July 2010

Frugal Habits: When routine maintenance saves a bundle

July 31, 2010

Here’s a real simple way to save money on home repairs: maintain things according to instructions. No-brainer, eh? Well, easier no-brained than not. Recently the water has been draining out of the pool’s pump pot every time the system shut off. Nothing I could do seemed to fix it: no amount of cleaning, adjusting, or [...]

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Celebrating the Big Purchase

July 31, 2010

So Thursday M’hijito came over and helped wrestle the latest extravagant purchase out of the car, having agreed to do so in exchange for the opportunity to partake of the first meal cooked on the thing. He hauled the big charcoal grill off the pad I want to use for cooking and over to the [...]

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Changes in Your Credit Card Statement

July 30, 2010

The other day Five-Cent Nickel sent an alert to the effect that he was posting a very interesting graphic on the changes you’ll be seeing in your credit-card statements now that the new law has gone into effect. It’s quite a creation, built on information from the federal government. My AMEX bill came a few [...]

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A Dollar a Mile?

July 29, 2010

So this afternoon I drove up to Home Depot to pick up the gas grill, which that worthy big-box store had assembled for free. M’hijito allowed himself to be put up to helping me wrestle it out of the van and set it up in the backyard, in exchange for a share of the first [...]

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Beautiful, beautiful place

July 29, 2010

It’s true, sometimes—these days, often—the inner character of my state’s leaders shows forth in their faces, and too many of my fellow citizens reflect that inner character like dark mirrors, still…before humans came here this was a beautiful place, and despite the worst that the European variant of humanity has managed to inflict, it still [...]

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How Has YOUR Dollar Done This Decade?

July 28, 2010

Be afraid, my friends. Be very afraid. If you have no fear, click on the image above for a larger, clearer picture of what’s slouching toward Bethlehem. That thing came in a report from my money managers today. It tracks the value of a dollar invested in my portfolio from June 30, 2000 forward. Now, [...]

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