According to the NY Fire Department there were 26,862 structural fires in the five boroughs last year. About 18% of them took place during the winter holiday season. I thought it would be a great time to incorporate some fire prevention planning in to our annual kick off to the holiday season.
Prevention
The best way to fight a fire is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Your smoke alarm is your first line of defense. If you live in an apartment building management is required to provide you with a smoke alarm. You are responsible putting batteries in it. On November 1, daylight savings time ends and we’ll set our clocks back one hour change the battery on your smoke alarm on that day too.
10 Simple Rules for Preventing Fires
- Keep fuel (paper, trash, fabric) at least 3 feet from all heat sources
- Keep lighters and matches away from small children
- Don’t put things in the trash chute that are too big and may get stuck
- Keep a small class B or K fire extinguisher handy
- Make sure your apartment door is a tight fitting self closing door. If it doesn’t self-close get your building manager to repair it
- Check your exit stair doors they must be self closing, snap shut and unlock from both sides if they don’t report it to your super or the fire department
- Make sure space heaters are in good working order
- Keep stairways and fire escapes clear don’t store anything on or under stairways or stairway landings
- Make sure all electrical cords are in good condition no cracks, frays, or holes
Your Fire Safety Plan
Your next line of defense is to have a fire safety plan. Talk with your family and decide how you will get out of the building in the event of a fire and where you will gather outside the building.
In addition to making a plan for your family you should know about your building’s Fire Safety Plan. Buildings with more than three apartments are required to have a Fire Safety Plan.
The law also requires that the landlord distribute the fire safety plan and post the plan in a conspicuous space in the common area. The plan should include: fire safety tips, types of fire safety systems used in the building, ways of exiting the building in an emergency and information about the building including the type of construction.
Call the fire department at 718-999-2541 and make a complaint if you can’t get this information from your building manager or superintendent.
How to Build Your Own Fire Safety Plan
Plan escape routes
Know at least 2 routes out of your building
Practice at least 2x per year
Don’t make the plan and then store it away somewhere. Do a family fire drill. Your kids will probably be more comfortable with it than you because they participate in fire drills at school regularly. Don’t forget to include your pet in the practice sessions.
Install smoke detectors
An extra smoke detector in each bedroom is a great idea. Get into the habit of testing them once a month.
Know the lay out of your floor
You make sure you know the location of all of the stair wells. Don’t use the elevator in the event of a fire
Know the number of doors between your apartment and the exit stairs There may not be emergency lighting in your hallway. Even in the dark you can count the doors and find your way to the stairwell.
Know the location of fire alarm boxes
Alert the neighbors and the fire department
Report fire hazards
Blocked exits, piled up trash, missing exit lights and open fire doors are violations of law. If the building manager doesn’t correct them call the Fire Department at 718-999-2541 and report the condition
Decide on a meeting place outside the building
Pick a spot a few yards from your building a landmark everyone can remember would be helpful (the mailbox at the corner or in front of a nearby store)
Practice going down the stairs
In a real fire it will more than likely be dark, crowded and smoky in the stair well. If you have small children, or an elderly or disabled member of your family to think about practice negotiating the stairs
Take the time to make a plan and practice exiting your building safely.
Tags: Emergency, Fire
Tue, October 27 2009 » Emergency, Evacuation, Organization » No Comments
I was taking a look at some blogs and the news and no surprise everyone is focused on the economy and the flu. I don’t know how things will play out with either the economy or the flu. The light bulb came on right after I typed the last sentence–nobody knows how events are going to play out. That’s why I think now is the time to get ready to roll with the punches.
This week I’m going to be talking about fire prevention. Every year I hear about some unfortunate family on the news that got burned out just in time for Thanksgiving or Christmas. There are a number of simple things we can all do to first try to prevent fires and then to escape fire safely.
Here are some articles that caught my eye this weekend:
Mon, October 26 2009 » Survival, Uncategorized » No Comments
Every Friday I’ll be putting out a list of action items that are either free or cheap. If you choose to do one thing you’ll be better prepared when the unexpected happens.
Free Preps
- Borrow a book on various types of insurance from the library do some research to help you decide what might work for you
- Call around and get some preliminary insurance quotes
- Inventory your possessions
- Check your car manual and see where your windshield wiper fluid reservoir is and go look under your hood and see if you need to top it off
1 Dollar Preps
- Set aside a dollar every day as the start of your emergency fund even if its just the change in your pockets
5 Dollar Preps
- Buy a gallon of wind shield wiper fluid and stow it in your trunk
Tags: car care, Insurance, Money
Fri, October 23 2009 » Check Lists » No Comments
I’m glad I made an appointment rather than going to one of the first come first serve pharmacies that are offering the shots. When I got to Walgreen’s they were turning people away because they were out of doses except for the ones reserved for people who made appointments.
Getting the shot was pretty straight forward. The pharmacist had a little station set up for doing it in the rear of the Walgreen’s. The deed was done in about a minute.
The pharmacist explained that I might have some pain in my arm and feel a little tired. He suggested that I take it easy that afternoon.
I started feeling bad within about two hours of getting the vaccine. I’ve been flat on my back ever since Tuesday afternoon. Mostly I had a low-grade fever and extreme fatigue with a light cough thrown in for spice. Tonight was the first time since tuesday that I’ve felt well enough to sit up and do anything.
I hope that having such a strong reaction to the vaccine means that my immune system is really revving up and producing boatloads of antibodies against the flu virus and this will be my last bout with the flu this year. Wish me luck.
Tags: Flu Care, Seasonal Flu
Thu, October 22 2009 » Disease » No Comments
If the three days of rain we got last week is any indicator we may be in for a wet, miserable winter. In honor of National Car Care Month for the month of October I’m doing a weekly series of articles about getting your car ready for winter weather this is Part 2. Click this link if you’d like to read part 1.
Learning basic maintenance like refilling your windshield washer fluid reservoir is quick, easy and helps you stay safe on the road.
Instructions
1. Consult your car’s manual to properly identify wiper fluid reservoir
2. Don’t put anything except windshield wiper fluid in the reservoir. It contains detergent to remove dirt and antifreeze to prevent it from well freezing in the cold weather.
3. Once you’ve looked under the hood and identified the little plastic wiper fluid reservoir, flip open lid and add wiper fluid up to the fill line.
4. Done. Close the lid and go on with your day.
Schedule
Your manual will likely recommend a schedule for filling the reservoir get in to the habit of checking and filling it regularly. The return on this small investment of time can be huge.
Tags: car care, Car Maintenance
Thu, October 22 2009 » Car, Organization » No Comments
I’ve struggled with building an emergency fund. It always seemed like as soon as I started accumulating some cash poof something would come up I’d spend it. More often, I’d pick at my savings like a backwards squirrel. Instead of adding nuts to the pile I’d constantly pick at the nuts and wonder why my nut pile didn’t grow.
Let me drop that metaphor before it gets any weirder. I finally had to adopt a very strict definition of emergency to avoid frittering away my savings.
According to Webster’s dictionary an emergency is an unexpected, serious occurrence or a situation urgently requiring prompt action.
With that definition in mind it was much harder to justify running to the ATM to get money for what ever I decided in the moment that I couldn’t do without.
There are some things you want to think about when it’s time to get started with an emergency fund:
How much do you need?
I don’t think there’s one figure that works for everybody. Dave Ramsey recommends that you build up to $1000. Suze Orman says build your savings to 8 months worth of your expenses.
What’s right for you? Only you know. Sit down with your bills and see how much you’d need to pay your basic bills for a month. I’d start with setting up a plan to get to that figure.
Once you have one month’s worth of expenses in your account add another month’s worth until you reach a point where you feel comfortable. Getting a pink slip would be a lot less stressful if you knew that you could take care of you and yours for a few months even if you didn’t have a job.
How do you set aside the money things are tight already?
There are a number of things you can do to free up some cash:
- Sell some stuff I raised a nice chunk of change selling books I didn’t want anymore on Amazon.com
- Sell old CDs and DVDs on Second Spin
- Bank any unexpected windfalls
- Pay off your debt then bank the amount of the payments
- Cut expenses– go over your bills and see if you are paying for anything you’re not really using and enjoying. If you are cut it and bank the amount of the payment.
- Brown bag lunch twice a week and save the amount you would have spent on lunch
- Sell stuff around your house that you don’t want or use anymore
I’m neither a financial advisor nor a personal finance expert. I got a lot of insight and information from books and a bunch of personal finance bloggers check out some posts about emergency funds that resonated with me:
How and Why to Start an Emergency Fund-www.getrichslowly.org
Creating a CD Ladder for Your Emergency Fund or Other Savings to Earn a Better Return—www.thesimpledollar.com
Step-By-Step Guide To Building a Big, Healthy Emergency Fund—www.thesimpledollar.com
Moolanomy’s Financial Success Plan, Introduction—www.moolanomy.com
5 Ways to Save Money Without Even Trying—www.richcredidebtloan.com
The Two-Account System for Automatic Savings—www.thesimpledollar.com
50 Actions You Can Take Right Now to Pay Off Debt—www.consumerismcommentary.com
11 Ways to Spice Up Your emergency Fund—www.getrichslowly.org
Debt Reduction-Emergency Fund Savings-The Balanced 75/25 Method–www.debtfreeadventure.com
Tags: Emergency, Money, Organization
Wed, October 21 2009 » Money, Organization » No Comments
I’ve had private disability insurance for a long time. I bought my first policy sometime in 1998. I went ahead and bought it because for a while it seemed like a lot of people around me were injured and losing a lot of time at work.
One day on the way to work I saw a woman fall down the steps in the subway. She broke her leg. I heard it break. A short while after that, one of my co-workers fell off her chair and broke her coccyx, her tail bone; she was out of work for a year and fell into some pretty dire straights.
I finally decided to buy a policy after reading Jane Bryant Quinn’s Making the Most of Your Money
, it was a terrific all-around personal financial planning book. In the book she breaks down the features of most common forms of insurance and explains the costs and benefits. She also gives guidelines for choosing the best type of policy for your situation. The latest edition is Making the Most of Your Money Now: The Classic Bestseller Completely Revised for the Risky New Economy
it is available for pre-order .
Initially, I bought an expensive policy from a major insurance company. About a year later I found a cheaper policy that provided the same benefit through my credit union.
What is Disability Insurance?
Disability Insurance is a kind of heath insurance that replaces a portion of your income should you become permanently or temporarily disabled because of sickness, accident, or injury. On average it’s designed to replace up to 60% of your net pay.
What to look for in a policy?
Waiting Period
- Choose a waiting period that works for you. Waiting periods vary from 30 days to 180 days. The thing I’d think about is how long I could carry my self on my savings and/or how much paid sick leave I could expect to enjoy.
Definition of Disability
- Some policies have a very restrictive definition of disability. Meaning that if you can do any kind of income generating work you would not be covered. Therefore, if you can sit at the grocery store with your broken leg and bag groceries because your arms still work you may not qualify for a benefit. I looked for a policy that defined disability as being disabled from my work. The policy would cover me and provide replacement income because I couldn’t do my job.
Limited Income Restriction
- Some policies reduce your benefit by the amount of any compensation you may receive from other sources. I wanted to avoid that restriction. My union provides a small disability benefit. I didn’t want to get dinged because of that.
What does it cost?
The cost depends on amount of coverage you buy and the length of the waiting period you choose. My policy costs me about $64 a month for a $1500 per month benefit should I become disabled.
What other resources are available should you become disabled for a period of time?
- Call your HR department at work and ask what disability benefits are offered or check your employee manual. If there are forms get copies and keep them on file.
- If you are a member of a union call them up and find out what disability benefits if any are available to you.
- Go to the Social Security website and download some of their very informative pamphlets.
- Contact your credit union and see what kind of insurance policies they offer
If all goes well you’ll never have to use disability insurance protection, but I think that eventually it rains and I want to be one of the people with an umbrella.
Tags: Insurance, Organization
Tue, October 20 2009 » Insurance, Organization » No Comments
I’m not an insurance agent. I am not giving financial advice. I’m sharing the process I’m going through as I look for a renter’s policy of my own and sharing the information I picked up as I educated myself about Renter’s Insurance.
What is renter’s insurance?
Renters insurance is a form of homeowners insurance for renters. Its also called an HO-4 policy. Renters insurance covers the cost of replacing your possessions in the event of fire, some natural disasters, or robbery.
Depending on your policy it may also cover you if someone else injures himself in your apartment and needs medical care. If you’re sued the insurer would defend you.
Your policy may also cover the loss of property when it happens away from your apartment like having your bike stolen the first day you take it for a ride. These policies often provide temporary living expenses if you can’t live in your apartment while your building is being repaired like say after a fire or flood.
“The Landlord’s policy covers the physical building but not your possessions. Even if the cause of your loss is blamed on the landlord, he won’t pay for replacing your possessions.” Renter’s Insurance: How to Get the Best Coverage for the Cheapest Price When Someone Else Owns the Place Where You Live
Do I need renter’s insurance?
Unless, you can afford to replace all of your possessions from your bank account you might want to consider getting a policy to reduce your risk of loss. It’s possible for your neighbor to have a fire that affects your apartment with damage from water, smoke, or fire.
Even if you think you don’t have that much stuff look around at just your electronics and appliances you could need to replace thousand of dollars worth of stuff. Add up the replacement cost of an ipod, computer, printer, tv, pda, dvd player, router, external hard drive, surround sound system, camera, cell phone, microwave–that’s a check I wouldn’t want to have to write. I haven’t even looked at the cost of replacing clothing, furniture and other personal possessions.
Visit the Police Department’s website and look at the crime statistics report for your precinct or borough or for the entire city last year in Queens South there were 2,390 burglaries and 3,490 Grand Larcenies. I don’t have much control over whether or not some decides to break in to my apartment, but I can put measures in place to mitigate potential losses.
What kind of coverage is best for me?
The deductible is the portion of the claim that comes out of your pocket. The amount of the deductible will depend on the policy you choose, and the amount of your premium. It can range from $100 to $1000. I don’t want my deductible to be more than $500.
Cash Value v. Replacement Value
Polices fall into two categories cash value policies and replacement value policies. Cash Value policies reimburse you the value of the property at the time of the loss. If your $5000 sixty inch flat screen tv was 5 years old you might get back only $1000 it is valued at now. Cash Value policies are often slightly cheaper than Replacement Cost policies.
A Replacement Value policy pays you what it would cost to replace the stolen or damaged item with one of similar cost and quality.
If I owned valuable art or antiques that were appraised at a high value I’d want the cash value of the item.
Items like my computer or my ten year old bed would be valued at way less than what it would cost me to replace them. So for me a replacement cost policy makes the most sense.
How much does it cost?
The costs vary by the type of policy you choose and the amount of coverage you want. I got a quote of $160 for the year at 30K worth of coverage. To me that’s a pretty good deal.
How do I figure out how coverage I’ll need?
Go through your place room by room and make an inventory of what’s there and the value of it in terms of what it would cost to replace the item now. Add it all up to see what the total is.
Now might be a good time to have your collectibles appraised
How do I buy a renters policy?
I can’t recommend a specific insurer, but look around online and ask your friends and family who they use. You might also check with your auto insurer you may qualify for a discounted rate if you buy more than one type of policy from them.
Don’t be put off by the complicated sounding contracts and dealing with agents your insurance program is just another part of your preparedness strategy do your homework then shop around until you find the policy that works for you.
Tags: Crime, Fire, Flood, Insurance
Mon, October 19 2009 » Insurance, Organization » No Comments
- Change out perishables in get-home bag
- Put cool weather clothes and shoes in get-home bag
- Update the Emergency Communication Plan
- Print out several alternate routes home and store them in your bag
- Buy a map and practice using it
- Consider members of your household with special needs and create a get home bag for him/her
- Talk to a co-worker about car pooling home in case of an emergency that interferes with normal travel home
- Put $3.00 in quarters in your get home bag
- Make sure your walking shoes are in good shape and replace if necessary
Tags: Communications, Survival
Fri, October 16 2009 » Bugging Out, Check Lists, Organization » No Comments
When I first learned about evacuation kits or bug out bags (BOB) it seemed like I’d have to fill back pack with camping gear and weapons. As if overnight I’d go from living in an apartment building in the middle of New York City to living off the land in the wilderness somewhere. It just wasn’t something I ever saw myself doing.
I did, however, start to think about things that I might actually need if I had to evacuate my apartment.
If the fire department knocked on your door in the middle of the night and informed you that you had 10 minutes to leave what would you grab?
If your first thought was where the hell would I go? That’s a good start. Thinking about where you and your family would go will help determine what you pack in your BOB. Would you go to a friend or relative’s place, or a hotel, or even a shelter?
Beyond some basic suggestions I can’t tell you what should go into you or your family’s BOB. I think it’s more useful to think about your own specific needs than to create a generic list. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation, a family with small children might need diapers and baby formula while a person who’s a diabetic might need to think about how to manage their medication.
I came up with a list of categories to think about along with some suggestions to get you started.
Money
Cash is king. Keep as much cash as you are comfortable with in your BOB. You might consider spreading it among the BOB of all of the adults in your household. I don’t think that money will suddenly stop being legal tender. Even while we were being attacked on September 11, I still needed money if I wanted to get on the train. You may also consider keeping copies of the front and back of your credit and debit cards.
Clothing
Pack a couple of comfortable pieces that you can layer. Two days worth is a good idea. Remember to pack something to sleep in and a few changes of underwear.
Food
Pack non-perishable snacks appropriate to your dietary needs: dried fruits, nuts, tuna packets, granola, peanut butter and crackers, water, pet food
Health/Hygiene
- Medication
- Glasses
- Tampons/Sanitary Napkins
- Toilet Paper
- Contact Lenses and Lens Care Kit
- Doctor’s Names and Phone Numbers
- Copy of Medical Insurance Card
- Toothbrush and Tooth Paste
- Soap
- Your Toiletries: Deodorant, lotion, etc
Documents
- Copies of your:
- Driver License
- Passport
- Marriage Certificate
- Kids Birth Certificates
- Insurance Policies
- Mortgage Papers
- Lease
- Important Phone Numbers and Addresses
Comfort
- Light weight rain poncho
- Mylar blanket
- Small Flash Light
- Extra set of house keys
- A familiar toy for your kid
- Important family pictures on a thumb drive
Don’t limit yourself to the examples I’ve given here. Think about you and your family’s needs and pack a bag for each member of your household. When you get to your place of safety you’ll be able to ride out the storm in relative comfort and you’ll be ready to resume your normal life when the situation changes with ease.
Tags: Emergency, Evacuation, Survival
Thu, October 15 2009 » Bugging Out, Organization » 1 Comment
