What You Need to Know to Have Safe and Budget-Friendly Holidays

Daniel Sherwin on December 4, 2020

You want to be able to safely spend time with your family and friends this holiday season, but you also want to be able to do so without putting any pressure on your budget. After all, we’re all worried about our health and finances these days.

Luckily, there are a couple of ways you can still enjoy the holidays with the folks you love, without putting your health or your community at risk.

You can also do so without putting your budget into the red. You can use the following information from E City Beat to figure out how.

The True Costs of COVID

So your main concern is budget, and that’s understandable. With unemployment rates continuing to climb in most states, including Montana, people are looking for all sorts of ways to cut costs. That is, without cutting the joy out of the holiday season.

But let’s be clear: inviting your extended or out-of-state family into your home for the holidays could put every single one of your lives at risk. Not to mention that any resulting community spread will only lead to further restrictions and shutdowns. This means you’ll likely need to trim even more from your budget in the coming months.

Not convinced by personal and public health risks? Well then consider the potential bills of a hospital stay due to coronavirus. The average treatment can top out at $20,000 or more.

Although the CARES Act does guarantee help with COVID-related medical bills, getting that help can be a chore. So keep this in mind as you plan your holiday celebrations.

Safer Holiday Gatherings

If you do want to celebrate with people outside of your own household, the safest way to do so is outdoors. You need to be able to stay at least 6 feet apart from others in order to make this work, and you’ll need extra sources of warmth during the cold winter months.

A couple of DIY fire pits could prove useful. With a few materials and a little hard work, you can put together some pretty impressive fire pits in less than a day. Then your loved ones will have a nice, cozy and safe area to spend the holidays together. Another completely free option is to host a virtual celebration.

We know this doesn’t have the same feeling as seeing your loved ones in-person, but this is the best way to gather with the people you love and still keep them safe from the coronavirus. Plus it’s completely free.

Budget-Friendly Online Gifts

If you don’t want to take any risk this year, you can still spread holiday joy by sending thoughtful presents to your friends and family. For the little ones on your list, you’ll want to shop early. Since there is a must-have gift every year, buying early ensures you’ll snag a deal on their presents, and it gives you plenty of time to ship everything.

Edible gifts, like cookies and other seasonal treats, are also a thoughtful and inexpensive way to show you care. You can safely drop holiday treats off on a doorstep or send them via post. Just be mindful of recommended dates for getting your holiday packages to their destination on time without spending a fortune.

The pandemic may be ongoing, but it doesn’t have to ruin your holidays. Plan to celebrate outdoors or online with your loved ones, and you should be able to keep everyone safe. Also, look for ways to keep costs low, so you won’t be stressed about your budget.

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How To Ensure Your Kids Are Gaming Safely

Daniel Sherwin on November 18, 2020

By Daniel Sherwin, Great Falls MT

Video games get a bad rap, but they actually offer a ton of benefits for kids when used appropriately. They promote hand-eye coordination, help kids enhance problem-solving skills, and let them build their imagination and explore new worlds.

However, there are some safety risks you should keep in mind while your child plays, especially online. Here are some guidelines for making sure your little one stays safe while they game.

Physical Safety

You should make sure your children aren’t gaming for hours and hours at a time. For starters, this behavior effectively precludes exercise. Kids need about an hour of physical activity a day to stay healthy, and they’re not going to get that if they spend all day gaming. In addition, there’s the fact that most people don’t have an especially ergonomic game set up. Whether they’re playing on a console or computer, doing small repetitive movements while hunched over for hours on end is no good for the muscular and skeletal systems.

Encourage them to take breaks and get outside, and invest in tools to keep them healthier while they play.

For example, an elevated gaming monitor can help maintain good posture while they play. A comfortable, supportive, and interactive gaming chair can also reduce injuries from bad gaming posture. Find online discounts to keep costs low while upgrading, and remember these are no substitute for healthy limits and exercise.

Digital Safety

If your kids are playing online, it’s important that they know all about digital security. Teach them to never give out personal information, even to people they’ve gotten to know online. Let them know it’s okay for them to make friends online, but they should keep you in the loop and never make plans to meet in person without your explicit knowledge and consent.

There are steps you need to take to keep your digital security strong while your kids game online, too. For example, if you upgrade your wifi to a stronger connection to keep up with a multiplayer game like Fortnite, take that opportunity to make sure you use a strong, random password for your network. If your password is too simple, it can be easy to guess it — meaning anyone who goes by your house could potentially hop onto your network and access your devices.

Emotional Safety

Finally, be wary of games with online voice chat, and only let your child use these if you’re totally confident about who’s on the other end, or if you trust your child to handle whatever they might hear.

Remember, it’s perfectly conceivable your child might be in a voice chat with much older children and even adults.

Even if you set aside concerns about predatory behavior, there’s still the simple question of the kind of themes and language your child might hear on these chats. If you wouldn’t let them join random conversations at a restaurant, you shouldn’t let them go on voice chat unsupervised.

The simplest move is to turn voice chat off through parental controls. In the rare case that it’s absolutely vital for gameplay, have voice chat broadcast through speakers rather than headphones. This way you can intervene if your child is exposed to something above their age level.

Your kids can have a fun and safe gaming experience online, but you should take steps to protect them. Anything done in excess or without forethought can be risky for kids. Set limits, establish rules, and, above all, monitor usage until you’re confident your child can manage on their own.

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