Stupid Homeowner Tricks
There are actually several questionable remodeling choices that have been made to our home over the years, but most of them are either things we can live with or things that can wait to be fixed.  But the discovery we made this week just smacks of stupidity, and will likely cost us at least $75 to fix it. At some point, our garage was converted into a master suite, and a carport was added. Decorative stone was installed on the back carport wall. The main line is also on this wall. When installing the stone, they made a cut out behind the hose bib, pressure regulator, and inlet pipe so repairs can be made. However, they didn’t make the cut out around the entire main line setup. They installed the stone behind the pressure relief valve, leaving only a half inch gap between the valve and the wall. There is no way to get a wrench in that space, and because the valve has a downspout, the valve won’t rotate past the wall even if you could get a wrench in there. To make matters worse, the owners installed a concrete pole in front of the relief valve to support a gate.

What Needs to Happen to Fix This
The part is cheap, but the labor will cost a lot because the plumber or handyman either needs to have special tools to fit in that space, or cut out some of the stone to allow regular tools to fit into the space. It’s possible that we would have needed to call a plumber anyway because the valve is so old it’s potentially stripped, or the valve may not actually be the problem, but I would have liked to try to fix it myself first.

What We Learned
I can’t say we learned anything specifically. We already knew the previous owners had done stupid things over the years. All homeowners do. We probably will, too.  However, whenever you do remodeling or additions of any kind, inspect the area carefully to be sure you’re not restricting access to important plumbing or electrical pipes or connectors.

Update: We Really Did Need a Pro
When the plumber came out, he discovered that the home warranty plumber who replaced the pressure regulator two years ago had installed it incorrectly. The regulator was also blown and he found additional leaks.. While he was at our house, he rearranged the main line plumbing so all parts can be accessed without using stone saws and replaced all the leaking parts. It did end up costing $500, but a regulator alone is about $300.  And now we have a fully accessible system.

These are the deals I’ve bought:
Wine Insiders – I saved over 50% on twelve decent bottles of wine. That was my first steal, but it required some finagling.

Amazon – $20 for $10. I order from Amazon a lot, so of course I took this deal. Frankly, I don’t know why Amazon did it, but I suspect it was designed to put Living Social on the map and Amazon may not have paid a commission on the deal.

Whole Foods – $20 for $10. I shop at Whole Foods a lot, too. I spend at least $200 a year there. So, I snagged the deal. They even thanked me for coming. That was nice, but again, I’m not sure why WF felt the need to offer the deal. It seems like they’re pretty busy most of the time.

Yoga – $30 for 10 classes (normally $130). This was a really sweet deal. Then the business went the extra mile to make me a repeat customer. Shortly before the 10 classes expired, they sent me an exclusive offer for renewing Groupon customers – $99 for another 10 classes. Not as sweet a deal, but still cheap for yoga. So I renewed. They didn’t offer another deal after that, but I was a loyal customer by then and happily bought another package at full price. I think part of the reason Groupon’s work for yoga studios is that the class is held regardless of the number of students. I’ve had classes with 9 students, and classes with 2 students. Same teacher, same class. By offering the Groupon, the studio was introducing their classes to new students without incurring any additional cost.

Amoeba Music – $30 for $15. Amoeba is an amazing independent music store (used and new) in Los Angeles (and a few other cities). Again, I’m surprised they even offered a deal. I bought one for me and one for my husband. Amoeba is typically packed on the weekend, and the weekend we went was no exception. This offer was clever because it expired the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so customers couldn’t use it during the even busier holiday season. Maybe it helped boost sales during the pre-holiday lull. When I checked out, they gave me a special Groupon coupon for $5 off my next $30 purchase. Since Amoeba customers are fairly loyal (it’s not as if there are a lot of other physical record stores to compete with anymore), that’s just a nice thank you that doesn’t much hurt their bottom line. My husband and I both spent a little over $30, so we saved just under 50%, not a bad deal.

Garden Center – A garden center chain with a store near my house offered a $50 for $25 (I think) deal. I visit this garden center occasionally, most often for advice. It’s the sort of place where you can take a leaf and ask “What is wrong with it?” and they’ll actually know the answer. Not only that, but they have the product you need to fix it. Service is excellent. The prices are rather high, though. I ended up spending way more than the Groupon, probably around $70 because I lose all control in garden centers. But, I was able to stock up on fertilizers, plants, and tools and save a little bit, so I don’t regret the deal. I continue to go there with my plant problems, too.

Old Navy – $20 for $10. I love Old Navy. They have great deals already. When I read about this deal on a coupon site, I snagged it. I like to buy a few new tops each summer and winter, and I needed new jeans, so using it would be no problem. I also happened to have a $50 gift card that I needed to use. I tossed the gift card in my purse and just kept the Groupon expiration date in the back of my mind. This was the first time I used the Groupon app to use a deal. I didn’t have the printed version with me when I found myself needing to kill time near an Old Navy. But my smartphone came to the rescue. I ended up paying about $10 cash after the gift card and the Groupon.

To be honest, I don’t spend a ton of time looking at deal sites. I found out about the Amazon, Amoeba, and Whole Foods deals when friends posted about them on Facebook. I found out about the Wine Insider and Old Navy deals on a coupon blog. The Yoga deal I spotted myself because I was actively looking for a yoga deal at the time.  I happened to spot the Armstrong deal in my email because I shopped there already.

How to Avoid Wasting Money on Daily Deals
I’ve been satisfied with all my deal purchases, and haven’t let any of them expire without using them. Here are my tips for avoiding waste:

1. Know what sort of deals you’re looking for. I was looking for a yoga class when I found that deal. I’ve been looking for a decent facial deal for months, but I haven’t purchased one yet because I haven’t liked any of the offers. I’m not going to buy a spa deal just because it’s a good deal if the services don’t appeal to me.

2. Buy from businesses you already frequent. Four of the deals I bought were for places I already shopped. I knew the deal was good, because I knew how much I typically spent. I also knew where the business was and that cashing in the deal would be convenient.

3. Buy from businesses close to you. If you have to go out of your way to cash in the deal, you probably won’t, no matter how good it is. So wait for a deal from a place near your home or office. With a new deal every day, you may not have to wait that long.

4. Check schedules before you buy. This is key with service related deals. The yoga studio offered the type of class I wanted to take at a time I could attend, and it was close to my house. That made it impossible to pass up.

5. Think about it. Yes, you only have 24 hours, at most, to buy the deal. But you don’t have to buy it in the next five minutes. Take an hour or two to think about the deal. If you still want it, buy it. If you’ve forgotten about it, then you didn’t really want it.

What is wrong with Congress? This is just ridiculous. Pizza is NOT a vegetable. It may have veggies on it, and yes, the sauce is composed of tomatoes, but two tablespoons is not a serving of any vegetable. These new rules, which also limit starch vegetables like potatoes, are meant to improve children’s health. We have a major childhood obesity problem in this country. For some kids, school breakfasts and lunches are the only meals they have. What is wrong with serving them a healthy meal, without the influence of lobbying groups? Studies have shown that kids do better in school when they eat nutritious food. If we want to be competitive in the marketplace, our kids need to learn.

If Congress wonders why they only have 9% approval, they need only look at idiotic acts like this.

Lobbying Under the Guise of Austerity
Why is Congress doing this? Lobbying. The National Potato Council and the American Frozen Food Institute are worried that these new regulations will cut into their groups’ profits. Which they might. However, they were able to get it attached to a spending bill because the USDA rules would increase the cost of school lunches by $7 billion over 5 years, or $1.4 billion a year. When you consider how many children that feeds and how important early childhood nutrition is, that’s not a huge number. One DAY of the war in Iraq cost $720 million. So, this is two days’ worth of war. Aren’t our children worth sacrificing two days of war?

After several stores announced that their Black Fridays specials would start at midnight (which is ridiculous, but still technically Friday), Wal-Mart is upping the ante. They will now open their stores at 10 PM on Thanksgiving! So, stuff your faces, then run to your car to get in line for some cheap stuff. $5 Barbie dolls are worth giving up a holiday for, apparently.

When will this madness end? Doorbusters on Thanksgiving morning? Holiday sales on Halloween? Aw, heck, let’s just roll it all the way back to July 4 now and be done with it.

Stop the Madness
When did Christmas become all about the crap and the deal? Even as a non-Christian, I recognize that family togetherness and winter cheer are far more important than a $5 Barbie or an iPod Touch or whatever other discount goodie you bought at Black Friday because it was on sale.

If your budget is tight, then buy less stuff. I get a lot of emails from people saying “I need to give my kids a good Christmas.” What your kids want is your love and time with you. The rest if just stuff that will be forgotten within a couple of weeks. They will not be traumatized for life by a Christmas or two without a lot of presents. Instead, they’ll remember that you played games with them and spent time together as a family.

Once again, I will be avoiding Black Friday sales. My husband and I have only purchased one thing at a Black Friday sale, and it was on a Sunday. We’d been looking for a new laptop, so when we saw the deal in the Sunday paper, he went to Staples to buy it. Last year we considered buying a new TV at a Black Friday sale, but actually found a better deal at Costco the week before Thanksgiving. So, we skipped the hassle and enjoyed sleeping in instead.

Switch to Cash
Many people have stopped carrying cash, but cash is still accepted in most places. I won’t say all, because I’ve been in doctor’s offices that couldn’t make change and airlines don’t take cash for in-flight purchases. But, for small, day to day purchases, carry cash. The merchant will be happier and you won’t get slapped with a fee. It might even reduce your urge to make all those small purchases.

Get a Credit Card
Of course, cash might not be appealing if you need to make a large purchase, and it won’t work for online or phone orders. Even if you avoid credit, you might want a credit card for these purchases exclusively. In addition to avoiding the debit card fee, you’ll receive purchase protection. Just make sure you choose a card without an annual fee. Only use the card for large purchases where cash is challenging, or online/telephone purchases. Don’t carry it with you. Then make an online credit card payment for the same amount as soon as you complete the transaction. It’s an extra step, but you won’t get dinged a $5 fee for the privilege.

Choose a Credit Union or Online Bank
Bank of America isn’t the only bank testing debit card fees, so you’ll probably have to avoid traditional brick and mortar banks to avoid debit fees. You can switch to a credit union, most of which belong to extensive ATM networks, or you can switch to an online bank. An online bank as your primary bank shouldn’t be your first choice if you make a lot of ATM deposits, but it’s great for those of you who generally only receive direct deposits, or can wait for deposits to be processed by mail.

While the new debit card fee is annoying, it can be avoided. I do wonder at the wisdom of the big banks doing this. As an NPR commentator pointed out yesterday, it does require effort to change banks if you have direct deposit, automatic debits, and online bill pay, but people will do it if the banks push us hard enough. I only use my debit card to withdraw cash, so I won’t be hit by the fee. But for those of you who rely on debit cards, I think the day will come soon when online banks will have those snazzy check scanning apps, and that might be all it takes to convince many people to leave the big banks.

I wouldn’t expect the fee to go away unless Congress changes the regulations or Bank of America loses customers in droves.

One of the goals of Occupy Wall Street is to forgive all outstanding student loan debt under the premise that it would inject money into the economy by helping the real people, rather than banks and corporations that received bailout funds.

TARP Funds Were Repaid
So let’s start with the basic premise: banks and corporations got free money, so we should, too. First, the TARP funds were loans. The money has largely been repaid. Corporations that received money, like GM and AIG, granted the US stock in exchange. The US will get the money back when it sells the stock. It’s not a loss. Forgiving student loan debt would result in a net loss.

Student Loans Are Unfair
I will grant this argument. As I stated in an earlier post, college costs are wildly out of sync with future incomes, and the system needs to be fixed. But simply forgiving all student debt won’t change the system, because the people repaying loans have already finished school. Those costs have already been paid. You have to fix the system by changing the way student loans are issued. Colleges can raise costs as much as they want because student loan issuers know that loans can never be discharged in bankruptcy. They have no incentive to deny a loan.

Restore the ability to discharge student loans in bankruptcy (this didn’t happen as often as student loan lobbyists claimed) and there will be instant pressure to reduce college costs because loan limits will be enforced.

In addition, Congress mandated ridiculously high interest rates, especially compared to today’s low interest rates. Student loan rates should be re-pegged to current interest rates like they used to be. That would instantly alleviate some of the burden. By allowing anyone who hasn’t consolidated their loans to do so at 1 or 2% interest would be a boon and restore fairness to a system that Congress made unfair.

Forgiving Student Loans Will Result in Spending Increases
How is that exactly? Will I suddenly go on a shopping spree because I have $1200 extra dollars a month? No, that money would go into our retirement fund along with our other excess income. The most recent college grads probably won’t increase their spending either. They’ll probably just reduce the amount of credit card debt they accrue because they’re unemployed or their first jobs don’t cover the cost of other living expenses.

Student Loans Are Predatory
Yes, this is true, but here’s the thing: no one is required to get a student loan. If you don’t want student loan debt, do three things: 1. Go to a cheaper school. Spend two years at a community college and live at home to save on rent. 2. Work during the summer, after class, or take a year off to work and save up the money for college. 3. Keep your grades up and apply for scholarships or grants.

Should All Taxpayers Pay for Your Student Loans?
At this point, all federally subsidized and unsubsidized student loans are owned by the government. Once Congress removed the fees provided to banks to carry these loans, the loans were sold back to the government. I recently received a notice that my loans had been sold to Sallie Mae. My husband’s were sold as well. He may have a small private loan outstanding still, but all the rest are owned by the government. So, for the most part, it would just take a few keystrokes to wipe out student debt.

But, the money is used to issue additional student loans to new students. Are we also going to make college free for current and future students, or does this immediate student loan forgiveness only apply to past students?

Part of me would love to have my student debt and my husband’s student debt forgiven. We’d be able to put the money into our retirement funds. But I still don’t think it’s fair. I knew what I was doing when I took out my loans. I don’t deserve to have them forgiven just because the economy is bad. What will people do during the next deep recession? Forgive all mortgages? Forgive whatever bill someone has that they don’t want to pay?

It’s tempting to just hide your head and wait until December when it feels like Christmas. (As I write this, it is 85 degrees outside. I don’t live in Australia, so that’s definitely not Christmas weather. Although, I live in Los Angeles, so I guess it could be. But I digress.)

Create Your Gift List Now
Don’t hide your head. Take action. Determine your holiday budget now, before you’re swayed by all the commercials, temptingly wrapped “stocking stuffers”, and the spirit of generosity. If you do it now, you can be realistic.

Then, with your budget firmly in mind, create the list of gifts you’ll be giving people, along with a dollar limit. I usually wait until Thanksgiving to ask what my younger cousins want, but I know the budget way in advance, so when they tell me this year’s gift card request I can purchase one in that amount. (My cousins are teens and tweens. They want gift cards, not toys.)

If you’re planning to buy any big ticket items, start scouting out sales now, but wait to buy until the Black Friday and pre-Black Friday sales start, because that’s when you’ll see true deals. Scouting now will help you get an idea of what a great price is. No, you won’t score an iPad for $100, but you might get a great deal on an Android tablet come Thanksgiving.

Keep an Eye Out for Gifts
As you’re out an about, keep an eye out for gifts on your list. Once you’ve bought them, do not keep shopping for that person just in case you find something “better.” Better usually means more expensive, or extra. Be firm with yourself. Being generous doesn’t mean you have to go into debt.

Start Making Gifts Now
Many people have the intention of making gifts, which is great and affordable, if you start now (except for baked goods.) If you wait until December to start making gifts, you will probably find yourself among the last minute holiday shoppers because the gift isn’t ready in time.

Where to Find Affordable Furniture
Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Room & Board, and Crate & Barrel make lovely furniture, but at $4000 for a couch, it’s not within my budget. Instead, I found a local place that makes knock-offs of their furniture for a quarter of the price. Sure, I had to deal with a random pirate-themed store and drive 30 miles to choose my furniture, but I also chose the style, size, fabric, leg style and color, arm shape, and number of cushions for $700. It could have been more, but the fabric I chose wasn’t very expensive. I got faux leather (it’s a fabric) for $1000. Compare that to $8000 for leather couches at some stores.

If you live close enough to a major metro, consider stopping in their warehouse district for deals on things like rugs, tables, and chairs. I visited downtown LA recently and scored two rugs for $240. (Bring cash and you’ll get an even better deal. The sale may not be reported, but that really isn’t your problem.)

Consider Coupons
Believe it or not, some furniture stores do offer coupons. Check the ValPak or MoneyMailer envelope that arrives in your mailbox. During the slow season, I found a coupon for $500 off at a local sofa store. I’ve actually bought furniture there before, and it was good quality. The coupon was during one of the slowest parts of the economic recovery, so that may be one reason, but I’ve also found coupons for furniture stores on Groupon, Living Social, and similar sites. There are coupons to be had if you look carefully.

Won’t Cheap Furniture Wear Out Faster?
Yes, probably. I don’t expect my $700 sofa to last as long as a $4000 sofa, but I don’t necessarily want it to. I have three cats. I’m hoping to have a baby. My friends and family have young children. Those three factors combined mean that my sofas and rugs will be trashed long before the cushions wear out! I did Scotchgard everything, but cat scratches, spit-up, and ground up crackers will eventually wear down the couches. And then I’ll replace them. Maybe my taste will have changed by then, so it will be nice to make a change without worrying about the money I spent.

If I were single, didn’t want kids, and had no pets, I would probably be willing to spend more on furniture, but cheap furniture gives me peace of mind. I want to enjoy my furniture, not worry about stains and wear.

Tomatoes
My tomato harvest was 2 Red Reif Oxhearts and about 15 Isis Candy cherry tomatoes. The third plant grew tall and green but did not produce a single piece of fruit. All three were heirlooms, and apparently this was a bad year for heirlooms in California. Almost all of my friends who grow tomatoes had poor harvests this year.

Potatoes
I planted 2 pounds of potatoes and harvested about 6 pounds. Not a bad haul, but I can’t store them properly in my Southern California house! I’m going to try planting some late fall starts to see if they do better. I’ll stagger the planting so that my harvest is also staggered.

Carrots
I couldn’t get these going. Every time I planted another batch, we had a heat spike that killed the seedlings. So, again, I’ll try in the fall.

Lettuce
The lettuce seeds didn’t work – the heat spikes got them, too. But the seedlings I bought produced quite well. The lettuce was on the bitter side, but it was plentiful.

Onions
I bought onion starts for these and they did well. I bent over the stalks a bit too soon, so some didn’t get quite as large as I would have liked, but they loved my garden.

Peppers
I had to buy a seedling, which quickly produced two peppers. They got sunburned before they got big enough, but the plant has tripled in size and has lots of flowers ready to go.

Strawberries
I’m getting lots of strawberries, but they’re tiny. No bigger than a raspberry! I think they need a sunnier spot.

Herbs
I had to buy seedlings for all the herbs.  Basil did great, as did oregano, sage, and mint. Chives are out of control! Rosemary didn’t make it.

Challenges
I had several challenges. The first was that I started too late for seeds My region rarely has freezes, so I can’t go by “last freeze” advisories. Instead, I will start my seeds an appropriate number of weeks before the spring equinox and plan to plant then, or whenever the Farmer’s Almanac recommends. By the time I planted, it was too warm and I couldn’t keep the soil moist. I will also by clear plastic shoeboxes from the dollar store to put over the seedlings as mini greenhouses.

The second was heat. We had a relatively mild summer, but every time I started plants, we had a heat wave with a week of temps over 100. Not good for my new plants.

The third was water. I didn’t set up a watering system. Instead I used a watering can to water three times a week. I think I will install a bubbler system and set it to run at a low bubble for an hour every four days. That’s infrequent enough for tomatoes, and frequent enough for everything else.

Despite the failures, I really enjoyed gardening this summer. It only took about ten minutes a day, at the most. My box system looked lovely and made it easy to maintain. I turned a spiral notebook into a garden journal and will refer to it next year when choosing plant spots. I may rotate some things, but because it’s easy to just replace the soil in one box, it won’t be as necessary.

If you gardened, how did your garden fare?

Monsters and Farms?
I chose the game Monster World, which looks pretty similar to Farmville. I plant, harvest, and sell crops to earn coins, which I then use to hire helpers, decorate the farm, and buy more plots. Each level up affords new opportunities to expand or interesting new crops to plant. That part is fun, and addictive. It’s easy to spend an hour clicking to harvest and watch the points pile up.

In addition to offering a market where you can sell, the game also sends a robot buyer that generally offers more coins per crop, but he only buys certain things and sets a time limit.

You can earn additional points by completing tasks, like building a crib. Tools for the crib are found by harvesting, by asking a friend to send you one, or by buying them with real money.

You Want Me to Spend Real Money?
The game has two forms of currency: coins and cash. You earn coins, you buy Monster Cash with real money. Some of the items I could buy were only available with Monster Cash. So I clicked the link to see what it was about. $80 Monster Dollars cost $11.50 real dollars. For that $11.50, I can buy a large virtual fountain, that will earn me 70 “happiness points” and 105 star points. The star points help me level up, which unlocks additional crops or stuff I can buy. Happiness points earn me the right to plow more plots.

But, really, why do I need to spend $11.50 to buy fake decorations that will earn me the ability to plant fake crops from which I will earn fake coins? I don’t see any option to cash out and make real money from this game.

The task to build a baby crib includes a crying monster baby (not a sound, just an image.) If I don’t want to wait to find the tools I need, I can buy them for just $32 Monster Dollars. If $40 Monster Dollars cost $5.75, I would have to spend $5 real dollars to build a fake crib for a fake baby.

When I saw that baby cry, my heart started to race. What would happen if I didn’t get the crib built quickly enough? Would the baby go away? Would I lose points? Should I spend the money to buy the tools?

I’m too frugal to actually give in to the temptation, but I could see how the game created a false sense of urgency that would prompt me to spend real money to fix whatever issue had developed.

Instead I’ll Just Spend Real Time
At one point, my worker’s went on strike because I’d plowed more plots than they were willing to work. I had to buy decorations to earn happiness points. Decorations bought with Monster coins earn fewer happiness points, so instead you spend more time. One available crop is ready for harvest in one minute. That crop produces two plants. Those plants sell for two coins each. When I saw my plots blocked off, and the time ticking down on a potential buyer, I did a quick calculation. If I spent an hour planting all 20 of my available plots with those crops, I could grow 2400 plants, which would sell for 4800 coins.

But let’s think about that. Let’s say I get paid $20 an hour. I would essentially be spending $20 to earn 4800 fake coins. Why would I waste my time that way?

Yet people do it, every day. A woman shook her baby to death because he interrupted her Farmville game with his crying. Now that’s an extreme, but I’ve also seen friends posting endless status updates on Facebook about their Farmville accomplishments. They spent hours playing the game.

So What Do We Get from these Games?
What do we derive from these games that makes us willing to waste time and potentially spend real money on virtual stuff? I think it’s two things: 1. the false sense of urgency that comes from a waiting buyer or striking worker, and 2. a sense of accomplishment. You’ve harvested your crops and earned points and your friends can come see what you did. (I don’t have any friends playing and I’m ignoring the game’s plea to invite them.)

But really, if you think about it, what have you accomplished? When I post on Facebook about my latest gardening success, I’m talking about a real success. Something I planted with real hands and tended with real effort. All I’m doing in Monster World is clicking a mouse. Clicking a mouse is not an accomplishment. My cat can click a mouse. A one-year-old can click a mouse.

Ultimately, the time spent on Farmville type games is no greater accomplishment than watching TV. So, next time you’re tempted to spend real money on one of these games, go see if there’s something else you’d rather be doing. If you want to do something for a sense of accomplishment, maybe it’s time to buy a real plant.