Saving

The Saving Freak wrote an excellent post about gift cards becoming a risky purchase.

Have you ever thought about what a gift card really is?  A gift card is where someone takes the national currency (US Dollar, British Pound, Euro, etc.) and converts it into a store currency.  This severely limits the use of the currency.

And if the company issuing the gift card declares bankruptcy and shuts its doors?  The currency becomes useless.

Read The Saving Freak's article HERE. 

Read recent posts 

Receive each post automatically in your E-MAIL by clicking HERE.

I have written before about the fact that I have a thirty-year-old house that has thirty-year-old house problems.  One of the problems is that the downstairs AC is the original AC for the house.

Problem 1 – January 2008

It was making a "banging" sound.

Diagnosis: Low on refrigerant – $75.

Problem 2 – May 2008

It was not cooling at all, and it was making a loud electrical "HUMMMMMMMM" sound.

Diagnosis: Condenser unit fan was not operating – $200+

Problem 3 – June 2008

It stopped cooling again.  It was a day before vacation so I decided to have it looked at when I got back home two weeks later.

Diagnosis:  Electrical wiring insulation had worn through and was shorting out the fan – $105

So we are back to enjoying the nice cool air conditioning in the dead-middle of a South Carolina summer.

I wonder when I will have to replace this unit?  Part of me wants to bury my head in the sand and hope that it runs another thirty years.  The realistic side of me says I should go ahead and start pricing out units.  Initial looks have shown a cost of $5K – $7K.  Just what I want to spend my money on …  an air conditioner.

Why do I bring all of this up?  Because it is so important to look ahead when preparing a financial plan.  Jenn and I could pretend that this issue does not exist and then have a financial "emergency" when this AC really does fail permanently.  In the past (when we were always broke), we would ignore this issue and then be surprised when it failed.  Now, we recognize it as a known, upcoming expense, and we plan for it.

I do hope that it lasts another thirty years, though. 

Read recent posts 

Receive each post automatically in your E-MAIL by clicking HERE.

I have written before about how I am crazy about gardening.

I just love the fact that I can plant a little seed and then see it sprout, grow, and produce tremendous fruits, vegetables, flowers, and foliage.

It is AWESOME!

Over the past month, the garden has produced the following vegetables:

• Dozens of zucchini
• DOZENS of cucumbers
• Strawberries
• Several yellow squash
• A hundred ears of sweet corn
• DOZENS of yellow pear cherry tomatoes
• Several Better Boy tomatoes
• Dozens of bell peppers
• Dozens of jalapeno peppers
• Onions
• Snow peas

And shortly it will produce about a dozen watermelons and at least four canteloupes!  In the fall, I will get to harvest sweet potatoes, peanuts, pumpkins, and butternut squash.

The herb garden has cilantro, basil, chives, and bee balm.

The flower garden has day lillies, surprise lillies, sunflowers, zinnias, gladiolas, purple coneflowers, cleome, aster, marigolds, shasta daisies, sweet william, snapdragons, celosia, coleus, alyssum, coral bells, liatris, and chinese lanterns.

I tried this year to grow luffa sponges again.  I tried them two years in a row in northern Indiana and all they did was vine all over the place.  This year, in the hot south, I decided to try them again.  And they have been vining all over the place AND blooming.  Today I discovered that it has actually set a large luffa sponge gourd!  I am so thankful because now I know that I will be able to have soft and smooth skin all winter long. 

I have attached a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Sunflower (over 10 feet tall!)

Watermelon (just under twenty pounds at the moment!)

Luffa Gourd!

Subscribe to receive every post in your E-MAIL by clicking HERE.

About six months ago, AVCLUB introduced me to Hulu.com.

Hulu.com is a HUGE database of movies and TV shows (past and present) that you can watch for FREE!

You will have to watch a couple of commercials during the shows, but it is FREE!

If you have a high-speed internet connection, check it out!

I am sure that The Saving Freak is proud of me for this money saving tip!

Read recent posts 

Receive each post automatically in your E-MAIL by clicking HERE.

I love my on-line savings accounts at HSBC and ING.

Why do I like my on-line savings accounts?

• Their interest rates are competitive with CDs (HSBC's 3.50% is currently better than ING's 3.00%), yet there are no liquidity or penalty issues for pulling money out early.  By the way, HSBC just raised their rate to 3.50%.  I am betting that ING is pondering a change too.
• There are no fees.
• Their web sites are very user-friendly.
• They are FDIC-insured up to $100,000.
• You can put up to $2,000,000 in an account.
• You can put as little as $1 in an account.
• I can move my money around very easily because it is on-line.
• I can access my accounts 24-7-365.

There are several other good on-line banks out there too.  What on-line banks are you using?

Read recent posts 

Receive each post automatically in your E-MAIL by clicking HERE.