There is a vicious battle being waged on my street. Every single house is under assault, and most of them are losing. Badly. Moles have invaded our lawns, and it looks like they’re here to stay. We’ve had issues with moles before, but they were always resolved quickly and free. We’d see a couple of […]
Products and companies can inspire a lot of passion. It’s always nice to see consumers forge lifelong relationships with products or brands they love. But there’s another way passion can play out. In some cases, a single bad experience can make a company dead to you forever. This post contains affiliate links. Read here for
TGIF: Plumbing Is Fun Read More »
When I was a boy, our family installed a swimming pool in our backyard. This was a big deal. I remember my friends being excited, and all of our neighbors were a bit envious. There was one exception, though. A woman we knew delivered a frightening warning on the eve of construction: “There’ll be a
A Swimming Pool Is A Terrible Investment Read More »
A while back, I started to think about paying our mortgage off early. We were at or beyond the max equity exposure I wanted, I was loath to invest in long-term fixed income, and short-term yields were painfully low. How ‘bout using any spare change we had lying around to pay down the ol’ mortgage?
The Delights of Double Deductions Read More »
Debt has a pretty bad name, but there’s one shining exception: mortgage debt. It’s “good” debt, you see, because it not only helps you buy a home and achieve the American dream but also also has income tax advantages in the U.S. Note to non-U.S. readers, people who are big-time enough to owe the Alternative
Is Your Mortgage Tax Deductible? Read More »
Last year I finally got around to doing something that was popular long ago (a sentence said with startling regularity in my life…): I read (affiliate link) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. And today, I finally do something I planned last year: write a
Comedy plus Decluttering: A Winning Combination Read More »
I saved my 2nd grade Valentines for about 25 years. I’m not terribly proud of that fact. I didn’t intend to save them that long. I just decided to keep them at the end of the 2nd grade. I remember telling my parents they were really important, but I didn’t want to keep them in
What to Store in Your Attic Read More »
A lot of folks are heading out of town next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, many a bad thing can happen when you travel, and I’m not talking about the time you have to spend with your relatives. I’m focused on the house you leave behind. I’ll consider various scenarios below, but heeding some
How to Safeguard Your House While Traveling Read More »
I’ve milked this series of financial lessons from my HVAC for all it’s worth, but I thought it’d be particularly appropriate to end it this week with a short lesson on being nice. I had thought about a titillating post on the pros & cons of cheap versus expensive HVAC systems (e.g., SEER 14 versus
The ROI of Being Nice Read More »
An HVAC system is a meaningful investment and important part of your house, and it offers many a financial lesson that can be applied to a broader base. My HVAC has already taught us to beware of something too good to be true and consider worst-case scenarios when making decisions. It’s not done teaching, though,
When All Else Fails Read More »