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Posted
Sep 22 2007, 09:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Lower property values are among the ripple effects of the subprime mortgage lending crisis, according to a report by Americans for Fairness in Lending.
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Posted
Sep 24 2007, 10:53 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Homeownership is the American dream, but it may not be right for everyone. Here are seven factors to consider before you decide to tear up that lease. The seventh is instability in many housing markets.
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Posted
Sep 26 2007, 02:22 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Industry analysts today reported further declines in the housing market: Home prices in 10 metropolitan areas fell 4.5 percent in July, the steepest decline in 16 years. Home resales in August were 4.3 percent lower than the previous month. Meanwhile, a major home builder announced a 35 percent reduction in its work force.
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Posted
Sep 27 2007, 11:24 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
You've already reset the thermostat as low as you can comfortably go. Here's another way to cut your heating costs -- without moving to a smaller home. Make the sun your ally.
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Posted
Oct 02 2007, 09:33 PM
by
admin
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Get Rich Slowly . I hate plumbing. Whenever a faucet leaks or a drain clogs, my stomach sinks. I know it can mean hours of frustrating work. It's not that plumbing is difficult. I'm just not well-versed in the ways of home improvement. Somehow I missed that part of manhood training. Despite my apprehension, in 13 years of home ownership I've made it a point to do as much repair work as I can. It has saved me a lot of money. And while I'm a ball of nerves going into a project, I get tremendous satisfaction when I finish something and know that I did the work with my own hands. Yesterday we woke to find water on the floor of the upstairs bathroom. When we couldn't immediately locate the source of the leak, we debated calling a plumber. Because it was the weekend, and because we're trying to save money, my wife and I decided to tackle the problem as a team. While Kris buried herself in the Reader’s Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual , I took the toilet
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Posted
Oct 02 2007, 09:45 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
An admirer of America's cheapest family recounts the lessons he's learned from the Economides clan, a married couple and five children who live on $35,000 a year (and paid off their house in nine years) in Arizona. Teamwork, organization and an unwavering commitment to make frugality a lifestyle (these folks don't use credit cards) work, and even the smallest savings add up.
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Posted
Oct 11 2007, 09:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The answer is: Yes, if that washing machine is going to save energy and last a long time. Trent at The Simple Dollar explains the difference between frugality and being downright cheap . The frugal person "seeks to maximize the use of every dollar," he writes, while the cheapskate cares only about the bottom line. On the same topic, Silicon Valley Blogger explains how our quest for cheap stuff is costing us in the long run . We buy toys that don't meet safety standards, food that's not good for us, and skimp on essentials like quality home repair and insurance .
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Posted
Oct 17 2007, 10:47 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Being Frugal quit her job when her first child was born, and the small family lived on her husband's $19,000 income. So began her trip down the thrifty-living highway. She has learned to budget, accept help, and donate time for those less fortunate than her family. You'll find no pity-me tone in this no-nonsense account . She admits that their apartment, with its ugly kitchen cabinets and "rental-cream-colored" walls, "gets on my last nerve from time to time." But, she writes, "I have learned that money isn’t the most important thing in life. Relationships are ...."
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Posted
Oct 19 2007, 01:22 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
J.D. of Get Rich Slowly and a friend compared notes over lunch about their respective decisions to "upgrade" to bigger homes. They both came to this conclusion: "Too much house is as much a problem as not enough." They both have space they don't use and chores that never seem to get done. They have larger mortgages and all of the extra interest that entails, and higher utility bills. So what were they thinking? Apparently the same things many of us do, or used to. A graph with J.D.'s post illustrates the gradual increase of the average American home from "modest" to "McMansion," a trend that may be in reverse .
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Posted
Oct 22 2007, 07:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Last week we noted a blogger's musings about the upside of living in a small house: less space to maintain, furnish and heat, for starters. How about having no house at all, or a home that's a hole in the ground? Boston Gal's Open Wallet was inspired to research the cheapest of accommodations by a brief conversation she'd had about the concept of "going Thoreau." She read about guys who lived underground , another who lived in a commercial building's attic equipped with cable and flat-screen TVs, and a group of artists who built a secret room, complete with video games, in a mall parking garage. "Maybe living for free is not so crazy after all, if 'going Thoreau' means I can still have luxuries like a PlayStation," Boston Gal writes.
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