Recent comments

  • 20 Awesome Uses for Milk Crates   12 years 25 weeks ago

    The stepstool is a REALLY bad idea. It slips on flat surfaces and is not designed to support your weight. You could get seriously injured from falling off of one of these.

  • How to Move From Being Busy to Actually Getting Things Done   12 years 25 weeks ago

    Great advice Megan!

    What has really helped me personally become more productive is doing the most meaningful task for the day the first thing I do when I start work. No distractions, no people, no social media, just me and my highest leverage task. Only when I am done, I open myself to the needs of others. This way I am absolutely sure that every day is a productive one, regardless of what happens later on in the day.

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    My best customer service came from rep at Sony. After repeated attempts to get the issue with a credit resolved for trading-in e-readers, he took the time to review the website information that I was reading and get his manager to enable him to fix the problem. He was fantastic!

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    I didn't see a post to like on FB for this question.... Anyway, I have always had great customer service from US Bank.. I have been going there since I was 12 years old and they really go out of their way to make sure I am happy.

  • 13 Things You Must Inspect Before Signing a Rental Agreement   12 years 25 weeks ago

    No offense but this is a good way to lose a lease. While due diligence and obviously making sure the home is move in ready is appropriate, as a landlord if someone was checking the caulking on the windows, i just see that as a high maintenance tenant whos going to be calling me every week.

    I most definitely take care of my properties to the utmost, but wear and tear happens and i usually do most fixes between tenants.

  • Great Whisky and Spirit Gifts for Less Than $25   12 years 25 weeks ago

    Did you get a mold or an actual melter? I think the ones that melt down a huge cube are probably overkill but molds are great. I almost don't even care about the cooling factor, ice balls just look awesome. :)

  • Great Whisky and Spirit Gifts for Less Than $25   12 years 25 weeks ago

    I haven't gotten into irish whiskey (yet) but I know that in terms of price, it's more budget friendly than scotch at times!

  • The 6 Personal Finance Rules Everyone Must Follow   12 years 25 weeks ago

    The emergency fund is SUPER important to me. In fact I have diversified my emergency funds for separate uses too, such as Auto Repair ($5k), Job Loss ($20k), etc

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    Our local phone/internet provider has always been a pleasant experience.

  • Borrowing from Friends: The Friendship Killer   12 years 25 weeks ago

    @Lucy I hope that by now you and the other readers recognize the story you tell as a common internet scam. The dude was not a loser or in dire straights at all. He was a criminal and was out to steal your money. All the things he told you were lies as he was sitting in a computer "sweatshop" in Nigeria working on 20 to 40 targets at the same time.

    Your instincts about the oddity of him asking you for money were right on. His behavior when you said no was part of his plan to make you reconsider. He underestimated your self-esteem. Even if it's hard to believe now how much he he misled you, I'm so glad you didn't fall for his request.

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    I have lots of great customer service stories, but the one I think was the best was with an airline. Husband and I arrived 3 minutes late at the airport to swipe our boarding pass due to lanes being closed on the highway and it locked us out. When we approached the customer service desk I think the rep took one look at my face and knew I was ready to burst into tears and ask what was wrong and called someone to personally escort us through security so we could make our flight. I was very greatful for the wondersful customer service.

  • What It Really Costs to Own a Home   12 years 25 weeks ago

    Our front door was wood also but cracked and so we had to replace it.

  • How to Sell Your Hair for Cash   12 years 25 weeks ago

    Locks of love is a very shady "charity", the wigs aren't for chemo patients, aren't free to the people that the people who donate their hair to are told they are donated to, they sell hair at market value to offset costs. Try Pantenes beautiful length charity, it has a better reputation.

  • The 6 Personal Finance Rules Everyone Must Follow   12 years 25 weeks ago

    Take your situation into consideration too. If your income is stable, you have few or no debt payments, and possibly even options to eliminate rent (i.e. you have relatives in the area you can count on) then three months is probably fine. If your work is prone to layoffs or you do contract work in a cyclical industry, along with a car or mortgage payment, and your backup living situation is a homeless shelter, then I would want 6-8 months in savings.

  • The 6 Personal Finance Rules Everyone Must Follow   12 years 25 weeks ago

    Each of your points are right on target. I especially appreciate points one, three and four. Too often we think that time is on our side. It's not! The power of compounding is amazing. It either helps us or hurts us. It can't be avoided.

    It's repeatedly hammered in our head that all debt is bad. Not true! Banks leverage our deposits, invest or lend others money and pay depositors a paltry percentage. What a great way to make money. Instead of leaving our dollars sitting idly in our checking account, we can keep our lazy dollars working all the time by using a line of credit to either accelerate getting out of debt or boost our investment earnings. The key is sticking to our budget, building our savings and maintaining our emergency plan.

    Great article!

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    I bought a Dritz dress form on ebay and the person that shipped it to me didn't tape the corners of the box and one of the poles that you use for the stand had fallen out. I contacted Dritz to find out how I could buy another one and they sent me a new one for free!

  • Why We're So Materialistic (Even Though We Know It's Dumb)   12 years 25 weeks ago

    It's funny. I think about words and the way we use them and I find that things like minimalism and skinny are probably the two trendiest words to throw around the internet now. But how about we go back to expressing moderation as a possible ideal- enjoying a bit of life while keeping health (financial and physical and ecological) in mind? How do we present the idea that while having less than obvious excess, being more slender than morbidly obese is better than those alternatives without being labeled a jerk or discredited for not swinging into the polar opposite extreme?

  • 47 Cheap, Fun Things to Do This Weekend   12 years 25 weeks ago

    SLIP AND SLIDES!! If you really want to have fun and you have the lawn space. Build a Slip-n-slide. I found an e-book on amazon.com called "Slip and Slide Bible". The book didn't cost me a thing and it gave very clear instructions and multiple options. I built a nice slide for $20 and it only took me an hour to build it. I used it with my family all weekend. I couldn't get the kids to take a break!

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    T Rowe Price has always provided great customer service, as has ING (now Capital One 360).

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    My best experience was with a mail order company regarding a pair of boots. The wrong boots were sent but they straightened it out. They were polite and very helpful.

  • Ask the Readers: What Was Your Best Customer Service Experience?   12 years 25 weeks ago

    good customer experience from fidelity investments. lady was helpful in giving me retirement advice.

  • Why We're So Materialistic (Even Though We Know It's Dumb)   12 years 25 weeks ago

    I have cut out lots of advertising over the last 2 years. Its been very helpful in helping me to reduce my own consumerism.

  • This Is How You Make Restaurant-Quality Pizza at Home   12 years 25 weeks ago

    We haven't had take out pizza in almost 20 years. If I know pizza is on the menu in the evening, I simply make the dough in the morning before I go to work and leave it in a towel covered bowl on the counter all day. Dough is very forgiving. Toppings - whatever is in the refrigerator or pantry. if friends are joining us, an adult make-your-own pizza is great fun, especially if you use the grill. Easy, easy entertaining.

  • Great Whisky and Spirit Gifts for Less Than $25   12 years 25 weeks ago

    I got a whiskey related gift a couple of years back that I love. Ice ball makers. The ice balls give maximum surface area to keep the drink super cold and melt slower than ice.

  • 10 Terrific (and Surprising) Uses for Tea   12 years 25 weeks ago

    I used tea for 2 of these this week! After getting a bad sunburn I used it to soothe my sunburn on my face and on my head and used it in my hair after. My hair and my face felt great!