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Well, maybe it won't be stucco. We bought our house 2 years out of college as a starter house. Years go by. We pay it off, have a miserable business failure, and pay it off again. Several more years go by. We have been mulling over redoing the kitchen for many years now. We decided to go...

My mother has a financial planner; I'm reviewing some of his recommendations now. One of which is longevity insurance. $30,000 bought at age 65. At age 80, income is $524/month NOT inflation adjusted OR At age 85, income is $771/month NOT inflation adjusted Both of these numbers have a...

I'm ranting to anyone who will listen today. I injured my shoulder two and a half months ago. Got misdiagnosed with a Grade 2 shoulder separation. It turns out that it is a Grade 5 separation. It isn't healing right, and the collarbone and shoulder blade aren't really attached. So I...

I picked my title to be somewhat heretical. But this is a realization that I've come to fairly recently, though maybe this is just common sense. The goal in life should be to have the best life you possibly can, given your personal constraints. Each individual has his or her own path to...

DW and I got our college alumni magazine earlier this week. Within, they listed a few alumni travel options that were led by college professors. Well, one of those trips listed was a two-week trip to Australia and New Zealand. Australia and New Zealand has always been near the top of our list...

We have a zero balance on our HELOC, with $250,000 available. Rate is at prime. Right now we don't have much in the way of after-tax accounts, so we were keeping this around as an emergency found. I got a letter yesterday from my HELOC company, though, and if we close out our HELOC, they'll...

DW and I are planning a trip this fall. Or trying to, anyhow, and haven't been very successful. We're planning around DW's grad school fall break, so we're looking no longer than a week. We're outside of Philly. Considered a New England/Canada cruise, but the timing of the cruises was just...

So, here's what I've eaten so far today: 1 cup oatmeal with a dollop of peanut butter: 400 calories Half a peanut butter sandwich: 250 calories 1 Nature Valley peanut butter granola bar: 180 calories 1 apple: 80 calories 3 pretzel rods: 120 calories 2 ham/swiss/lettuce/mustard sandwiches: 750...

A sister thread, http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/how-move-piano-across-country-cheap-34846.html has brought a couple other pianists to the fore. So I thought I'd start another thread... What level player are you, what's your background, what do you like to play, what type of...

Well, I'm too lazy/cheap to get a plumber, so I'm hoping that someone here can help me -- or at least point me to a good web site. My shower has two separate hot/cold valves. The hot water one especially is leaking around the handle. I removed the screw from the handle, but I can't seem to get...

There are various threads that pop up periodically either about workers dissatisfied with their jobs/career path, or about kids choosing college majors. And frequently these threads include advice along the lines of "do what you love", "find a job you enjoy" or some such. So, my question is...

Some of the comments in the Wednesday Weigh-in thread got me wondering about this. My expenses for 2007 were $235 per month combined for two people. For us, that included yoga and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes, as well as a trip for me across the country for a Hapkido seminar. That also...

DW and I were talking about this yesterday. See, spending money involves shopping. Neither of us like taking the time out of my life to go shopping. Clothes, electronics, food, toys, appliances, whatever. It is all a hassle we try to avoid whenever we can. We'd probably end up spending...

Just curious. I was in a barbershop quartet in college, have sung with several choruses in SPEBSQSA. My college quartet competed at the International Convention in 94 (Pittsburgh) in the collegiate division, and came in... dead last. ^-^ I attended two other conventions (96 Indianapolis and...

Ours is our music room. Piano, two french horns, two trumpets, trombone, Eb tuba, Bb tuba, euphonium, synthesizer, guitar, and an antique clarinet. Anyhow, I'm curious how many people have a traditional dining room and still use it as such.

So, who's had Lyme disease? I got the rash last week (after having back spasms, fever, lethargy), and I'm on Doxycycline now. My wife had it last year. Pretty common here on the East Coast. So who else has had it?

My consulting firm is allowing me to switch from being a W2 consultant to a 1099. My rate as an 1099 contractor will be $5 per hour higher than as a W2 consultant. So, it looks worth it to me. I'm talking with my accountant today, so I'm interested if there are any thoughts here about things...

Straightforward question. What asset class(es) do you have in your Roth IRA? Small cap value, REIT, etc? Fund names also welcome.

I'm in the early stages of considering buying an existing (40+ years) laundromat. Unattended, coin-op only, good neighborhood in a strip mall. It is located several miles from my house. According to the disclosure, discretionary income is 35k. Price is listed at 4x earnings, but it is...

http://tinyurl.com/blzw8 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- For some Americans, Labor Day isn't so much about relaxing from hard work as it is about laboring -- at least a little -- to keep up with that hard work, according to a new poll. Forty-two percent of U.S. workers said they'll be doing...

I've been reading these forums for a couple of weeks. Lots of interesting stories and situations. I'm 31, my wife of nine years turns 31 next month. I'm a computer programmer who has been fortunate enough to be an hourly consultant at the same gig for six years. We are in our third month of...