As an alternative to slow cooking, consider pressure cooking. It goes much, much quicker--which saves time and energy, and also doesn't heat your house up as much (something that's important to us this time of year). The pressure also does an especially good job of tenderizing those tougher cuts of beef, when they're what's on sale.
We use left-over roast beef for a whole series of sandwiches:
French dip (enrich the broth with onion)
Italian beef (add rosemary, oregano, garlic, and red pepper to the broth)
BBQ (just pour some BBQ sauce over the meat)
We usually make up the broth, then simmer the thin slices of meat in it just long enough to get them hot, the serve the sandwich with a cup of the broth on the side.
In Europe, by law, tires that are older than 36 months cannot be sold as first quality and have to be marked as such. I don't know if it's legal to sold older ones but this requirement is still an effective way to keep tire companies and distributors from selling older tirer. It's amazing that anyone is trying to sell stuff that's 12 y.o.!
To me the question is not always "how should I borrow" but can be "should I borrow"? For someone who has paid off the first mortgage, the HELOC will then (typically) place a first lien against the home so if you default on the loan, then you lose your house. So, theoretically, you could borrow $20,000 but put a $300,000 asset at risk.
It's true (too true IMHO) that the US government has encouraged home equity-based lending by giving a tax break for mortgage interest. But if your mortgage interest doesn't exceed the standard deduction, then this type of interest does not really benefit cash flow. In that scenario, you are benefiting from a lower interest rate (most likely) but not receiving a tax benefit. Obviously, each case is different.
I was laid off in 2004, and I set a schedule of job hunting every day from 8:00 to 4:00, 5 days a week. It is a little easier when it becomes a routine, and you have a job of job hunting.
I know what a tough experience it is - it took me 4 months of working every day to get a new job. It was hard work, but worth it.
I also took on temp jobs, but limited myself to 2nd or 3rd shift jobs because I wanted to be available during normal business hours to talk to prospective employers and go on interviews. this may not be possible for everyone, but it really helped since my wife is a stay at home mom.
Finally, don't settle for a job you know you won't like - it's VERY tempting, especially as you go longer and longer without a job, but it just adds to the misery if you take a temporary job that you hate.
And amen to it being cheaper than hamburger now. At least frequently, if not permanently.
Another thing I've done, particularly with chuck roast is to cook it with tomato sauce and taco seasoning. When it gets soft, shred it with a fork. It's basically crockpot tacos.
Oh, and P.S? I'm totally with you on the quesadillas thing. Yummo.
I'm a college student who works at a semi fast food restaurant during summers,on breaks, etc. I've been working at this particular place for two years now.
I loved reading this so much because I REALLY love people who just go that extra effort to just ask how I am....
Us workers have a big job to do. As a 19 year old girl, I'd probably rather sleep in than go to work at 5:30 in the morning, pay for parking while I work because our employee lot is typically reserved for managers, have a shift until 2:00 pm, go outside to find out I have ANOTHER parking ticket...
Not only that, but I have to close on Friday nights, coming home at 10-10:30.... and by the time I get to sleep and get into a shower, I have about 4-5 hours of sleep before I have to wake up and get ready for work again.
We're so alienated from any of our work and repeat the same questions (anything to drink?) (anything on the side?) (everything on it?) (what size?)
that it just gets obnoxious. not only that, but we stand ALL day. at your desk job or in that drive thru, you're probably sitting down digesting. It's stressful on your muscles, feet, legs, entire body.
Imagine repeating the same questions over and over again without seeing a smile, while you're forcing one all day. Imagine getting no real satisfaction from your job whatsoever, and imagine having to "always say yes". welcome to the fast food industry, kids.
I love our HELOC (despite it freezing due to economy junkess), as it helped us avoid PMI and get into our house with as little down as possible - and yes, this is def. BAD for some people - but it works for us perfectly, and is our "2nd mortgage". AND, since it was variable, it's dropped over 4% since last year! so we can now pay down more of our mortgage if we wanted, or re-invest it. I like the latter ;)
I read somewhere that you can just add cut/cleaned fresh cucumber to a jar of Claussen juice & seasonings (after you've eaten all the pickles originally in the jar.) Let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days and you have a new batch of Claussens. I tried it and it works.
Down Payment Assistnace Programs are not a scam and, how many of you bought your homes with 100% financing and had the seller pay your closing costs? I have bought 2 homes this way so I could use my savings for reserves and pay off high interest loans. I have advised clients of this as well. I have yet to have a client forclose using a down payment assistance with an FHA mortgage. Forclosures usually happen when applicants lose jobs or become ill and cannot make payments. Our unemployment rate is on the rise and has been (for the one who has the table from 2000), I guess this was not taken into consideration.
Also, did you calculate the forclosures for the conventional loans as well? We have politicians that are not educated on the facts making decisions that are going to kill our housing market. This is turn will effect our economy.
Most of my customers use 4% from the seller and a $300 processing fee. This is typical on most conventional mortgages where the seller pays closing costs and does not inflate the market. If the customer chooses the right instituiton that has the low closing costs then the program benefits everyone.
Eliminating this program will push borrowers back to subprime loans with devistating rates.
My husband and I just took our second try at making these, using a recipe from a pickling book I got. We use coriander, too, and are still working on how much garlic is enough, but it's a great thing to do with extra cucumbers--and so much better than waiting for Vlasics to go on sale.
Like you, I have fine hair that looks kinda greasy when I don't wash it every day- so I just skip washing on days where I don't care what people think my hair looks like, such as housecleaning days, long-bike-ride days, etc. It saves me money on shampoo, and my hair feels a little healthier for skipping a wash once in a while.
LOL, yeah, we only got 6/10 tips- where are the other 4?
This is a very timely process. If you are in a rush it is difficult to go through all of these steps. My car died and I was forced to quickly find a new car. Come to find out it was an expensive mistake. The car ended up being a lemon because I didn't check it out. I think the number one thing you should look at is 1) where the vehicle is from and 2) Take it to a mechanic. Nora is right. This is a costly step but in the longrun it will save you big bucks.
The key for money laundering is lots of cash transactions--then you can run in your illicit cash and there's no way to prove it's not legitimate earnings from the business. For that purpose, a hotel isn't perfect--too much of what they get paid comes in the form of credit card payments, which leave a paper trail.
Having said that, though, I expect there's all kinds of money laundering going on around the edges at an expensive hotel, by people like the maids, the bellhops, and the concierge. They get lots of tips, so they can easily run an illegal cash business on the side and then declare the illegal income as legitimate tips. Other businesses at the same location--the upscale shops, the parking lot, the restaurants--can all do the same to varying degrees, depending on just how much of their legitimate business is in cash.
I would like to know how to substitute the "vinegar rinse" for conditioner. What parts water, what part vinegar, and does the vinegar need to be the clear kind or the darker kind?
I have extremely fine hair, as I am naturally blonde. It has to be washed every day because any build of of oil makes it totally flat. It tangles easy. I would like to try the vinegar rinse.
I've tried skipping a day on washing my hair and there is no way I can do that with my hair type.
I think it can be argued reasonably that tapping into equity can be wise and be foolish, depending on the uses. I hear so much about the wisdom of going into debt with one's home, I thought it would be nice to offer a counterpoint. And, depending on market conditions what seemed wise one day may not be as smart the next (that is when housing and market prices are falling so that the spread between investments and interest rate becomes very narrow, and a homeowner owes more on the house than he/she has in equity). Savings and investments can also be used as collateral to secure loans; or one could borrow against the home equity and have an investment account set aside to pay it off immediately if necessary.
Great educational post. I had no idea. I will reference from my blog. I bought tires one week ago, so I ran right out to check them. The first three were manufactured in 2008 (albeit, different weeks). The fourth actually looked like the date part of the code had been MELTED away as it was not there and the rubber was a slightly darker color. I kid you not. I'm taking it back to Belle Tire tomorrow and demanding a replacement.
Hi, I'm a screenwriter working on a new movie, and I was wondering if anybody could tell me if it is possible to launder money through a Five-Star hotel?
How could one go about this? And would it be a feasible thing to do?
I suppose this might fall under the umbrella of things we've said before, but I'd add "Be excited by the possibilities, cast your net far and wide, and maybe you can come up with something new."
I'm trying to help my brother find a job right now and I keep trying to tell him that we always limit ourselves to certain tiny little things we know. I'm trying to tell him that there are LOTS of options available out there; sometimes you never know what people are willing to pay for! Ten years ago, who would have thought dogwalking would be so big now?
Oh man, I was just at the fair. It was really expensive. I saved a lot of money on myself, because I ate a cheese sandwich outside. I'm a vegetarian, and, as expected, my food options were limited to fries, candy, and cheese pizza. My gf spent the money. LOLz.
As an alternative to slow cooking, consider pressure cooking. It goes much, much quicker--which saves time and energy, and also doesn't heat your house up as much (something that's important to us this time of year). The pressure also does an especially good job of tenderizing those tougher cuts of beef, when they're what's on sale.
We use left-over roast beef for a whole series of sandwiches:
We usually make up the broth, then simmer the thin slices of meat in it just long enough to get them hot, the serve the sandwich with a cup of the broth on the side.
In Europe, by law, tires that are older than 36 months cannot be sold as first quality and have to be marked as such. I don't know if it's legal to sold older ones but this requirement is still an effective way to keep tire companies and distributors from selling older tirer. It's amazing that anyone is trying to sell stuff that's 12 y.o.!
To me the question is not always "how should I borrow" but can be "should I borrow"? For someone who has paid off the first mortgage, the HELOC will then (typically) place a first lien against the home so if you default on the loan, then you lose your house. So, theoretically, you could borrow $20,000 but put a $300,000 asset at risk.
It's true (too true IMHO) that the US government has encouraged home equity-based lending by giving a tax break for mortgage interest. But if your mortgage interest doesn't exceed the standard deduction, then this type of interest does not really benefit cash flow. In that scenario, you are benefiting from a lower interest rate (most likely) but not receiving a tax benefit. Obviously, each case is different.
I knew I was waiting for your comment for a reason! I still have some beef left, so I will be doing the taco thing this week!
The government subsidizes *all* my borrowing if I use a HELOC rather than a consumer loan.
I have paid off my mortgage, but the HELOC is there to take advantage of the equity in the house.
It offers the lowest rate at which a consumer can borrow, and the interest is tax-deductible.
Why would a homeowner borrow any other way?
I was laid off in 2004, and I set a schedule of job hunting every day from 8:00 to 4:00, 5 days a week. It is a little easier when it becomes a routine, and you have a job of job hunting.
I know what a tough experience it is - it took me 4 months of working every day to get a new job. It was hard work, but worth it.
I also took on temp jobs, but limited myself to 2nd or 3rd shift jobs because I wanted to be available during normal business hours to talk to prospective employers and go on interviews. this may not be possible for everyone, but it really helped since my wife is a stay at home mom.
Finally, don't settle for a job you know you won't like - it's VERY tempting, especially as you go longer and longer without a job, but it just adds to the misery if you take a temporary job that you hate.
And amen to it being cheaper than hamburger now. At least frequently, if not permanently.
Another thing I've done, particularly with chuck roast is to cook it with tomato sauce and taco seasoning. When it gets soft, shred it with a fork. It's basically crockpot tacos.
Oh, and P.S? I'm totally with you on the quesadillas thing. Yummo.
I'm a college student who works at a semi fast food restaurant during summers,on breaks, etc. I've been working at this particular place for two years now.
I loved reading this so much because I REALLY love people who just go that extra effort to just ask how I am....
Us workers have a big job to do. As a 19 year old girl, I'd probably rather sleep in than go to work at 5:30 in the morning, pay for parking while I work because our employee lot is typically reserved for managers, have a shift until 2:00 pm, go outside to find out I have ANOTHER parking ticket...
Not only that, but I have to close on Friday nights, coming home at 10-10:30.... and by the time I get to sleep and get into a shower, I have about 4-5 hours of sleep before I have to wake up and get ready for work again.
We're so alienated from any of our work and repeat the same questions (anything to drink?) (anything on the side?) (everything on it?) (what size?)
that it just gets obnoxious. not only that, but we stand ALL day. at your desk job or in that drive thru, you're probably sitting down digesting. It's stressful on your muscles, feet, legs, entire body.
Imagine repeating the same questions over and over again without seeing a smile, while you're forcing one all day. Imagine getting no real satisfaction from your job whatsoever, and imagine having to "always say yes". welcome to the fast food industry, kids.
I love our HELOC (despite it freezing due to economy junkess), as it helped us avoid PMI and get into our house with as little down as possible - and yes, this is def. BAD for some people - but it works for us perfectly, and is our "2nd mortgage". AND, since it was variable, it's dropped over 4% since last year! so we can now pay down more of our mortgage if we wanted, or re-invest it. I like the latter ;)
I read somewhere that you can just add cut/cleaned fresh cucumber to a jar of Claussen juice & seasonings (after you've eaten all the pickles originally in the jar.) Let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days and you have a new batch of Claussens. I tried it and it works.
i've never heard of this site, thanks for the heads up!
Down Payment Assistnace Programs are not a scam and, how many of you bought your homes with 100% financing and had the seller pay your closing costs? I have bought 2 homes this way so I could use my savings for reserves and pay off high interest loans. I have advised clients of this as well. I have yet to have a client forclose using a down payment assistance with an FHA mortgage. Forclosures usually happen when applicants lose jobs or become ill and cannot make payments. Our unemployment rate is on the rise and has been (for the one who has the table from 2000), I guess this was not taken into consideration.
Also, did you calculate the forclosures for the conventional loans as well? We have politicians that are not educated on the facts making decisions that are going to kill our housing market. This is turn will effect our economy.
Most of my customers use 4% from the seller and a $300 processing fee. This is typical on most conventional mortgages where the seller pays closing costs and does not inflate the market. If the customer chooses the right instituiton that has the low closing costs then the program benefits everyone.
Eliminating this program will push borrowers back to subprime loans with devistating rates.
My husband and I just took our second try at making these, using a recipe from a pickling book I got. We use coriander, too, and are still working on how much garlic is enough, but it's a great thing to do with extra cucumbers--and so much better than waiting for Vlasics to go on sale.
Edie, this website has some instructions on using a vinegar rinse:
http://lifelessplastic.blogspot.com/
2008/01/vinegar-rinse-is-awesome.html
Like you, I have fine hair that looks kinda greasy when I don't wash it every day- so I just skip washing on days where I don't care what people think my hair looks like, such as housecleaning days, long-bike-ride days, etc. It saves me money on shampoo, and my hair feels a little healthier for skipping a wash once in a while.
LOL, yeah, we only got 6/10 tips- where are the other 4?
This is a very timely process. If you are in a rush it is difficult to go through all of these steps. My car died and I was forced to quickly find a new car. Come to find out it was an expensive mistake. The car ended up being a lemon because I didn't check it out. I think the number one thing you should look at is 1) where the vehicle is from and 2) Take it to a mechanic. Nora is right. This is a costly step but in the longrun it will save you big bucks.
Thanks for the post. This is a pretty interesting site and I have a lot of junk to get rid of.
The key for money laundering is lots of cash transactions--then you can run in your illicit cash and there's no way to prove it's not legitimate earnings from the business. For that purpose, a hotel isn't perfect--too much of what they get paid comes in the form of credit card payments, which leave a paper trail.
Having said that, though, I expect there's all kinds of money laundering going on around the edges at an expensive hotel, by people like the maids, the bellhops, and the concierge. They get lots of tips, so they can easily run an illegal cash business on the side and then declare the illegal income as legitimate tips. Other businesses at the same location--the upscale shops, the parking lot, the restaurants--can all do the same to varying degrees, depending on just how much of their legitimate business is in cash.
I would like to know how to substitute the "vinegar rinse" for conditioner. What parts water, what part vinegar, and does the vinegar need to be the clear kind or the darker kind?
I have extremely fine hair, as I am naturally blonde. It has to be washed every day because any build of of oil makes it totally flat. It tangles easy. I would like to try the vinegar rinse.
I've tried skipping a day on washing my hair and there is no way I can do that with my hair type.
I think it can be argued reasonably that tapping into equity can be wise and be foolish, depending on the uses. I hear so much about the wisdom of going into debt with one's home, I thought it would be nice to offer a counterpoint. And, depending on market conditions what seemed wise one day may not be as smart the next (that is when housing and market prices are falling so that the spread between investments and interest rate becomes very narrow, and a homeowner owes more on the house than he/she has in equity). Savings and investments can also be used as collateral to secure loans; or one could borrow against the home equity and have an investment account set aside to pay it off immediately if necessary.
Great educational post. I had no idea. I will reference from my blog. I bought tires one week ago, so I ran right out to check them. The first three were manufactured in 2008 (albeit, different weeks). The fourth actually looked like the date part of the code had been MELTED away as it was not there and the rubber was a slightly darker color. I kid you not. I'm taking it back to Belle Tire tomorrow and demanding a replacement.
Just out of curiosity, what were the last 4 tips?
Hi, I'm a screenwriter working on a new movie, and I was wondering if anybody could tell me if it is possible to launder money through a Five-Star hotel?
How could one go about this? And would it be a feasible thing to do?
Ok, maybe fifty years ago. Whatev.
Very nice article.
I suppose this might fall under the umbrella of things we've said before, but I'd add "Be excited by the possibilities, cast your net far and wide, and maybe you can come up with something new."
I'm trying to help my brother find a job right now and I keep trying to tell him that we always limit ourselves to certain tiny little things we know. I'm trying to tell him that there are LOTS of options available out there; sometimes you never know what people are willing to pay for! Ten years ago, who would have thought dogwalking would be so big now?
Oh man, I was just at the fair. It was really expensive. I saved a lot of money on myself, because I ate a cheese sandwich outside. I'm a vegetarian, and, as expected, my food options were limited to fries, candy, and cheese pizza. My gf spent the money. LOLz.