10 Cheap Ways to Save Money

I recently guest-posted at Lazy Man and Money with 10 quick ways to save money. Stop by that link and check it out!

Carnival of Home Improvement Update

I had some issues with my carnival aggregator, so I won't be using them anymore. If you'd like to contribute, please email me your link. I hope to get the next edition out in a couple of weeks.

Thanks, and sorry to all those who submitted posts in the last couple of weeks.

Appraisal Update

I'm in the process of refinancing my house, and the results of my appraisal just came back.

Good news is that it is high enough so that I'll be able to refinance. The bad news is that it's not as high as I'd like. In the two years since I bought the house, this is how much it has increased in value: 0%.

You might say that is not so bad considering the nosedive real estate has taken in the past two years. But you have to consider that I've put in about 13% of the purchase price back into it with various renovations. So if you look at the total investment, I've lost somewhere around 13% of my total investment. That percentage is actually almost exactly the decrease that has occurred overall in my zip code.

A couple of months ago I used online price evaluation tools to estimate my house's current value. Two of the estimates came within 5% of the actual appraisal.

Did You Know This Used to be Thrift Week?

Bring Back Thrift Week runs from this past Saturday until this Saturday. Apparently, Thrift Week was celebrated from 1916 until 1966. During that week various institutions from credit unions to schools to community groups got out the word that being thrifty was an American ideal that we should all aspire to.

I wonder, did Thrift Week stop being celebrated because we became hyperconsumers, or did we become hyperconsumers because we stopped celebrating Thrift Week? I think it's a little of both.

Take a few minutes and go to that site to see what this movement is about. I recommend you watch the video on the homepage, as it gives a concise summary of the goals of the week. It also shows some pretty interesting museum-style pieces from our past. I encourage everyone to read up on the topic, starting with the sources on this site.

Freezing Pipe Precautions

We've had some very cold weather in my part of the country recently, so I was concerned about my pipes freezing and bursting. A quick search of the internet provided these tips:

• Turn on your faucets to run at a trickle; the pennies spent on the water is less than the cost to fix your pipes;
• Properly insulate unfinished rooms, such as garages and basements, where pipes may be exposed;
• Consider "snap on" insulation or wraps for piping;
• Drain and shut off pipes flowing to outside faucets;
• Seal cracks and holes in outside walls and foundations near water pipes with caulking; Set thermostats at a minimum of 60 degrees Fahrenheit;
• If away frequently, consider the installation of a low-temperature sensor, which activates an alarm if the home temperature falls below a preset level; and
• During extended unoccupied periods, turn off the water supply and ask a trusted individual to check the home on a daily basis for heating system malfunctions and frozen pipes.

I do believe I followed all of the ones that are applicable to my situation. Anyone have others they employ?

Filter Issue

When I first bought my house, one of the first things I noticed of the (many) common-sense things that had been neglected was that there was not a filter in the house’s main return. Of course, that could not have been good for the air circulation in the house, nor could it have been good for the old furnace that was connected to it.

So I went out to buy a filter, and found that (of course) my return was a non-standard size. I had to buy a large one and then cut it down to size. I continue to do this today. According to what I read, the filter should be changed or cleaned every 30 days. I have to admit, I probably only do it half as often, especially in the winter months when going outside and washing out a dirty filter seems too much to handle.

When I had my new furnace installed, I had the option of upgrading to a filtration system that would have augmented my existing one. As this would have added cost, and no one in the house has allergies, I opted not to purchase it. Why do I bring all of this up? Because I can no longer find the oversized filters I need! I’ve done some research, and I can order similar ones online, or spend more and have ones custom-made for me, which allows me a greater variety of filters to choose from. I’m not sure what I’ll decide, but again, as no one has allergies, I’ll probably just get the standard one I always do.

Finishing Touches

I apologize for the lack of posts recently, but I've been pretty busy with putting some final touches on some things around the house. Here's what I've been up to:

• finished off that hallway project by touching up paint and hanging a mirror
• hanging up artwork around the rest of the house. All of my walls are bare, but we did have some pieces we never hung, so we did that. We also went to one of those Starving Artists shows at a hotel and bought a couple paintings. Then we had to figure out how to put them in frames and hang them.
• cleaning the fishtank. Fish need attention, too.

I'm Refinancing!

I had recently mentioned that I might look into refinancing my house, and I actually just mailed off my application.

I looked into a myriad of lenders, and while rates were often much lower than what I pay now, after paying for their closing costs and points I was afraid that it was not worth refinancing. I’m one of those people who is always looking for a move, and unless I stayed in the house for at least three years, I probably wouldn’t have seen any savings.

So then I contacted the broker who orchestrated my existing deal. He came back to me with three offers:
+ 5.00 with 1 point and $3000 closing costs
+ 5.20 with 0 points and $3000 closing costs
+ 5.38 with 0 points and 0 closing costs

I did the numbers and decided to go for the final option. I’m paying 5.75 now, so this will be about $80 per month less. Basically all it cost me was the time to fill out the application. Not bad. My formal appraisal is this weekend, so I’ll be interested to see what that comes out at. As soon as I get that, I’ll report how it compares to the online estimates and my own feel.

2008: A Look Back on My Projects

I thought I’d give a recap of all projects I completed in 2008, along with my personal grade. All the ones I documented on this site have links to an appropriate post. After compiling this list, I was surprised at how much we got accomplished in 2008. There are still a couple things I know I want to do in 2009, but I fear I won’t have enough to keep me busy!

Driveway Area- put in a new asphalt driveway (moved from other side of house), cleared the strip of land next to it and planted quick-growing privacy shrubs
Grade: B+. I was parking on dirt previously, and having a decent driveway is imperative in my neighborhood. I believe it was money well-spent.

Garden Area- created a few beds and an area with a bench and table.
Grade: B+. I find the area enjoyable to sit in, and the produce saved us some money. However, this year I will be more vigilant about keeping out intruders.

Bathroom Renovation- replaced vanity with double-sink vanity, new mirror, pain, fixtures.
Grade: B-. Everything looks nice and works, but I think I rushed through this and could have had a better outcome had I thought more about the finishing choices.

Furnace/AC Replacement- changed out old, noisy and inefficient equipment for new.
Grade: A (so far). Everything has worked fine and are saving me some money on energy bills.

Bathroom Hallway- closed up a useless closet and painted and decorated the area.
Grade: B. In the end, it came out nicely, but I really messed up on the taping of the new wall, which caused extra cost and time.

Ceiling Fan Replacement- replaced hideous, noisy fan in living room
Grade: A. Makes a major improvement to the look of the room, and was a great learning process for me.

NREL Solar & Wind Estimator

The National Renewable Energy Lab is the innovation and testing arm of the Department of Energy. If you're interested in that sort of thing (as all thrifty homeowners probably should), browse around that site. It'll take you days to get through it all. A lot of it gets too complicated for me, but it does make me hopeful for our future energy independence.

While you're there, be sure to check out the In My Backyard (IMBY) tool. It lets you find your house on a map, then you draw where you could possibly install solar panels or wind turbines on your property. It then calculates how much energy you could generate from such a setup and how long it would take to breakeven. I've already looked into solar and knew it would take me quite a while to breakeven on that, but it's nice to see something like this from a government agency. I did have some problems with trying to load this IMBY page, so be patient.