In the personal finance world, it seems like people are always talking about two things - how to buy a house and retirement.  You read a lot of tips about how to save enough for a down payment, how to build an emergency fund for repairs, and how to continually improve the value of your house. But what if you don't want to own a home? The Pros of Home Ownership As with most big decisions, there are definitely pros and cons to home ownership.  … [Read more...]

Like a lot of people, I leave the house in the morning and don't come back after work.  In general, I try to keep the heat in my house set on the lower end to save money.  My house is usually set around 66-68 degrees when I'm at home, and I knock that down to 64 when I leave the house.  But am I leaving money on the table by not turning the heat down more? Is it more expensive to have to re-heat the home? One common statement that I've heard … [Read more...]

When deciding whether to buy or rent, there are a lot of considerations to take into account.  When I'm making decisions like this, I like to make a pro and con list. But what are the pros and cons of renting versus buying a home? Of course, you should always run the numbers of renting versus buying.  Zillow has an easy calculator that can quickly tell you the break even point for a home purchase - how long do you have to live in a house to … [Read more...]

For a while now, I’ve been putting off buying a new mattress for my bedroom.  I’ve had my current mattress for over thirteen years.  While I haven’t noticed any comfort issues, I know that it’s well past the typical lifespan for a mattress, and it’s time to start thinking about a new one.  After all, if you get the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night, you’re spending a third of your life in bed.  Might as well make sure that it’s … [Read more...]