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Posted
Sep 04 2009, 08:55 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
You never know how much stuff you have until you need to move it 1,500 miles. Just ask my daughter and son-in-law, who are heading to Phoenix, Arizona. Although they sold some items online, staged a yard sale, donated many other belongings to charity thrift shops and gave lots of things to friends, they still couldn't fit everything into a 6x7x8-foot moving cube.
I don't suppose anyone out there could use seven dozen plastic hangers and some ice cube trays?
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Posted
Mar 30 2009, 10:19 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Scammers have learned that using the name of a legitimate business or organization often helps deceive victims. The National Association of Realtors is warning that its name is being used as part of a property-rental scam.
Victims targeted by scammers are led to believe that NAR is functioning as an intermediary to receive rental deposits from prospective tenants. NAR says nothing could be further from the truth.
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Posted
Feb 10 2009, 11:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Apartment vacancies are climbing across the country, and that puts a renter in the catbird seat. It's a good time to ask for lower rent.
"Broke Grad Student" did. "I asked for what equates to a 4.3% discount on rent, and the owner agreed," he wrote. "It really was that simple."
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Posted
Dec 24 2008, 09:21 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Midway through 1¾ hours of snow-shoveling on Sunday, I stopped for a glass of water and two of those lovely little Clementine oranges. I had another orange with my lunch and pushed the peels into the garbage disposal along with the rinds from the other two. Before I flipped the switch I suddenly thought, "This is a bad idea. Take them out."
Then I thought, "I've heard that some people freshen their disposals with citrus peels."
I should have listened to the first voice.
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Posted
Dec 23 2008, 05:54 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. One of the main reasons I bought a home was because I was tired of moving. I hated packing up my things, renting a truck, moving my things, then unpacking my things. It felt like such wasted effort. However, in my numerous moves, I did establish a great way to come up with a total cost-of-housing metric that helped me compare various housing options. When I first started comparing apartments, I got the basics right. I compared the total rent, I accounted for utilities, and I accounted for any insurance I would need to buy. I failed to recognize commute time and cost, though, which played a significant factor in my first apartment (25 miles one way). That's just one of the considerations I missed. There are several more.
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Posted
Oct 24 2008, 03:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
First off, an advance apology to all good landlords. We know that many of you really try your best, and that some tenants are walking nightmares. But some of you can be unreasonable. "English Major" at An English Major's Money posted the worst landlord story we've read recently. She moved out of a New York City apartment four months ago and has yet to receive her $1,800 security deposit. After telling her several times it would return her deposit, the management company, which bought the building after she moved in, finally said she hadn't paid the last month's rent and that she owes $71. She had paid the last month's rent when she took up residence there. "I'm in tears," she wrote. "I don't know what to do. ... And the brusque rep says she understands that, but without proof I paid first and last (months' rent) two and a half years ago, there's no way for me to get my money back. And then she hangs up on me."
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Posted
May 30 2008, 09:45 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Recently a tenant moved out of the apartment building I manage. During the final walk-through I saw that she'd left behind a wall-mounted spice rack, a shelf-and-cabinet unit in the bathroom and a wheeled kitchen cart. She told me her fiancé had all the household items they needed. If no one wanted those things, they could just be thrown away.
I love my new kitchen cart.
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Posted
Apr 25 2008, 10:27 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Last weekend I heard the kind of frantic knocking that signals trouble for the resident manager. A tenant was banging on the door to tell me that a second-floor apartment -- not his -- was flooding.
As I ran toward the stairs, I could see moisture dripping from the first-floor hall ceiling. Upstairs, I found that a toilet had blocked and overflowed. Later, a water-damage restoration specialist would estimate it had overflowed for at least three hours.
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Posted
Apr 18 2008, 10:13 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A woman I know recently decided to move closer to work. Somehow she figured all she'd need to do is turn in her keys and say, "'Bye."
Wrong. Since she didn't give sufficient notice, she was saddled with the next month's rent even though she was long gone by then.
This is an intelligent woman who'd had this explained to her when she moved in. She just, well, forgot.
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Posted
Mar 24 2008, 09:33 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Tired of putting quarters into the dryer? Save two bits and do your bit for the environment by getting a drying rack.
According to a group called Project Laundry List, electric dryers amount for 5% to 10% of residential electricity usage in the United States. Racks are the green/frugal solution for apartment dwellers who don't have access to outdoor drying.
They're also useful to homeowners in places where housing covenants ban clotheslines. Apparently the sight of damp clothing flapping in the breeze brings down property values. A Boston Globe article quoted Frank Rathbun, a spokesman for the Community Associations Institute: "If you imagine driving into a community where the yards have clothes hanging all over the place, I think the aesthetics, the curb appeal, and probably the home values would be affected by that."
I wonder if he means all clothes, or just boxers and briefs?
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