My husband and I had saved money for a small downpayment for an FHA loan and closing costs, but were worried about depleting our savings account completely.
We finally found the right place and closed on our new home last month. The 8,000 credit made this a more secure feeling purchase for us. Before, we would have wiped out our savings to get into the house, and then been sitting on nothing should we have an emergency, or need things for our new home. The tax credit gave us the incentive to buy and to be more aggressive in our house hunting.
Now we have $8,000 sitting in the bank that we can use for things we need for our new home, or just use to start our nest egg all over again. I am thankful that this program was available and that we were able to take advantage of it.
I also have friends who used the money toward their closing cost, it made their home purchase more of a reality, as they were still about $5,000 short of the approximately $13K they needed for closing, even though they were confident they could make the mortgage payment monthly, as that was already their rent payment.
I hope more young families like ours are able to take advantage of it and also purchase their first home. Sitting on our porch over the weekend and knowing that the home is "ours" was the greatest feeling in the world!
I've been doing this for years and everybody always gives me a hard time about the daily shopping trip. I don't live in an urban area and the grocery store is a quick stop on the way home from work. I look for the marked down meat, bagged salad and dairy products. I rarely pay full price for a gallon of milk. Last time I paid .75 for a half gallon. It had 2 days left before the sell by date and my kids can finish that off in 2 days easily. Also, the markdowns in the bakery are incredible. We always get the rolls, bread and cakes that are more than half price. Some items we have loved and others we know to stay away from. I also pull out the coupons and see if I have one for what's on sale. Nice to know someone else appreciates this type of grocery shopping.
Seems like Google Docs may be a more sensible alternative to Open Office for a few simple reasons. It's compatible with any computer that has a browser, your files are stored on Google's servers (so you can access anywhere you have an Internet connection), and it is great for collaborating (anyone can edit one document and each different version is saved as an archive).
I would find this method incredibly inconvenient and ultimately more expensive. We stock up on staples from warehouse stores, and hit the grocery store bi-weekly for the best deals. The only daily grocery store deals tend to be on high-fat products we can't use, like rotisserie chickens, ready-made sandwiches and soups.
Want fresh produce on the cheap? Hit your local produce market and learn how to blanch vegetables that can't be readily frozen. Eat what you can while it's fresh, preserve raw or cook-and-preserve the rest.
When it's available, we buy meat that's been reduced and either freeze it raw for future use, or cook it and freeze it for future use. We've always saved money by buying in bulk and meting out what we need a meal at a time until it's time to go back to the store.
Sorry, this way just seems like so much extra work for much less reward.
I can point to specific instances this past year where this situation bit me in the butt. More and more people are granting rebates in the form of debit/gift cards. I agree, I haven't had an issue when it was a card issued for a specific place (Target, for example, seems to like this promo), but I've received 2 different Visa cards as rebates from AT&T. No restrictions on use, but I was not careful to note purchases against them. When I tried to use them at several retailers, they would be declined for insufficient balances, and I was informed I couldn't just "use what was left" if I didn't know the balance. I wound up discovering both in the back of my wallet, expired, knowing full well a large portion went unused.
I will keep this list in mind - at the very least, I would have preferred to donate the cards so SOMEONE got the benefit.
This isn't possible, speaking as a Masters Level Economist, none of this would ever happen, or else there would be massive revolution. Plus, why would we be building a "wall" separating Mexico from the US if we are gonna build this enormous superhighway.
I have to agree with Diane #6. When I lived in a city with little storage, daily shopping was both convenient and necessary. In a more rural setting, however, we shop weekly. I don't think I ever paid less than $10 for one of those shop-for-today excursions, but our average dinner cost now is far less than that.
But I do agree with not being restricted to a list. We're investing in a chest freezer to allow us to take better advantage of big bargains on meat and other items that freeze well.
the only piece of plastic i have ever owned is a visa debit card and i really do not think i will ever need another one. i think of it as a necessary evil
I forgot to add that I do look for sales when I shop. If I have "oranges" on my list for eating fruit, but find that apples are way cheaper, I buy those. If I have "snap peas" on the list for side veg, and find beans are cheaper, I buy those. But one can still do this and shop weekly. And shopping weekly is cheaper in general.
I used to shop this way. Then when I moved from San Francisco to the East Bay I switched to shopping once a week with a list and menu planning. My monthly bills went down by almost a third making this switch. Having done both models, I've found it's way more fiscally smart to shop less often.
Of course, knowing good sources for food is important too. I shop in Chinatown once every week for vegies, which are dirt cheap as that customer tends to shop daily, and the price model at those mom & pop stores is geared to "use it or lose it".
But shopping every day - really kind of inefficient I found.
There is definitely validity in your point. Over-commercialization of many of my favorite mags has made them undreadable, in my opinion. (I don't care personally what the editor thinks is the hottest mascara this season.) I do think that there are possibilities to use magazines as the "anti" to consumer culture, however. Some of my new faves include ReadyMade, CountrySide, Grit, and Family Handyman -- which focus more on DIY than Buy-it-now. You can read how I get my money's worth here, if interested.
Thanks for bringing this up, Anthony! Yes, this would seem like the obvious choice for a larger gift card ($75 or more, for example.) For many, depending on where you are pumping, and what kind of card you are using, there is no legit way to use up small amounts for gas ($3.33, for example.) You could possibly go inside the gas station and run the card like a regular counter purchase, but many cards will be declined at the pump itself.
So it's not always so simple (especially if you are buying gas and have kids in the car, or you are buying gas after merchant hours.) Hopefully, your cashier will work with you to use the amount you have left in a reasonable manner :)
Why all the answers that take so much effort? This isn't a problem at all. I always just use my unused balances to buy gas. Stick the card in and it will pump right up to the last penny before turning off.
1) I'd have to have all my recipes memorized or stored on a PDA. I'm a pretty good cook. But I'm not a free-form just throw stuff together and somehow it tastes good cook. I need to work off a recipe. So what if carrots are on sale if I need to run home and check the recipe to see what else I need before buying the carrots.
2) It pretty much requires that there is a store selling quality meat and veggies on your way home. I'm not so fortunate. I've got to go out of my way to get groceries. Not a problem on a weekend, but it would be a serious annoyance to do this every weekday.
3) I do not have that much free time or will power to devote to regular grocery store trips. Especially after a long and/or crappy day at work. Or even after a great day of work during the 6 months of winter we get. A lot of times I just want to go home.
I've stopped shopping for "lettuce" and started shopping for "greens". Whatever is cheapest is probably local and in good supply. In addition to saving money, this strategy has resulted in finding new vegetables with completely different flavors than the relatively tasteless lettuce I had been buying.
When I buy meat that is about to expire, I usually throw it in the freezer. As long as you eat it as soon as it defrosts it will also be fine.
I agree with you, Philip -- I make a list of can't-miss bargains based on the weekly ad and my coupons, but then I keep my eyes open in the store for clearance items and such.
An alternative for people who have trouble with impulse buys but still wnat to be flexible is to only shop with cash. That way, you can't go over budget on an impulse.
I think that this is feasible if you live in an urban setting, but if you have to hop in the car and make a trip to the store every day, which is what many people face now in the suburban landscape, that's a lot of wasteful consumption. I also think that for many people (our household included), you end up spending less by buying more in less trips. Yeah, I might be able to buy stuff for $9 per day, but add that up over the week and it's $63, versus spending $55 on a weekly trip.
Nice to learn. I have always liked to learn the original way to do something. So eggs clarify, malted grain has enzymes to break down complex sugars, tea has tannins and lemon juice has citric acid. These are all used in some form or another in fermenting different recipes. Does anyone have some old time additives?
About five years ago I gave up magazines entirely. Why? There's a reason you can get cheap/free magazines: they are full of advertising. The advertising is not only in the ad space, by the way. There are tons of product reviews and plenty of product placement sprinkled in.
I'm not saying you must buy what you see in the ads, but I have noticed that my drastically limiting my exposure to ads in print and other locations, I've changed my consumer habits quite a bit.
By the way, while many blogs have some kind of advertising, I find it's not nearly as intrusive as what you can find in print. . . and I find the writing to be just as good!
who cares if they send you a card. it doesn't hurt you unless you activate it. If you had the brains to read, in the letter it says "this card has no worth or value until activating it at a cash register or by phone". next time read. you must be Japanese or Asian to have a name like that. What no one taught u how to read while you lived in your cardboard box? I hate people who post nonsense topics that are already in front of their faces.
Not sure what I laughed at more the Videos or peoples comments waiting to find a bunch of batteries to hack apart. If you do this you will 1. You will discover Battery acid and 2. We will discover you on the darwin awards.
My husband and I had saved money for a small downpayment for an FHA loan and closing costs, but were worried about depleting our savings account completely.
We finally found the right place and closed on our new home last month. The 8,000 credit made this a more secure feeling purchase for us. Before, we would have wiped out our savings to get into the house, and then been sitting on nothing should we have an emergency, or need things for our new home. The tax credit gave us the incentive to buy and to be more aggressive in our house hunting.
Now we have $8,000 sitting in the bank that we can use for things we need for our new home, or just use to start our nest egg all over again. I am thankful that this program was available and that we were able to take advantage of it.
I also have friends who used the money toward their closing cost, it made their home purchase more of a reality, as they were still about $5,000 short of the approximately $13K they needed for closing, even though they were confident they could make the mortgage payment monthly, as that was already their rent payment.
I hope more young families like ours are able to take advantage of it and also purchase their first home. Sitting on our porch over the weekend and knowing that the home is "ours" was the greatest feeling in the world!
I've been doing this for years and everybody always gives me a hard time about the daily shopping trip. I don't live in an urban area and the grocery store is a quick stop on the way home from work. I look for the marked down meat, bagged salad and dairy products. I rarely pay full price for a gallon of milk. Last time I paid .75 for a half gallon. It had 2 days left before the sell by date and my kids can finish that off in 2 days easily. Also, the markdowns in the bakery are incredible. We always get the rolls, bread and cakes that are more than half price. Some items we have loved and others we know to stay away from. I also pull out the coupons and see if I have one for what's on sale. Nice to know someone else appreciates this type of grocery shopping.
Seems like Google Docs may be a more sensible alternative to Open Office for a few simple reasons. It's compatible with any computer that has a browser, your files are stored on Google's servers (so you can access anywhere you have an Internet connection), and it is great for collaborating (anyone can edit one document and each different version is saved as an archive).
I would find this method incredibly inconvenient and ultimately more expensive. We stock up on staples from warehouse stores, and hit the grocery store bi-weekly for the best deals. The only daily grocery store deals tend to be on high-fat products we can't use, like rotisserie chickens, ready-made sandwiches and soups.
Want fresh produce on the cheap? Hit your local produce market and learn how to blanch vegetables that can't be readily frozen. Eat what you can while it's fresh, preserve raw or cook-and-preserve the rest.
When it's available, we buy meat that's been reduced and either freeze it raw for future use, or cook it and freeze it for future use. We've always saved money by buying in bulk and meting out what we need a meal at a time until it's time to go back to the store.
Sorry, this way just seems like so much extra work for much less reward.
I can point to specific instances this past year where this situation bit me in the butt. More and more people are granting rebates in the form of debit/gift cards. I agree, I haven't had an issue when it was a card issued for a specific place (Target, for example, seems to like this promo), but I've received 2 different Visa cards as rebates from AT&T. No restrictions on use, but I was not careful to note purchases against them. When I tried to use them at several retailers, they would be declined for insufficient balances, and I was informed I couldn't just "use what was left" if I didn't know the balance. I wound up discovering both in the back of my wallet, expired, knowing full well a large portion went unused.
I will keep this list in mind - at the very least, I would have preferred to donate the cards so SOMEONE got the benefit.
This isn't possible, speaking as a Masters Level Economist, none of this would ever happen, or else there would be massive revolution. Plus, why would we be building a "wall" separating Mexico from the US if we are gonna build this enormous superhighway.
I have to agree with Diane #6. When I lived in a city with little storage, daily shopping was both convenient and necessary. In a more rural setting, however, we shop weekly. I don't think I ever paid less than $10 for one of those shop-for-today excursions, but our average dinner cost now is far less than that.
But I do agree with not being restricted to a list. We're investing in a chest freezer to allow us to take better advantage of big bargains on meat and other items that freeze well.
the only piece of plastic i have ever owned is a visa debit card and i really do not think i will ever need another one. i think of it as a necessary evil
I forgot to add that I do look for sales when I shop. If I have "oranges" on my list for eating fruit, but find that apples are way cheaper, I buy those. If I have "snap peas" on the list for side veg, and find beans are cheaper, I buy those. But one can still do this and shop weekly. And shopping weekly is cheaper in general.
I used to shop this way. Then when I moved from San Francisco to the East Bay I switched to shopping once a week with a list and menu planning. My monthly bills went down by almost a third making this switch. Having done both models, I've found it's way more fiscally smart to shop less often.
Of course, knowing good sources for food is important too. I shop in Chinatown once every week for vegies, which are dirt cheap as that customer tends to shop daily, and the price model at those mom & pop stores is geared to "use it or lose it".
But shopping every day - really kind of inefficient I found.
There is definitely validity in your point. Over-commercialization of many of my favorite mags has made them undreadable, in my opinion. (I don't care personally what the editor thinks is the hottest mascara this season.) I do think that there are possibilities to use magazines as the "anti" to consumer culture, however. Some of my new faves include ReadyMade, CountrySide, Grit, and Family Handyman -- which focus more on DIY than Buy-it-now. You can read how I get my money's worth here, if interested.
Thanks for your comment!
Linsey Knerl
Thanks for bringing this up, Anthony! Yes, this would seem like the obvious choice for a larger gift card ($75 or more, for example.) For many, depending on where you are pumping, and what kind of card you are using, there is no legit way to use up small amounts for gas ($3.33, for example.) You could possibly go inside the gas station and run the card like a regular counter purchase, but many cards will be declined at the pump itself.
So it's not always so simple (especially if you are buying gas and have kids in the car, or you are buying gas after merchant hours.) Hopefully, your cashier will work with you to use the amount you have left in a reasonable manner :)
Thanks for your comment!
Linsey Knerl
Why all the answers that take so much effort? This isn't a problem at all. I always just use my unused balances to buy gas. Stick the card in and it will pump right up to the last penny before turning off.
This is unworkable for three reasons.
1) I'd have to have all my recipes memorized or stored on a PDA. I'm a pretty good cook. But I'm not a free-form just throw stuff together and somehow it tastes good cook. I need to work off a recipe. So what if carrots are on sale if I need to run home and check the recipe to see what else I need before buying the carrots.
2) It pretty much requires that there is a store selling quality meat and veggies on your way home. I'm not so fortunate. I've got to go out of my way to get groceries. Not a problem on a weekend, but it would be a serious annoyance to do this every weekday.
3) I do not have that much free time or will power to devote to regular grocery store trips. Especially after a long and/or crappy day at work. Or even after a great day of work during the 6 months of winter we get. A lot of times I just want to go home.
I've stopped shopping for "lettuce" and started shopping for "greens". Whatever is cheapest is probably local and in good supply. In addition to saving money, this strategy has resulted in finding new vegetables with completely different flavors than the relatively tasteless lettuce I had been buying.
When I buy meat that is about to expire, I usually throw it in the freezer. As long as you eat it as soon as it defrosts it will also be fine.
I agree with you, Philip -- I make a list of can't-miss bargains based on the weekly ad and my coupons, but then I keep my eyes open in the store for clearance items and such.
An alternative for people who have trouble with impulse buys but still wnat to be flexible is to only shop with cash. That way, you can't go over budget on an impulse.
It is simple to stock up on meat that has been marked down by simply throwing it in the freezer.
I do this frequently. Keep one of whatever I want out to cook the same day, freeze remaining items to be used the same day they are defrosted.
Of course, many grocery stores don't mark down meats. But great strategy for those that do.
If you have a few miles languishing in an account with an airline you rarely fly, you can cash them in for mags.
I think that this is feasible if you live in an urban setting, but if you have to hop in the car and make a trip to the store every day, which is what many people face now in the suburban landscape, that's a lot of wasteful consumption. I also think that for many people (our household included), you end up spending less by buying more in less trips. Yeah, I might be able to buy stuff for $9 per day, but add that up over the week and it's $63, versus spending $55 on a weekly trip.
Nice to learn. I have always liked to learn the original way to do something. So eggs clarify, malted grain has enzymes to break down complex sugars, tea has tannins and lemon juice has citric acid. These are all used in some form or another in fermenting different recipes. Does anyone have some old time additives?
Thaaaaaaaank u soooo much!
u made my day
now my daughter is sooo happy watching the new DVD
About five years ago I gave up magazines entirely. Why? There's a reason you can get cheap/free magazines: they are full of advertising. The advertising is not only in the ad space, by the way. There are tons of product reviews and plenty of product placement sprinkled in.
I'm not saying you must buy what you see in the ads, but I have noticed that my drastically limiting my exposure to ads in print and other locations, I've changed my consumer habits quite a bit.
By the way, while many blogs have some kind of advertising, I find it's not nearly as intrusive as what you can find in print. . . and I find the writing to be just as good!
who cares if they send you a card. it doesn't hurt you unless you activate it. If you had the brains to read, in the letter it says "this card has no worth or value until activating it at a cash register or by phone". next time read. you must be Japanese or Asian to have a name like that. What no one taught u how to read while you lived in your cardboard box? I hate people who post nonsense topics that are already in front of their faces.
Not sure what I laughed at more the Videos or peoples comments waiting to find a bunch of batteries to hack apart. If you do this you will 1. You will discover Battery acid and 2. We will discover you on the darwin awards.
see title