Archive for May, 2009

14
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Drastically Reduce Your Expenses Starting Today.

We all need to save money, and in my opinion there is no easier place to start than in areas that we are already spending more than we should. It’s also easier to cut expenses immediately than it is to make more money, especially in this economy. Over the last year since we moved here (which saved us a ton right away), I have really worked on cutting expenses in our house for two reasons – 1. I don’t like spending more than I have to and 2. cutting expenses means I can work a little less because I don’t need to bring in as much money each month. Because of the way the economy is, I figured I would share some of the ways that we have really cut down our expenses and hopefully inspire you to make some of the changes yourself.

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saving
11
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Top 25 Towns To Live Well In.

Forbes has released their annual list of of the top towns to live well in here in the U.S., and there might be some surprises on the list. Here are the Top 10 from the list:

10. Foster City, California
9. Coral Gables, Florida
8. Rockville, Maryland
7. Columbia, Maryland
6. Newton, Massachusetts
5. Cupertino, California
4. Mountain View, California
3. Fairfax, Virginia
2. Doral, Florida
1. Boulder, Colorado

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Lifestyle
7
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To The Rescue Again: The Importance Of An Emergency Fund.

Once again, and emergency fund helps someone through 4 months of unemployment. If you have been putting off adding to your fund, let this story be a lesson to you – back in July of 2007 my brother was laid off, and I wrote about how important his emergency fund was in helping him weather unemployment. Because he had a sizable amount of money set aside, he made it through a few months with no problems. Fast forward a year and a half, and my brother was laid off again in January – and just yesterday accepted a new position with another firm. So he had to provide for himself for another 4.5 months, and thankfully he had built up his emergency fund yet again. He was still able to pay his mortgage, his car loan, his monthly bills, and put food on his plate, even without working for that long. He didn’t need to charge up credit card debt or take out any loans because he planned in advance…something too many of us don’t do enough of.

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saving
3
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Avoid These Mistakes When Trying To Sell Your Home.

My friends are in the midst of finalizing their first home purchase this week, and after going through the home inspection with them, I have a new-found respect for people who really put the work into their home in order to help it sell. The house they are buying is immaculate, and a lot of it is because the current owners put a ton of effort into making it that way. They really wanted to sell it! After giving some thought to what they did to make it so attractive, I came across this article that talks about mistakes that some owners make when trying to sell, and figured I would share it with you in case you were trying to sell your house in this market. Here are the 10 common mistakes home sellers make:

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real estate
18
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Stop Watching Commercials On Television.

I no longer watch any television, if I can help it, in real time. LOST may be on at 8pm, but I rarely start watching it until about 8:20 or so. The reason? So I can skip every single commercial. I have my DVR remote programmed to skip 30 seconds ahead every time I hit a certain button, so I just skip right on over every commercial. It’s quite a thrilling feeling knowing that I am avoiding the brainwashing and consumerism that commercials try to get you with. Part of the reason so many feel like that don’t have or aren’t doing “enough” is because of mass media, as we are fed constant images of new cars, McMansions, perfect white teeth, perfectly toned bodies, the latest and greatest gadgets and shiny, happy people – most of which doesn’t exist like that in the real world. But the marketing people are very good at their jobs; they know exactly how to feed into our feelings of inadequacy and make us think that we are not good enough. Thankfully, someone invented the DVR and we can escape all that marketing nonsense. None of us needs to be told that are are not perfect; we already know that (I hope). But buying new stuff to try to make us like the happy people on TV isn’t going to make us perfect! And living where I live helps too, as no one cares here what car I drive, what clothes I wear, or where I do my shopping/eating. It’s kind of like the anti-commercial.

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shopping
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