Simple Self-defence Techniques You Need to Know

Simple Self-defence Techniques You Need to Know

With increasing crime rates day by day, we need to know some basic techniques to keep us and our loved ones safe, in case of being physically attacked. No one wants to think about such a terrifying situation, but we must all be prepared for it.Thankfully, there are several simple self-defence techniques one can learn,regardless of strength, size or any previous training. Here are some ways to stay safe, in case of an unexpectedly violent situation:

●    The best kind of self-defence is prevention: Remember attackers always look for vulnerable and unsuspecting targets. So, follow the basic rules to prevent being attacked, like walking or parking in a well-lit area, avoiding secluded streets, not being on the streets too late in the night, informing someone over the phone if you’re alone, and other personal security measures.

●    Try your best to avoid confrontation: In a situation where you’re being robbed,just give away your money or phone or whatever they want. Do anything to avoid confrontation – nothing is more precious than your life. Get away from the situation as soon as you can and inform the police when you get the chance.

●    In case of confrontation, here’s what you do: Remember you can take down someone bigger or stronger than you. So, in such an unavoidable situation,fight back

○    Be loud and push back: Shout loudly and push back the attacker as hard as you can, the moment he touches you. This may not dissuade all attackers, but, one, it sends signals for help, and two, let’s the attacker know that you’re not easy prey.

○    Body parts to target: In a confrontation, you have to hit hard and hit smart.Some of our body parts are more sensitive than others-target those: eyes, nose,ear, neck, groin, knee, legs. Depending on how close the attacker is to you,determines which body part to strike first. Before you’ve been gained full control over, you must try everything in your capacity to strike and escape.

○    Some techniques: eyes – gouge, poke, or scratch the attacker’s eyes to make him lose vision temporarily, making it easy for your escape.

Nose- Aim for the nasal bone- whether he’s close to you, you can use the heel of your palm to hit his nose, or if he attacks from behind you, use your elbows to make him lose his grip.

 Neck- the side of the neck, where the carotid artery and the jugular vein are present, is a better target. For more injury,thrust the elbow into the attacker’s throat.

Knee- Vulnerable from every angle, the knee is an ideal self-defence target. A kick in the knee makes him lose his balance, without the risk of your leg being grabbed.

●    Maximize damage:   

○    Your elbows, knees and head are the most effective body parts to inflict harm on the attacker.

○    Make use of everyday objects you carry or are available then: like toss some sand in the attacker’s eyes. Or harm him with other sharp objects available. Carry a pepper spray.

○    No matter your size, weight, strength, you can defend your opponent by simply leveraging your weight.

●    For best results, take self-defence classes.

Why You Must Choose a Job that Fulfills Your Passion

Why You Must Choose a Job that Fulfils Your Passion

When choosing a job, there are a lot of factors that you have to take into account: money usually being the most important one. Money undeniably is an important part of our lives, as it can buy us all the temporary happiness. But it can’t buy time- so if you choose a job, that pays you well, but you realize in a few years that it’s not what you wanted to do, you cannot get the time back. In today’s world, where jobs are scarce, most of us are stuck doing jobs that we hate just for the sake of the money. But we can’t do this for the rest of our lives – we should do something that we’re genuinely passionate about. Here’s why:

●    Money may motivate you temporarily, but not forever: Waking up every morning 5days a week for your 9-5 job is anything but fun. No matter how much your salary, it is stressful and unfulfilling. You may bear with it for a few years,but it will soon start to frustrate you, affecting your health and work. So do not run after money – a low paying job that you enjoy doing will be able to satisfy you better.

●    You do your work with more interest and passion: The everyday work that you do mindlessly, and just to meet the deadlines can be exhausting. But there’s no such exhaustion when you do something you enjoy doing- work doesn’t feel like work anymore!

●    Relating to your work, you can come up with new innovative ideas: when you’re not forced to do certain work, you enjoy your creative freedom – you think better,you work better, and you feel better. You have the space to shape your new ideas and create more.

●    Work doesn’t feel forced anymore: In the endless cycle of misery, where you run after money instead of health and your passion, you will only hate your job even more with every passing day. Some might say, that the more money you have,the more you’ll enjoy after you retire. But you do not have the energy at that age, and why put yourself through years of misery for that.

●    You’ll even enjoy over – time: When you’re doing something you love, putting in some extra hours work will not be a problem for you. There’s a busy season for every industry, and you’ve got to work extra during that time. It is more comfortable if you’re working somewhere you like, rather than someplace you can’t stand.

●    You are ready to go that extra mile for your job: There may arise certain obligations that make you go beyond your call of duty and maybe take responsibility of stuff that’s not part of your day to day work. But since you are passionate about what you do, and you genuinely care about the work, you’ll be putting in extra effort willingly.

●    Success will automatically follow: When you do something with so much care and responsibility, you put it your time and effort, you will surely succeed. There will be highs and lows, obstacles, but you’ll come up with creative solutions to deal with them.

We will be working most of our lives; our careers consume the prime years of our lives- so doing something we love will help us lead a happy life.  

8 Ways in Which You Can Say Yes to a Healthy Lifestyle

8 Ways in Which You Can Say Yes to a Healthy Lifestyle

When it comes to a point of living a healthy lifestyle, there are thousands of rules which are honestly quite hard to keep. Do not have this, do not drink that, no more of this exercise, do less of that activity – the list is never-ending.  It is always advised to not focus on the craziness of the health world that is the diet or the coolest workouts and go back to your own basics.

In this article we have summed up 8 steps which might help you lead a healthy lifestyle:

  1. Do not eat the food which comes in a box

If you think properly, you will notice that most of the unhealthy and unhygienic and highly processed foods are always found in boxes in the supermarket. Surely the packaged food is pretty delicious, but it also comes with the worst effect sand outcomes on your body. Instead of eating packaged food products which comes with additives, preservatives, artificial sugar try and stick to the home production section as much as possible as this food will keep you healthy both physically and mentally.

  • Try and eat more veggies as possible

A Trendy diet or the latest buzzy health book can be quite trendy and appealing but what is the reality? The best thing that can be done to keep your body healthy is to eat mostly plants.  You are sure to get a healthy dose of protein, fiber, healthy fats nutrients and proper vitamins and therefore you won’t be eating empty calories in the process.

  • Try and meditate every single day

 It can be quite tough to find at least 10 to15 minutes a day to devote yourself to meditation, but we can assure you that it would bring a huge difference in your well being. Advantages would be that you will get rid of stress and anxiety in the process, thus making a happy and would help you sleep better.

  • Focus on clean beauty

Clean all your cabinets and start investing in natural and cruelty-free items that will not just improve your skin but is also good for the environment.

  • Try and find out a workout that suits you

Try and figure out the best workout methods that actually suit you. Do not waste your time in dragging yourself to the gym and doing activities that you don’t like.

  • Make the eight hours of daily sleep a priority

The lack of sleep basically results in poor memory, low energy, drowsy feeling and irritable that can also change your personality drastically. Try and make a habit of not spending too much time at night and getting good 8-hour sleep.

  • Have 8 glasses of water every day

Water is the most important liquid for our body, but we usually tend to forget the 8glasses of water, thus making us tired and low on energy.

  • Do not avoid your breakfast

Breakfast is an important part of our healthy diet, but we tend to forget it. A survey found that a protein-packed breakfast helps you with weight loss and food craving for the whole day.

List of the Documents Required to Buy a New Apartment

List of the Documents Required to Buy a New Apartment

Buying your desired apartment is a dream come true. However, to achieve that you have to go through a lot of distress. But with the adequate knowledge you can easily wrap up the whole thing just by following these steps which informs you about the exact documentation required to buy an apartment:

  1. A Sale Deed is the most important legal document that proves the sale and transfer of ownership of property from the seller to the buyer. It is a mandatory process and one should execute the sale agreement before the Sale Deed is executed.
  2. Next comes the Mother Deed. It is the parent legal documentation which helps in tracing the antecedent ownership from the initiation. It also helps in further sales of the property establishing new ownership.
  3. Building Approval Plan comes after the above two. It needs to be sanctioned by the concerned official body without which the construction process is rendered illegal. An approved plan needs to be collected from the jurisdictional Commissioner.
  4. Following this is the Commencement Certificate(for an under-construction property) which is legally issued by the local authorities after careful inspection of the site. This document is required for the project to meet given criteria and helps in the initiation of the project by the builder.
  5. After this is the Conversion Certificate(Agricultural to Non-Agricultural land). This is mandatory and has to be obtained from the legal body for the property. It is issued for changing an agricultural land to a non-agricultural land from the competent revenue authority.
  6. Account Certificate and Account Extract- This is the account which registers an account of the person owning the property. An Account Certificate is basically a mandatory requirement for registration of anew property or shifting of a property. On the contrary, Account Extract is all about obtaining the property details of the owner from the assessment registrar. These details are required for the property transaction trade license.
  7. Encumbrance Certificate- An EC is typically registered transactions conducted on the property during the time it is sought.As far definition is concerned, it can be explained as charges in the ownership or the liabilities created on a property that is being held against a home loan as security. A titular fee is collected on a yearly basis.
  8. Betterment Charges Receipt- These are development fees that have to be paid before an account is issued.
  9. Power of Attorney- It involves a legal procedure to authorize another person by the property owner on their behalf.
  10. Latest Tax paid receipt ensuring taxes are being paid on regular basis to the government.
  11. Completion Certificate upon completion of the property and Occupancy Certificate also have to be shown.

Why Paying EMI is Better Than Paying Rent

Why Paying EMI is Better Than Paying Rent

A common refrain heard is that“it is better to pay an EMI and own a home, rather than pay a rent and make someone else rich”. While this argument does have merits of its own, there are certain times when paying a rent makes more sense. So, for taking a decision of buying/renting after carrying out an analysis of your financial position,debt-income ratio, need vs want of owning a home, expected trends in the property markets and other factors. But here we will see some of the benefits of paying Equated Monthly Installments(EMI) in buying a home over the rent.

Tax Benefits:

Besides getting to own an asset the principal repayment of your home loan is eligible for deduction under Sec80C. It means you are better equipped to make use of the entire deduction allowed. Also, interest payable of up to Rs 2 lakhs is deductible from your income. If it is a joint home loan, both the spouses are eligible to claim deductions up to Rs 2 lakhs, if the loan repayment is done in equally by both.

Source of Additional Income:

One can always rent out the property if not occupied by self and paying the EMI. This could lower some burden of EMI payment.

When EMI Makes Sense Financially:

The first factor to evaluate in the rent vs EMI debate is your financial position. You may have found the perfect house – which is close to work and school and has all the amenities you need for a good life close to you. Find out the approximate price with all additional costs. Paying EMI will be better if this sum is more than 75% of your proposed EMI.

How much Upfront Payment can you Afford?

Generally, you may be eligible for a home loan that covers up to 80% of the cost, means, you have to pay around 20% to 25% of this amount upfront as your contribution. For example,with your down payment, you will get a loan amount of Rs: 48 lakhs for a Rs: 60lakh home. This would put your EMI at approximately Rs: 50,000 per month, based on current rates of interest. If you can pay over 50% of the value of the home as your contribution, then that will be a good idea for you to invest and pay EMI.

Will you be Ready for Pre-Payment?

In an ideal scenario, you should be prepared for a total pre-payment of your loan amount within a few years of beginning it. Keeping in mind that making regular EMI payments will get you a good discount when you work on pre-payment. So, calculate your finances and make a projection of where you will stand a decade or so after taking the loan. Pre-paying even a small amount of around Rs: 10,000, in a reducing EMI scheme,will help you make some good savings while buying a home. This will help you making a decision on buying a home with EMI.

Row House or Flat? Choose Wisely

If you are stuck between choosing flat or row house for your new home, we can understand the dilemma. There are many pros and cons on both side and you have to think as per investment point as well. So here is the list of things you should consider before buying a row house or flat, choose wisely.

  • Privacy: one of the main reasons the new couple wants to go to a new home is the privacy. Now in the flat, you will have the total privacy of your own and doesn’t need to worry about who lives next doors. Although occasions you will find that person who lives above you have love to dance or next to you have big stereo, which could ruin it. On the other hand, row houses are totally separated from other house. So you will have your personal space.
  • Area: when you go for the row house, you need to select a better area for it. a place from where you can get everything easily and those property are costly. But the other one which is cost-effective is far away from the city. On the other hand, flats are available everywhere and you can choose to buy any place you seem feet.
  • Space: flats have limited space, you can get a big balcony and turn it into greenhouse but apart from there, you cannot do anything else. On the other hand, row house has a garden and a place for their vehicle. They can even build a room upstairs if they want to expand. They have total control of the house.
  • Economical: it’s a fact that flats are more economical than a row house. You don’t have to worry about piles of paper that need to be approved before you lay one brick. In flat, all the papers are come prepared and don’t need to pay for anything else as the building owner has taken care of it.
  • Maintenance: flats get much cheaper maintenance cost than own house. Also, they just need to pay this amount to the building owner and they will take care of the rest. If any day you have face problem like a broken pipe, you can call the building management and they will send a handyman. Maintaining a row house is a bit costlier in that term.

If we conclude this, flats are much better than row house, but on the other hand, row houses are last much longer than flats. Row houses, if maintained properly could last up to 50 year but flats can go for 30-year maximum. Now it’s up to you on which type of property you want to buy.

What are the Different Ways in Which You can Save Taxes?

Save your tax in different waysMoney saving is taught to us from the beginning. We try to save everywhere and even in the taxes. But not paying your taxes are not saving, it’s illegal. But there are many ways one can easily save thousands of rupees in taxes. Here is the list of the different way in which you can save taxes.

  • Agriculture Income: if you have agriculture land, you won’t need to pay taxes on the rent or income you received from it. It’s totally tax-free in India. One does not need to pay any taxes on Incomes that obtain from the agriculture.
  • Interest in saving account: any income from the interest on your saving account is tax-free up to 10,000rs. Which mean if someone gets 20,000rs as saving account interest, they have to pay taxes on 10,000rs only.
  • Marriage Gifts: we have a tradition to gift money to a newlywed That money which is received as a gift in marriages is totally tax-free. It could be in any form like a check, cash or a gift, one does not need to pay taxes on that.
  • 80C: Under Section 80C, one can save up to 1, 50,000rs in taxes. There are many ways you can save in this like investing in Public Provident Fund, while paying life insurance premium, paying tuition fees to your children (up to 2 children). You can also save money in fixed deposit in banks and post office under section 80C.
  • Insurance, loan, and donation: Under Section 80E, interest paid on the educational loan is tax-free. You can also save taxes in medical insurance under section 80D. Any donation which was given under section 80G is tax-free as well.
  • Travel, hotel, and food expenses: employees can save taxes on traveling or staying in the hotel or food by billing it to the company directly. If the person doesn’t pay those bills out of his own pocket and it was an allowance by the company, they don’t have to pay taxes on those too.
  • House rent allowance: under HRA, you don’t need to pay taxes if you are paying rent over 1, 00,000 per year. There are many formalities also including in it like submitting your house owners pan card and rent receipt that you received every month.
  • Profit from a share: only if you hold those share or mutual fund for one year, you don’t have to pay taxes on the profit you received after selling Also, the dividends you received from the shares are tax-free.

There are many legal and easy way you can save taxes. Paying taxes are the duty of every single civilian but you can also perform your civic duty and save money as well.

How to Finalize the Location of Your New Home

How to Finalize the Location of Your New HomeChoosing the home of your dreams can be a nightmare decision for a person. It takes so much effort of putting in the research work, visiting sites, dealing with the agents. To go this daunting process, follow the steps below:

  • Start by looking at the accessibility and the proximity factor around the site you find attractive.

You would like to have a house from which transportation is easy, cheap and should be somewhat close to the airport or railway stations. Check whether the school is closed for your kids, and shopping centres and grocery shops.

  • Next on the list is fixing a budget. Factors like conveyancing, state taxes, duties and fees should be taken into account. Choose the right type of loan to suit your needs and obtain a pre-approval by contacting a mortgage broker.
  • Now it’s time to find the block of land in your desired area. It’s always thankful to get away with a cheap one however, you should consider whether you are ready to compromise if you find the land to be irregular, fall on the lot, positions, orientation, proximity to major roads, ease of access, whether the lot is titled or not. Check how the overall streetscape gets impacted by the Estate Design Guidelines.
  • With the land now meeting your fancies, it’s time to decide the home design and builder choice. Select the floor plan, façade to it on the lot, appoint a colour design consultant to get the interior designing, fittings and textures done. Be cautious not to fall for the extravagant stuff that might affect your budget.
  • With this its time for the building agency to take over. Design your home with all the latest upgrades as per your budget, including the final site costs in the Building Contract. It is almost mandatory to have a written contract in case of any future discrepancies.
  • Once the piece of land has been titled, it is high time for the builder to conduct a soil test and report any site costs as per requirement. After receiving the external approval, such as formalizing unconditional finance approval, obtain the building permits. Contact the building supervisor to initiate the building process.
  • As your Dream home starts to take shape, a percentage of the overall contract value would be invoiced as per required slabs, frame, lockup etc. After completion, builders will schedule Practical Completion Inspection.
  • Now as the building process and final inspection is over with all the finishing touches, the arrangement for the final settlement payment has to be done. Then finally you have the keys to your new home. It’s time to settle!!!

 

6 Simple Ways for Beginners to Make a Smart Real Estate Investment

Six Simple Ways for Beginners to Make a Smart Real Estate InvestmentMaking a risk free investment is a myth. You have to accept that every investment has its own pros and cons. Thereby; you can select which one would be the best-suited investment for you. Many investors target on real estate, which probably can be the riskiest investment if you have not done research thoroughly. Here are some ways to make a smart real estate investment:

How long are you willing to wait?

Your investment strategy depends upon a number of factors. If you are willing to wait for a longer period of time so as to get higher returns, it is advisable to invest on land rather than a fully constructed space. The earlier you finalize your location the better. Also, when you invest on a plot which is under construction or planning stage (which is even better!), you might have a good value for money deal. The safer method for doing so is to collaborate with the real estate developers or real estate investment groups who are planning to set a township in your location.

Location Scouting

When it comes to real estate, location is probably the most important aspect to keep in mind. Although it seems very obvious, finding a perfect location which matches your budget as well as expected returns can be a tricky thing. Generally, people look for a locality where there are schools, universities and other facilities require on a day to day life. However, if you are ready to invest more time and less money, you can look for locations where a city s being planned and would take some time to construct.

Looking for loopholes

Probably buying low can be one of the lucrative options. There are many properties where the rates fluctuate a lot. Waiting for the right time when the price of a particular property falls down and then buying it can be a profitable long term investment. It is advisable to hire a professional when making such an investment as you never know what would be the evaluation of the property you are buying after say ten years.

Old school landlord

Renting a property as a resident or commercial location is one of the oldest ways of generating revenues from real estate. However, it has its own blemishes. If you are willing to put efforts in managing your property and unexpected emergencies, this might be a profitable way. The general evaluation of a rent depends upon factors like taxes, mortgage, and maintenance of the property and of course location. Although it completely depends on the owner of the residential property.

Borrow and sell

If you want to invest in a property but do not have enough money, you can also choose to take a mortgage. Thereafter, you can sell this property with the help of real estate whole sellers who would find you an appropriate buyer at your selling price and take their share as per your deal. The process can be complex but equally lucrative.

Old wine in a new bottle

Many investors invest their money in an old, often worn out property and then renovate it as per market requirements. This allows them to sell that particular property at market rates which ultimately results to be a lucrative investment.

Real estate investment can be very profitable if you are ready to invest your money, time as well as efforts. One wrong decision can prove to fatal to your investment. It is therefore very important to hire real estate professionals, lawyers and the people who know this industry very well.

8 Reasons why buying a house is better than staying in a rented one

NL-Complex-NL BuildersThere has been an endless debate on the topic as to which option is better; renting a house or buying one. No matter which one you opt for, you have to pay the price for the same. Still, buying a house is believed to be better in many cases. Here are some of the reasons which justify this statement:

Investment versus expenditure

When you rent a house, the money goes straight to the owner and you are just paying for your monthly stay in his/her house. Contrary to that, when you buy your own house, the money you spend every month paying mortgage, taxes and other expenses required, you are actually indulged in a long term investment which ultimately results in making you the owner of a valuable asset.

Evident progress every month

Paying your mortgage every month increases the percentage of equity you own. Moreover, you can also apply for a loan against this equity if ever any emergency arises.

Increment in net worth

Having your own house not only ensures that at least you will not be homeless, it also increases your net worth which is ultimately better than working towards a higher income since it provides more financial independence.

Your house, your rules

Buying a house for the first time is a very emotional step. There is no doubt that the level of comfort and freedom your home gives you, can never be achieved in a rented house. You can install a modular kitchen of your choice and pretty much do anything thing to make your house a better place to live in. These things also increase the value of your house. None of these options are available in a rented house.

Focus on the bigger picture

Today it might seem that renting is cheaper than paying a mortgage. But ten years down the line, your rent might increase up to one and a half times than what it is right now. However, if you buy a house with a fixed rate mortgage, your monthly payment remains the same throughout the tenure of the loan.

Tax Benefits

It is true that owning a house means having to pay property tax. But it also has some benefits in taxes when seen from a different vantage point. Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, explains that when you live in your own house, you need not pay taxes on the house rent because it is paid to yourself.

Look into the Future

Suppose you are in your thirties right now and you decide to buy a house. And it roughly would take two decades for you to completely own that house. So when you are in your fifties and probably planning to retire, you have a home not only for yourself but also for the future generations to come.

You become a responsible citizen

When you own a house, you tend to create a better environment around it since you are here to stay for a very long period of time. This makes you aware of what is happening in your locality so that you can make your contributions to make it better. This rarely happens when a person lives in a rented house.

Purchasing a residential property is a huge commitment and includes a lot of hidden expenses. This means having to deal with a lot of things you might not have experienced before. Hence, your decisions must be made considering your savings.