Why buy or build a new bedframe when there are so many homeless old bedframes being set out to the curb or sold at yard sales for next to nothing? Most older bedframes are full, not queen, but if you buy the longer "queen" bedrails (you can pick them up at Building 19 as cheap as $25) then put 2x4's between the slats every few feet, you can put your queen box spring/mattress set on them with only 3" overhang on each side (or, you can purchase a full-to-queen conversion frame for around $125 to do the same thing, but why spend the money?). Or, if you have a king-sized mattress, search for matching twin bedframes and put them side-by-side to make a king (the mattress will come about 1.5 inches short of the boxspring on each side, but with the blankets on you won't notice). Most older bedframes have squeaks or loose spots which can easily be fixed with wood glue and/or by putting a 35-cent carriage bolt or "L" bracket to firm things up. My grandfather taught me to refinish antiques, so my most of my dump dive bed frames look gorgeous, don't squeak, and match dump dive bureaus I refinished to match, but I have no qualms about sneaking in a squirt of glue and a cheap L-bracket to tide me over a few years until I get around to refinishing everything.
I just encountered this problem with BofA and had no idea anyone did this. Having just finished a contract with Wachovia and still having my badge, I waived it around and said that I knew that this wasn't required by the Govt. Didn't do any good...I got a funds verification while I was there and left since I was in a hurry.
I found this post after googling "thumbprint cash check".
Is anyone montoring this website. I was wondering also if you feed the lawn anything else besides this receipe the rest of the time???? Thanks weebitty also see previous post. thank you for your time
I have a simple storebought frame that from the outside looks sort of like the one in the picture only less rustic. I mostly like having a frame so that I can slide things under the bed.
And then for a headboard I have a bookcase. I literally just pushed the bed against a bookcase that was (almost) as wide as the bed. This does make the bed stick out further into the room, but it saves wall space because we don't need bedside tables.
The disadvantage of using an actual bookcase instead of a bookcase headboard is that your pillow might slide into the shelves and then you're more likely to hit your head. So I put boxes on the relevant shelves to keep that from happening. The advantage is that underneath the bed, you have more shelves and thus more places to store things that you don't need to get to very often. Just pull the bed out and reach down to get it. You can also store things in the boxes if you do it right (which I still haven't: for a good size and rigidity, I taped three Amazon book boxes together for use behind each pillow).
Another disadvantage is that the wood from the bookcase part and the wood from the bed frame part don't match exactly. I don't mind. Neither of those woods match our dressers, the tie rack, any picture frames, etc. But all wood looks good together, right? Like in an old forest?
In addition to the above, Can I suggest a post I recently wrote about on the related topic of knowing when you should be looking for a new job, based on your lack of interest in your current role. I came up with 21 reasons, which include :
- You cannot concentrate on a particular activity for more than an hour or without first having a caffeine induced buzz. This includes getting easily distracted by other's conversations or general office noise
- You look forward to the social interactions at work more than the actual work it self. This is reflected when everyone comes to you for the office gossip and management gripes, and you are more than happy to discuss and complain about how bad the current conditions are
- You actually look at the spam emails talking about made up jobs that look to be too true, like professional chocolate taster. All they want is your email and phone number, to put you on a master distribution list. This also extends to the excessive amount of time you spend on Linkedin or other professional networking sites, to see what your "connections" are doing. Networking is good, but not when it becomes your main activity while at work
So apart from know it is a lousy job, when you are in job maybe you should be looking for signs that it is lousy for you.
These are really inspiring stories! I especially appreciate the photos. It helps me to picture what I might do in the future (and who know Wise Bread readers were so crafty?)
We bought an invesment property last December in cash. This month we are closing two more deals - both also paid in cash. The amount involved were significant but we were able to lower the purchase price way below the market value of the property.
I built a queen-size platform bed for my wife and myself when we moved into a basement apartment in Washington, DC because our boxspring wouldn't fit down the steps.
i had to build it in two pieces so we could just assemble it with a few screws once we got it inside. I think i used 2x8's for the whole thing, although i would probably recommend against that to anyone else. it was HEAVY. I'm not much of a builder so I didn't know any better. on the plus side, it's more stable than just about every bed i've been on.
here's a few pics. however, i did totally forget to take pictures of it when it was finished. it has yet to be sanded down and given a finish; i'll let my wife handle do that when she's ready.
in any case, it was fun to build, we both like it, and it's strong and cheap. i was satisfied.
I'm going to start growing mint and lemongrass to put in my water! I've seen the plants in stores but didn't know what I'd do with them. Now I know, thank you!
Jumpoff, the people who get help from these downpayment assistance programs got FHA loans, which are not voo-doo loans. FHA loans generally have favorable rates and terms and are insured by the government. I'm sure if you were helped by Nehemiah you would know this. Within this group of people with FHA loans the default rate is a lot higher than usual and that's why the government is doing something about it.
I would love to hear your side of the story, though.
Instead of raising the minimum wage, Congress could set a sort of "target" wage with a partial subsidy (refundable tax credit), and repeal the minimum wage. Let's say this target wage starts at $7 per hour.
Employees would be free to pay any wage - since the minimum wage would be repealed -and the employee could file for a refundable tax credit equal to one-half (target wage ($7)- his wage (say $5) times the number of hours he worked.
So if someone works full time (2000 hours) at $5/hr, he could get a subsidy of ($7 -$5)/2 x 2000 = $2/2 x 2000 = $2000. If he worked only 1000 hours, he would get only $1000. (Perversely, today's minimum wage worker maximizes hie Earned Income Tax Credit by working only half-time, and his tax credit decreases as he works more hours!)
This imposes zero cost on employers, increases employer options, and incentivizes workers (who always come out ahead from working more hours and/or earning a higher wage).
Are you kidding me? I have seen pleanty of people, including myself, become home owners because of Nehemia. It was the only way many of these people could get into their first home. Now what? The ladies at the church don't have enough in their coffee can's to help the number of people helped by these programs. The reason these people are failing on their loans is because of the voo-doo crap loans that they took when they didn't fully understand them, were duped or were just plain stupid, not because of Nehemia.
The program was nothing more than a government backed scam on both the taxpayer and the buyers of these homes. Most of the people who bought homes under these programs had no business entering into a transaction like this. They now represent the biggest percentage of foreclosures.
Another case of Governmental Mis-management.
Oh, Well, there are too many out there that believe and want the government to be our savior. Witness the new Mortgage BAILOUT Bill. Another fine program with many unforeseen consequences. (Why is it I see those consequences but others do not?)
I have rented & saved hoping to buy into this market as prices returned to normal. Guess I'm screwed.
My husband built our bed. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't built to be. It's made of cherry, king-size, and breaks down into four separate pieces - headboard, footboard, and sides - so it can be moved. It fits a standard king-size mattress. It uses wooden slats on the bottom to hold the mattress in place (with a center rail between the headboard and footboard). We don't use a box spring.
Our bed is beautiful. It took him several weeks to design and build, and we slept on a mattress on the floor until it was done. He's since built cherry nightstands to match. We expect this furniture to be around long after we're gone.
I think a similar bed (not including the mattress) at retail would have been several thousand dollars. Ours cost about $750 for materials.
For my bed setup I went with a Bookshelf bed see here
(note: I only picked up the bed and none of the extras in there pic).
I needed a complete bed set and really couldn’t retrofit an old bed to do the same as this (even though you could)
What’s great about this bed is that it is a bookcase/ dresser / box spring / lamp all in one piece.
All you need after the bed is the mattress, which any queen size mattress will do.
The shelves I have work great as a dresser, the bed has built in lighting for night reading, and shelves on the top for misc things.
Its one of the best investments I've bought!
Coming down on both sides of the issue was smart, as you can easily see from the comments above that this can both ways.
My wife and I have been married 5+ years and have tracked our spending (every penny) for 5+ years. It has helped us maintain awareness, been EXTREMELY helpful in communication with each other, and has stacked the odds in our favor that what we're spending is in line with what we truly value.
That being said, I've noticed an interest trend over these years. We now actually update our budget only once a week. We don't write things down by hand, we import the bank's files (we spend very, very little cash) so the exercise is really one of categorizing. The takeaway on it I suppose is that as our habit has become more ingrained, we've been able to do it less and less, while still deriving significant benefit from it.
For those struggling to make ends meet, it's a must. For those that have significant padding, taking a higher-view approach is fine. With people I've coached (granted, that population is struggling, by definition, almost always) the tracking of spending has probably been the biggest eye-opener of the whole process.
1. I would agree that bullet point #1 merited the most print of the 7. At last, a home remedy that can never be sullied by Medicare/cal, any private insurance plan or any pharmacist's unsolicited advice.
2. Bullet point #7 has much merit with the sole necessary eradication and stamping out of the use of 'medications', a hoity-toity advertizing agency word, best ignored for its ancient predecessor 'medicine.'
I couldn't agree more with you. Seller funded DPAs are nothing more than a money laundering scheme that violates FHA regulations. I applaud Commissioner Montgomery for standing up the likes of Nehemiah and other "non-profits" that generate hundreds of millions of dollars from their down payment scheme.
There is a clear correlation with the FHA's rising delinquency rate and the increase in so called "non-profit" down payment assistance. The fact that the seller contribution isn't tax deductible as a charitable contribution but is deductible as a sale expense should be anyone's first clue.
These non-profits do not help borrowers achieve successful homeownership- there isn't meaningful counseling, education, or even a screening process. There are no income or geographical restrictions, and the only criteria for participation is the sellers willingness to contribute a matching "donation".
Anybody who argues that seller funded DPA's are legitimate are either ignorant as to how these grants work, are deluding themselves, or have an economic interest in upholding the scam.
Just wanted to send out a message about a website I created (http://www.finmind.com) for personal finance since it could help out people in this group. I used to do all my finance stuff on Excel, but that was a pain because I had different versions floating around on different computers.
This website does stuff like track expenses, create a budget, etc. If you want to give it a try, visit http://www.finmind.com. It's free and I am not making any money off of it (no ads). Send me any comments if you have feedback or suggestions.
Why buy or build a new bedframe when there are so many homeless old bedframes being set out to the curb or sold at yard sales for next to nothing? Most older bedframes are full, not queen, but if you buy the longer "queen" bedrails (you can pick them up at Building 19 as cheap as $25) then put 2x4's between the slats every few feet, you can put your queen box spring/mattress set on them with only 3" overhang on each side (or, you can purchase a full-to-queen conversion frame for around $125 to do the same thing, but why spend the money?). Or, if you have a king-sized mattress, search for matching twin bedframes and put them side-by-side to make a king (the mattress will come about 1.5 inches short of the boxspring on each side, but with the blankets on you won't notice). Most older bedframes have squeaks or loose spots which can easily be fixed with wood glue and/or by putting a 35-cent carriage bolt or "L" bracket to firm things up. My grandfather taught me to refinish antiques, so my most of my dump dive bed frames look gorgeous, don't squeak, and match dump dive bureaus I refinished to match, but I have no qualms about sneaking in a squirt of glue and a cheap L-bracket to tide me over a few years until I get around to refinishing everything.
of course I meant "waved" it about.
I just encountered this problem with BofA and had no idea anyone did this. Having just finished a contract with Wachovia and still having my badge, I waived it around and said that I knew that this wasn't required by the Govt. Didn't do any good...I got a funds verification while I was there and left since I was in a hurry.
I found this post after googling "thumbprint cash check".
Is anyone montoring this website. I was wondering also if you feed the lawn anything else besides this receipe the rest of the time???? Thanks weebitty also see previous post. thank you for your time
I have a simple storebought frame that from the outside looks sort of like the one in the picture only less rustic. I mostly like having a frame so that I can slide things under the bed.
And then for a headboard I have a bookcase. I literally just pushed the bed against a bookcase that was (almost) as wide as the bed. This does make the bed stick out further into the room, but it saves wall space because we don't need bedside tables.
The disadvantage of using an actual bookcase instead of a bookcase headboard is that your pillow might slide into the shelves and then you're more likely to hit your head. So I put boxes on the relevant shelves to keep that from happening. The advantage is that underneath the bed, you have more shelves and thus more places to store things that you don't need to get to very often. Just pull the bed out and reach down to get it. You can also store things in the boxes if you do it right (which I still haven't: for a good size and rigidity, I taped three Amazon book boxes together for use behind each pillow).
Another disadvantage is that the wood from the bookcase part and the wood from the bed frame part don't match exactly. I don't mind. Neither of those woods match our dressers, the tie rack, any picture frames, etc. But all wood looks good together, right? Like in an old forest?
In addition to the above, Can I suggest a post I recently wrote about on the related topic of knowing when you should be looking for a new job, based on your lack of interest in your current role. I came up with 21 reasons, which include :
- You cannot concentrate on a particular activity for more than an hour or without first having a caffeine induced buzz. This includes getting easily distracted by other's conversations or general office noise
- You look forward to the social interactions at work more than the actual work it self. This is reflected when everyone comes to you for the office gossip and management gripes, and you are more than happy to discuss and complain about how bad the current conditions are
- You actually look at the spam emails talking about made up jobs that look to be too true, like professional chocolate taster. All they want is your email and phone number, to put you on a master distribution list. This also extends to the excessive amount of time you spend on Linkedin or other professional networking sites, to see what your "connections" are doing. Networking is good, but not when it becomes your main activity while at work
So apart from know it is a lousy job, when you are in job maybe you should be looking for signs that it is lousy for you.
These are really inspiring stories! I especially appreciate the photos. It helps me to picture what I might do in the future (and who know Wise Bread readers were so crafty?)
I don't track expenses all the time, just in some periods, it's been a big eye-opener anyway.
This year I started tracking my clothing shopping, my weakness. So I can now say if I've bought too many unnecessary items / items I don't wear / etc
We bought an invesment property last December in cash. This month we are closing two more deals - both also paid in cash. The amount involved were significant but we were able to lower the purchase price way below the market value of the property.
I built a queen-size platform bed for my wife and myself when we moved into a basement apartment in Washington, DC because our boxspring wouldn't fit down the steps.
i had to build it in two pieces so we could just assemble it with a few screws once we got it inside. I think i used 2x8's for the whole thing, although i would probably recommend against that to anyone else. it was HEAVY. I'm not much of a builder so I didn't know any better. on the plus side, it's more stable than just about every bed i've been on.
here's a few pics. however, i did totally forget to take pictures of it when it was finished. it has yet to be sanded down and given a finish; i'll let my wife handle do that when she's ready.
in any case, it was fun to build, we both like it, and it's strong and cheap. i was satisfied.
I'm going to start growing mint and lemongrass to put in my water! I've seen the plants in stores but didn't know what I'd do with them. Now I know, thank you!
Jumpoff, the people who get help from these downpayment assistance programs got FHA loans, which are not voo-doo loans. FHA loans generally have favorable rates and terms and are insured by the government. I'm sure if you were helped by Nehemiah you would know this. Within this group of people with FHA loans the default rate is a lot higher than usual and that's why the government is doing something about it.
I would love to hear your side of the story, though.
erm.. doesn't the tax subsidy come from tax dollars of other workers? I generally believe that the tax code need not be complicated further.
Here's an idea that helps employers and workers:
Instead of raising the minimum wage, Congress could set a sort of "target" wage with a partial subsidy (refundable tax credit), and repeal the minimum wage. Let's say this target wage starts at $7 per hour.
Employees would be free to pay any wage - since the minimum wage would be repealed -and the employee could file for a refundable tax credit equal to one-half (target wage ($7)- his wage (say $5) times the number of hours he worked.
So if someone works full time (2000 hours) at $5/hr, he could get a subsidy of ($7 -$5)/2 x 2000 = $2/2 x 2000 = $2000. If he worked only 1000 hours, he would get only $1000. (Perversely, today's minimum wage worker maximizes hie Earned Income Tax Credit by working only half-time, and his tax credit decreases as he works more hours!)
This imposes zero cost on employers, increases employer options, and incentivizes workers (who always come out ahead from working more hours and/or earning a higher wage).
Are you kidding me? I have seen pleanty of people, including myself, become home owners because of Nehemia. It was the only way many of these people could get into their first home. Now what? The ladies at the church don't have enough in their coffee can's to help the number of people helped by these programs. The reason these people are failing on their loans is because of the voo-doo crap loans that they took when they didn't fully understand them, were duped or were just plain stupid, not because of Nehemia.
The program was nothing more than a government backed scam on both the taxpayer and the buyers of these homes. Most of the people who bought homes under these programs had no business entering into a transaction like this. They now represent the biggest percentage of foreclosures.
Another case of Governmental Mis-management.
Oh, Well, there are too many out there that believe and want the government to be our savior. Witness the new Mortgage BAILOUT Bill. Another fine program with many unforeseen consequences. (Why is it I see those consequences but others do not?)
I have rented & saved hoping to buy into this market as prices returned to normal. Guess I'm screwed.
My husband built our bed. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't built to be. It's made of cherry, king-size, and breaks down into four separate pieces - headboard, footboard, and sides - so it can be moved. It fits a standard king-size mattress. It uses wooden slats on the bottom to hold the mattress in place (with a center rail between the headboard and footboard). We don't use a box spring.
Our bed is beautiful. It took him several weeks to design and build, and we slept on a mattress on the floor until it was done. He's since built cherry nightstands to match. We expect this furniture to be around long after we're gone.
I think a similar bed (not including the mattress) at retail would have been several thousand dollars. Ours cost about $750 for materials.
I am assuming this doesn't impact actual down payment or closing cost programs run by cities or state housing programs?
I didn't see anywhere I can create new categories. I do like the pie chart of expenses, though!
For my bed setup I went with a Bookshelf bed
see here
(note: I only picked up the bed and none of the extras in there pic).
I needed a complete bed set and really couldn’t retrofit an old bed to do the same as this (even though you could)
What’s great about this bed is that it is a bookcase/ dresser / box spring / lamp all in one piece.
All you need after the bed is the mattress, which any queen size mattress will do.
The shelves I have work great as a dresser, the bed has built in lighting for night reading, and shelves on the top for misc things.
Its one of the best investments I've bought!
Am from Ghana West/Africa am really interested in your English teaching programme in Japan,ples do contact me for more information about me.
Coming down on both sides of the issue was smart, as you can easily see from the comments above that this can both ways.
My wife and I have been married 5+ years and have tracked our spending (every penny) for 5+ years. It has helped us maintain awareness, been EXTREMELY helpful in communication with each other, and has stacked the odds in our favor that what we're spending is in line with what we truly value.
That being said, I've noticed an interest trend over these years. We now actually update our budget only once a week. We don't write things down by hand, we import the bank's files (we spend very, very little cash) so the exercise is really one of categorizing. The takeaway on it I suppose is that as our habit has become more ingrained, we've been able to do it less and less, while still deriving significant benefit from it.
For those struggling to make ends meet, it's a must. For those that have significant padding, taking a higher-view approach is fine. With people I've coached (granted, that population is struggling, by definition, almost always) the tracking of spending has probably been the biggest eye-opener of the whole process.
1. I would agree that bullet point #1 merited the most print of the 7. At last, a home remedy that can never be sullied by Medicare/cal, any private insurance plan or any pharmacist's unsolicited advice.
2. Bullet point #7 has much merit with the sole necessary eradication and stamping out of the use of 'medications', a hoity-toity advertizing agency word, best ignored for its ancient predecessor 'medicine.'
I couldn't agree more with you. Seller funded DPAs are nothing more than a money laundering scheme that violates FHA regulations. I applaud Commissioner Montgomery for standing up the likes of Nehemiah and other "non-profits" that generate hundreds of millions of dollars from their down payment scheme.
There is a clear correlation with the FHA's rising delinquency rate and the increase in so called "non-profit" down payment assistance. The fact that the seller contribution isn't tax deductible as a charitable contribution but is deductible as a sale expense should be anyone's first clue.
These non-profits do not help borrowers achieve successful homeownership- there isn't meaningful counseling, education, or even a screening process. There are no income or geographical restrictions, and the only criteria for participation is the sellers willingness to contribute a matching "donation".
Anybody who argues that seller funded DPA's are legitimate are either ignorant as to how these grants work, are deluding themselves, or have an economic interest in upholding the scam.
Sam
Fix My Personal Finance
http://fixmypersonalfinance.com/
Hi,
Just wanted to send out a message about a website I created (http://www.finmind.com) for personal finance since it could help out people in this group. I used to do all my finance stuff on Excel, but that was a pain because I had different versions floating around on different computers.
This website does stuff like track expenses, create a budget, etc. If you want to give it a try, visit http://www.finmind.com. It's free and I am not making any money off of it (no ads). Send me any comments if you have feedback or suggestions.
Thanks,
Eugene