The Perils Homeowner's Insurance Won't Cover:

 If your house burns down, the insurance company will pay. Ditto if a tornado blows it away. Some homeowners have been surprised to discover that their homeowner's insurance does not cover flood damage, or damage from earthquakes and landslides. Other common exclusions include damage from mold, broken pipes due to lack of routine maintenance, and sewage backups. If you live in a high-risk area for floods, your mortgage company will require you to carry flood insurance. Even if the risk is fairly small, flood insurance is a good idea, though it can cost $1,700 a year or more on a $150,000 building and $50,000 in coverage for contents. Consider what problems place your home at the greatest risk and beef up coverage by adding endorsements, say experts at thisoldhouse.com.

Sometimes it Pays to Buy a New Car Instead of Used:

 High prices for some small, fuel-efficient used cars mean you have to carefully calculate the actual costs of the used car versus a new one. Vincentric, an auto data company, calculated the three-year ownership cost for a new and a used Toyota Corolla LE, including depreciation, interest on the loan, insurance, fuel, maintenance and repairs. Reported in Kiplinger's Personal Finance, the three-year costs of a 2009 Corolla bought from a private party were $20,520. If bought from a dealer with a comprehensive warranty, the used car cost rises to $22,015. For a brand new Corolla, the three-year costs were only $20,944. When you factor in the higher price you'd get for your trade-in, plus the costs of maintenance and repairs, the new Corolla appeared to be a better deal.

Button batteries can be

deadly for children

Batteries that are about the size of a shirt button are sending more than 5,000 kids a year to hospital emergency rooms. Swallowing the small battery can cause injuries varying from esophagus burns to fatal aorta damage.

The innocent-looking power sources are used in a multitude of devices including wristwatches, toys, cameras, hearing aids, remote controls and calculators. With so many uses, it's common to find an extra battery, or several, in your home.

Introduction of the 3-volt 20-milimeter lithium battery has caused more hospital visits. It's more powerful and can cause tissue damage much more quickly, say doctors at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

When a battery is swallowed, it usually is eliminated in the stool. If it lands with its negative pole in contact with tissue fluids in the lining of the esophagus, a microcurrent can generate hydroxide, resulting in burns and perforations in the esophagus in less than two hours.

Researchers say 27.3 percent of ingested batteries came from toys and games; 17 percent from hearing aids; 13.9 percent from watches; 13.6 percent from flashlights; 9.8 percent from remote controls; 7 percent from calculators, and 11.4 percent from miscellaneous sources.

Always keep extra batteries on a high shelf or in a high drawer where little ones won't see them. Keep an eye on children handling battery-operated devices.