5 Reasons To Build Your Own Home

Building your own home will invariably be one of the most difficult things that you do. You have to make big choices, challenges will arise, and you have to put a lot of time and effort into doing so. However, there are so many benefits of going for a self-build, and you may not even know what they are.

If you’re not too sure that you’re ready to commit, then check out these 5 reasons to build your own home before you take the plunge.

#1: Location

If you’re buying a home that has already been built, there is no flexibility over the location. You pretty much have to deal with it, and the home of your dreams could be in a neighborhood that you’re not too fond of. However, when you buy a plot of land for your self-build home, there is almost total freedom over where it is, so that you can have your perfect home, in the perfect place.

#2: Cost

Whilst it can seem that you have to splash out on excessive costs when you’re building your own home, and this is undoubtedly true, there are also many long-term financial benefits to doing so. Firstly, you’re likely to get a big profit when you come to sell, and secondly, you can get construction loans to suit your needs. Use a construction loan calculator to see how much you could get.

#3: Personalization

When you move into a home that has already been built by somebody else, there are less opportunities to add your own touch onto it. However, if you’re making your own plans, and putting your own ideas into every step of the build, then you’ll be able to make your home truly your own. Few people can say this, which is why it is such a great thing to personalize your property.

#4: Space

Another important thing is space, and there are many things that you can do with your self-built home. Perhaps you want to have a large kitchen and a cosier living room, or you’ve always wanted a grand bathroom with a freestanding bath. Whatever you want to do with space, your options are open when it comes to building your own home, and you can utilize space however you like.

#5: Character building

OK, we’re not going to lie to you. Building your own home is a stressful endeavour, and some days, you’re going to wish that you never started the project. You’re going to stay awake until 2am most nights, surrounded by plans and ideas. And you’re going to have to commit a lot of your time to the build, too. However, this will make you into a stronger person. Trust us on this one.

So…

If you’re thinking of building your own home, then there are many reasons why you should do so. Once you see the final product, you’ll be so glad that you put your all into making your dreams a reality, so don’t give up! Good luck!

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Inside The 2019 DKMS Gala

Wednesday night, DKMS raised over $4.7 million at its annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street. Hosted by Tom Brokaw, the event honored blood cancer survivor Bob Cusimano, Managing Director, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  The evening featured an unbelievable performance by Seal.    

Tom Brokaw and Bob Cusimano

The highlight of the evening came when blood cancer survivor, 11-year-old Carson Lenington and his family met Carson’s donor Luke Beckett for the first time on-stage.  

Seal

DKMS is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. Founded in 1991 in Germany by Dr. Peter Harf, DKMS has expanded internationally in recent years by establishing entities in the US, Poland, the UK and Chile. Today, DKMS has over 850 employees who have helped register over 8.6million potential stem cell donors and provided more than 74,000 patients with a second chance at life.

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New and Classic Ways To Drink A Mint Julep

Barrow's Intense Mint Julep

For those of you who plan to celebrate at home, we are telling you everything you need to celebrate the Kentuck Derby at home, starting with the infamous mint julep. Mint juleps were originally made with brandy but we're giving you an extensive list of brands and cocktail recipes to freshen up this fan favorite cocktail. Similar to a Horizontal Tasting, you can give life to mint juleps with tequila, ginger, and gin. For those who prefer the classic, we've got you covered.

While those at Churchill Downs will be drinking the refreshing combination of brandy, mint, sugar, and bourbon over crushed ice, will teach you our favorite recipes and brands. And if you're not a cocktail fan, don't worry, shots on us.

Makers Mark

Maker’s Mark is Kentucky’s bourbon darling. Made using soft red winter wheat (vs. rye) to create a bourbon with a flavor that finishes on the front of the tongue, it’s a delicious addition to any Julep. The caramel and vanilla play deliciously with mint in the Julep and it doesn’t hurt that Maker’s first ever customer in the 1950s was a horse race course – Keeneland in Lexington Kentucky!

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength goes straight from barrel to bottle at 110 to 114 proof. Cask Strength retains the signature front-of-the-palate flavors of Maker’s Mark, but amps up those flavors to create remarkable new bourbon that really stands up in Juleps, especially those with added ingredients like fruit or other liqueurs. The robust spice and oaky flavors of the bourbon, balance the sweetness and minty essence of a classic Julep or a more inventive version.  

Wild Turkey Master's Keep Decades

Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Decades: The second premium expression from Master Distiller Eddie Russell’s Master’s Keep series, uses some of the rarest and precious barrels in Wild Turkey’s heralded stock. Made from a blend of whiskies aged 10 to 20 years, this 104 proof (52% alc. /vol.) whiskey will retail for a limited time, at $150 per bottle. More background in the release below.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed: One of the pioneers of small batch bourbons, Rare Breed is pure barrel proof whiskey, meaning no water is added to reduce the level of alcohol during the bottling process. This year we’re celebrating an even higher proof with a new bottle design.

The Union Horse Distilling Company Reunion Straight Rye — a small batch, 100 percent rye whiskey handcrafted from the finest quality rye and aged in Union Horse’s signature oak barrels. Reunion unites smooth complex notes of butterscotch, caramel, ginger and cinnamon spice. (93 proof). 

How to make a mint julep

The typical directions consist of muddle mint in the bottom of cocktail shaker. Fill shaker with ice and add remaining ingredients. Shake vigorously and strain into glass with crushed ice. Garnish with sprig of mint

Our Favorite Recipes (Use directions above and check the gallery beow for final results)

Intense Ginger Mint Julep Created by Barrow’s Intense

• 2 oz bourbon

• 1 1/2 oz Barrows Intense Ginger Liqueur

• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

• 3-4 sprigs of mint

NOLET’S Silver Bulleit

• 1 oz. NOLET’S Silver Gin

• 1 oz. Bulleit® Bourbon

• 1 oz. Fresh Grapefruit Juice

• 1 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

• 0.75 oz. Simple Syrup

Mexican Mint Julep:

• 2.5 oz. Avión Reposado

• 0.5 oz. Simple Syrup

• Mint

Cynar Julep

• 2 oz. Cynar

• 3/4 oz. Lemon

• 1 oz. Grapefruit

• 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup

• Julep cup/Mint/Crushed Ice

NOLET's Bulleit

Cynar Julep

Mexican Pharaoh Julep

Top 5 Best Board Games 2019

Written by: João Santos

You may know the basic and simpler board games on the market and probably you keep playing the classic family Monopoly game or maybe you though Cluedo/ Clue was an advanced board game. Nowadays, games from movies and TV sagas, like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones are also becoming popular. Still, classic games remain classic and family friendly.

However, for advanced minds and a nice kept group of determined friends you may want to try out new alternatives. Here’s our top 5 best board games to play in 2019, hopefully introducing new entertaining games for your late-night board gaming gathering:

5. Welcome To…

This quick and easy learning game is ideal for groups of 3 to 4 people, although being nominated for the 2018 best solo board game, by the Board Game Geek community. In the game, you want to build the best town in the United States during the 1950s by adding resources on the board. It’s a roll-and-write dice game where you mark results on a score-sheet but, no dice is used. Instead, cards are flipped from 3 different piles where actions take place. Buy a house, fill it while you take turns and increase your points by adding pools, building parks, and many more. You can even duplicate your house number. Everyone is racing to try and complete public goals while adopting various paths to become the best builder/ architect around your friends. With many strategies and randomized action sets, you can play as many times as you’d like. Learn more about board games check out Board Game Friend.

4. Secret Hitler

A party bluff game for a minimum of 5 to 10 players that is the easiest to understand and very fun to play. It’s a dramatic bluff political game set in 1930s Germany where each player starts by being randomly and secretly assigned a liberal or fascist card. One player is secretly Hitler. The liberals must find and identify Hitler before it’s too late. At the beginning of each new game, players close their eyes and the fascist reveal themselves to each other, while secret Hitler keeps his eyes closed but indicates to the fascist who he is by putting his thumb up. The fascist tries to lead Hitler to glory while he does not know who they are. Meanwhile, the liberals don’t know who each other is.

Each round a new player elects a President and a Chancellor who will work together to pass certain laws on the board. If they pass a fascist law, players must try to figure out if they were betrayed or unlucky with their choices. New perks come into play later during the game and the objective of the liberal team is to pass five liberal policies or assassinate Hitler, on the other hand, the fascist team must pass six fascist policies or elect Hitler as Chancellor after 3 fascist laws have passed. A very entertaining game that will sure agitate your group of friends.

Card games have been quite popular since time immemorial. Whether one needs to spend a casual evening with friends or spend some time relaxing, card games are always there to provide a rescue. Solitaire, also known as Patience Solitaire and Klondike Solitaire, is the most popular classic board game in the world. free solitaire is a very funny patient classic card game, ideal for the whole family and all people that love playing cards. The addicting solitaire card game you’ve been playing on your window pc and computer for years now goes wherever you do.

3. Azul

An abstract strategic game fully embraced by the Portuguese culture, implementing azulejos, decorative tiles, as the main focal point. The player needs to lay tiles taking turns and grab from the supplied tiles to insert on each own game board. Later in the round, players score points accordingly and based on how they have decided to place their tiles to decorate the board. An aesthetically very pleasing game that rewards extra points for specific patterns and completing horizontal or vertical complete sets. The player with the most points wins.

2. Wingspan

A clean card and dice strategic game, engine-building board game regarding different types of birds and specifications. The player is a bird researcher/collector seeking to attract the most and better birds from the game. Each bird has a given combination of habitats, food and eggs to lay. You’ll need to gain food tokens via the custom dice on the birdfeeder area, lay eggs using the variety colorful miniature eggs and draw from hundreds of unique bird cards. The winner is the one that can collet the most point after 4 played rounds.

 1.     Gloomhaven

By far your best bet as the best game up until now, April 2019. Launched in 2017 and yet remains one of the most wanted and hot board games. Just like the well-known RPG style board games, Gloomhaven is a tactical combat adventure-oriented world where players take on the role of a special character and travel around the vast world. Players must cooperate in order to clear monsters, loot, discover new locations and expand the game story.

It is a very challenging game, ideally played over many game sessions with completely different scenarios. Each turn a player chooses two cards to play and just like a Bandersnatch adventure, you must be careful while adventuring as you may take wrong decisions and the forced to retreat or lose the game. An excellent RPG style that will take you up over 30 minutes of understanding and unboxing in exchange for days on end of adventures with your friends.

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How To Save On Costly Habits

We all have our indulgences in life, whether it’s good for us or quite the opposite. However, some of our indulgences can cost us a lot of money. So how do you save on these costly habits?

Cut Back Where You Can

A habit can be hard to kick, but even if it’s not possible to kick it, you can still cut back. Set yourself a limit on how much you spend per month and try to knock that down ever so slightly each month. So say for example you get your nails done every few weeks, try to roll a payment over into the next month and stretch it slightly so that you’re eventually saving yourself a bit more money.

Spending habits can also be triggered by being in certain situations or hanging around certain friends, colleagues or family members. If you’re trying to save yourself money, remove yourself from that group or person for a while just until you’re in a more financially comfortable situation.

Find Cheaper Alternatives

When it comes to your habits, there can be cheaper alternatives available out there. For example, smoking is a costly habit, but vaping has certainly become a lot more popular as a fairly cheaper alternative to smoking. It might not be any different in being bad for your health, but at least you can save your wallet. There’s plenty of companies that now sell vaping products like myfreedomsmokes. Drinking can also be more cost efficient, and you can opt for cheaper spirits or drinks, in general, to help save money. It also helps that if you’re going on a night out, you do most of your drinking before hitting the clubs. That way, you’ll end up spending a lot less on drinks.

Be Wiser With Your Budget

It’s always good to set budgets in life. Knowing what you’ve got coming in each month and then working out where all your money goes and what’s left will help you save on any habits that are maybe become too expensive for your lifestyle. Any habit that ends up putting you in debt is one that isn’t worth having. Always check back on your budgeting on a regular basis and if any habit is becoming too much, look at ways you can cap it or cut back on it. Budgeting keeps you from going into the red, and when it comes to money, you don’t want to be owing too much to others.

Go Cold Turkey Every Now And Then

Having a habit isn’t a bad thing. We all want to indulge in things we enjoy, and therefore you shouldn’t have to feel bad about spending money that you’ve worked hard to earn. However, sometimes going cold turkey on a costly habit every now and then will be good for your bank balance. Not only that but it gives yourself the opportunity to see if it’s something you really need all the time or whether you can reduce the amount you spend on it.

Why not try these tips on your own habits and see if it saves you money?

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