by melanie | Apr 17, 2015 | online, tips & tricks |
Take your child’s cell phone at night and charge it in your bedroom. This ensures it is fully charged the next day, and it prevents them from making phone calls, texting, or using the cellular connection to bypass wifi restrictions. Run two different wifi networks, one for the adults and one for the child(ren). Many routers are capable of this and are labelled “Simultaneous dual-band 2.4 & 5GHz” router. NETGEAR is the brand I have had the best luck with over the years. I use this router: Netgear Smart Wifi Router AC1750 Dual Band Gigabit (R6300 v2) This router will actually run 4 networks, 2 regular and 2 guest. In order to enable certain restrictions, you must use the 2 regular networks, NOT the guest networks. When you set up your router, you will want to: Create the 2.4GHz network as the child’s network. I would recommend broadcasting the SSID to make it easier for you to determine if the network is online or not. Protect it with a WPA2 password (Others are too easy for a savvy kid to crack) that is okay to tell your child. Create the 5.0GHz network as the adult network. I would recommend NOT broadcasting the SSID to avoid tempting the child to crack it. Protect it with a WPA2 password that is easy for you to remember but could not be guessed by the child. Create an OpenDNS account (https://www.opendns.com) and follow instructions on how to set it up for your router. If you have a NETGEAR Router, the “Parental Controls” (http://www.netgear.com/lpc) are exactly the OpenDNS controls set up in a different...
by melanie | Apr 17, 2015 | finances, tips & tricks |
Use a small town bank where you have a relationship with the people at the bank instead of having a 1-800 number to call in to for help. This maximizes the ability for the bank to watch out for you and minimizes the ability to have constant 24×7 access to the bank and usually smaller banks have fewer locations available for transactions. Bank in person instead of the ATM. Bank regularly at the same location and introduce the tellers and managers to your child. Have people pay your child with a check as often as possible, this will force them to learn how to make deposits. Open accounts and put your name on them as well as your child’s. Sign up for online banking at the bank. Download the bank’s app if they have one. Sign up for Mint (www.mint.com) and add your account and your child’s account to your Mint account list. Make sure the bank you choose is compatible with Mint before deciding on a bank. Set alerts in Mint to alert you to large withdrawals or deposits. Log in regularly to watch the balance. Do not choose a bank where your primary accounts are held so that inadvertent linkages and/or mistakes do not happen. Do not link your accounts to the child’s accounts in case the child withdraws more money than is in the account. Do not sign up for overdraft protection. Force the card to be denied if it goes below zero balance. Write your child’s account number down in a safe...
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