December 2, 2020 - Raising World Children

3 Ways Military Families Can Plan for Their New Home

Owning one’s own home is a source of pride and comfort. The main reason contributing to happiness is based on one’s ability to house and take care of their family. For military families – veterans, servicemen and women who serve in the military, the feat of buying and owning a new home is often challenging and needs careful consideration. Some of the most important aspects to consider include finances, the family’s size, and the specific requirements.

The Size of the Family

A military family is one from which the man or the spouse is either in continuing military service or has been discharged. Despite the generalization brought forth by definition, every individual has their way of looking at the concept of family. Consequently, the family size may vary from one person to another.

Military families can plan for their new home by knowing the number of people living in a new home. The first avenue for this is to count the people who form the current home physically. The strategy could include the individual veteran in addition to other members such as the spouse and children.

The second way of planning for this is just bearing in mind that the serviceman or woman foresees starting a family. Having this in mind paves the way for the need to plan and acquire an appropriate home’s appropriate size and structure. In many cases, such plans also consider the possibility of having additional members of the extended family.

Having to consider the size of the family works well because it protects you from the element of surprise and the need to make changes or plan to move again. Owning a home is a significant step in, and proper planning goes a long way to ensure that you make a perfect life decision.

Financial Planning

Statistics show that most people who do not make prior financial planning end up settling for expensive deals. Some of them even end up not being able to own homes. For military families within California and throughout the country, the challenge in trying to own a home comes in a two-pronged way.

The long absences as you head out for assignments is a significant impediment to your availability to monitor the process of acquiring a home or keep track of the payments. Veterans and members of the armed forces are often occupied in service; keeping appraised on mortgages or construction processes may prove to be an uphill task.

Appointing an individual finance manager or institution could be one of the avenues for making a financial plan leading to owning the new home. Other service providers might suggest using housing or real estate agents to acquire the new home for a military family.

However, the best advice for you would be to use the available expertise of established organizations, such as CalVet. They have dedicated their skills and resources to assist veterans, discharged military personnel, servicemen, and women in ticking on their goal of owning a home.

CalVet Loans has been proven to be a leading source of success for military families seeking to find a new home in California. Consulting such establishments gives a great insight into the direction to take when trying to make an informed decision.

Specific Personal or Family Needs

Owning a home is an achievement of a lifetime, especially for military families. As the choice that you settle on for a house could end up being your permanent residence, an extra effort t research and consider everything will not hurt. To have the best experience and satisfaction in your new home, putting your most cherished desires into account as you plan a great idea.

For instance, if you have interests in outdoor activities such as gardening, landscaping, or plan parenting, seeking a home with a significant amount of space, fertile and productive soil is worth being in your list to be checked. Having children or planning to have them and other family members around the home should also inform the specific needs that you will need to consider.

All said, the process of owning a new home is both a vital and challenging one. Based on the difficulties of planning for a new home, the military family ought to give serious thought to financial planning, the family needs, and the family’s size is a significant step.

Stay Calm While Teaching Your Teen How to Drive

Driving can be stressful under the best of circumstances, but things can get particularly hectic when you must teach a young driver how to handle a car. Here are a few tips to help you stay calm when teaching your teen how to drive.

Have Your Vehicle Checked Out

Nobody likes to deal with unexpected car trouble, especially a teenager who might not know how to handle grinding brakes or a stuttering transmission. Your vehicle should be in good shape if you’re going to use it as a training tool. So get it to your mechanic and have it checked out before you begin your driving lessons. If you are feeling up to the challenge, you should always be aware of what is going on under your hood as well. Having replacement Darche parts on hand can help with any fears you might have about a shoddy vehicle.

Start Small

Teach your teenager the basics before you get to a busy road. This means showing them where the pedals are, how to use a turn signal, how to turn on the headlights, how to come to a complete stop, and other basic driving skills. Spend as much time on this as you and your teen need; they need to learn to walk before they can run.

Practice in a Safe Environment

Your teen’s main training ground should be empty parking lots and seldom-used back roads. There is little chance that they will get into an accident here, even if they make mistakes (and yes, they will make mistakes).

Pick the Right Time to Go Out

Once your teenager is used to (slowly) accelerating and coming to a complete stop in your makeshift training course, you can take them on the road to give them an idea of what “real” driving is like. When you do this, do not go out during rush hour or any other busy time of the day. Mornings and early afternoons will be better than later afternoons or early evenings, and weekends will be better than weekdays.

Take Breaks

Overwhelming your new driver will only be stressful for both of you, so know when to take a break. Get behind the wheel of your car and drive home. You’ll probably feel better being in control of your own vehicle again, and your teen might learn a few things by watching you.

Driving has become second-nature to a lot of adults, but it is brand new to someone who is only 15 or 16 years old. Be patient while teaching your teen how to drive, and don’t stress out too much when they make mistakes. As long as neither of you panics and your teen does their best to follow the rules of the road, we promise that you both will do just fine.