Money Matters

... The kitchen was circular too! - (weird people lol!)

So Direct Buy is worth it?

If you can do the work yourself and have some help every now and then, it can save you some money. (IMO)

and if you are doing a lot of remodeling or buying/building a brand new house and need all new stuff, it is sooooo worth it.
We had to get all new stuff for this house so that is why we joined.
I'm getting a delivery of bedroom furniture from Vaughn Bassett, Made in the USA. Bed, dresser, chest, mirror and night stand. I got the whole set for the price of what one chest would cost retail.
I always do my homework before making a purchase and the only thing they can't beat is electronics...the mark up isn't that high for electronics so you can find better bargains(usually on line)
Really funny when we went to the open house I had it in my head what the membership should cost/what I'd be willing to pay to make sense to join. I didn't tell my husband. When they give you a few moments to discuss and decide whether you want to join, that's when I told him the amount I had in mind, he said "that's the same amount I was thinking!" We knew then it was a great decision. We bought my office furniture, living room furniture, a dining room display case, a daybed, custom made vanity stool, and now our bedroom set.
We definitely got our moneys worth.

Wow, That sounds good! Good move!

You have pay annually?

You pay an initial fee and then after 3(???) years it's an annual fee

Jen, does Direct Buy lock customers into a multi-year contract? Or can I join for a year (to get my kitchen and 1 bathroom redone) then drop the membership? I don't need anything else. Thanks

There is a minimum amount of time you can join, I can't remember what the time limit was...they also may have changed it since we joined. I'll go find my paperwork for ya.

With this economy, my sewing business is picking up. I do alterations and repairs from home as well as a part time factory job.

That's great. The tailoring costs at dry cleaners are crazy.

I've had a lot of zippers to replace. They don't hold up anymore and not too many do them.

Jumper, my mom was a seamstress. She loved it and made a few bucks too.

We had an old lady down the block where I lived who did it. She lived on the first floor and would pass the clothes to me when she saw me walking by!

Shame on you! You're lucky the cops didn't see you walking around like that! ☺

Wow, this string sure covers a lot!

I recently wrote a piece on the economics of growing from seed that might interest some of you - see http://www.morssglobalfinance.com/the-economics-of-growing-vegetables-from-seed/.

I am an economist, and if you have any money left for investments, I strongly urge you to get your money out of dollars, Am I right? Who knows? But I try to make a coherent arguement with data - http://www.morssglobalfinance.com/investment-strategies-vii-%e2%80%93-latin-america-and-asia/

Investing in gold still worth it?

Long-term the dollar is on the decline. Short-term, it continue doing well against the euro due to all their problems with Greece and other countries (taste of what will happen here if we don't wise up soon).

Kind of late for gold. I've been selling my gold funds. Still have some though.

emorss - i liked the growing from seed piece - and i think it can be done cheaper as well - my aps system from gardeners supply has lasted 10 years to date (with some duct tape support) - my set up sounds like yours - although i threw my stand together with strapping myself and use florescent shop lighting two per level for under $10 from hd - i do use normal heating pads until germination.

I dont mess with the pellets. I get them germinated and stick it right into the 3" peat pot.

Thanks for all the info....hard to get DH to not invest in dollars, but I pretty much have taken over the fiscal responsibilities.

Interesting thread. The best thing we did was pay our house off early. We saved thousands and thousands in interest. I was 20 when we bought our house (my husband was 25) so we certainly didn't make a lot of money at that age, but we made the commitment to increase our payment at every opportunity. Every pay raise went back into the mortgage. At first, we paid maybe $25 more per month, then $50, $100, $200, etc. Soon we were doubling our mortgage payment every month and we made the last payment exactly 10 years from when we bought the house. It was a great feeling. I don't think I really believed we would do it when we first got started. We started so small that I was skeptical it would make a difference. My husband is really the one who kept us on track and I'm so glad he did. Now I encourage everyone I know (when the subject comes up) to do the same. Start small, make it a priority to keep increasing it, and next thing you know you'll have saved thousands and be mortgage free!

I never really think about retiring, but I am fortunate to have excellent benefits through my job. My employer matches my 401K contribution up to 7 percent and I have a pension with an accrual rate of $300 per month for every year of service. Now if only the pension fund survives another 30 years! (And if only I survive my job!)

good advice soj - we have over paid every month for years - when the rates fell about 18 months ago we dropped to a 15 yr. loan and still overpay - doing our taxes this year the tax man thought we were missing 3 months worth of interest payments - it was the 15 year loan, you can actually see the portion going to principle increasing every month! - hopefully we can pay this off within 10 yrs.

Been doing that for years too. We pay hundreds extra each month.

only a couple hunderd here - every little bit helps

Dont forget that sneaky tax bill pops up every 6 months after your mortage is paid.

Love, love, love the Story of Stuff!

It was I who first put Zazzle and DG together when Dave was not happy with CafePress - I'm glad that has worked out so well for you, Andy!

Quoted from my new Chase credit card statement. " If you make only the minimum payment each period, you will pay more in interest and it will take longer to pay off your balance" REALLY??? I never knew(sarcasm font needed here).....are people actually that ignorant that they don't know this????
If I just make the minimum payment(which I don't I pay off every month) it will take me 24 years to pay off my balance. HOLEY MOLEY.

Are people really that ignorant?! Did they take out mortgages they KNEW they could not afford?!!

Can I slap them upside their heads???

Wouldn't help.

i am dying to see my sister's cc statement - is always carrying a 10K debt - and the kicker is she doesn't work! I have spoken to her about this for years - so jen please feel free to slap away at her!!

Ok!!! what's her address??☺

People's cards should be stopped if they can't pay it.

she pays the minimum

Just saw a great quote "why can't we tax stupidity?"

I mean more than the minimum. They need to raise the minimum and credit limits should be lowered for people who carry large balances.

We just switched to Traveler's auto insurance, and we got a letter from Travelers saying that even though we are in the highest category of credit score, we did not get the lowest rate because we don't have a long enough credit history!!!???? What??????!!!!!!! I've had great credit for at least 40 years! I've owned 14 homes with a perfect record since I was 23, and Hank is even older than I am! I'm trying to decide if I have the mental energy right now with the puppies to do what all it takes to research older accounts that just went away with full payment over time, like older car payments and house payments etc. in order to fight it. I haven't even painted one pot this winter and have missed out on tons of stuff from being overwhelmed by puppy focus. Oh well......maybe I'll just let it go. I'm tired.

The stupid people couldn't afford the tax on stupidity!

Maybe with 14 homes they figure you're not stable. ^_^