Well, I’m happy to report that after nearly 1.5 years worth of weekends, our lake house just had it’s final inspection and we PASSED! No more inspectors and we can move in now. I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. No more deadlines, no more possible hiccups. When we embarked on this project
So Long Itunes – Or, How I Diversified My Music Expenditures
It seems like yesterday. There you were, two years ago, flashing your bits at me. How could I resist? Legal music downloads? And only 99 cents? My god, you were sexy. What better place to put my new legit music than on a tastefully created Ipod. That is, of course, when I wasn’t listening to this new legit music on my PC with the large
Blogging From The Trenches – Errr Swimming Pool
My daughter has been in swim lessons for a few weeks. Normally the routine is that my wife and daughter carpool with the neighbors (who have a daughter the same age) and I sit at home taking up space on the couch or surfing the web. For the last couple lessons, the neighbors were out of town and I didn’t want my wife to have
Will Healthcare Always Be the Retirement Spoiler?
I don’t care what side of the political spectrum you are on, you’d have to be completely under a rock and out of touch with the world not to realize we have some serious issues with our healthcare system. I find myself wondering what it’s going to take to make some forward progress on this issue. From my point of view, I’m a financially savvy,
Are We Paying In? Or Getting a Refund?
I, like everyone else in the country (or at least it should be everyone else in the country), am doing my taxes now. I have been dreading doing my taxes because I pretty much knew I’d be on the hook to pay in this year. Well, I was right. After running all of the calculations it comes down to a balance of a little over
Happy Valentine’s Day
Yes, it’s another day of the year that was created with the sole intention of getting in your wallet. All over the country today people will be busily rushing from store to store looking for that perfect gift for the one they love. Chocolate, cards, stuffed animals, yep they all help tell the one you love how important they are to you…… unless you live
A Few Links I Found Interesting
Here’s an article from the “What were you thinking”? department: http://cbs5.com/local/auto.loan.defaults.2.645976.html Vivian Snyder bought a $100,000 BMW convertible with only $2500 per month in disability income. Somehow her income got stated as $8600 per month so that she would qualify for the lease. She definitely bears most of the responsibility for putting her entire retirement savings in the pot as her down payment and also
My Wallet Is Not Too Happy
I, like many other people in the US, got a new insurance card on January 1st. Back in the November/December time frame I had to choose a new health plan as my company continues to tweak their offerings to try to hold costs down. I moved to the plan that didn’t require any monthly payments and from what I could see seemed to be the
Gadget Euphoria
Ahhh. Life is good. You know how I’ve talked about my fetish for electronics? Well, there is really no way around it. I love gadgets. I wish I could buy every new gadget that comes out but we all know that isn’t possible or even remotely intelligent. So, why is life good? My company bought me a new cel phone. It’s a million times sexier
One Of My Favorite Times Of Year
I think I’ve mentioned this in the past, but the first quarter of the year is one of my favorite times of year, simply for the financial benefits. In the first quarter of the year I get: -My annual bonus -My annual raise -Our tax return From a financial point of view, it’s usually pretty good. I found out today that everyone gets a bonus