption, relying on solar energy can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that hurt the environment. It is worth noting that the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity is the primary cause of air pollution and global warming, even their repair is at fair price and environmentally important. Essentially, you can contribute to addressing these environmental issues by using solar power.

 

Use a Bidet Instead of Toilet Paper

Nobody realized the importance of toilet paper until the pandemic hit. If you are one of the many who resorted to “panic buying” for fear of running out of bathroom tissue, you may want to consider investing in a bidet. Using a bidet is more hygienic and leads to fewer cases of rashes, hemorrhoids, urinary tract infections, and other medical conditions than using toilet paper. More importantly, it is more environmentally friendly.

The bidet utilizes only one-eighth of a gallon of water. In comparison, it takes nearly 40 gallons of water to make one roll of toilet paper. Think about how much water you spent on all the rolls of toilet paper you used in the past years. Not only will you save precious water when using a bidet, but you can also save trees in the process since thousands of trees are cut down every day to manufacture toilet paper.

The ideas above are just some of the sustainable choices you can make in the new normal. These changes may seem simple, but they can create a positive and long-lasting environmental impact if you and those around you start adopting them today. Keep in mind that small changes can pile up and make a big difference over time.

Does your spending ever go off course? You aren’t the only one. Although it isn’t ideal to go over budget, every family does it every once in a while.

Maybe there’s a big sale on diapers that cost more upfront but promises big long-term savings, so you sink a little more money than usual on this household essential. Or perhaps you have to call a late-night plumber to deal with an emergency leak and get stuck with a shocking invoice.

Overspending only becomes a problem when the months you overspend start to outnumber the months you follow your budget. Chronic overspending can stretch your paycheck thin and leave you unprepared for emergencies or future goals.

So how do you fix an underperforming budget and get your spending back on course? Check out these no-nonsense tips to help you save more.

Plan for Emergencies

Nobody plans to take their kid to the walk-in clinic or emergency dentist, but things happen. Your son might chip his tooth on a jawbreaker, or your daughter may hurt herself climbing a tree.

Unexpected medical expenses are one of the worst culprits for going over your budget, even if you have insurance. Between deductibles, copays, and other out-of-pocket costs, they can wrack up a big bill.

You should set aside some money each month for these unpredictable expenses. If you’re short of what you need, you can apply for a cash advance to help you out. You can find a short term small dollar loan that works in a pinch if you get approved. But it’s helpful to know that cash advances come in different shapes and sizes.

Calculate Irregular Purchases

Irregular expenses are your budget’s worst enemy. It’s easy to forget about these expenses until they crash-land in your budget. You might not have the wiggle room to pay for them on such short notice.

That’s why you should sit down and make a list of all those expenses that come once or twice a year. Here are some to help you brainstorm:

•         Toiletries
•         Clothes
•         Dental check-ups
•         Vehicle tune-ups
•         Birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays
•         Income and/or property tax
•         Union dues

Try out Different Budgets

Yep, you read that right. There are different kinds of budgets! While the financial world talks in a single “budget,” they use it to describe any deliberate spending plan.

Perhaps the most common budgeting method is the percentage budget. It splits your spending into three major categories and assigns them a percentage of your income. According to this method, you should spend 50% of your money on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings.

While this breakdown might make sense to you, it might not! There are tons of other budgeting methods out there for you to explore. Here are two of them:

•         The Envelope System: This method splits your month’s income into envelopes for each major spending category, like rent and groceries. Once these envelopes are empty, you can’t spend any more in that category until the next month. Although typically a cash-based system, there’s a way to do it digitally, too.
•         Zero-Based Budget: Also known as the zero-sum budget, this method means you give a job to every last penny you earn. By assigning tasks, you’ll be encouraged to use your money responsibly. It also prevents cash from sitting in your accounts, begging to be spent on splurges.

Bottom Line

If you’ve been spending more money than you should, these tips help you budget with intention. Try them out to give yourself a better chance at following your plan!

 

Not all dog foods are created equal. In fact, there are dog foods specifically formulated for puppies, senior dogs, and small breeds. But what do you do if you have a large dog? And, do big breeds eat a lot more? And, how do you know what and how much to feed them? Here’s what you need to know to make the perfect diet plan for your pup. 

 

Talk To Your Veterinarian 

First, you should always talk to your dog’s veterinarian before deciding on your dog’s diet. Why? For one, their veterinarian can help you find the correct food for them. But also, you’ll learn if your dog has any specific dietary needs, has allergies, or needs a certain serving size. 

 

For example, some experts and veterinarians recommend a low fat diet for large dog breeds, especially if they have a higher opportunity at becoming overweight or obese. But that doesn’t mean that every large dog needs to be fed a low fat diet. However, a larger dog, especially if more active, will need more calories than a smaller dog. A veterinarian will tell you where to keep your dog’s daily caloric intake. 

 

Last but not least, it’s important to know the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that your big breed will need. Many large breeds have joint and bone problems throughout their life. A diet higher in Calcium, Iron, and Vitamin D can help keep your dog from being deficient and making those joint and bone problems worse. 

 

Use The Proper Food During Each Stage Of Life

Even with dog food formulas made for big dogs, there are still differences in the recipes for puppies, adults, and seniors. And, if your dog has allergies, digestive issues, or needs a special diet, that will affect the type of food they need as well. This all leads to choosing the best dog food based on your dog’s current needs. 

 

Did you know that large and giant breeds typically don’t reach adulthood until about 18 months? Unlike smaller dogs, they need a little more extra time to grow. So, instead of switching your puppy to adult dog food right at 12 months like you would a smaller breed, you’ll need to keep them on puppy food for a while longer. 

 

And of course, larger dogs also tend to reach their senior years faster than small dogs. In fact, many bigger dogs have a lifespan of only 7 to 12 years. So you’ll need to switch to senior dog food faster than you would with a smaller dog. 

 

Look At The Size Of The Food

Have you ever seen kibble from different brands or formulas? Some dog food is small and round, while others are larger disks. And yes, size really does matter when it comes to your dog’s food. 

 

Your dog will enjoy their food more when their food fits in their mouth properly. Plus, for large breeds, the larger food pellets allow them to chew their food versus just swallowing it whole. Thus, this helps your dog eat their food slower and could help keep them from eating too fast and overeating. 

 

When your dog is a puppy, you may be able to get away with smaller sized kibble. Just be sure that if your pup is eating too fast, that you adjust their portions or get dog food with larger pieces. Puppies can choke if they swallow too much kibble at once, even if the food is small. 

 

Another way to keep your big breed from overeating or wolfing down their food is to focus on the container that their food is in. While the size of the food matters, so does the container that holds the food. If your dog has a habit of eating too fast or choking on food, try a slow feeding food bowl. 

 

Always Measure Out Their Food 

Last but not least, you’ll need to measure out the proper serving size for your dog. Just because they are a bigger breed, it doesn’t mean that they can eat food all day, every day. On almost all bags of commercial dog food, you’ll even find their recommended serving size for your dog. 

 

If making homemade food, feeding canned food, or if the food you purchase for your dog doesn’t have a recommended serving size, talk to your vet. They can help you come up with a diet plan and the proper serving size of food for your dog. 

 

You’ll also need to update how much you feed your dog and how often as they grow. While a pup may only need 2 cups of food, an adult that’s 100 pounds may need 4 cups or more of dog food a day. Also, if your dog is highly active, they may need more food as well. These are all questions to ask your veterinarian when creating the perfect diet plan for your dog. 

 

Here are some of the recommended serving sizes for popular big breeds: 

 

• English Mastiff (120 to 130 pounds): 6 to 10 cups of food a day
• Great Dane (110 to 175 pounds): 5 to 10 cups of food a day
• Saint Bernard (120 to 180 pounds): 6 to 7 cups of food a day
• Bernese Mountain Dog (70 to 115 pounds): 3 to 6 cups of food a day
• German Shepherd (70 to 100 pounds): 3 to 5 cups of food a day 

Do Big Breeds Eat A Lot? The Perfect Diet 

As you can see, most larger dogs do in fact need a lot more food than their smaller counterparts. While talking to your veterinarian will help you decide on the type of food and serving sizes, it’s important to remember that your large breed will eat more. 

 

This can seem like a lot of you’re not used to large dog breeds, or if your dog is highly active and always seems hungry. But trust that their bodies were made to eat more, and as long as you’re feeding them nutritious and appropriate dog food, they should be just fine. 

Wellness, Sustainability, Self-Love, while all of these have become a bit of buzzwords over the last few years, it’s with good reason. All of these concepts are things that we should be living our truths with gusto. If we want to pass down a more sustainable and safe planet for our children, we as the gatekeepers of their futures need to show them the way by living this way ourselves. We show them self-love by taking the time we need as parents to do the things that we love, and sometimes we include the children in those activities. We show them about wellness by feeding them healthy foods, involving them in physical activities and mindfulness practices. And, we show them sustainability by choosing not to use single-use items. By packing their lunches in “different” bags and boxes than some of their peers. By giving them the chore of helping with recycling. But, what about when it comes to one essential thing that we as humans do every single day – get dressed. It’s time we start not only dressing ourselves sustainably but imparting the importance of doing so on our children as well. Here’s how we can get that done. 

 

Start With Ourselves 

If you’re like most of us this past year, you’ve been basically living in loungewear. Heck, if you’re like most mothers, you’ve been living in some form of athleisure or loungewear since you had your children. But where are those made? What was the actual cost of that twenty-dollar pair of leggings? Instead of buying quantity, choose quality. Purchase a sustainable pair of bamboo yoga pants and buy a pair for your mini as well. You can explain how they feel so much softer and more comfortable. Let them know the reasons why. You can also use this moment to teach them about the unfortunate and horrible conditions some people are forced to work in to create the clothing that we see mass-produced in so many big box stores. It may seem like a heavy topic, but no one knows your child better than you. If it’s a conversation you feel comfortable having with them, it’s essential to have it. 

 

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle 

Gosh, how long has this phrase been around? You would think after decades of hearing it, we would have applied it to the way we consume fashion. Unfortunately, many, if not most of us, have not. The way it’s meant in terms of our clothing is to reduce the amount of clothing you buy. Simple. With so many people moving towards minimalism in a lot of areas of their lives, reducing clothing consumption is a natural step. Reuse what you already own. Do you have things that you’d wear more or again if you took them to the tailor? Stop procrastinating and do it. Breathe new life into that favorite garment you’ve cast aside because you didn’t feel like taking it to get altered. Reuse is also applicable to second-hand shopping. When you buy second-hand, you’re keeping clothing out of the landfill and giving it a new loving home. As a mother, shopping second-hand makes incredible sense as our kids are growing so quickly; why spend a ton of money for them only to wear it a month or two? And, trust me, your child can absolutely stay on-trend wearing second-hand clothing because parents are donating their kids outgrown clothing every day. You won’t have a hard time finding current pieces shopping this way. Lastly, recycling simply means to either donate your preloved clothing to a donation center or to friends and family you know could use it. 

 

Buy From Sustainable Brands 

You may find this is alarming, but did you know that most of the clothes you’ll discover mass-produced contain plastic? And you wonder how microplastics are even found in falling snow. Purchase your clothing from sustainable brands that are ethically sourced and manufactured. You want to make sure your clothing is made of natural fabrics like cotton, silk, bamboo, or linen. You’ll not feel better wearing it, and you’ll look better too. It also has the added health benefit of allowing your skin to breathe and not exposing you to harmful dyes in your fabrics. 

This list isn’t all-inclusive. But, it is a jumpstart on things you can do to start living a greener life for yourself and your family. The idea of including your children in these types of choices is yours to make but certainly sets them up for making important decisions as they age. We have one life on this planet, so let’s make it a better one than we found it, for our children and our own consciences.

In the wake of numerous research and studies on vaping being safer than smoking, more and more people are getting into vaping. Aside from helping them quit smoking, vaping also helps reduce many risks, including health ones, associated with smoking cigarettes.

However, the perks of vaping top vape juices don’t end there. We’ve decided to create a list of the five incredible benefits of vaping e-juice that largely influence people’s decision to come to the vape side. If you’re ready to leave traditional smoking behind and venture into something new, here are some advantages of vape juice.

A ton of flavor options

Vaping brands offer an extensive selection of top vape juice products to choose from. If you have a favorite food, drink, candy, beverage, or something entirely else, the chances are that there’s a vape juice in that particular flavor.

The best comparison to how wide your choice really can be is to think about the many bottled water brands you can find in your local store. Imagine having 50 or more flavor options to tap into whenever you want. If you’ve never tried the Holy Cannoli ejuice, you don’t know what you’re missing. At the moment, sweet and fruity are the most popular flavors around.

No discoloration on your fingers

Smokers have yellow and brown stains on their teeth, mouth, nose, and fingers – that’s how you can easily recognize them. These stains are caused by nicotine build-up, and they make your hands, hair, and breath smell awful.

Since this is nothing but disgusting, you can get rid of such a problem by simply switching to vaping. Instead of a smelly breath, you can leave a cloud of citrusy goodness behind you.

Vaping allows you to control your nicotine intake

Vape juices are an excellent way to gain control over your nicotine intake daily. Many smokers lose track of how much they smoke every day. Before they know it, they end up needing more and more.

That’s not the case with e-juices. They allow you to control how much nicotine you consume daily. It’s one of the biggest reasons why so many smokers shift to vaping products. More importantly, there are vape juices available without any nicotine at all, as well as an array of different nicotine strengths.

Instant satisfaction

Vape juices provide users with 100% satisfaction in an instant. The moment your vape is ready, you can take a puff whenever you feel like it. Smokers have to smoke an entire cigarette to get the same satisfaction and effect. Vaping allows you to enjoy it in a moment without any of the adverse health effects.

An effective way to cease smoking

Finally, the most significant advantage of vaping e-liquids is helping you quit your smoking habit. It will also help you save money by getting rid of the nasty habit. Switch to a much healthier and tastier alternative to tobacco and join the cigarette-free world.

Conclusion

Vape juices come in so many different flavors and shapes. They help people quit smoking and discover new ways of having so much fun without the risk associated with smoking.