Amidst all the noises of garbage landing in the pile and large machines working away I heard the sound of my long time friend being crushed in to a thousand pieces. I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. The couch that has been my comfort every evening for 10 years finally had it’s last behind on it yesterday. At first I thought that
A Stroll Through My Blogroll
Every now and then I like to wander through my blogroll to see what’s happening on some of my fellow personal finance blogger’s sites. I really need to do this more often because there are a ton of great articles out there: http://www.2millionblog.com/2009/01/bought_baby_furntiure_on_craigslist.html 2Million is in the baby stuff acquisition mode. I remember those days very well. I can tell we are similar in our
Our Jenn Air Cooktop Range Died
It seems that the demands on my wallet never cease. Last week my wife decided to make something on the stove. We have a Jenn Air stove that just sits in a hole on the kitchen island in our home. Our oven is not connected to this and is on a wall in the kitchen. (It’s not a range/oven combo). Anyway, when my wife
Is It Just Me or Are More People Keeping their Heat Turned Down?
A couple of years ago my house was known as the “cold” house. Every time my sister came to visit she made sure she brought along sweaters and coats. At that point in time my thermostat was set at 69 degrees during the day and 62 at night. With the temperature at 69 I could easily walk around the house with a T-shirt on and
What Would Happen if Everyone Saved 10% of Their Income
Back in 2005 I asked the question, “What would happen if everyone saved 10% of their income?“. What a difference a couple years makes. My original theory was that our economy would falter significantly. Here’s what I said back then: My take on this is that, if everyone was consuming 10% less, our economy would head south. Our economy is based on growth, and if
What do Appraisers Look at When Appraising Your Home?
As I’ve mentioned in a couple previous posts, we are in the middle of refinancing our home. So far we have: Applied online with our credit union Been approved with a 4.875% 30 year fixed loan Submitted pay stub information Submitted insurance and tax information to escrow Had our home appraised for $416,000 We are now awaiting notification that we are ready to sign and
What Happens When Your Luckiest Day is on Your Unluckiest Day?
This is just crazy. A man bought a lottery ticket and won $10 million. The only problem is that he died the same day and never knew he won. The good news is that he ended up leaving his wife and family well taken care of due to the winning ticket. It’s just too bad he didn’t know that before he died. “David Peters bought
Mortgage Refinance is Almost Done & Other Ramblings
Happy New Year! I’ve had the last two weeks off from work and have enjoyed spending time with my wife and daughter as well as just relaxing around the house. We had a very interesting weather pattern here leading up to the new year so I also shoveled more snow than I ever have in my life. Christmas was low key and I think we
Mortgage Rates Seem to Have Gone Up
Wow. It’s amazing what a difference a week makes. It was only a little over a week ago that I was feeling bummed that rates had gone down since I locked in at 4.875% for a 30 year fixed. Fast forward to today and my credit union’s rate has increased to 5.45% for a 30 year fixed. That’s after being down to less than 4.5%
The Best Things in Life are Free
Today was one of those days that you remember for the rest of your life and I didn’t spend a nickel all day. Up here in the Pacific Northwest the weather has been a little abnormal. By that I mean that it snowed. It has been cold for a week and we even saw temperatures in the single digits overnight in a couple areas. With