Once I graduated college and had a good start on an emergency fund, the next thing on my to-do list was to start saving for a house. Five or ten years ago it was possible to get a mortgage with little or no down payment. Those days are long gone and for good reason. Too…
Americans love to accumulate possessions. It has long been part of our history, and despite rising costs for goods, we keep buying. Eventually our houses get too full, so we hold a garage sale. We sell all of our unneeded or unwanted stuff to other people. They will then add them to their accumulation. Much…
Last year my wife and I made a cross country move from Chicago to Denver. Both of us are self employed and didn’t have the luxury of having our relocation costs paid for from an employer. We quickly realized just how expensive a long move can be. We started off by thinking we might hire…
One of the biggest ways to waste money is to run the furnace or air conditioner more than necessary. Without proper insulation, all the heat or cool air generated goes right outside. This just causes the appliance to work harder racking up a large utility bill for the homeowner. With a little sweat, and some…
There are so many ways to reduce one’s energy usage it can often be baffling on where to start. Upgrade the windows and doors? Re-do insulation? Have a high efficiency y furnace installed? They are all great ideas, but there is one solution that is much simpler and much cheaper. Replace light bulbs with CFL’s….