In line with Maxwell's recent post AT on Getting Your House in Order, the Washington Post offers 20 tips to make your home better now while saving money in the long run.
The tips echo the habits of people in the '30s and '40s, but which most of us haven't been doing in our busy lives.
Habits include fixing things in your home now so you won't have to replace them later and entertaining friends at home. More below the jump...
We like the Post's "latest thing in kitchens," which is "less remodeling, more cooking." Surprisingly, the Post also recommends NOT paying off your loans early and saving your cash instead. The reason is that new loans are now difficult to obtain.
Read the full Washington Post article "20 Steps to Toughen Up Against Hard Times" by clicking here.
Do you agree with the Post's tips? Do you have any of your own?
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Comments (5)
I took my name off all the catalog lists. Yay! less junk mail this holiday season.
The problem with taking your name off catalog lists is that it does nothing to diminish the large pile I get each week that are addressed to the previous tenants. Although that does sort of lead into entertaining yourself at home. I've been amusing myself by putting together a personality profile of the previous tenants based on their junk mail. It's probably inaccurate--maybe they furnished the entire place from crate and barrel, or maybe they just bought some nice towels once--but it is entertaining!
Ha! Lurker, I totally do the same, I don't get mail from the previous owners of my house, but for people who lived there over 5 years ago. They still subscribe to the New Republic and get lots of mail from Korean Air.
Get a pest inspection. We just discovered termites! There are preventive tips online too.
About mail to previous tenants - I used to stuff mail in students' mailboxes when I worked at my dorm's front desk, and here's what we were supposed to do when the recipient no longer lived there:
- Put diagonal lines or X's through any bar codes... usually on the front of the envelope, but check for orange ones on the back too. This will prevent the mail from being redelivered.
- Using a big/brightly-colored marker, write "Return to sender: Attempted not known" on the front.
- Send that sucker off in the mailbox.
I still do this with my own mail and I THINK it's reduced the amount of junk mail I get.