| RE: Advice for a Dealing with Fiance's Family |
Sometimes it's not the fiancé's fault. DW went through that during our engagement period with her own relatives, she sometimes tries too hard to please everyone and tends to put her own interests last. I told her that "We're the one's paying for it, if they don't like it TDB." It helped, but there was a day or two when she was ready to elope just to get away from other people's expectations.
Or it may be that the relatives are merely offering what they think are only suggestions and your daughter is interpreting them as demands. Everyone has in their own mind the "ideal" wedding and sometimes they try to help by offering parts of that ideal. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Dealing With Credit Card Debt |
Don't run up credit card debt in the first place. It takes self-control to resist temptation in stores - marketers have spent their entire careers thinking up way to make you "need" something that you really don't. An eye-opener for me was taking an elective class in marketing when in college. The ways the marketers add what they call "value" in the customer's eyes are infinite.
Look at the way cosmetics and jewelry items are displayed in a department store. They are very carefully lighted, and placed in display cases that you have to walk completely around to get to the other side of the store. Or analyze the marketing that goes into something as mundane as a vacuum cleaner or tube of toothpaste. Really LOOK at the ad - what is the message behind it? That if you buy this product you will be a better person? That your spouse will love you more if you buy this or that thing? How can a vacuum cleaner or toothpaste do that?
The background music in stores is selected for the customers they are trying to reach. Now they're experimenting with smells too. Or even the tool sections at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. - look at the lighting and bright colors, all designed to make you want this or that product. EVERYTHING in that store is designed and intended to separate you from your money. If you walk into a store knowing that, you are forearmed. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Should I Use Blue Painter's Tape When I Paint? |
Another trick is to paint along the edge of the tape first with the same color that is under the tape. Let that coat dry; if it does seep under the tape it won't be visible.
Then paint the different color. When you pull the tape back along itself the dried paint should break cleanly and leave no rough edges. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Spending Money on Things You Don't Need |
Try to stay away from Disneyland. My nephew works at Disney World in Florida (so we got in free!) but he tells me that to break even the company has to extract $300 per day, per person. And that was five years ago! That's why the food and logo stuff prices are so high. Yes it is a fun place.
But so is a bicycle ride, rowing a boat, sitting by the creek fishing, walking in a park, going to a museum, etc. All of those are cheaper. I recently bought a car GPS navigation device and am finding all sorts of cheap entertainment with it close to home (within an hour or so) that I didn't even know existed. Doing that avoids expensive hotel stays. We like day trips instead of long trips.
A couple of days ago I went to an antique auto museum in Hershey, PA. I ate a full meal before leaving and took a couple bottles of water so I spent nothing on food. The only cost was the gasoline to get there & back and $9 admission. Other local museums charge less or nothing.
Sometime in the next couple of weeks it's a trip to the railroad museum in Baltimore, MD. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Free Entertainment Ideas |
Bicycling is cheap, once you have the bicycle. Look on craigslist for used ones for sale in your area. There may also be a bicycle touring group near you. If you have the bike and brown-bag your lunch you can have a fun day for almost nothing.
Hiking is even cheaper, all you need is good shoes.
Model building? This can be as expensive as you want, but also can consume large amounts of time for little money. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Set Your Sights High |
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There is also an intangible value - "We don't owe anybody anything". That's one reason we paid off our house. The other is not being slaves to the credit industry. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Do You Need a Credit Card to Establish Credit? |
"At my age and income I doubt that I'll ever buy anything more expensive than a refrigerator(I've got enough cash saved up to cover stuff like that). Could somebody please advise me? I am so confused and scared and worried -- this is all so overwhelming. By the way, I'm not in debt and never have been. Like an idiot I've always lived cash and carry. Thanks for any help."
You are not an idiot for always paying cash, but a credit card is a good way to establish a good credit rating. As pointed out above, the key is to pay it off IN FULL and ON TIME. The "on time" is crucial.
Where people get in trouble with credit cards is that it's easy to say "Oh, I'll just charge it" and then they find they've charged more than they can pay off on time and incur interest charges, and credit card interest rates are very high compared to home or car loans. Combine that with many credit cards and they get overwhelmed, or they lose their job, get sick, become injured - for whatever reason they don't have the money to pay back what they've borrowed. At that point they've got a problem.
If you're careful not to charge more than you can pay back IN FULL and ON TIME, you'll be fine. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Neighbors Added Onto Our Fence without Permission |
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I highly recommend that you talk to an attorney, very soon, about the fence. Most of them charge little or nothing for the initial consultation, and you can find out what your legal options are. The worst thing is to do nothing - after a certain period of time which varies by state - the neighbor can claim your property that they have appropriated for their own use. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Who Makes Store Brands? |
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My next-door neighbor's son is a Mobil oil distributor, he says Wal Mart's store brand full synthetic motor oil is the same as Mobil 1. The difference in price is about $4 per quart. I don't know about the other store brand motor oils Wal Mart sells, just the full synthetic. ... View related article. |
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| RE: Saving Money on Car Repairs (and Maintenance) |
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Another thought is to buy the service manual for your specific year, make and model of car. The service manual will have specific steps and drawings for your car. While more costly than the generic books it may tell you enough to fix something simple and when you really need to take it to a shop with proper diagnostic tools. ... View related article. |
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