Good point about top floor living, my flat is on the top floor and our heating bills are definately going to be higher, our ceiling is much higher than the floors below for a start.
Luckily I managed to negotiate a substantial decrease in rent before moving in!
As the grown child of two USAF Officers who then went on to work in the private sector I can see the stark difference between the military vs civilian approach to vacation.
In the Air Force, both of my parents received 30 days paid vacation per year. not exactly a huge amount by some of the non-US places mentioned earlier, but when you add in "down days" (essentially paid days off, typically a friday or monday that occur every so often at the base commander's discretion IIRC) and sick time, the paid time off on the military side far outweighs the time off in the civilian side for comparable jobs (IE Nurse, Pilot, Mechanic).
Also, some simply do not feel the need to take vacation time due to the nature of your job. My father now works for a large, multinational corporation working from home, and for the large part of the summer, takes clients out on his personal boat for fishing trips. The company pays for fuel in his truck, fuel in his boat, and paid the lions share of all the rods/life vests/etc required to take the customers out. So when a significant part of your job for 4 months is simply to take people fishing, where's the need for a vacation. Mind you it should be noted that he spends every weekend out on the boat or camping regardless, so he has stated to me on more than one occasion that he doesn't mind letting a few paid days slide every year because so much of his working time is spent quote "Dickin around with a bunch of great guys" /quote.
This is what American capitalism is all about. Workers are expendable and are worked into the ground while the business owners (and shareholders) reap the rewards. Tell the workers that, with hard work, the American dream will be theirs but don't tell them the dream is just an illusion. Dangle a carrot in front of a donkey and the donkey will keep walking in a circle.
And if a friend loses their job, tell them: "That's great! American capitalism is the best! Ra ra ra!"
So college is essentially the vehicle that propagates the American form of aristocracy (equity-lords?) with a little bit of meritocracy thrown in? In that sense, most of the sorting happens before college in terms of being born to parents that have the money to pay for an Ivy League education and students who show the right attitude towards earning high grades, that is, work hard, repeat what you have been told by your professors, and don't ask too many questions. Nice.
As stated in 213, how much distilled water do I add before doing it again. The amount that I get in the bowl or what???
I will try to get a bucket from our local donut shop for ferminting.
As i saw in the tv show MASH, adding raisins to the mix would make what ?? Gin??
Do you have a recipe with potatoes??
The real estate industry is one of the shadiest industries on earth, from the assessors on down.
I was so mad when my agent made $30,000 in commissions off a house I found. I was a newbie and ignorant then. He should have given me at least half of his commission, or allowed me to use the $30,000 to reduce the purchase price of my house.
Til this day, I'm still mad at him and I will never use him.
The industry is a bunch of crooks. Beware!!
I just buy property on my own now.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Since we live in a drafty mobile home our power bill quintuples in the colder months.Some tricks we use are: plastic on the windows(this really helped!), hot water bottles,heated rice/flax pillow etc.to warm up the foot and middle of the bed,thick quilt over the sliding glass door,jumping jacks to improve circulation when you are sitting too long,having a family bed (kids are little heaters!nice in the winter).
WOOL! I grab wool items whenever I find them cheap or free. They are great at keeping you dry and they wick sweat so you don't get chilly. A wool blanket on the bed over the sheet will especially help to keep you from overheating.
A knit cap on your head at night will really help keep the heat in.
Since I find thermals too clingy and tight I just wear regular cotton pajama pants under my clothes. It is much more comfortable and the extra fabric seems to hold in warmth better than thermals anyhow.
Starting again for this year..
Last year at my job we had to dress up the whole week leading up to Halloween, each day being something different. Of course, I wasn't going to spend a fortune for a bunch of costumes, or even to make a bunch, and settled with things I already had around my house. The best idea I came up with was an old woman. I scrunched up my face to reveal my "wrinkles" and lighting traced them with a brown eye liner pen. Then took face powder and made them look just like shadows. I took some of my grandmother's plastic hair curlers, and put my hair all up in them. I bought a $1 can of white hair spray from the dollar store to make my brown hair "gray" and wore my grandmother's night gown and robe that she had for who knows how long, along with some slippers. I in total only spent a $1 and I had people complimenting how well it came out the whole day. I even had some people mistake me for an old lady a few times! I can imagine that even if you don't have all of the stuff that I did, you could get it from a thrift shop and dollar store for around $5 but no more than $10 if your a bargian hunter like I am!
Don't forget that heat rises: have your ceiling fans push the heat down. We have a small heater in the crawl space (which is insulated) that radiates heat into the kitchen; we also us passive solar by opening the windows when the sun is bright: I have snuggled with my son during Saterday morning on a dark blanket and enjoy the sunshine.
We are lucky enough to have a dual heating system: heat pump and propane: there is a switch that will automatic change the system to the propane system when the temp drops below 30 (ours set at 20) heat pumps don't work when its freezing outside. If you can't find the switch then use the emergency setting on the programable thermostat. I also lower my temp in the house when we are gone: with the heater under the house the flooring is safe to lower temp to 62 while we are gone and then again its lowered to 64 at night.
Dont forget to ensure there is no leaves or shrubs around the heat pump: it don't like company and works better alone: also ensure that all filters are changed at least every 3 months this will help the system to not work so hard.
I would also add that when the agent is pushy pushy pushy. One thing that I love about my Realtor is that she is not afraid to tell us what she thinks and listen to what we liked/didn't like about a house instead of being one of those agents that can only say positive things about a house that they are trying to sell so that they can move onto the next commission.
Thanks so much! I can't believe I didn't catch your blog. Color me embarrassed.
My biggest problem are all the adults or near-adults in this house right now. I've got four that are over seventeen, plus myself and my husband. Two are boys, so that probably doesn't help. ;) Growing young men are eating us out of house and home.
Enjoy your new freezer! We loved ours until it finally died.
Oh and if a generator is over the limit for you (they're more than the freezer usually), one thing that will help, but not solve a power outage completely is to save as many 2-liter bottles as you can fill them 3/4 full of water, and put them in the freezer. It'll take up space and keep it colder for longer. You can even use a few in the refrigerator if need be.
If, as was suggested, you check the representation agreement, or Buyer Broker contract, it's likely you will find a clearly written clause that states that the agent may show the property to more than one buyer. As a Realtor, I have had to do this myself on several occasions. Especially in the lower price ranges, there is an undersupply of homes, so it's very common for multiple buyers to be vying for the same property.
In the interest of disclosure and fairness, I always disclose to these buyers that I have other clients interested in the same property. It's not a scare tactic to induce an offer, but a question of disclosure. The disclosure is as far as I go. Offer prices and terms are never, ever discussed. Sharing such information to give one party an advantage over another would be very unethical.
As in any industry, there are high performers and low performers, and the majority of agents lie somewhere in between. I freely submit that the barrier to enter the real estate sales market is extremely low. Agents and consumers alike would be better served if the licensing standards were dramatically increased. I'd be glad to discuss this, or any related topic, so feel free to comment or contact me directly.
Awesome! Thanks for the shout out. 101 Ways to save money on food? I better check that out.... :) I know that my main savings strategy is to just cut out the junk and the soda. I managed to win out on the fight against junk, but not the soda as of yet!
What used to rot my sox in the corporate world was efficiently finishing my work halfway through the day (as @GeorgiaS #29 pointed out), then being made to pretend to look busy for the rest of the day. That was the final straw that swayed me to being self-employed....but as @Lauren #22 said, working "freelance" means no company benefits, no paid vacation time, etc. But also no leash tying me to the desk, so I guess it's a trade-off!
The reason my co-workers and I don't take as much vacation as we are entitled to (or at least don't take it in blocks very often) is that our company is 'lean'. Two accounting staff doing the work of three. Three schedulers doing the work of four.....
Vacant jobs are just not being filled in these 'leaner and meaner' times.
That means that you work 60 hours the week before you leave for a week and 60 hours the week after and check your voice and email while 'on vacation'. Because there literally is NO ONE covering for you - because your back up is already doing one and a half people's jobs BEFORE you add in covering for you.
Very frustrating - but I'm just glad to have any job at all right now.
I don't know about America(s) but here in Europe almost none of the phones currently on the market have jacks for external antennas. I mean no holes, covers, rubber thingies that cover hidden jack etc. No phone that I know have it and none of my friends' phones has it. So I guess, you live in a different world than me.
of course, cable monopolies are extremely competitive.
there are lots of good ways to insulate apartments, including getting a vaporizer, keeping plants in your apartment, and in teh winter time, placing plastic film over windows in the winter. (this last one has helped us out so much, during the San Fran winters, apartments are typically colder than the outside)
I'll echo the comments for #3. Only as a very last resort. This also doesn't gain you any friends from the people who take care of your apartment building.
re: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." Squeaky does NOT mean annoying or nagging. And our favorite tenants were the ones who we saw the least, because "no news is good news" and we were more likely to do them a favor because they made our lives easier.
I keep an eye on the Gigs section, watching for gigs which require a tool that I am interested in but don't have. I then offer my services for the gig, in order to offset the tool price.
eg. 1) I saw a request for converting audio microcassettes to CD. I didn't have a microcassette player, but I knew they were about $30. The lady had 11 tapes, so I charged her $5 each, bought a tape player and made $25.
eg. 2) I want some new tongue and groove router bits, so I bid yesterday on a gig to make a replacement in-cupboard cutting board. I already have the wood I would need and a router, so the price I quoted would cover a little more than 1/2 the cost of the bits.
I assume you're referring to the hollowed out Art Deco Public Storage building at the Silverlake/101 exit as one of the less blighting storage facilities in the area, right? If so, it's actually ALWAYS been a storage facility of some kind, according to Los Angeles Magazine. But apparently there was once a speakeasy at the top!
Good point about top floor living, my flat is on the top floor and our heating bills are definately going to be higher, our ceiling is much higher than the floors below for a start.
Luckily I managed to negotiate a substantial decrease in rent before moving in!
As the grown child of two USAF Officers who then went on to work in the private sector I can see the stark difference between the military vs civilian approach to vacation.
In the Air Force, both of my parents received 30 days paid vacation per year. not exactly a huge amount by some of the non-US places mentioned earlier, but when you add in "down days" (essentially paid days off, typically a friday or monday that occur every so often at the base commander's discretion IIRC) and sick time, the paid time off on the military side far outweighs the time off in the civilian side for comparable jobs (IE Nurse, Pilot, Mechanic).
Also, some simply do not feel the need to take vacation time due to the nature of your job. My father now works for a large, multinational corporation working from home, and for the large part of the summer, takes clients out on his personal boat for fishing trips. The company pays for fuel in his truck, fuel in his boat, and paid the lions share of all the rods/life vests/etc required to take the customers out. So when a significant part of your job for 4 months is simply to take people fishing, where's the need for a vacation. Mind you it should be noted that he spends every weekend out on the boat or camping regardless, so he has stated to me on more than one occasion that he doesn't mind letting a few paid days slide every year because so much of his working time is spent quote "Dickin around with a bunch of great guys" /quote.
This is what American capitalism is all about. Workers are expendable and are worked into the ground while the business owners (and shareholders) reap the rewards. Tell the workers that, with hard work, the American dream will be theirs but don't tell them the dream is just an illusion. Dangle a carrot in front of a donkey and the donkey will keep walking in a circle.
And if a friend loses their job, tell them: "That's great! American capitalism is the best! Ra ra ra!"
So college is essentially the vehicle that propagates the American form of aristocracy (equity-lords?) with a little bit of meritocracy thrown in? In that sense, most of the sorting happens before college in terms of being born to parents that have the money to pay for an Ivy League education and students who show the right attitude towards earning high grades, that is, work hard, repeat what you have been told by your professors, and don't ask too many questions. Nice.
i have read some of these posts and i thought they were very well written. its was good work
As stated in 213, how much distilled water do I add before doing it again. The amount that I get in the bowl or what???
I will try to get a bucket from our local donut shop for ferminting.
As i saw in the tv show MASH, adding raisins to the mix would make what ?? Gin??
Do you have a recipe with potatoes??
The best tip is basically to move in together with your boyfriend or girlfriend! That's a 50% savings / month right there!
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
The real estate industry is one of the shadiest industries on earth, from the assessors on down.
I was so mad when my agent made $30,000 in commissions off a house I found. I was a newbie and ignorant then. He should have given me at least half of his commission, or allowed me to use the $30,000 to reduce the purchase price of my house.
Til this day, I'm still mad at him and I will never use him.
The industry is a bunch of crooks. Beware!!
I just buy property on my own now.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Since we live in a drafty mobile home our power bill quintuples in the colder months.Some tricks we use are: plastic on the windows(this really helped!), hot water bottles,heated rice/flax pillow etc.to warm up the foot and middle of the bed,thick quilt over the sliding glass door,jumping jacks to improve circulation when you are sitting too long,having a family bed (kids are little heaters!nice in the winter).
WOOL! I grab wool items whenever I find them cheap or free. They are great at keeping you dry and they wick sweat so you don't get chilly. A wool blanket on the bed over the sheet will especially help to keep you from overheating.
A knit cap on your head at night will really help keep the heat in.
Since I find thermals too clingy and tight I just wear regular cotton pajama pants under my clothes. It is much more comfortable and the extra fabric seems to hold in warmth better than thermals anyhow.
Starting again for this year..
Last year at my job we had to dress up the whole week leading up to Halloween, each day being something different. Of course, I wasn't going to spend a fortune for a bunch of costumes, or even to make a bunch, and settled with things I already had around my house. The best idea I came up with was an old woman. I scrunched up my face to reveal my "wrinkles" and lighting traced them with a brown eye liner pen. Then took face powder and made them look just like shadows. I took some of my grandmother's plastic hair curlers, and put my hair all up in them. I bought a $1 can of white hair spray from the dollar store to make my brown hair "gray" and wore my grandmother's night gown and robe that she had for who knows how long, along with some slippers. I in total only spent a $1 and I had people complimenting how well it came out the whole day. I even had some people mistake me for an old lady a few times! I can imagine that even if you don't have all of the stuff that I did, you could get it from a thrift shop and dollar store for around $5 but no more than $10 if your a bargian hunter like I am!
Don't forget that heat rises: have your ceiling fans push the heat down. We have a small heater in the crawl space (which is insulated) that radiates heat into the kitchen; we also us passive solar by opening the windows when the sun is bright: I have snuggled with my son during Saterday morning on a dark blanket and enjoy the sunshine.
We are lucky enough to have a dual heating system: heat pump and propane: there is a switch that will automatic change the system to the propane system when the temp drops below 30 (ours set at 20) heat pumps don't work when its freezing outside. If you can't find the switch then use the emergency setting on the programable thermostat. I also lower my temp in the house when we are gone: with the heater under the house the flooring is safe to lower temp to 62 while we are gone and then again its lowered to 64 at night.
Dont forget to ensure there is no leaves or shrubs around the heat pump: it don't like company and works better alone: also ensure that all filters are changed at least every 3 months this will help the system to not work so hard.
We wrote an article that shows how we cut back in the face of the recession. Think you will like. Go Here:
http://mojosavings.com/2009/09/15/what-we-have-done-to-survive-the-economy/
I would also add that when the agent is pushy pushy pushy. One thing that I love about my Realtor is that she is not afraid to tell us what she thinks and listen to what we liked/didn't like about a house instead of being one of those agents that can only say positive things about a house that they are trying to sell so that they can move onto the next commission.
Very timely link to the article: "How to Prepare for the Demise of the Dollar". I like seeing lists of recommended articles like this. Well done.
Thanks so much! I can't believe I didn't catch your blog. Color me embarrassed.
My biggest problem are all the adults or near-adults in this house right now. I've got four that are over seventeen, plus myself and my husband. Two are boys, so that probably doesn't help. ;) Growing young men are eating us out of house and home.
Enjoy your new freezer! We loved ours until it finally died.
Oh and if a generator is over the limit for you (they're more than the freezer usually), one thing that will help, but not solve a power outage completely is to save as many 2-liter bottles as you can fill them 3/4 full of water, and put them in the freezer. It'll take up space and keep it colder for longer. You can even use a few in the refrigerator if need be.
If, as was suggested, you check the representation agreement, or Buyer Broker contract, it's likely you will find a clearly written clause that states that the agent may show the property to more than one buyer. As a Realtor, I have had to do this myself on several occasions. Especially in the lower price ranges, there is an undersupply of homes, so it's very common for multiple buyers to be vying for the same property.
In the interest of disclosure and fairness, I always disclose to these buyers that I have other clients interested in the same property. It's not a scare tactic to induce an offer, but a question of disclosure. The disclosure is as far as I go. Offer prices and terms are never, ever discussed. Sharing such information to give one party an advantage over another would be very unethical.
As in any industry, there are high performers and low performers, and the majority of agents lie somewhere in between. I freely submit that the barrier to enter the real estate sales market is extremely low. Agents and consumers alike would be better served if the licensing standards were dramatically increased. I'd be glad to discuss this, or any related topic, so feel free to comment or contact me directly.
Awesome! Thanks for the shout out. 101 Ways to save money on food? I better check that out.... :) I know that my main savings strategy is to just cut out the junk and the soda. I managed to win out on the fight against junk, but not the soda as of yet!
SVB @ The Digerati Life
What used to rot my sox in the corporate world was efficiently finishing my work halfway through the day (as @GeorgiaS #29 pointed out), then being made to pretend to look busy for the rest of the day. That was the final straw that swayed me to being self-employed....but as @Lauren #22 said, working "freelance" means no company benefits, no paid vacation time, etc. But also no leash tying me to the desk, so I guess it's a trade-off!
The reason my co-workers and I don't take as much vacation as we are entitled to (or at least don't take it in blocks very often) is that our company is 'lean'. Two accounting staff doing the work of three. Three schedulers doing the work of four.....
Vacant jobs are just not being filled in these 'leaner and meaner' times.
That means that you work 60 hours the week before you leave for a week and 60 hours the week after and check your voice and email while 'on vacation'. Because there literally is NO ONE covering for you - because your back up is already doing one and a half people's jobs BEFORE you add in covering for you.
Very frustrating - but I'm just glad to have any job at all right now.
I don't know about America(s) but here in Europe almost none of the phones currently on the market have jacks for external antennas. I mean no holes, covers, rubber thingies that cover hidden jack etc. No phone that I know have it and none of my friends' phones has it. So I guess, you live in a different world than me.
Those are some great tips, though unfortunately apartmetn communities are no longer allowed to host exclusive cable deals.
U.S. court of appeals declared the agreements as noncompetitive.
http://www.physorg.com/news162561046.html
of course, cable monopolies are extremely competitive.
there are lots of good ways to insulate apartments, including getting a vaporizer, keeping plants in your apartment, and in teh winter time, placing plastic film over windows in the winter. (this last one has helped us out so much, during the San Fran winters, apartments are typically colder than the outside)
biggest way to save money? get 1-7 roommates! split cost of everyting. our site, MyNewPlace.com, saw searches for 3 BR apartments gain at 1 BR searches' expense since recession started:
http://www.mynewplace.com/press-releases/bad-economy-turns-renters-into-...
i'd love to contribute more on this topic at wise bread, let me know!
thanks!
I'll echo the comments for #3. Only as a very last resort. This also doesn't gain you any friends from the people who take care of your apartment building.
re: "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." Squeaky does NOT mean annoying or nagging. And our favorite tenants were the ones who we saw the least, because "no news is good news" and we were more likely to do them a favor because they made our lives easier.
I had to fire an agent becuase they had family issues that were translating into poor job performance.
I have another Craigslist trick I use...
I keep an eye on the Gigs section, watching for gigs which require a tool that I am interested in but don't have. I then offer my services for the gig, in order to offset the tool price.
eg. 1) I saw a request for converting audio microcassettes to CD. I didn't have a microcassette player, but I knew they were about $30. The lady had 11 tapes, so I charged her $5 each, bought a tape player and made $25.
eg. 2) I want some new tongue and groove router bits, so I bid yesterday on a gig to make a replacement in-cupboard cutting board. I already have the wood I would need and a router, so the price I quoted would cover a little more than 1/2 the cost of the bits.
I assume you're referring to the hollowed out Art Deco Public Storage building at the Silverlake/101 exit as one of the less blighting storage facilities in the area, right? If so, it's actually ALWAYS been a storage facility of some kind, according to Los Angeles Magazine. But apparently there was once a speakeasy at the top!