February 2009

Zillow is full of beans

February 8, 2009

What with the proposal that the government should force mortgage rates down to 4 percent, I mentioned to M’hijito that we should be prepared to re-refinance the Investment House, the place he and I are copurchasing partly as shelter for him and a paying roommate and partly as what we imagined would be an investment. [...]

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Sweet potato-carrot soup

February 7, 2009

It’s supposed to rain (but won’t, because I dumped fertilizer on the citrus and left it there for the rain to water into the ground: I have arcane powers). Nice evening for something hot and comforting, like fresh homemade soup. For the past week, I’ve had nothing to eat but soup and ice cream. I’m [...]

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Do no-buy days work?

February 7, 2009

For a while, I’ve suspected that “no-buy days”—days in which you deliberately stay away from merchandisers of all kinds—would cause you to spend less on those days but create a pent-up demand that would predispose you to more spending and stimulate impulse buys on the days you allowed yourself into the stores. In the wee [...]

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Money Stories Carnival in progress

February 6, 2009

Next Tuesday, Funny will again host the Carnival of Money Stories. So, don’t forget to send in your stories. That’s s-t-o-r-i-e-s: narratives of something that happened, as in first this happened, then the next thing happened, then the next thing, then it all added up to that. Not how-to’s, not lists, not helpful hints. I [...]

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Cost-effective ride?

February 6, 2009

Our brand-new light rail system is already raising its price per ride. Hasn’t been running two months, and the price is going up a buck, from $1.25 (one way!) to $2.25. I’m sure that won’t be the first increase. The other evening one of my RAs, who doesn’t own a car, rode the train up [...]

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The cleaning lady jamboree

February 5, 2009

Having laid off the two women who landed a cleaning job here at the Funny Farm by leaving their Kwik-Kopied business card on the door, I decided to run the vacuum cleaner and clean the 1,860 square feet of tile that is the floors. Ah, cleaning ladies. How quickly one forgets (after only 15 years [...]

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