Consumer Tips

Water Safety

Although many canines are strong swimmers, they should always be closely supervised and wear life jackets when their owners take them for a summer swim.

Pet owners with pools should pay close attention to outdoor cats and dogs when they’re playing near the pool in case they accidentally fall in.

“For dog owners with pools, I always suggest training their dogs to find the shallow end of the pool or the stairs so they can exit the pool safely. This is important regardless of whether you plan to let your dogs swim in the pool. I recall a claim we processed for BooBoo, an English bulldog, who was found unconscious on the pool floor; but thankfully he recovered after an emergency visit to the veterinarian,” said Dr. Stephens, founder of Pets Best. “Even dogs that are good swimmers or wearing life jackets can tire quickly and be put in danger if they can’t find their way out of the pool.”

A few other bodies of water hazards pet owners should be aware of include:

• Exposure to Leptospira, a potentially deadly pathogen found within some lakes and ponds.

• Fishhooks, which can get stuck in paws if stepped on, stuck in mouths, or even swallowed.

• Boats, they can accidentally hit dogs who are swimming in lakes.

Ear Infections

Ear infections are one of the top five most common dog insurance claims we process at Pets Best. Ear infections are an especially common summertime ailment among dogs that swim frequently. These infections are often caused by water entering dogs’ ears while swimming. Pet owners can help prevent this by utilizing an ear cleanser prescribed by a veterinarian to clean and dry a dog’s ears after swimming.

We hope you and your pets enjoy safe and healthy water adventures this summer.

1. Tend to your tires.
   Check your tire pressure - and check it often. Also, make sure that you have season-appropriate tires on your car.  Use your union member Union Plus Goodyear Coupon for car tune-ups and new tires, including union-made tires.

2. Stay on top of your fluids.
   Oil and coolant are the two key fluids during the summer months to keep your car cool and running smoothly. And in the winter, anti-freeze is a key fluid to monitor.

3. Give the rest of your car a once-over.
   Check the battery, belts, and hoses or have a mechanic do so before you head off on that cross country trip. Also, make sure your wipers are ready and don't forget your windshield wiper fluid.

4. Prepare an emergency kit for your car.
   Keep the number of Union Plus Motor Club - 24 Hour Emergency Automotive Roadside Assistance Plan handy.

5. Pack smart.
   Keep snacks, drinks, and sandwiches handy.

6. Load smart.
   Don't block your view with a backseat piled high and keep the weight even for maximum handling.

7. Stay awake.
   Switch drivers every few hours even if you don't think you are tired.

8. Be careful when you tow.
   Check your owner's manual to make sure your vehicle is properly equipped to handle a trailer hitch for towing campers or trailers, and that it can handle the weight.

9. Take the scenic route.
   Give yourself time to enjoy the ride.

10. Be nice.
    Use your signals. Let faster drivers pass. Don't tailgate. Share: it's not your road.

As a trained chef, I've learned to embrace the barrage of culinary queries from friends and family. “Can I swap out curly parsley if I can’t find Italian flat-leaf?” “What’s the easiest way to chop an onion?” And so on. But the question chefs probably hear the most—and have the hardest time answering—is how to know when a steak is done.

It can be difficult to explain because the real trick is cooking enough steaks to develop a sixth sense for internal temperature. Absent the intuition that comes from years of practice, a meat thermometer is the way to go—both for food safety and to ensure you don’t overcook a pricey prime porterhouse.

Some people think using a thermometer when grilling is a cheat, or maybe they had bad experiences in the past with older, leave-in analog meat thermometers, which routinely do poorly in CR's tests. But using a digital meat thermometer is the best way to make sure the meat is cooked to a safe internal temperature.

The Hand Method

One of the most popular methods of determining whether a steak is done is something called the hand method, a decidedly unscientific touch test that calls for holding one hand palm up and using the index finger of the opposite hand to press the ball joint below your thumb. So the thinking goes, that squishy feeling is how the center of a steak should feel when it's rare.

Making a pincer grip with your thumb and index finger—causing the joint to tense slightly—is how a steak should feel at medium rare. The same motion repeated with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers represent medium, medium-well, and well-done, respectively, or so the lore goes.

To see whether there's any validity to the idea, Consumer Reports put the hand method to the test. We used the Weber Genesis E-410, $900, a model we chose for its perfectly even heating in our gas grill tests.

We then grilled five sirloin steaks. The steaks were all cut to the same thickness, and we grilled them one-by-one at the same temperature. For reference, we cross-checked the temperatures with our top-rated Oregon Scientific Wireless BBQ/Oven AW131 meat thermometer, $40, and logged the final temperature before cutting in to see how the steak looked.

Here's how it all turned out.

How We Tested the Hand Method

Like the USDA, Consumer Reports recommends cooking whole cuts of beef to a minimum internal temperature of 145° F. "With steaks, any bacteria present is likely to be on the surface of the meat and 145° F is hot enough to kill those bacteria," says James E. Rogers, Ph.D., director of food safety and testing at Consumer Reports.

In our hand method test, we checked the steaks at every stage from rare to well-done and compared the results to widely recommended internal temperatures from outside sources.

Rare

• Target temperature: 125° F
• Temperature with hand method: 106° F

Did it work? No. While Consumer Reports never recommends cooking steak rare, the hand method posed an extra risk here, as it caused our test steak to come in a full 19° F below the already risky internal temperature of 125° F.

Medium-Rare

• Target temperature: 135° F
• Temperature with hand method: 110° F

Did it work? No. Again, the hand method yielded a result that would be well below what most would consider medium-rare. Cutting into the steak revealed a thin red band and saturated pink meat throughout, and was pretty consistent with a steak we'd consider rare.

Medium

• Target temperature: 145° F
• Temperature with hand method: 127° F

Did it work? No. Medium steaks are among the hardest to master because medium means something different to almost everyone. Again, the hand method yielded an undercooked steak. The thermometer told a different story. Despite looking like a steak cooked medium, it was still 18° F below a temperature we'd consider safe.

Medium-Well

• Target temperature: 155° F
• Temperature with hand method: 142° F

Did it work? No. For our medium-well steaks, we also found the hand method lacking. We got a steak most people would call medium, and according to the thermometer, it was still 3° F shy of the minimum safe temperature recommended by the USDA.

Well-Done

• Target temperature: 165° F
• Temperature with hand method: 157° F

Did it Work? No. Cooking a steak well-done sounds easy enough, but the line between eliminating any traces of pink and overcooking the meat is a fine one. Once again, the hand method produced a result that was a bit on the undercooked side. That can be off-putting if you prefer a steak with no traces of pink.

The Verdict

The hand method receives a thumbs-down. Although the steaks in our test did firm up as internal temperatures rose, the meat thermometer consistently told a different story. That proved our long-held advice that you can't depend on the color of cooked beef to judge the temperature.

In a pinch, the hand method could help you avoid overcooking a steak, but it should never be a stand-in for ensuring steak is safely cooked. A better idea? Use a thermometer to note the temperature of a steak you consider perfectly cooked, and you'll be able to replicate the result all summer long.

Unfortunately, for a lot of folks, these lessons come later than they should, and often as the result of something going terribly wrong. Not enough people make financial education a priority for children, which results in young adults entering a surprisingly complex financial world without the tools necessary to survive and thrive.

Even if your children are very young, remember that the sooner you start teaching them money and personal finance skills, the more apt they’ll be at applying those skills when the time comes.

Check Your Attitude

One of the most difficult issues parents have to face is step one – examining your own attitudes about money. This is extremely important because your children learn more from what they see you do than from what you tell them. You can preach to your kids every day that “A penny saved is a penny earned,” or that “A fool and his money are soon parted,” but it won’t do any good if they see that you waste your own money consistently.

Be an Open Book

It is very important to communicate openly with young kids about money, in simple terms that they can comprehend. Too often, young adults have to learn about credit and debt the hard way: by fending for themselves. It’s better that they learn about personal finances under the guidance and tutelage of someone who’s already been there – their parents.

Involve Children in Family Financial Planning

While a young child won’t necessarily understand or appreciate the finer details of budgeting and investing, it can be very helpful to keep them informed of the broad strokes of your family’s financial plan. If you can help them understand that money isn’t limitless and that careful planning is needed for all major (and many minor) spending decisions, that can go a long way towards positively shaping their understanding of personal finance.

Give Children a Chance to Be in Control

If you give your child an allowance, let them be in charge of spending it. This is a great way to teach the relationship between their actions and the positive or negative consequences that follow. The key, of course, is to talk about their choices and help them understand why money spent today isn’t available tomorrow. You can also open a savings account in their name and let them make deposits, so they can see the value in building savings.

Provide Extra Income Opportunities

Allowance is nice, but it’s helpful to show children that money is something you earn, not something you are entitled to. Considering offering children opportunities to earn money, rather than just handing it out. This is also a great way to show them the value of hard work and hand off a few of the less unenjoyable household chores.

Take Children Shopping With You

You can use routine shopping trips as an opportunity to give children a sense of scale when it comes to money, showing them that some things are more expensive than other things. You can also explain to them why you buy the things you do. By showing them the details you take into consideration, you’ll be teaching them how to be a more mindful consumer.

Union Plus Credit Counseling

Union members can get a no-obligation money and credit assessment from certified, experienced consumer credit counselors though Union Plus Credit Counseling. Powered by the non-profit Money Management International (MMI), your free session will cover a complete financial review, assistance in budgeting, advice for working with creditors, and more.

LEARN MORE

Aviation

The aviation cocktail was first crafted in New York City at the turn of the 19th century. It gets its tangy, botanic flavor from creme de violette and gin. To make this drink according to Honestly Yum’s recipe, you’ll need:

• 1 edible violet
• 2 ounces gin
• 3/4 ounce lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur
• 1/4 ounce creme de violette

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add all the liquid ingredients. Shake everything together for about 10 seconds, strain the drink into your serving glass of choice and garnish with the edible violet. Invite your friends over for some aviations and decorate using Teleflora’s Dancing Violets Bouquet.

Rose Margarita

For a floral take on classic summer favorite, look no further than the rose margarita. This cocktail, created by mixologist Junior Merino for Paste magazine, uses rose petals and rose syrup to give the traditional marg a seasonal upgrade. Make your own by grabbing the following ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila
• 1 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 3/4 ounce rose syrup
• 3/4 ounce orange liqueur
• Hibiscus and rose salt
• 3 organic rose petals.

To begin, prepare your margarita glass by rimming it with hibiscus and rose salt. Combine the liquid ingredients and the rose petals in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until all the ingredients are well-mixed, pour into your rimmed glass and garnish with additional petals. This drink pairs beautifully with Teleflora’s Rose Rapture Bouquet.

Bachelor’s Button Martini

As light as a feather and as frothy as a cloud, the Bachelor’s Button Martini is the perfect cocktail to nurse on a hot summer night. Assemble the following ingredients to make Anthropologie’s favorite version of this airy, floral delight:

For the cocktail:

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 ounces Lillet Blanc
• 1/4 ounce bachelor’s button simple syrup
• carnation and bachelor’s button petals.
• For the bachelor’s button simple syrup:
• 1/4 cup bachelor’s button petals
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water.

To craft this cocktail, begin by mixing the bachelor’s button syrup. To do so, add the bachelor’s button petals, sugar and water to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir the ingredients together as you bring the syrup to a boil and allow it to simmer. Once the sugar has dissolved completely, turn the heat down to low and cook the mixture for an additional 15 minutes. Once the syrup is cool, strain it into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add the gin, lemon juice, egg white and Lillet Blanc. Shake for about 30 seconds, or until the cocktail becomes frothy and foamy. Pour the drink into a martini glass, adorn with extra petals and start sipping. For the full floral experience, imbibe these martinis alongside Teleflora’s Garden Delights arrangement.

Let us know your favorite combination below! These are only a few of our favorite summer flowers and drinks, so let your creativity take over a create one of your own. There are so many different edible flowers that you can use to create your very own summer signature meal and floral cocktail!

Emergency Savings

At a minimum, you should have enough money available (and easily accessible) to cover three months’ worth of expenses. Six months’ worth is better, but three is a solid beginning. How do you arrive at that figure?

Start with living expenses. Add up three months’ worth of rent or mortgage payments. Look at your utility bills and add three months’ worth of each to the total. For more variable bills, like electricity and heating, use numbers from the more expensive months in your calculations. Use receipts and bank statements to find out what a typical month of groceries and dining out costs you (keep in mind, if your income does suddenly stop, you’re very likely to start spending significantly less than you currently do).

Keep in mind that thanks to inflation, those figures will always be going up. So once you’ve put together an adequate amount of emergency savings, you should ideally review that amount once a year to make sure it’s still sufficient to cover your needs.

Finally, emergencies can happen at any time, so make sure you can access your emergency savings at any time – and hopefully with little to no penalty.

College

By the time a child born today is ready for college, four years at an in-state public university is going to cost around $100,000. So it’s pretty reasonable to want to get a head start on savings.

Saving for college, however, should probably be on the lower end of your priorities, well behind building up an emergency savings account and saving for retirement. Thanks to the ready availability of financial assistance and tuition loans, it isn’t a necessity to have funds saved up in advance.

Your best option may be to open up a 529 plan, which include helpful tax breaks, can receive contributions from anyone (making them a nice gift-giving option), don’t expire, and can even be cashed out without penalty if your child gets a full scholarship.

House

You could theoretically purchase a home with no money down, but that’s far from ideal. Without getting too bogged down into the science of mortgage rates, the more you can bring to the table as a down payment, the better off you’ll be. A sizable down payment means more initial equity for you and less risk for the lender, which can help you get more favorable terms.

In that sense, the more you can save for a down payment, the better. But if you’re looking for a number, you should really try to make a 20 percent down payment your goal. Why 20 percent? The answer is Private

Mortgage Insurance, or PMI.

Lenders require PMI on any mortgage that represents 80 percent or more of the home’s value. This insurance is to help protect lenders against a potential foreclosure and it can be costly – it may run as high as 1.5 percent of the loan value per year, depending on your credit score and other factors. It’s a cost you can avoid by saving enough for a 20 percent down payment. You can use listing sites like Zillow.com to see what the median sales price is for homes in your target area and determine how much you need to save in order to get your 20 percent.

Retirement

Most retirees require between 70 to 90 percent of their pre-retirement annual earnings in order to live comfortably during their retirement years. So if your income were around $100,000, you would need – at minimum – around $70,000 (per year) in savings. That “per year” bit is a little hard to quantify, because (not to be grim or anything) you don’t necessarily know how long you’re going to live.

In the United States right now, the average age of retirement is 63. Life expectancy is currently 78.8 years. For the example above, a retiree would want a nest egg of at least $1,120,000. Which is a lot. It’s also completely achievable if you start early and make a concerted effort to save regularly throughout your adult life.

You can use the figures above to help you get a sense of what you’ll need to build up, but keep in mind that inflation will impact both your future earnings and the future cost of goods and services. If you haven’t already, it may be a good idea to work with a financial advisor to help you sort out a plan to get you ready for retirement.

Union Plus Credit Counseling

Union members can get a no-obligation money and credit assessment from certified, experienced consumer credit counselors though Union Plus Credit Counseling. Powered by the non-profit Money Management International (MMI), your free session will cover a complete financial review, assistance in budgeting, advice for working with creditors, and more.

LEARN MORE

Hyacinth

The hyacinth flower is well-known among gardeners and flower enthusiasts for its sweet, earthy and robust scent. The plant’s fragrance is so sweet, in fact, that it acts as a natural deterrent from animals and pests that may otherwise find its bright bulbs quite enticing. These blossoms make stunning additions to bouquets, as exemplified by Teleflora’s Spring Equinox and Spring Favorites arrangements.​

Freesia

For a fruity scent delivered in a colorful package, look no further than the freesia. According to Balcony Garden Web, these blossoms are popular among European florists, who favor the flower for its wine-like aroma. Freesias can be grown in a variety of colors, including white, like in Teleflora’s Spring Rhapsody bouquet, and hot pink, like in the Roman Holiday arrangement.​

Rose

Who among us doesn’t love to stop and smell the roses? There’s a reason these flowers have become synonymous with rich, luxurious fragrance – they’re truly nature’s perfume. Roses are just as versatile as they are sweet-smelling, and can be incorporated into bouquets for any occasion. For a sunset color palette, check out the Blossoms in Vogue arrangement. Evoke classic romance and old Hollywood glamor with the Always on My Mind Long Stemmed Red Roses bouquet.​

Peony

When peony season rolls around, be sure to pick yours up right away! This blossom is only in bloom for a fleeting amount of time, typically between April and June. The wait is worth it, however – these colorful buds are packed with sweet fragrance. Get your peony fix with Teleflora’s Perfect Peonies and Teleflora’s Pretty in Peony arrangements.​

Sweet Pea

Often used as a fragrance in perfume, lotion and other bath products, sweet pea flowers deliver a light yet wholesome aroma. Fresh sweet peas provide a smell that mixes nicely with other florals and classic buds that fit neatly into any arrangement. Show your friends and family you love them by gifting this delicious fragrance, available in Teleflora’s Isn’t It Romantic and Kensington Gardens by Teleflora arrangements.​

Lily

Lilies have long been a go-to fragrant floral. These dramatic, open buds fill any space with their yummy, enticing perfume. Lilies are grown in many colors, and are perfect for all occasions. One of the most popular arrangements among Teleflora’s lily lovers is the Always a Lady bouquet, which features stunning pink blossoms. For a touch of whimsy, check out the enchanting Yellow Fellow arrangement.​

Summer is full of amazing scents, and these are just a few flowers that will bring the season inside. Tell us below what flowers are your favorite!

Make a Plan

Before heading to the grocery store, do some preparation in advance. Have a selection of different recipes and meals that your family enjoys, and make sure you know all of the ingredients needed. Cut out coupons in magazines and newspapers for items your family uses, and check the grocery sale papers before you head out to make sure you know exactly what is on sale.

Manage Your Urges

Time your shopping trip to occur right after you eat, so that you aren’t hungry and more prone to impulse buying. If your children are inclined to pull cookies and sugary items off the shelves, you may want to leave them at home.

Hunt for Sales

When shopping, instead of purchasing items related to your menu and recipes for the week, you can also plan your menu around what’s on sale that week. While fresh fruits and vegetables can often be expensive and rarely have coupons, in-season produce is generally cheaper. Look for discounts and good deals – just be sure to steer towards foods your family will actually eat. Local farm stands or farmers’ markets are another way to get reasonably priced fresh produce.

Use Bulk Wisely

Also take advantage of “buy one, get one free” sales and bulk discounts. Having a good storage system in place will make food less likely to go to waste. When freezing meat products, write the date of purchase on the package so you know when you’ll need to eat it. Cleaning out your freezer frequently can help you know exactly what food you have available. Soups, pastas, and canned goods are great to purchase in large quantities when they are on sale.

Also, if you have a warehouse club near you, compare prices and consider sharing purchases with a nearby friend or relative. Make sure you have willpower though, or else you’ll come out with a basketful of bulky items you didn’t plan to purchase.

Dried, Canned, and Frozen

Dried items such as beans can be a great, healthy alternative to meat, and are generally reasonably priced. Beans can be added to salads, rice, and soups to add more protein. Also, consider purchasing canned (with no added salt) or frozen vegetables and fruit, which usually contain the same nutrients as fresh food.

Union Plus Credit Counseling

Union members can get a no-obligation money and credit assessment from certified, experienced consumer credit counselors though Union Plus Credit Counseling. Powered by the non-profit Money Management International (MMI), your free session will cover a complete financial review, assistance in budgeting, advice for working with creditors, and more.

LEARN MORE

What’s Under Your Policy’s Hood?

So your homeowner’s policy is very likely to cover a bit more than just your home. Therefore, it’s important to understand exactly what’s covered and for how much. Most policies typically offer the following types of coverage:

• Dwelling
• Other structures
• Personal possessions
• Loss of use
• Personal liability
• Medical payments

Dwelling – More than Just Your Mortgage

One common mistake homeowners often make is to only get enough insurance coverage to cover the cost of their mortgage. Your mortgage, however, does not represent the actual value of your home, or the cost to replace the home as is. Ultimately, what you want is enough insurance to completely rebuild your home in a worst case scenario. Your best bet would be to hire a builder to assess your house and provide an estimate for current replacement costs. Insurance agencies also sell “guaranteed replacement cost” insurance, which – as the title implies – guarantees that you’d be covered for the full cost of replacement, but those policies are costly and hard to come by.

Alternately, you can get “extended replacement coverage”, which in most cases means the insurer will pay out up to 125 percent of your policy limit towards rebuilding your home. Some insurers offer an “inflation guarantee”, which increases to cover changing costs over time. Otherwise, you’d be wise to routinely review your dwelling coverage against the actual cost to replace – materials and services are likely to increase in cost over time, meaning total replacement may require a higher policy limit.

Special Circumstances

Depending on where you live and what hazards your house faces, you may need to purchase additional types of coverage. The most common type of supplemental insurance is flood insurance. In many locations, flood insurance may actually be required by your lender before closing on a mortgage.

Unfortunately, the reason flood insurance exists is because most regular homeowner’s policies don’t cover damages related to flooding. If you’re unsure about whether or not you need flood insurance, you can visit FloodSmart.gov, which is the National Flood Insurance Program’s website.

Other Structures and Personal Possessions

Coverage for “other structures” generally refers to unattached buildings (like a shed) or fences on your property. As with dwelling coverage, ideally you should have a policy limit high enough to fully replace these structures should they be destroyed.

Personal possessions, as a category, can be a little trickier. A popular rule of thumb is to insure your possessions for about 50 to 75 percent of your dwelling coverage, and then purchase additional coverage for any possessions of exceptional value (like expensive pieces of jewelry). If you’d like to be a little more accurate, you can use an app or a program like KnowYourStuff to create a complete catalog of all of your possessions.

Loss of Use, Personal Liability, and Medical Payments

Loss of use coverage represents money that would be available to you if you were temporarily displaced from your home and needed to stay somewhere else. It’s a bit like the rental car coverage you may have included in your car insurance.

Personal liability and medical payment coverage are there to protect you in the event someone is hurt or injured on your property. Medical payment coverage specifically covers medical bills for you or anyone else who suffers an injury on your property, while personal liability kicks in if you’re sued for injuries or damages occurring on your property.

Without adequate personal liability coverage, your savings and other accumulated assets could be at risk if an incident occurs. It’s hard to know exactly how much personal liability coverage is the right amount, but you should definitely consider the relative risk factors (Do you have a swimming pool? Is your home more than one floor? Etc.) when deciding on an amount.

Your Deductible

Finally, while homeowner’s insurance is expensive to have, it’s also expensive to use. Like most forms of insurance, if the cost of a repair is low enough to handle out-of-pocket, it’s usually in your best interests to do so. That’s why it’s often preferable to choose a policy with a high deductible, since a higher deductible usually means a lower premium, which can represent a significant savings over time. It’s a good idea to earmark a portion of your savings for out-of-pocket repairs or covering your deductible so you’ll be prepared if something goes wrong.

Need a little more help? MMI offers homebuyer education courses for anyone looking to buy a new home. Whether you're a first-time homebuyer looking to learn the basics or current owner in need of an education certificate for a specialized loan program, these online courses are thorough, informative, and easy-to-use.