Where to place your thermostat
To avoid overheating your home, be sure that the thermostat that is connected to the furnace is on an inside wall in a main living area. This is preferable to a chilly mud room or a cold outside wall.
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That was Zen - This is Tao
My stepson was going to store some items in his storage section of our attic. I have a new rule - something comes in, something has to leave. That day, we were able to get rid of a lot of junk.
I was telling this to the lady at the post office. What a good idea, she commented. Her husband was apparently a borderline hoarder who would exclaim, “We might need it” when he saved some piece of old carpet or a bent lamp.
Get rid of it. If you haven’t used it in the last three years, it’s unlikely you will use it in the next three years. You will make space and be able to find what you do have. You will be calmer and happier with what you have. It’s easier and faster to clean. You’ll have more time to spend on life and meaningful activities.
Zen Living - simplify your life.
No cost crime deterrents
About 10 years ago, I worked in a small building for a contractor. The neighbourhood was crime ridden. We were broken into a couple of times. What to do? We did install an alarm system but it was unreliable. It would sound off when the wind rattled the garage doors and it took police a long time to get to this office as it was near the outskirts of town.
I posted a huge sign:
BEWARE OF DOG
Occasionally I would bring my brother’s lazy retriever into the office and let him sleep the day away on the floor. Any visitors would finally see the dog from the sign. This “guard” dog would have cheerfully led you to any hidden silverware. When he wasn’t there, the entire staff would pretend there was a dog in the back office. The courier would arrive and ask nervously, “Where is the dog?” I said that the dog was tied up in the back.
In the years there with the sign posted, we never had another break in.
Recently, I heard of another one. Write this on a piece of paper and post this on your back door:
John, the alarm is on.
Decorating on a small budget
I have been looking at wallpaper for the last three weeks. I am busily scraping circa 1980 wallpaper from the office wall and I have finally found some wallpaper that is suitable to replace it. I thought about painting but it makes a nice feature wall and I can decorate around it. Avoid the cutesy country wallpapers with teddy bears or the dreadfully boring prints.
Home Depot and other hardware-like stores carry inexpensive wallpaper these days. In the photo below, the wallpaper is from Rona. Add some red accessories and you have yourself a designer room.
How to make money with an income property
Lately we’ve become mesmerized with the show “Income Property” on HGTV here in Canada. The host, Scott McGillivray, shows homeowners how to effectively build an apartment in their home to generate income in order to lower the mortgage payment.
It’s a brilliantly done program and he shows the “house poor” owners how they can maximize the space to earn the most income. He stages the apartment to get a higher rental income. Some of his tips include making sure the cost of renovations pay back in two years, budgeting enough money and considering the options. He believes that your number one priority should be making your home into an income source to offset the mortgage expense.
Perhaps you are not handy. There are free seminars at Home Depot on laying tile, installing drywall and plumbing. I’ve noticed that local community colleges have handyman courses for even the person who can’t tell a Robertson from a Phillips screwdriver.
In talking to a real estate agent who always had a basement apartment in any house he owned, he stressed to me that he would have a really good lease agreement done up (he used one from Staples) and screened them carefully. He tended to charge slightly less than the going market price so that his tenants would never leave.
The house of today versus the house of yesteryear
I’ve watched those shows where people are buying their first home. They have wish lists like walk-in closets, master en suite bathroom, large dining room, finished basement, huge yard, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. They turn their nose up at anything that requires some elbow grease.
This would be all well and good if they could afford it. Most often, they appear to have pretty middle-of-the-road jobs and I think they want to impress their friends. I believe it’s referred to as being “house poor”.
My parents immigrated to Canada in 1949. My father was a doctor and was in the higher income earner category. I made a calculation and figured the mortgage payment was about 15% of their income. The family home was a 1-1/2 story with a teeny kitchen, one bathroom and two of us always had to share a bedroom.
What happened between then and now?
House spending got a bit out of control but one reason was that – for some people – it was considered sort of a bank account. It could be used to build up equity for retirement or to use a second mortgage to spend on stuff.
In the USA, the Fed would set interest rates, mainly stated to control inflation and growth. But the downside was that interest got so low, which resulted in banks pushing easy credit. The banks made a ton of money but loaded consumers up with loans they couldn’t handle.
The whole thing was done on a slow creep. Prices went up, but salaries didn’t. Also, if you watch TV and movies, the houses people live in for their apparent jobs are way too upscale for what their salaries really would be. Look at the house the King of Queens lived in on a deliveryman’s salary. Do you think Monica and Rachel on Friends could afford a large apartment in New York City? (I have subsequently been told this is Monica’s grandmother’s rent-controlled apartment.) In real life, you can’t do it. It all gives us a wrong picture of how things actually are.
Things have now changed. Perhaps the house of the future has two or three families living together. Maybe we need to move back to the “basic” house and upgrade as we can afford it rather than using credit.
Wallpaper removal
I’ve been scraping circa 1980 wallpaper from the office wall. Here’s a tip to save you time: Fill a spray bottle with water and some liquid fabric softener (4:1 ratio). Spray on the wallpaper until it’s soaked. Use one of those thin, flat scrapers and it just slides off.
Where you live can affect your bottom line
I grew up in the suburbs and then lived 30 years in a big city. I now live in the country at the edge of a town. There are advantages to wherever you live.
In the country, you can garden and it’s almost expected. (But I have seen some Italians and Portuguese do some amazing gardens in the city. Beans and cucumbers can go UP trellises in teeny spaces.) The land and houses are cheaper here. You have a greater choice of energy options: You can use wood to heat your home or even go solar. There’s loads of places to store anything. I find that I can drive around for a week with the same $20 bill in my wallet. The temptation just isn’t here. I noticed that there are a lot of Do-It-Yourselfers in the country.
In the city, you have a diversity of accommodation choices. You can buy a house and rent out the basement or a room. The curbside offers discards that could furnish entire homes. I have found - in perfect condition - shelving, chairs, desks and lamps. The city has a big selection of supermarkets and smaller ethnic markets that compete for everyone’s food dollar. When I lived in Toronto, you could go to free concerts and many museums had free evenings. Libraries have free programs. In the city, you have the option of public transit and it is easier to get by with one car or even go carless.
The suburbs have advantages of both of the above. I think yard sales are the best in the ‘burbs. Parking is cheaper (or free) and insurance is generally less expensive as well. The cost of buying housing is more affordable than in the city.
Wherever you live, you should still cook at home, pack a lunch, barter, buy secondhand, fix and maintain your stuff. It works everywhere.
Saving on home improvements
A friend emailed me yesterday. There has been a lot of rain this summer and many people have had shingles and parts of their roof fly off.
She says: “The garage actually sprung a leak too so the roofer said he could do that too for $450 cash. Another useless expense. Found out later after another rain the water was coming in under the main door, NOT THE ROOF. GRRRRRRRRRR. I should have waited and had it looked at again before jumping to fix it.”
Do your own inspection. Don’t assume that contractors know what they are talking about. Get a second (or third opinion). It can save you a lot of money. As a roofer friend of mine always says, “Roofing ain’t brain surgery.”
Things that cost a lot in the long run
For decades, I wouldn’t buy a car with power windows. I couldn’t afford to fix them if they broke. I just considered it was an added expense that I wasn’t going to pay. When you buy a car, consider the cost of gasoline, repairs/maintenance, licensing, insurance and financing. When you break it down to a daily amount, it can be startling.
I had a friend who received an old fridge from a neighbour. One of those energy-sucking behemoths.
According to Michael Blue Jay, she could save about $150/year replacing her old fridge with a new Energy Star rated one.
When you buy something, consider how much the beast is going to cost you just to sit there and maintain it.
This applies to appliances, vehicles and possibly ex-wives.
