The fall is a time for pumpkin spice lattes, cute warm sweaters and some of the best family activities. Outdoor and indoor activities galore, don’t miss out on some great opportunities this season.

Here are some ideas to help plan for activities with the whole family this fall.  

Explore a Pumpkin Patch

Have an adventure at the pumpkin patch! There is something magical about picking out and eating fresh pumpkins and watching them grow on their vines. Not to mention that many pumpkin patches have a lot more to offer than just the patch. Some offer hayrides, pumpkin painting, and even mazes through the fields. So research the pumpkin patches in your area to see what kind of events and activities they have available!

Hot Air Balloon Ride

Watching the sunrise or sunset with the family can be an incredible experience. Families in Houston love to do this on fall nights when the autumn foliage can be viewed from high in the sky.

If you’re interested in joining families in Houston, perhaps checking out the current Apartments in Houston that are for rent is a great place to start. There are numerous fall activities in this area and certainly all throughout the year as well.

Haunted Hayrides

If your family is up for a thrill, checking out local haunted hayrides or houses is the perfect fall night activity. From scary characters to creepy wooded areas, everyone will surely be spooked! Just a word of caution to check the event description as some can be quite scary and not suitable for very young children. 

Head to a Football Game

When autumn rolls around, football fans have their gear ready to go. Fall weekends are the perfect time to head to a local high school, college, or even NFL football game depending on where you’re located.

Put on your favorite team’s apparel and cheer them on from the stands!

Play in the Leaves

A simple activity that is free and may actually help you with your house chores. Rake the leaves your yard has collected into one large pile for the entire family to jump into. After you’re done, have the kids pick out a few to preserve or trace with a crayon for a fun craft project.

Get Lost in a Maze

Having fun in a corn maze trying to find certain items or posts is one of the many fun activities available in the fall. Grab a cup of warm apple cider and head inside the maze but make sure everyone sticks together! 

Have a Happy Fall!

Fall is the time to get out and enjoy the crisp cool weather. There are many fun activities that your family can do together and not all of them require spending a lot of money or time. Give your family some of these ideas and have a happy fall filled with memories! If you’re a member of a local community organization, then suggest one of these activities as a group outing. 

It matters less whether you are running a small business or a large organization; you are going to store and transfer business documents especially for mergers and acquisitions. Data rooms are far more efficient and effective when it comes to data security and organization than a physical storage space. They feature useful tools such as advanced permissions, multiple-factor authentication, Q&A tools, bookmarks, and notes among other things. Transactions & Data Rooms go hand in hand in the modern business setting. You will need them for IPOs, real estate management, and other financial transactions. These use cases are just to mention but a few. Here are other things that require you to invest in a viable data room.

Mergers and Acquisitions M&A

A lot of companies carry out M&A due diligence using VDRs. Data rooms make it easy for companies to seal deals online without having to meet physically. You can easily share paperwork for review and sign documents online. It saves a lot of time and money when personnel do not have to travel long distances. Since companies share highly sensitive information and documents in such deals, they opt to use VDRs thanks to their security features. Common in the tech industry, large corporations often acquire small start-ups. VDRs make such acquisition processes easy to go through.

Legal Document Management

VDRs present an excellent way of managing legal documents. These rooms allow companies to share such documents without worrying about exposing their restricted documents to other companies. Legal documents can be extremely extensive, so the involved stakeholders must have unlimited access to go through the documents extensively. VDRs make it possible for multiple lawyers representing several companies to review a large number of documents and be in a position to negotiate for their respective companies. Popular use in the legal field is class action suits that usually involve a large number of people.

IPOs and Raising Capital

Raising capital is common for both existing and start-up companies. When raising capital, you must take security and accountability into consideration. Raising capital is an activity that takes a long time, sometimes several months. A lot of people and companies could be involved in such an activity as well. It is vital therefore that you use a platform that will accommodate all those involved, and provide enough security and accountability. VDRs take up this role with ease thanks to their user-friendly working platforms and their top-notch security features.

Real Estate Transactions

Commercial real estate transactions involve large transactions and huge amounts of data for the properties. Sharing this data would be difficult if the involved parties were to send emails back and forth. Some files would be too large to even attach to their emails. It is important to have a platform such as those VDRs provide to upload such huge files that the sellers and the potential buyers as well as other interested parties like government officials can review and give feedback. The platforms allow you to restrict access so that you can control how users operate on the platform. 

Studies have shown that in the United States, the average household earns around $60,000 before taxes, which leaves around $50,000 to bring home. From that amount, they spend more than $2,300 on entertainment.

While these figures differ depending on the country, most people are looking to save on some form of expenses. Most recently, people have started to try saving on entertainment after realizing that it’s a luxury and not a necessity —the opposite of what pop culture has told us over the years.

One of the best ways to save money is through the envelope system. The envelope system is the idea that you assign your income into six categories: education, savings, bills, long-term savings, entertainment, and gifts. From there, individuals can divide the categories into sub-sections. For instance, the entertainment category can be divided into solo entertainment and entertainment for our loved ones and ourselves.

Saving On Solo Entertainment

Using the envelope system, let’s say 20% of your money goes into the entertainment category. You can dedicate 10% of this towards your solo entertainment, which could be anything from a solo trip to the cinema to having fun online with the help of sites like betbind.com, while the remaining 10% goes towards your all-around entertainment.

When it comes to individual entertainment, there are many ways to make the most of this 10%. You can ensure that you get the break you need while managing your money wisely and distributing it successfully in the other categories like education and bills.

Over the years, online gaming has become a popular avenue for entertainment. It’s an engaging way to unwind on a one-to-one basis. Many platforms offer money-saving deals, attracting those who want to blow off steam while being reasonable about the money they’re spending. Online casino games have become particularly popular in this regard.

This is because many are low minimum deposit casinos, meaning players don’t have to deposit a lot of money to start spinning online slots. Further, there are comparison sites like Bonusfinder, which provide up to date analysis on different deals and offers. Presenting deals allows individuals to capitalise on low deposits while trying out new casinos and experiences.

Saving On All-Around Entertainment

Of course, nothing beats spending quality time with your loved ones. Unfortunately, the more members in your party, the more expensive activities can be. That said, there are ways to save money on entertainment for our families.

For instance, if you and your loved ones are movie buffs, why not subscribe to a streaming service like Netflix? Of course, there is a monthly fee, but if watching movies is something you enjoy, paying the subscription fee will be cheaper than paying for several movie theatre tickets for multiple people a month.

If the idea of staying in doesn’t appeal to you, and that’s why you like to go out to theatres, there are activities you can do that don’t cost money. For instance, libraries are a great source of entertainment where you can read for free. Plus, in the summertime, there are always free events like street performances and concerts.

As more technology has been introduced, we’ve come to believe that we have to spend large sums on entertainment to get a good experience. That doesn’t have to be the case. There are many ways to save money on entertainment, whether for you or entertainment for you and your loved ones.

If you’re trying to budget how much an Australian Labradoodle will cost you, you’re in the right place. Many dog lovers consider price as a factor in whether they bring an Australian Labradoodle home or not.

That being said, it’s important to keep in mind that price isn’t the only thing to consider. When you bring home an Australian Labradoodle, you will spend a lot of time and energy to raise them. This is time and energy you could’ve spent elsewhere but chose to spend with your new Australian Labradoodle.

In this article, we’ll talk about;

1. How much an Australian Labradoodle really costs (with examples)
2. What determines the cost of an Australian Labradoodle
3. One-time expenses you need to budget for
4. Yearly expenses you need to budget for

Let’s dive in!

How much is Australian Labradoodle?

The initial cost of purchasing an Australian Labradoodle is $2500 to $4000. The cost will vary depending on a couple of factors such as;

• Are you buying or adopting an Australian Labradoodle?
• Where is the breeder or rescue/shelter located?
• What’s the breeder’s reputation?
• What physical characteristics does the labradoodle have?

Let’s take a look at these factors.

Buying from a Labradoodle Breeder vs Adopting from a Shelter

First off, Australian Labradoodles are considered “designer dogs”. This means due to their mixed breed nature, they are high in demand and will be priced higher than other breeds.

Buying from a registered Australian Labradoodle breeder in the US will cost upwards of $2500. The more reputable a breeder is, the higher the price will go. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Adopting from a shelter/rescue, on the other hand, will cost $100 to $1000 depending on which shelter/rescue you adopt from. Keep in mind it’s very difficult to find these designer dogs in shelters/rescues due to high demand. By the time one or two land in these centers, they are adopted out in the blink of an eye.

Let’s take a look at some shelters/rescues you can find an Australian Labradoodle and the cost.

As you can see, adopting from a shelter/rescue is cheaper than buying from a breeder. You will just need to get in the loop with shelters/rescues around your area so that when they find an Australian Labradoodle, you will be top of mind.

It is also important to know that a rescued Australian Labradoodle will need more care, empathy, and patience than a labradoodle from a breeder. Some of these Australian Labradoodles have encountered difficult things at the hands of their former owner, environment, or other factors. You will need to take them with an open mind, heart, and patience. If you don’t have these, it’s not fair to you or to the dog to adopt.

Breeder’s Reputation

If you have been browsing for a while, you may have noticed a huge variance in how much an Australian Labradoodle is. One main reason is the breeder’s reputation.

We have 3 types of breeders; professional, backyard, and puppy mills. These breeders have their own brand, motive, and pricing.

If you’re buying from a professional breeder, you can expect to pay a minimum of $2000 per puppy. If the Australian Labradoodle has unique features, you can expect to pay up to $4000+.

This type of breeder is part of organizations such as ALAA which direct breeders to uphold the set standards for breeding Australian Labradoodles. You may notice they have a badge similar to the one below displayed on their website.

Aside from this, the breeder will have a stellar reputation in the breeding world to complement their skills, expertise, experience, and great output. This type of breeder will seek to understand why you are buying an Australian Labradoodle, how you plan on taking care of your doodle and if you are a good fit. They will also answer all the questions you have and invite you to visit the location to have a look around.

The other two types of breeders, backyard and puppy mills, are generally after profit.

The backyard breeder may start breeding as a side-hustle to earn more money. This breeder will usually be inexperienced and will not offer the standard health guarantees. They also tend to be wary of allowing visitors to their property.

Puppy mills are the bane of breeding Australian Labradoodles. They don’t care about the health of the parents, the conditions the dogs live in, or whether you go home with a healthy doodle. All they care about is your dollar and making a profit.

If you do your research, you will notice their prices are very low (ie. $400) and they are very secretive about how and where they breed. They will also ask for payment in advance and will become defensive if you ask questions that dig deep.

Location

Location is another factor that weighs how much you will pay for your doodle. If you live in expensive states such as California, New York, Maryland, Washington DC among others – you can expect to pay higher. If you live in more affordable states, you can expect to pay the average or lower depending on where exactly you live.

One-Time Labradoodle Expenses

Let’s have a look at the average cost of one-time items for your new doodle.

Yearly Labradoodle Expenses (on average)

Conclusion

Owning an Australian Labradoodle is an expensive venture but worthwhile. If you’re on a budget, we recommend you save up and have at least $2000 to $3000 in savings for your doodle for out-of-pocket or unexpected expenses like illness/injury.

Keeping on top of your finances is a lifelong struggle, but paying child maintenance is something you should always prioritise. Use these top tips to help you never miss a payment…

Child maintenance is money to help pay for your child’s living costs. It’s usually paid by a parent who has moved out and no longer lives in the same house as the child, to the person who takes care of the child regularly.

The amount of child maintenance you pay will vary depending on various factors. These include the number of children you have, the amount of time you spend with your child, and the salary you are on. If you think you’re paying more than what you should be paying, you should always seek legal advice from your Somerset, Manchester, or Lincoln family solicitor, for example, before taking formal action.

To avoid having to take legal action, here are ten top tips for paying child maintenance on time. So, let’s begin…

1.    Try to Maintain a Good Relationship with the Adult You’re Co-Parenting With

If you can, it’s best to try and remain as civil as possible with your child’s other parent. Try to discuss your child maintenance privately, without getting third parties involved, to save you a great deal of time and money.

Remember, trying to maintain an open and healthy relationship with your ex is essential to the success of co-parenting.

2.    Set Up a Direct Debit to Never Miss a Payment

If you decide to sort out child maintenance amongst yourselves, without using a solicitor, remember to set up a direct debit to avoid missing any payments.

Family-based arrangements are often the quickest and easiest way to arrange child maintenance. However, they’re not legally binding, so it’s important to trust your child’s other parent and set up a direct debit to ensure the trust isn’t broken.

3.    Use the Child Maintenance Service for Peace of Mind

If you and your ex-partner can’t agree on a child maintenance plan, you can contact the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to help. The CMS work out how much child maintenance should be paid and can arrange how the money is paid.

Usually, there are two ways: Direct Pay and Collect and Pay. Direct Pay is a direct transaction from one parent’s bank account into another. Collect and Pay is when the CMS collects the money and passes it between the two parents.

Although Collect and Pay is a better alternative if your ex-partner is continually missing payments, parents must bear in mind that there are additional charges for this service.

4.    Make Sure You Have a Payment Plan

When using a Child Maintenance Service, you are often sent a Payment Plan which details how much child maintenance you need to pay and when.

It’s incredibly beneficial to paying parents, as it tells you exact payment amounts and the dates they will come out of your account. Usually, Payment Plans are delivered when the CMS first work out the amount.

If you do not have one already, we strongly advise contacting the CMS for a copy and keeping it in a safe place.

5.    Budget at the Start of Every Month

Budgeting is a skill that you acquire as an adult, and it is imperative in gaining financial stability.

So, why not try sketching out a budgeting schedule at the start of every month? This will give you a clear picture of where your money is ending up, and ensure you keep on top of your finances.

Remember that every month is different, so don’t rely on the previous month to set you up for the next. It’s vital that you consider all costs as well as accounting for the unexpected.

6.    Set Yourself Reminders

As well as setting up a Direct Debit or using the Child Maintenance Service, set yourself reminders throughout the month to ensure you’re on the right path.

Whether you set an alert on your phone each week or have a note on your chalkboard in the kitchen, visual reminders will help you remember upcoming payments. Try to mix up your reminders i.e., where you write the memo, or at what time your alert goes off, so you don’t stop noticing them.

7.    Pay Off Any Outstanding Debt

To ensure payments are sent in time, it’s helpful to eradicate any pre-existing debt. Depending on your circumstances, this could be a lengthy process, but will ultimately help in ensuring your finances are in order.

To ensure you’re making the right decisions, contact a financial adviser or wealth management company, and they’ll be able to advise you on your next steps.

8.    Keep Your Solicitor Updated

You may not have used a solicitor to sort out your child maintenance plan, but if you did it’s important to keep them in the loop. In order for your solicitors to provide you with sound advice, they must be made fully aware of the situation.

Lying to your solicitor about your financial situation will complicate matters and cost you more money in the long run.

9.     Reduce Your Outgoings

Whether it’s changing your service providers, cutting down on luxuries, or even down-sizing home, reducing your monthly outgoings will help you reap the rewards.

It’s certainly not the easiest thing to do, but if you’re struggling to pay your child maintenance on time, it’s probably because you don’t have enough disposable income. Take time to reassess your finances and write down a list of your outgoings to find out where your biggest spends are.

10. Keep Your Child’s Welfare in Mind

Finally, remind yourself why you’re paying child maintenance. Your child deserves to have the best possible chance in life and your financial contributions can have an incredibly positive impact.

Whether it’s putting food in their mouths or paying for after school activities, child maintenance help towards creating a loving and stable environment for your children.

If you’re struggling to remind yourself of the reasons to financially support your child, try speaking to a friend, family member or counsellor, who may be able to help.

Remember, Don’t Give Up!

Although paying child maintenance on time can be tricky, stay focused and remember to think about the end goal. By financially supporting your child, you’re contributing towards their happiness, and can rest assured you’re fulfilling your job as a parent.

Good luck!

Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds can cause emotional and physiological responses like anxiety, anger, or panic. These sounds can be anything from chewing to breathing to keyboard typing.

Mild responses are said to involve anxiety and discomfort, while severe responses involve fear, rage, and emotional distress.

Misophonia can greatly impact someone’s day-to-day life and lead people to develop anxiety that prevents them from doing things that they would like to do. This can be further exacerbated by visual triggers that some people are also sensitive to, alongside sounds.

For more information about how triggers and noise-related anxiety may be impacting your mental health, visit BetterHelp.

Causes

The causes behind misophonia are not fully understood, but doctors believe it has something to do with how our brains filter sound.

One study showed that misophonia is possibly associated with a disruption in the parts of the brain that process sound simulation and our fight-or-flight response.

One study in Britain showed that misophonic people were affected by very specific sounds, but responded like the average person to other sounds. This helped shed more light on how misophonia may develop.

It usually appears in children between 9 and 12 years of age and can continue for years after, especially if it is not treated effectively.

Symptoms

In general, misophonia involves some kind of heightened or extreme reaction to a sound. Most misophonic people recognize that their reactions are excessive but are not able to control them.

While the intensities of people’s responses vary greatly, the following are some broad symptoms of misophonia:

• Irritation
• Disgust
• Becoming verbally abusive and very angry at someone making the noise
• Physically lashing out at someone making the noise
• Making the effort to avoid people making trigger sounds

People with misophonia may also experience:

• High levels of anxiety
• Depression
• Higher blood pressure
• Increased body temperature
• Higher heart rates

The most common trigger on average tends to be eating sounds, followed by loud breathing, then hand sounds. Repetitive actions can also be triggers, such as people shaking their legs.

Treatment

As misophonia is not a very well-known disorder, it is often confused with bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder, which can make treatment difficult. It is also not yet listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), which makes it even lesser known.

As it is still not recognized as its own disorder, there are no specific medications that have been known to help. There are, however, some tips that can help people with misophonia:

• Use headphones or earplugs
• Meditate and implement relaxation techniques like journaling and yoga
• Speak to trusted family members and friends
• Identify triggers and try to avoid them or prepare yourself for them in advance
• Seek out therapy
• Have safe zones where you know you will not be around any triggers

Conclusion 

Living with misophonia can be very difficult, because of the distress it can cause. While the documentation on the disorder remains largely limited, there are many ways that people with misophonia can lead better lives by seeking the right help and using the resources available to them.

Camping is one of the most common and enjoyable activities for families to do together to strengthen their bonds.

Camping is a lot more than just living outside for a couple days. It is an experience close to nature, where you get to spend time doing activities that create long-lasting memories. It can be a great experience for families who have older children or are trying to entertain a large age range, too.

In today’s age, people spend a lot of time looking at a screen, including kids, which makes activities like camping that much more significant as a way to detox and reconnect with one another.

Camping can be a form of getaway for your family, especially if any of them are going through something difficult. The teen years can be difficult to navigate, but activities like camping can be a refresher that reminds them of the greater world outside their own experiences. For more mental health help and parenting resources, visit BetterHelp.

Here are some great activities to do on a family camping trip to strengthen the relationships within your family.

Go on a hike

Hiking is one of the best ways to bond with those who are dear to you on a camping trip. If you are camping outside, there are many opportunities for hiking.

Most physical activity creates a great environment for bonding, as you are all focused on a single goal with minimal distractions. This kind of activity also boosts serotonin and can improve everyone’s mood simultaneously.

If you or someone in your family is not a big fan of exercise or hiking itself, consider taking an easier trail that does not involve too much exertion and lets you all have a relaxed walk instead.

Build a campfire

Campfires are probably one of the coziest and most soothing ways to spend night time on a camping trip.

Build a campfire in a safe spot, bring some marshmallows or other foods of your choice to roast over the fire, and enjoy the crackling, relaxing sounds of the campfire.

You can also use the opportunity to sing songs with your family, a common yet highly entertaining campfire activity. The sounds of the night with the glow of the campfire will create great memories for your family to look back on in the future.

Play a game

Games are often synonymous with computer games nowadays, but there are plenty of games that are enjoyable without screens.

Bring a board game or card game with you on your trip, or play a sport with your family, like dodgeball or soccer.

Even something as simple as tag or hide-and-go-seek can be enjoyable if you do not have any other games with you.

Do some cooking

Cooking can be a very social activity once you start to involve your family in the process. Bring ingredients for recipes that you can make while camping and encourage your family to chip in.

It can be especially exciting for young kids to eat something that they made themselves. You can cook together using a dutch oven or set up a roast.

Ultimately, there is no limit to what you can make out of your camping trip. Try to choose activities that are equally enjoyable for everyone and encourage your family to be in the moment and stay engaged outside of their phones.

The memories you create and the long-lasting impact of taking the effort to spend quality time with one another will really pay off in the long run.