Search Results for: blog rent and upkeep

When Parents Are the Pain

Did you hear that the Gosselin kids are staging a prison break? In a previous blog I detailed the physical pains that are inherent to parenthood. Yesterday I received a link to a hilarious take on how parents can be a real pain in the butt to their kids. Not surprisingly the post was about Kate Gosselin. The divorced mother of eight good-looking and articulate children (9-year-old twins and 6-year-old sextuplets) is back on TLC with a new show called Kate Plus 8. The latest episode aired Sunday night and has already been repeated ad nauseam. The intent of the … Continue reading →

Your Checklist for Renting a Place

In the next couple of years you want to buy a property, but what do you do until then? Not everyone is at the point where they can afford to put a large sum down for a house. Even with no money down options, you may have to compromise by coping with a high interest rate or other catches. Until you are ready to weigh all the options for making a real estate investment, find a place that is nice to rent and your buying moment will come. 1. Ask yourself what you want. This seems simple enough, but it … Continue reading →

Scary Places: Hollywood Forever

When we lived in San Diego, I loved to visit dead celebrities. That is, I love to visit cemeteries filled with celebrity burial sites and there is probably no better placed to do that than in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, we left there in 2001, just as a now famous cemetery was making its comeback. Hollywood Forever is located in – well, Hollywood as you might imagine. It sits on 62 acres with large lots that were sold to Paramount and RKO Studios. A look around is like looking into Hollywood itself. You will find Don Adams of “Get Smart” fame, … Continue reading →

Homes Designed to Bring People Closer

One of the best reasons to decorate or design your home is to make it more livable for you and your family or your friends. Oh, there are other reasons to decorate and design a space, for example to show off your creativity, aesthetic and so on. But for most families, home is a place to live, not a showcase, and as such, designing it to bring people closer is a great goal. I first saw the idea of designing a home to bring people closer as a recommendation for organization and de-cluttering. The thought was that if something didn’t … Continue reading →

Coloring Your Hair At Home

I have never liked the color of my hair. When I was younger I was told that the color of my hair was “dirty dishwater blonde.” Who wants to be told that their hair is the color of dirty dishwater? I can’t say for sure but I have feeling the desire to change my hair color began back then. After I had my first child I was ready for a change. I wanted to be a cute blonde. It would require having it professionally done, which cost a lot of money. Within five weeks my dark roots would begin to … Continue reading →

10 Free or Cheap Things to Do With Kids During the Spring

I was reading a blog post by Tricia Edgar this morning called “How Goes the Outdoor Challenge?” It got me to thinking about things my kids and I could do this spring. As a single mom, I don’t have a lot of money to budget for activities, but there are a lot of free and cheap things that can be done with kids. Here’s what I found: 1. Take a nature walk or hike. Stop along the way to talk about the things you see: leaves, rocks, birds, animal tracks, etc. 2. Go for a bike ride: Your bikes have … Continue reading →

Three Ways Your Garage Can Save You Money

That little oft-neglected space in your home, the garage, can save you money if you let it work for you. Here are just three of the ways that your garage can save, or even make you money. House Your Car Use your garage to actually house your car. This is such a foreign concept to most of us. We usually use our garages for storage and not for out actual cars. This is pretty backwards thinking. By using our garages to shelter too much stuff, we are not protecting our cars, which are generally bigger investments. We learned this the … Continue reading →

Should I hire a lawn service or not?

Some years we have a lawn service to help with the yard. Some years we don’t. This is definitely an on year. In making the decision to hire a person to mow the lawn, we considered several things. In the end, we feel the decision to pay someone else to do the job was a good one. 1. What does the yard look like? Our yard was an absolute mess. Weeds were taking over both the lawn and the flower beds. We couldn’t even keep up the two flower beds at the end of the driveway. The operative word here … Continue reading →

Hair Raising Dilemma: Who Calls the Shots in Your Family?

I didn’t have to take a brush to my daughter’s hair until she was nearly 2 years old. She simply didn’t have enough to warrant doing so. (This is how her hair looked until she was about 19 months. Sort of.) Currently, her locks don’t grace her shoulders or flow to the middle of her back like her best friend’s, but she couldn’t care less. Given her genetic make up she likely won’t have luxuriously, thick, sleek locks that blow seductively when windswept like overpaid supermodels. Rather, she will have to make do with thin, wispy hair that struggles to … Continue reading →

Will Your Home Sell in a Recession: Carrying Costs

Even in a bad housing market, a good home will sell and sell well. If you want to evaluate whether or not your home will give you a good return, you can review all of the factors that the real estate experts use when determining the likelihood of a good outcome. So far, we’ve covered location, durability, trends and even whether or not your town has sidewalks. All of these aspects of a home can influence its sale. If you missed any of those earlier articles, you can still read them through links at the end of this one. Now, … Continue reading →