We’ve gathered some handy tools and tips on family, health and safety issues. Many are great tools to use in your wellness program, your intranet, or your newsletter.
Calculator: Is your food spending normal – see how your spending stacks up with others of a similar age, gender, geography and income.
Sharing the road with snow plows & more winter driving tips – includes a handy reference chart that shows visibility lines.
Older Driver Safety Conversations – The Hartford and the MIT AgeLab created information to help families address sensitive subjects and foster meaningful family conversations about older driver safety.
Health Reform Source – an interactive tool from the Kaiser Family Foundation offers a variety of tools to learn about healthcare reform and the timeline of provisions. See How will coverage work, a new interactive feature that clarifies how individuals and businesses in a variety of situations could be affected by health reform.
Create Strong Passwords. useful information from Microsoft. Related: See the 25 Worst Passwords of 2011. Also related, advice from the FTC on what to do if your identity is stolen.
True Cost to Own a Car Calculator – The Edmunds Inc. True Cost to Own pricing system calculates the additional costs you may not have included when considering your next vehicle purchase. These extra costs include: depreciation, interest on your loan, taxes and fees, insurance premiums, fuel costs, maintenance, and repairs.
Best Colleges of 2012 – the US News College Compass offers college rankings & lists, as well as offering a wealth of information on finding and applying to colleges and grad school. Also see the Most Expensive Colleges for 2011-2012 from CampusGrotto.
Free home inventory apps – Creating a simple home inventory helps you track exactly what you own and what it is worth, which is important if you ever need to submit an insurance claim. Free apps from the National Association of Insurance Commissioner make the job easier – take and store photos, and get help creating a good inventory. See other insurance advice from NAIC Consumer Insurance Resources.
SuperTracker – the U.S. Department of Agriculture site lets you create a food and nutrition tracker and get a personalized nutrition and physical activity plan. The site includes a Food-A-Pedia that lets you look up information on more than 8,000 foods, to track your food intake and physical activity over time, and to set and measure goals.
DuckDuckGo is an alternative search engine that respects your privacy. If you want an uncluttered search option or if you are concerned about tracking, advertising, and privacy, this is a good alternative. Be sure to check out the goodies page for some handy tools.
Grocery Sales Cycle – When do things go on sale – offers a month-by-month listing of what and when to pick up bargains.
State Laws on Distracted Driving – click on a state to get up-to-date information about laws related to cell phones and texting. Related: Gauge your distraction with the Texting While Driving Game.