Doing things yourself, especially home repairs, can be a big money saver. The main reason it can be a big money-saver, of course, is because you’re putting your own labor into the job rather than paying someone else to do it for you. I didn’t say that it’s definitely a big money-saver. A home repair … Read more
Lowe’s puts out scratch-and-dent appliances regularly. These are display models, appliances that got slightly damaged by a forklift, or customer returns. They’ll knock down the price for someone who doesn’t mind a little blemish on the appliance, or one that’s slightly used. We’ve gotten a few good deals with scratch and dent appliances, but for … Read more
A couple of days ago I went to a one-day financial planning class. I got a few nuggets out of the class and I’ll share one with you here. The instructor spent a few minutes on creating a working budget. This part was pretty standard. If you don’t have Quicken fired up, then Take a … Read more
He really is. I’m not talking about his blog. He’s not a slacker there. The guy is a finalist for no less than seven Plutus Awards, one of which is for his PF Blogger Showdown series. (By the way, it looks like PT Money has a comfortable lead in our showdown, but there may … Read more
A few weeks ago I received word of a Facebook application called Buddy Bailout. It’s a spin on the giant corporate bailouts that have happened recently, and in part it plays on people’s thinking: “Why can’t I get a bailout, too? I sure could use one.” Maybe one of that person’s friends (a) knows that … Read more
The standard Settlement Statement, the HUD-1, just got a makeover this December. The extra page is an extra burden on lenders to get the Good Faith Estimate right the first time. Last week at the closing for our new house, we got a small bonus courtesy of the new requirements. The expenses are broken down … Read more
A friend from our previous church sent me an e-mail tonight. Because we’ve been buried in 1.2 miles of snow for the past few days, she had the opportunity to pile through some projects. She had just gotten to a pile of stuff she had been meaning to sell for quite some time, and e-mailed … Read more
(This guest post is by Ann Smarty, a search engine geek, social media enthusiast and a passionate blogger. She has recently started a community of guest bloggers, so if you have a blog and want to promote it for absolutely free, go help Ann build the valuable tool for that by joining and participating.) Bargain … Read more