“Turn up the signal; wipe out the noise.” -Peter Gabriel Too many of my projects are laughing at me. Here’s how I’m trying to shut them up. The analogy is signal processing. With only a few important projects and sources of information (signal sources) it’s straightforward to handle them all. But bring in dozens, or … Read more
A friend at work mentioned a few days ago that he was interested in getting some solar panels. He’s already taken a few steps to make his family more self-sufficient and less reliant on public utilities, and this is the next step. I began to wonder what kind of money solar panels were going for. … Read more
This month’s Wired magazine (subscribe) had a review of a couple dozen rules for tech-savvy folks, and one of them dealt with the subject of hyperopia. Hyperopia means “excessive farsightedness” and describes people who sacrifice today for gain tomorrow more than most people do. The negative consequences of hyperopia are lots and lots of regrets; … Read more
Received an insightful comment from S.B. at Retire At 45 following my Wegmans post: I love Wegmans, but I have to be careful there! Just like Costco, they have a trade up / trade down business model. The prices (and selection) on the basic stuff are great, but they also tempt you with a lot … Read more
This is a bit of a mind trick but it’s helpful to reduce debt. If your credit card minimum payments are $78, $187, and $365, make them $100, $200, and $400. If your car payment is $210, make it $250 or $300. If your mortgage payment is $879, pay the extra $21 toward principal and … Read more
A reader Vanessa commented on a previous discount grocery post to ask if there were any such stores in the Nashville, TN, area. I poked around a little bit with Google and there’s a discount grocery store directory over at ExtremeBargains.com. To recap: discount grocery stores sell salvaged groceries that were overstock, slightly out of … Read more
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost?” Luke 14:28 First off, Happy Independence Day to my American readers. Happy July 4th to others. 😉 Gary North’s Tip of the Week (subscribe for free in the upper right of this page) was on outsourcing. He … Read more
My wife is designing, and making, a quilt for a competition. A couple of days ago she did a wholesale change of the design. When I asked her if it what she had planned to do was just too difficult, she told me, “Pretty much everything I did, the quilt was laughing at me.” She’s … Read more