I can't speak for a home/condo heat, but in the office, the A/C kicks in to maintain that constant temp you are talking about. The AC is not only a waste of money but also means blasting freezing air right on employees heads. Hardly comforting or environmentally friendly. People coming in from the outside when it's cold, expect the inside to be warm, not freezing cold.
@Andrea: Interestingly, that's actually illegal, at least at anything less than upper management level. Pay secrecy laws protect your right to ask, and the rights of anyone that tells you.
"Ever been to someone’s home at holiday time, and it looked as if the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Gaudy got blitzed on eggnog and vomited yuletide cheer all over the place?"
That is, hands down, the best sentence ever written on Wise Bread.
Even though I'm not religious, I do enjoy the holiday season and most of what comes with it. When we were young, my parents kept everything very simple - they had a collection of Christmas ornaments that were more or less all handmade. For decorations, we put up lights and painted the front windows with Christmas scenes. They looked pretty neat, if a bit amateur, when all lit up.
I always thought that our tree was incredibly beautiful. As the years have gone by, my mother has collected more store-bought decorations that are very pretty, but do tend to take up a lot of time and thought (and storage!).
Although I've lived on my own for several years, I've staunchly refused to build any collection of holiday stuff. We get a fresh wreath every year from a charity that I decorate, and I put some LED lights up around the door, and maybe plant some white decorative cabbage in the pots outside the front door, but that's about it for now.
One thing that I've heard of that people can use to help limit their Christmas decoration spending is to pick an unusual Christmas color palette. For instance, blue and brown. Or pink. Or beige. That way, your ability to find more stuff that fits in with your accepted colors is limited. Although I guess there really is no shortage of pink flamingo ornaments this year.
I don't understand taxes at all. They're very confusing to me with all the laws and regulations and "if you did this then deduct that...". Makes my head spin! I think I get a headache every year when doing mine. Also the concept of escrow is a little fuzzy for me.
Yeah, Hammy, alcohol will distill quicker than water, because it has a lower boiling point and evaporates sooner. Have you got american white oak chips? I finally managed to get hold of some. Toasted them under the grill and added them to my corn whiskey. Even after just 3 weeks the the taste is beautiful. European oak isn't a patch on the american stuff. beautiful colour and flavour. You won't be needing the artificial flavours if you have american white oak.
I wrestle with whether it is better to contribute to a Roth IRA or a Regular IRA. There are so many variables, it is hard to know which one is really the better deal. If tax rates are higher in the future, it might be best to contribute to a Roth IRA, but you don't get a tax deduction for it now like you do with a regular IRA. If you are in a lower tax rate in retirement, you might be better off with a regular IRA. Also, with a Roth, there will be no tax on the gain, whereas an IRA will be taxed as regular income in the future, so if you have a huge gain, it would be better in a Roth. See what I mean? Too many variables!
I love piggybanks. Right now I have 4 - every Monday I deposit $5 into one. On the first day of the month, I put $20 into another. I save all my quarters and dimes in the third bank. The fourth is my "found money" bank - I walk for exercise and often find coins (and a rare dollar) on the street. Depending on what goals you have, your dollar amounts can vary - a few years ago, we had the "Disney trip" bank and the weekly amount was $20 - it certainly helped pay for the trip.
I didn't really follow this article. Maybe a professional website builder would. I was looking for a way to build a website with a shopping cart and I came across a video tutorial course here: www.buildawebsite.ie It was easy to follow even for a beginner like me. It was very helpful. I would recommend it for anyone wanting to build their own website at their own pace.
I wish I knew when to sell an investment. I buy and hold a stock or mutual fund but if it goes down, I agonize about when to cut my losses. Sometimes a stock pick is doing really well and it might be a smart thing to take some of that gain and sell but I am not sure of when to do that either. I guess one hopes that the losers will come back and that the winners will keep going up.
There is a significant age gap between my husband and I, 17 years to be exact. I'd like to know if there are investment advantages in having an older spouse. For example, the obvious, we invest more in his retirement so that we can collect the tax advantage funds earlier than later. And he wants to benefit from some of the senior discounts to cut our spending on everyday necessities and gifts (i.e. Senior Tuesdays at Ross). I'm wondering what other measures we can take to benefit our situation. When the time comes, I want to make sure that he is still able to provide some income to our household while enjoying his retirement.
haha! so glad you asked! I want to open a Roth IRA and even have the money ready to do it with, but I have no clue who to talk to about that. And, once I have one... do I have to manage it? I really don't know what all goes into it - is there an easy way with low to no fees involved?
How do people start businesses?
How much initial investment does it take, and how long to break even - if at all?
I keep thinking about starting various web businesses, but even for those it seems like the initial outlay would be tricky to make back - and a real world business would have to be 10 times as hard.
Eg: small shop on Etsy - etsy fees, advertising fees, domain name fees, materials for products - seems you'd need to sell a pretty large number every month just to cover those costs - and that doesn't seem likely unless your store takes off big-time.
http://babycouponmom.com/ shares coupons and deals for stuff you buy every day. Diaper deals, freebies, baby coupons, grocery coupons, deals on toys and clothing etc .
I do not understand why so many people who like to save money or maximize the value of the money they spend shy away from Linux.
LinuxMint (http://www.linuxmint.com) is a great start for the average PC user to get started with Linux.
I use a 3 year old, $300 dollar laptop that is faster than most new computers costing multiple times more and running the latest Windows operating system. My laptop boots and is fully ready to run in about 30 seconds. I do not have a problem with viruses or spyware, all the software I use is free including Linux and I do not have to perform maintenance tasks like defraging. In addition, I can run Windows applications when I need.
Is your computer running slow and you are thinking about buying a new one? Save your money and install Linux and see your computer run faster than it ever has with all the software tools that you could ever need for free.
I really don't know where to invest my money outside of stocks, money market, and ETFs. Where else should I be looking to invest money to keep myself truly diversified?
I need to take the time to educate myself more about life insurance products. I have a whole life policy, as does my daughter. Both were sold to me by my ex-husband when we were dating. He was a life insurance salesman at the time. I took his word for it that they were good products, and perhaps they are. But I really don't understand them. So it's on my list of things to dive into and learn more about, one of these days!
In the realm of investing, I know very little about options investing and forex investing. In the realm of personal finance, I don't know enough about HSAs, know how much to fund them and any tax advantages. I also don't know how to evaluate whether paying off my mortgage makes sense to get completely out of debt, namely based on return advantages compared to other assets and tax advantages of keeping a mortgage.
I don't know how to invest. I hear about all these great rates I'm supposed to be getting if I invest but I don't know where to start. I've yet to find a really good, basic online guide for a complete novice that reflects the current economic climate.
I can't speak for a home/condo heat, but in the office, the A/C kicks in to maintain that constant temp you are talking about. The AC is not only a waste of money but also means blasting freezing air right on employees heads. Hardly comforting or environmentally friendly. People coming in from the outside when it's cold, expect the inside to be warm, not freezing cold.
all fine and dandy, but cold air is hard to breathe, and people prone to sinus infections and other respiratory problems can't deal with cold air.
I refuse to be cold, plain and simple. But then I deserve this little luxury, I don't drive a car and I don't use A/C.
I don't know how to buy gold or silver.
@Andrea: Interestingly, that's actually illegal, at least at anything less than upper management level. Pay secrecy laws protect your right to ask, and the rights of anyone that tells you.
Yes, this! I swear, just reading your comment lowered my blood pressure by about 15 points.
"Ever been to someone’s home at holiday time, and it looked as if the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Gaudy got blitzed on eggnog and vomited yuletide cheer all over the place?"
That is, hands down, the best sentence ever written on Wise Bread.
Even though I'm not religious, I do enjoy the holiday season and most of what comes with it. When we were young, my parents kept everything very simple - they had a collection of Christmas ornaments that were more or less all handmade. For decorations, we put up lights and painted the front windows with Christmas scenes. They looked pretty neat, if a bit amateur, when all lit up.
I always thought that our tree was incredibly beautiful. As the years have gone by, my mother has collected more store-bought decorations that are very pretty, but do tend to take up a lot of time and thought (and storage!).
Although I've lived on my own for several years, I've staunchly refused to build any collection of holiday stuff. We get a fresh wreath every year from a charity that I decorate, and I put some LED lights up around the door, and maybe plant some white decorative cabbage in the pots outside the front door, but that's about it for now.
One thing that I've heard of that people can use to help limit their Christmas decoration spending is to pick an unusual Christmas color palette. For instance, blue and brown. Or pink. Or beige. That way, your ability to find more stuff that fits in with your accepted colors is limited. Although I guess there really is no shortage of pink flamingo ornaments this year.
Yes, but uploading to your own domain requires that you go get your own hosting. Weebly has an option where even hosting at your own domain is free.
I don't understand taxes at all. They're very confusing to me with all the laws and regulations and "if you did this then deduct that...". Makes my head spin! I think I get a headache every year when doing mine. Also the concept of escrow is a little fuzzy for me.
I'd like to know how to choose where to invest in a Roth IRA~
Yeah, Hammy, alcohol will distill quicker than water, because it has a lower boiling point and evaporates sooner. Have you got american white oak chips? I finally managed to get hold of some. Toasted them under the grill and added them to my corn whiskey. Even after just 3 weeks the the taste is beautiful. European oak isn't a patch on the american stuff. beautiful colour and flavour. You won't be needing the artificial flavours if you have american white oak.
I know nothing about investing money. Absolutely NOTHING.
ohmiss14(at)yahoo.com
I wrestle with whether it is better to contribute to a Roth IRA or a Regular IRA. There are so many variables, it is hard to know which one is really the better deal. If tax rates are higher in the future, it might be best to contribute to a Roth IRA, but you don't get a tax deduction for it now like you do with a regular IRA. If you are in a lower tax rate in retirement, you might be better off with a regular IRA. Also, with a Roth, there will be no tax on the gain, whereas an IRA will be taxed as regular income in the future, so if you have a huge gain, it would be better in a Roth. See what I mean? Too many variables!
I love piggybanks. Right now I have 4 - every Monday I deposit $5 into one. On the first day of the month, I put $20 into another. I save all my quarters and dimes in the third bank. The fourth is my "found money" bank - I walk for exercise and often find coins (and a rare dollar) on the street. Depending on what goals you have, your dollar amounts can vary - a few years ago, we had the "Disney trip" bank and the weekly amount was $20 - it certainly helped pay for the trip.
I wish I understood more about investing. So many options, so many different opinions and, seemingly, so many ways to screw it up.
I didn't really follow this article. Maybe a professional website builder would. I was looking for a way to build a website with a shopping cart and I came across a video tutorial course here: www.buildawebsite.ie It was easy to follow even for a beginner like me. It was very helpful. I would recommend it for anyone wanting to build their own website at their own pace.
I wish I knew when to sell an investment. I buy and hold a stock or mutual fund but if it goes down, I agonize about when to cut my losses. Sometimes a stock pick is doing really well and it might be a smart thing to take some of that gain and sell but I am not sure of when to do that either. I guess one hopes that the losers will come back and that the winners will keep going up.
There is a significant age gap between my husband and I, 17 years to be exact. I'd like to know if there are investment advantages in having an older spouse. For example, the obvious, we invest more in his retirement so that we can collect the tax advantage funds earlier than later. And he wants to benefit from some of the senior discounts to cut our spending on everyday necessities and gifts (i.e. Senior Tuesdays at Ross). I'm wondering what other measures we can take to benefit our situation. When the time comes, I want to make sure that he is still able to provide some income to our household while enjoying his retirement.
haha! so glad you asked! I want to open a Roth IRA and even have the money ready to do it with, but I have no clue who to talk to about that. And, once I have one... do I have to manage it? I really don't know what all goes into it - is there an easy way with low to no fees involved?
How do people start businesses?
How much initial investment does it take, and how long to break even - if at all?
I keep thinking about starting various web businesses, but even for those it seems like the initial outlay would be tricky to make back - and a real world business would have to be 10 times as hard.
Eg: small shop on Etsy - etsy fees, advertising fees, domain name fees, materials for products - seems you'd need to sell a pretty large number every month just to cover those costs - and that doesn't seem likely unless your store takes off big-time.
http://babycouponmom.com/ shares coupons and deals for stuff you buy every day. Diaper deals, freebies, baby coupons, grocery coupons, deals on toys and clothing etc .
I do not understand why so many people who like to save money or maximize the value of the money they spend shy away from Linux.
LinuxMint (http://www.linuxmint.com) is a great start for the average PC user to get started with Linux.
I use a 3 year old, $300 dollar laptop that is faster than most new computers costing multiple times more and running the latest Windows operating system. My laptop boots and is fully ready to run in about 30 seconds. I do not have a problem with viruses or spyware, all the software I use is free including Linux and I do not have to perform maintenance tasks like defraging. In addition, I can run Windows applications when I need.
Is your computer running slow and you are thinking about buying a new one? Save your money and install Linux and see your computer run faster than it ever has with all the software tools that you could ever need for free.
I really don't know where to invest my money outside of stocks, money market, and ETFs. Where else should I be looking to invest money to keep myself truly diversified?
I need to take the time to educate myself more about life insurance products. I have a whole life policy, as does my daughter. Both were sold to me by my ex-husband when we were dating. He was a life insurance salesman at the time. I took his word for it that they were good products, and perhaps they are. But I really don't understand them. So it's on my list of things to dive into and learn more about, one of these days!
In the realm of investing, I know very little about options investing and forex investing. In the realm of personal finance, I don't know enough about HSAs, know how much to fund them and any tax advantages. I also don't know how to evaluate whether paying off my mortgage makes sense to get completely out of debt, namely based on return advantages compared to other assets and tax advantages of keeping a mortgage.
I don't know how to invest. I hear about all these great rates I'm supposed to be getting if I invest but I don't know where to start. I've yet to find a really good, basic online guide for a complete novice that reflects the current economic climate.