Yankee Bill and I moved into our current house a year ago last November. At the time, mortgage rates were pretty high. The best rate we could find was a 5/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage. What that meant was we locked in a lower than typical rate for the first 5 years (5.25) but then automatically… Keep Reading
Frugal Philosophy-Playing With The Hand You Are Dealt
You know, a lot of frugal living is not “glamorous”. Shocking eh? I don’t mean that frugal living is dreary (I don’t think it is) or that living a frugal life is confining or ugly or any of those things. What I mean is that a lot of frugal living is about what you don’t… Keep Reading
Organizing-Divide and Conquer Part 2
I’m a visual learner-and I know many of you out there are too. So to illustrate the organization concept of “divide and conquer“, here are some more photos from around my house: Here you can see (top left to righ) my coffee flavorings (I’ve had those for a couple of years, but they don’t go… Keep Reading
Sold!
Well, we sold the other house! Of course we haven’t closed yet or anything, but we are under contract without ever listing the house with a realtor. That’s 6% less out of our pocket, so we were able to make a good deal for the folks who are buying it. The buyers is the son… Keep Reading
Buying Our New Old House-A Review part II
In “Buying Our New Old House-A Review part I“, I clued you all in to all the money we have spent thus far on discretionary repairs and items for the new place. Today I’d like to talk about some of the choices and decisions we have made to save money. ********** #1-We did all of… Keep Reading
A Comment and a Response
I had an interesting comment on my post “Buying Our New Old House Review-Part I) Anonymous said… I dunno Jenn. I mean, congrats and all but still…..you’ve laid out (or will be laying out) over $10,000 in repairs and upgrades. New windows, soon you’ll have to upgrade the electricity or plumbing. I dunno. I dunno…. Keep Reading
Buying Our New Old House-A Review part I
As most of you know, on Oct 15 Yankee Bill and I closed on our new house. Buying a new house is an expensive proposition, no matter how you slice it. Some things are necessary expenses, some are discretionary. There are hundreds of ways to spend and save money when you occupy a new house,… Keep Reading
More Photos
There are more painting photos up on my flickr stream. Check them out!
I Love My Stain Pen
The house we bought has goregous woodwork. Every door and window is trimmed in beautiful, original, stained chestnut. However over a 100 years of wear and tear has left quite a bit of scuffing, and there are many, many places where raw wood is showing. Enter the Minwax stain pen. These puppies only cost around… Keep Reading
How to Save Money on Heating/Cooling Costs-A Reader’s Letter
After I posted last week about buying cellular blinds, I got this very nice letter from reader Mary M. Well, actually it was from her husband, The Energy Doctor. . . . *************************** From the Mister: If you have already purchased your blinds, you may want to stop reading right here. If you have not… Keep Reading
