If your money is dwindling in the stock market and you don't know what to do, follow the advice I just received.
Friends who live in England who are from South Africa who want to be saccy with their money recommended a book, Crash Proof, by Peter D. Schiff with John Downes. Published by John Wiley and Sons this year, the writer makes a great case for investing overseas.
He explains his case and gives practical suggestions as to how you should do this.
Read this book. Now.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Auctions 101
Auctions 101
Average folk like you and me don’t usually attend auctions because without the know how, we feel we might get ripped off or taken advantage of and that always feels bad.
Did you know that lots of people attend auctions regularly and this type of “sport shopping” is a prized entertainment?
Last week I found out why.
Auctions are the epitome of “The American Dream”come true. You can buy something that is grossly underpriced and turn around and sell it for much more, if you want to.
You almost feel like a pirate who’s stolen a prize and you fear someone will catch you. But this is legal thievery, where the seller is happy to sell. And the buyer is allowed to take advantage of the seller and purchase an item for the lowest price you can get away with.
Your adventure depends on who else is attending the auction. If you are the only person who is interested in a bone china Wedgwood moustache cup, then you will buy it for a mere $10, a steal by any measure. That’s what I did and my mustachioed husband is very happy to sip coffee out of it.
Quinn’s Auctions occur almost weekly, Wednesdays at 6 PM., at 431 N. Maple Avenue, Falls Church, VA. Address questions to info@quinnsauction.com and visit their website at www.quinsauction.com It’s a great place to cut your “bidding technique” teeth. You may never graduate to the high-end places but you sure will have a lot of fun.
One caution: Attending auctions can be addictive. They are faster paced than TV shopping and less tiring than mall shopping and great deals can be had. This is controlled risk gambling with no guarantees on quality of merchandise and no returns.
Lesson #1. If there is a catalogue sale, you can purchase a catalog of each item to be auctioned and read carefully to find what tickles your fancy. If the auction doesn’t have a catalogue, you have to trust your eye when the item is shown for the first time. Some auctions are for sellers where you try to get the highest price possible from bidders with deep pockets. The final sale price is publicized worldwide and we marvel that anyone would pay millions of dollars for a painting or other treasure.
However, take heart because buyer’s auctions are very approachable and the fun is available to anyone that wants to attend.
Lesson #2. Mark down the maximum price you will spend in the catalogue to protect yourself from impulse bidding.
Lesson #3. Attend the preview that is held for at least a few hours or days before the action begins, so you can look at all the items to be sold, touch them, examine them in great detail, look for repairs, defects, and secret markings. Use a tape measure, and look your potential treasure up in any reference books you may own that describe your sphere of interest. Quinns can help you do your research. Just ask Paul, Matt or David Quinn who are usually on the premises.
Lesson #4. Attend the auction with a friend for accountability. Even if you lose you mind over a rug that you adore, when the bidding goes over your budget, your friend can hold you back. If you are a very enthusiastic type, agree in advance how aggressive you will allow your friend to be in restraining you.
Lesson #5. Keep track of what things go for so you will be better informed the next time you attend. Your saved, well-documented catalogues will become a reference for you in the future.
Lesson #6. If you really like something and want to bid, don’t jump into the bidding at the get go. Wait until it looks like it is waning and then jump in quietly.
Lesson #7. Wear comfortable clothes. You’re going to be there a long time.
Stories abound that may reach Johnny Appleseed proportions someday. But I like the one of the man who bought a lot of 5000 baseball cards for $50. He then sold each one on Ebay.com for $1 apiece. Not a bad turn around and he didn’t let greed get the best of him. Imagine the chain reaction. The next buyer snags a hot card and parlays that into hundreds and someone’s kid gets his college tuition paid for.
Average folk like you and me don’t usually attend auctions because without the know how, we feel we might get ripped off or taken advantage of and that always feels bad.
Did you know that lots of people attend auctions regularly and this type of “sport shopping” is a prized entertainment?
Last week I found out why.
Auctions are the epitome of “The American Dream”come true. You can buy something that is grossly underpriced and turn around and sell it for much more, if you want to.
You almost feel like a pirate who’s stolen a prize and you fear someone will catch you. But this is legal thievery, where the seller is happy to sell. And the buyer is allowed to take advantage of the seller and purchase an item for the lowest price you can get away with.
Your adventure depends on who else is attending the auction. If you are the only person who is interested in a bone china Wedgwood moustache cup, then you will buy it for a mere $10, a steal by any measure. That’s what I did and my mustachioed husband is very happy to sip coffee out of it.
Quinn’s Auctions occur almost weekly, Wednesdays at 6 PM., at 431 N. Maple Avenue, Falls Church, VA. Address questions to info@quinnsauction.com and visit their website at www.quinsauction.com It’s a great place to cut your “bidding technique” teeth. You may never graduate to the high-end places but you sure will have a lot of fun.
One caution: Attending auctions can be addictive. They are faster paced than TV shopping and less tiring than mall shopping and great deals can be had. This is controlled risk gambling with no guarantees on quality of merchandise and no returns.
Lesson #1. If there is a catalogue sale, you can purchase a catalog of each item to be auctioned and read carefully to find what tickles your fancy. If the auction doesn’t have a catalogue, you have to trust your eye when the item is shown for the first time. Some auctions are for sellers where you try to get the highest price possible from bidders with deep pockets. The final sale price is publicized worldwide and we marvel that anyone would pay millions of dollars for a painting or other treasure.
However, take heart because buyer’s auctions are very approachable and the fun is available to anyone that wants to attend.
Lesson #2. Mark down the maximum price you will spend in the catalogue to protect yourself from impulse bidding.
Lesson #3. Attend the preview that is held for at least a few hours or days before the action begins, so you can look at all the items to be sold, touch them, examine them in great detail, look for repairs, defects, and secret markings. Use a tape measure, and look your potential treasure up in any reference books you may own that describe your sphere of interest. Quinns can help you do your research. Just ask Paul, Matt or David Quinn who are usually on the premises.
Lesson #4. Attend the auction with a friend for accountability. Even if you lose you mind over a rug that you adore, when the bidding goes over your budget, your friend can hold you back. If you are a very enthusiastic type, agree in advance how aggressive you will allow your friend to be in restraining you.
Lesson #5. Keep track of what things go for so you will be better informed the next time you attend. Your saved, well-documented catalogues will become a reference for you in the future.
Lesson #6. If you really like something and want to bid, don’t jump into the bidding at the get go. Wait until it looks like it is waning and then jump in quietly.
Lesson #7. Wear comfortable clothes. You’re going to be there a long time.
Stories abound that may reach Johnny Appleseed proportions someday. But I like the one of the man who bought a lot of 5000 baseball cards for $50. He then sold each one on Ebay.com for $1 apiece. Not a bad turn around and he didn’t let greed get the best of him. Imagine the chain reaction. The next buyer snags a hot card and parlays that into hundreds and someone’s kid gets his college tuition paid for.
Curtains and Interior Alternative
Have you noticed that when it comes to planning curtains, drapes, or any fabric window treatment some people embrace the challenge with gusto and some faint?
For the fainters, take heart. This is easier than rocket science, easier than repairing a car and easier than tracking your budget.
But fainters eyes glaze over because they think figuring out how to put fabric on windows is an esoteric mystery, and therefore they allow themselves to be taken advantage of by “experts” who overcharge and help perpetuate that mystery.
If you can measure with a yardstick, sew a straight line with a sewing machine and cut reasonably accurately with scissors, you can save yourself hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars.
A decorating shop charges upwards of $250 per window for a “topper”, a small amount of fabric hung on some kind of hardware to make a window look “dressed.” A discount shop might sell ready-mades in fabrics you can live with for $145 and up.
Did you know that the same window topper made with the same designer fabrics, like Waverly, Shoemaker, Greff and Gramercy can be bought at an outlet only two hours north of DC for an average price of $9.95 per yard or $25.00 each, lined, if they have your pattern in stock?
If your fabric is not already made up into the valence you desire, you can special order them for $25.00 labor per window plus the cost of the fabric. So my $250 has now shrunk to $35 each at the most.
At the Interior Alternative, fabriholics will salivate at the sight of hundreds, perhaps a thousand bolts of fabrics just sitting on shelves waiting to be bought. These are the same designs that are featured regularly in upscale decorating magazines. The only difference between first quality and the seconds sold here is that the dye lots may vary. But the seconds look and feel like first quality.
Did you know that the law allows even the most expensive first quality fabric to have imperfections? All the bolts I inspected, and I’ve been there twice in two weeks, were intact, gorgeously colored and beautifully made. One bolt had a rip in the first six inches. The clerk cut that off and discarded it before she began to measure my piece.
Besides fabrics, there are decorative ropes, ribbons, edgings, piping, fringes, tassels, and pillow forms.
Every month has a sale in the middle two weeks. For example, right now August 11-25th is sale time. All prints, lining, and trims are an additional 30 % off, upholstery, sheers and solids are 20 % off and there will be a one day sidewalk sale on Saturday August 25th to shop outside for a large selection of deeply discounted pillows, chairpads, bedding, valences and remnants. Of course, you can shop inside that day as well.
The month of November is a bonanza with a month long sale as the store gets ready for inventory. That would be a great time to stock up on fabrics for holiday creations, as placements, napkins, bed coverings, designer Christmas stockings, table runners, and all the other creative things you can dream of to make with fabric.
A sign reminds shoppers that “We feature seconds and discontinued fabric at tremendous savings with no adjustments for purchases prior to the sale period.”
My toile is in perfect condition, $9.95 a yard, not only classic but in the forefront of today’s fashions, so I win all around.
Don’t let a decorating store psyche you out and make you feel that your windows require lots of money and “impossible for you to get” know how to sew your curtains. Patterns are available wherever fabrics are sold and detail exactly how much fabric you need to buy. There are still sales people who give good customer service and can patiently help you through the measuring and buying process. Knowledgeable clerks will tell you what you need to do to make your own curtains or perhaps you have a neighbor, family member or close friend that can hold your hand through the process.
It’s so much easier to sew a curtain than to make clothing or hang wallpaper.
The Interior Alternative is at 1325 Old Cooch’s Bridge Road, Newark, DE, (302) 454-3232 and is open M-Sat 10 A.M.-5 P.M.
For the fainters, take heart. This is easier than rocket science, easier than repairing a car and easier than tracking your budget.
But fainters eyes glaze over because they think figuring out how to put fabric on windows is an esoteric mystery, and therefore they allow themselves to be taken advantage of by “experts” who overcharge and help perpetuate that mystery.
If you can measure with a yardstick, sew a straight line with a sewing machine and cut reasonably accurately with scissors, you can save yourself hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars.
A decorating shop charges upwards of $250 per window for a “topper”, a small amount of fabric hung on some kind of hardware to make a window look “dressed.” A discount shop might sell ready-mades in fabrics you can live with for $145 and up.
Did you know that the same window topper made with the same designer fabrics, like Waverly, Shoemaker, Greff and Gramercy can be bought at an outlet only two hours north of DC for an average price of $9.95 per yard or $25.00 each, lined, if they have your pattern in stock?
If your fabric is not already made up into the valence you desire, you can special order them for $25.00 labor per window plus the cost of the fabric. So my $250 has now shrunk to $35 each at the most.
At the Interior Alternative, fabriholics will salivate at the sight of hundreds, perhaps a thousand bolts of fabrics just sitting on shelves waiting to be bought. These are the same designs that are featured regularly in upscale decorating magazines. The only difference between first quality and the seconds sold here is that the dye lots may vary. But the seconds look and feel like first quality.
Did you know that the law allows even the most expensive first quality fabric to have imperfections? All the bolts I inspected, and I’ve been there twice in two weeks, were intact, gorgeously colored and beautifully made. One bolt had a rip in the first six inches. The clerk cut that off and discarded it before she began to measure my piece.
Besides fabrics, there are decorative ropes, ribbons, edgings, piping, fringes, tassels, and pillow forms.
Every month has a sale in the middle two weeks. For example, right now August 11-25th is sale time. All prints, lining, and trims are an additional 30 % off, upholstery, sheers and solids are 20 % off and there will be a one day sidewalk sale on Saturday August 25th to shop outside for a large selection of deeply discounted pillows, chairpads, bedding, valences and remnants. Of course, you can shop inside that day as well.
The month of November is a bonanza with a month long sale as the store gets ready for inventory. That would be a great time to stock up on fabrics for holiday creations, as placements, napkins, bed coverings, designer Christmas stockings, table runners, and all the other creative things you can dream of to make with fabric.
A sign reminds shoppers that “We feature seconds and discontinued fabric at tremendous savings with no adjustments for purchases prior to the sale period.”
My toile is in perfect condition, $9.95 a yard, not only classic but in the forefront of today’s fashions, so I win all around.
Don’t let a decorating store psyche you out and make you feel that your windows require lots of money and “impossible for you to get” know how to sew your curtains. Patterns are available wherever fabrics are sold and detail exactly how much fabric you need to buy. There are still sales people who give good customer service and can patiently help you through the measuring and buying process. Knowledgeable clerks will tell you what you need to do to make your own curtains or perhaps you have a neighbor, family member or close friend that can hold your hand through the process.
It’s so much easier to sew a curtain than to make clothing or hang wallpaper.
The Interior Alternative is at 1325 Old Cooch’s Bridge Road, Newark, DE, (302) 454-3232 and is open M-Sat 10 A.M.-5 P.M.
Carpet
Sales on wall-to-wall carpeting, hardwood and laminate floor installations are usually featured in January and February with Presidents’ Day sales the high point.
If you are considering replacing worn out or dirty carpeting listen to the Queen of Bargains Seminar on floor coverings before you make your final decision.
First and foremost, what are your expectations for your floors? If they are carpeted, how clean do you want them to be? How clean do you want them to look? How much time and money do you want to invest in their upkeep?
Greg Doublestein, proprietor of The Frontgate in Indianapolis and appointed by me as an “Expert of Clean,” says that unarticulated expectations will always disappoint the customer. Not sharing your expectations with your cleaning company or your floor replacement provider will also almost guarantee disappointment.
If you want your carpets to be really clean and always pass strict hygiene standards, you will always be disappointed. It is impossible to disinfect carpets. In fact, if you ever encounter a health care provider whose procedure room is carpeted, walk to the nearest exit. I repeat, it is impossible to disinfect carpets. If hygiene is your number one concern, and you have allergies, pets, children or others who may soil your carpets, even if you leave your outdoor shoes at the door and wear special indoor slippers on your carpets, you are fooling yourself. If hygiene is you’re #1 priority, get ceramic tile, stone, rubber, laminate or wood floors installed.
If you want your carpets to look clean and antiseptic hygiene is not a priority, pay attention to how you clean your carpets. Many methods make carpets look worse because they leave soap or powder in the carpet. Do-it-yourselfers often do more harm than good if they don’t completely remove the cleaning agent. The carpet then acts like a “wash cloth” for your dirty feet. The best method, according to Mr. Doublestein and many carpet manufacturers, is the hot water extraction method, which gives you the best chance of a thorough cleaning. Using carbonated or solvent-based chemicals is acceptable but you have to deal with the chemical odors when you are finished which may be a problem for those people who want to reduce chemicals indoors, not increase them. Stay away from powder and foam cleaning methods because of the residue.
Within any cleaning system you choose, the operator’s expertise is critical. Persnickety do-it-yourselfers need training and mentoring to avoid making the situation worse.
If you must have carpet, know that even if you follow this advice and have appropriate mats outside your home and vacuum a minimum of once a week and have the carpet cleaned as recommended once a year, your carpet may only last, on an average 5-6 years. Under the best of circumstances, you might be able to get 10 years out of your carpet.
If you only plan to live in your home or apartment for less than that, you may not care about what happens to your carpet after that.
I personally do not favor the “disposable mentality” that says I can always replace something if it wears out. I like to invest for the long term, especially when it comes to my home. Even if I don’t intend to live in a place for a long time, I don’t mind investing for the long term because I will get a greater return in the long run. If I rent my home, a better floor will need less maintenance and may never need to be replaced. If I sell my home, a better floor will enhance my home’s value.
If you still prefer carpet and you want to know which vacuum cleaner to buy, visit your local vacuum repair shop and ask which vacuums come in for repair the most. You may be surprised to see the highly touted Hoover Tornado or Eureka wind tunnel machines waiting in line. Mr. Doublestein recommends those made by Riccar. He finds them to be 33-50 % more powerful. If you include the bag, they have four internal filters for dirt and dust. They are mid range in price and are made well, durable and they do the job better.
If you are considering replacing worn out or dirty carpeting listen to the Queen of Bargains Seminar on floor coverings before you make your final decision.
First and foremost, what are your expectations for your floors? If they are carpeted, how clean do you want them to be? How clean do you want them to look? How much time and money do you want to invest in their upkeep?
Greg Doublestein, proprietor of The Frontgate in Indianapolis and appointed by me as an “Expert of Clean,” says that unarticulated expectations will always disappoint the customer. Not sharing your expectations with your cleaning company or your floor replacement provider will also almost guarantee disappointment.
If you want your carpets to be really clean and always pass strict hygiene standards, you will always be disappointed. It is impossible to disinfect carpets. In fact, if you ever encounter a health care provider whose procedure room is carpeted, walk to the nearest exit. I repeat, it is impossible to disinfect carpets. If hygiene is your number one concern, and you have allergies, pets, children or others who may soil your carpets, even if you leave your outdoor shoes at the door and wear special indoor slippers on your carpets, you are fooling yourself. If hygiene is you’re #1 priority, get ceramic tile, stone, rubber, laminate or wood floors installed.
If you want your carpets to look clean and antiseptic hygiene is not a priority, pay attention to how you clean your carpets. Many methods make carpets look worse because they leave soap or powder in the carpet. Do-it-yourselfers often do more harm than good if they don’t completely remove the cleaning agent. The carpet then acts like a “wash cloth” for your dirty feet. The best method, according to Mr. Doublestein and many carpet manufacturers, is the hot water extraction method, which gives you the best chance of a thorough cleaning. Using carbonated or solvent-based chemicals is acceptable but you have to deal with the chemical odors when you are finished which may be a problem for those people who want to reduce chemicals indoors, not increase them. Stay away from powder and foam cleaning methods because of the residue.
Within any cleaning system you choose, the operator’s expertise is critical. Persnickety do-it-yourselfers need training and mentoring to avoid making the situation worse.
If you must have carpet, know that even if you follow this advice and have appropriate mats outside your home and vacuum a minimum of once a week and have the carpet cleaned as recommended once a year, your carpet may only last, on an average 5-6 years. Under the best of circumstances, you might be able to get 10 years out of your carpet.
If you only plan to live in your home or apartment for less than that, you may not care about what happens to your carpet after that.
I personally do not favor the “disposable mentality” that says I can always replace something if it wears out. I like to invest for the long term, especially when it comes to my home. Even if I don’t intend to live in a place for a long time, I don’t mind investing for the long term because I will get a greater return in the long run. If I rent my home, a better floor will need less maintenance and may never need to be replaced. If I sell my home, a better floor will enhance my home’s value.
If you still prefer carpet and you want to know which vacuum cleaner to buy, visit your local vacuum repair shop and ask which vacuums come in for repair the most. You may be surprised to see the highly touted Hoover Tornado or Eureka wind tunnel machines waiting in line. Mr. Doublestein recommends those made by Riccar. He finds them to be 33-50 % more powerful. If you include the bag, they have four internal filters for dirt and dust. They are mid range in price and are made well, durable and they do the job better.
Hunkering Down in the Kitchen
Am I glad that I sat in the kitchen at the feet of older women when I was growing up? I learned kitchen frugality, creativity and general food strategies from some major, full-time homemakers.
To the memory of Aunt Fae, Mrs. Doviak, and mom I am launching the Queen of Bargains Guide to “Hunkering Down in the Kitchen, 101.”
First, take stock of what you have. In a specially designated “Kitchen Kommand Notebook” use dividers. Let your first section be “What’s on hand.” List all perishable and long shelf life items, even those way back on the top shelf of the cupboard which you use least.
Categorize what you’ve got: staples – flours, sugar, cornmeal, etc.; condiments, seasonings, perishable necessities, long shelf life necessities, i.e. mustard, peanut butter, jellies, sauces.
Next to every perishable staple in your refrigerator, write down a nonperishable substitute that you can use in a pinch. For example, for fresh milk, there is boxed soymilk and powdered nonfat dry milk. For butter you can use spray on olive oil. For old fashioned “refrigerate after opening” peanut butter, there is a “not necessary to refrigerate” kind. Mayonnaise comes in individual packages, like those found in tuna kits.
Make a section on this page at the bottom or on the next page for “Meals that can be made with only the ingredients I have on hand.” (I had a friend whose mom was a missionary in the field a lot. She would make any dish she wanted to even if she had only one of the necessary ingredients. Her stroganoff might have no beef, no sour cream, but perhaps macaroni and mushrooms.) Get creative naming your meals. This stroganoff could be called vegetarian stroganoff or New Age Stroganoff or whatever you please.
Update this list weekly and show your family where you keep the notebook. In case you are not at home at mealtime, you will have already recorded your genius for them to use as a guide. This is especially good for family members who get limp as they approach the kitchen and love to moan, “There’s no food in the house.”
Second, make a list of every food source within one to two miles of your home, including those that are what you would call walking distance. Record their phone numbers and web addresses. Include food coops or wholesale sources. Periodically, call them for prices of three staples on your shopping list or three splurge items. Prices shift faster than the wind and saving money on your food bill adds up.
Third, put all coupons in an envelope and circle expiration dates. Group them in the order that products they feature appear in your grocery aisles.
Fourth, consider forming a dinner group with friends and neighbors. You cook less and enjoy company more while you save money, energy and time. If four families or individuals form a group, you cook only once every four days. On your day everyone eats at your home. On the other three days you eat at a different home.
“Hunkering Down” can include energy rationing and other deprivations that we have not yet experienced. Sharing meals with a group can turn the sacrifice into something good for all.
Fifth, make meals that keep on feeding. A roasted chicken or turkey can be served hot, then cold as salad and then mixed with veggies as a casserole. Chicken and turkey meat freeze well and the bones can also be bagged, frozen, and boiled later for soup.
Sixth, inventory your cookbooks and start to meal plan to eliminate waste, unused leftovers, and the stress of mealtime blues that get us to order “take out” a bit too often.
One night a week spent getting this organized will reduce stress in the all too stressed, hunkering down, times.
Seventh, find food storage areas for nonperishable cans and boxes of staples in places you haven’t considered before: under stairways, under beds, on the top of armoires covered with a pretty fabric, and behind furniture. Always make a list of what’s where and keep it in your Kitchen Kommand Notebook.
I hope I am overreacting.
In case I’m not, I’ll have lots of hints in future columns for these unique times, which I am calling, “The Hunkering Down of America.”
To the memory of Aunt Fae, Mrs. Doviak, and mom I am launching the Queen of Bargains Guide to “Hunkering Down in the Kitchen, 101.”
First, take stock of what you have. In a specially designated “Kitchen Kommand Notebook” use dividers. Let your first section be “What’s on hand.” List all perishable and long shelf life items, even those way back on the top shelf of the cupboard which you use least.
Categorize what you’ve got: staples – flours, sugar, cornmeal, etc.; condiments, seasonings, perishable necessities, long shelf life necessities, i.e. mustard, peanut butter, jellies, sauces.
Next to every perishable staple in your refrigerator, write down a nonperishable substitute that you can use in a pinch. For example, for fresh milk, there is boxed soymilk and powdered nonfat dry milk. For butter you can use spray on olive oil. For old fashioned “refrigerate after opening” peanut butter, there is a “not necessary to refrigerate” kind. Mayonnaise comes in individual packages, like those found in tuna kits.
Make a section on this page at the bottom or on the next page for “Meals that can be made with only the ingredients I have on hand.” (I had a friend whose mom was a missionary in the field a lot. She would make any dish she wanted to even if she had only one of the necessary ingredients. Her stroganoff might have no beef, no sour cream, but perhaps macaroni and mushrooms.) Get creative naming your meals. This stroganoff could be called vegetarian stroganoff or New Age Stroganoff or whatever you please.
Update this list weekly and show your family where you keep the notebook. In case you are not at home at mealtime, you will have already recorded your genius for them to use as a guide. This is especially good for family members who get limp as they approach the kitchen and love to moan, “There’s no food in the house.”
Second, make a list of every food source within one to two miles of your home, including those that are what you would call walking distance. Record their phone numbers and web addresses. Include food coops or wholesale sources. Periodically, call them for prices of three staples on your shopping list or three splurge items. Prices shift faster than the wind and saving money on your food bill adds up.
Third, put all coupons in an envelope and circle expiration dates. Group them in the order that products they feature appear in your grocery aisles.
Fourth, consider forming a dinner group with friends and neighbors. You cook less and enjoy company more while you save money, energy and time. If four families or individuals form a group, you cook only once every four days. On your day everyone eats at your home. On the other three days you eat at a different home.
“Hunkering Down” can include energy rationing and other deprivations that we have not yet experienced. Sharing meals with a group can turn the sacrifice into something good for all.
Fifth, make meals that keep on feeding. A roasted chicken or turkey can be served hot, then cold as salad and then mixed with veggies as a casserole. Chicken and turkey meat freeze well and the bones can also be bagged, frozen, and boiled later for soup.
Sixth, inventory your cookbooks and start to meal plan to eliminate waste, unused leftovers, and the stress of mealtime blues that get us to order “take out” a bit too often.
One night a week spent getting this organized will reduce stress in the all too stressed, hunkering down, times.
Seventh, find food storage areas for nonperishable cans and boxes of staples in places you haven’t considered before: under stairways, under beds, on the top of armoires covered with a pretty fabric, and behind furniture. Always make a list of what’s where and keep it in your Kitchen Kommand Notebook.
I hope I am overreacting.
In case I’m not, I’ll have lots of hints in future columns for these unique times, which I am calling, “The Hunkering Down of America.”
Shopping Strategies
Buying and selling almost anything is easier if you have principles that guide your decisions. Commerce should not be a free fall into spending guided by emotions or the feeling that you are a victim being manipulated by advertising, peer pressure and competition.
Buying and selling a house recently has put me into the decision making position many times a day and I would not be surviving the process if I didn’t have some wisdom to rest on. If a ship’s captain relied on the stars for navigational decisions and the stars shifted their positions drastically each night, the captain would never get anywhere, except, perhaps lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Here are the “Queen of Bargains Principles for Buying and Selling Almost Anything.” I recommend them to you because they will help give you peace of mind and they will protect your money from the chaos of impulse spending.
Principle #1. Just because you have the money to buy something doesn’t mean you have to spend it. (I’m not sure whether to buy carpet, a wood laminate, or hard wood for my basement floor. Therefore, even though I can afford it, I am waiting until I’m sure about what to choose. I will wait for a year if I have to in order not to make a costly mistake.)
Principle #2. When you don’t have the money to buy something, don’t use someone else’s money to buy. (I am only charging what I can pay for when the bill comes in. I will not string along payments and incur interest on a credit card bill.)
Principle #3. Budgets aren’t just for the poor. Budgets are also for the rich and the in between. ( Even though I am debt free and pay my bills on time, I’ve planned to spend only a certain amount on my new home. I will stick to that budget and wait for another year if I am tempted to exceed it.)
Principle #4. Ask for advice and research your desired purchase. You don’t have to take the advice or recommended research but have really good reasons for differing from others. Listening to others helps you clarify your own ideas which is helpful if you start out confused or unsure. (Friends, a decorator, and two stores counseled granite counter tops for beauty, permanence and ease of care. I am saving thousands by using a very interesting, rough textured, stone like laminate called ebony star. When the decorator heard and understood my reasons, she helped me find the perfect choice.)
Principle #5. An upscale look can cost downscale prices if you are willing to wait, think creatively and look far and wide. (I looked at scores of tile kitchen backsplashes and visited one store several times before figuring out what to get. I changed my design concept several times until the look and cost were right. Bringing a wallpaper sample into the tile store was also useful.)
Principle #6. Make your decisions and then wait two days. If you have the money and peace about your choices, go ahead. If not, rethink your solutions. (Even though I like white walls, my new walls are painted in Benjamin Moore creamy tone. It would be wasteful to paint over a perfectly good and expensive paint job. I am decorating around the color and I find that I like it.)
Principle #7. Don’t assume expensive stores will be out of reach. (Walls For U in Chantilly, VA has the perfect kitchen wallpaper in stock for $14.95 a double roll instead of $50 a roll on special order elsewhere.)
Principle #8. Don’t assume that the cheapest store will have what you want or need.
(Lowes is selling their best shower curtain rings for $9.99 and an upscale bathroom store, Bed ‘N Bath in the Bradlee Shopping Center in Alexandria is selling nicer ones for less. I bought a Fleur de Lys silver tone set for $6.99.)
Principle #9. Use window shopping in expensive stores to teach you. Union Hardware has kitchen cabinet hinges that are upscale and expensive, around $12.00 a pair. They taught me what to look for. I found it, an antique look 3/8” self-closing hinge, at Home Depot for $1.89 a pair. For 18 pair I’ve saved roughly $182 plus tax.)
Buying and selling a house recently has put me into the decision making position many times a day and I would not be surviving the process if I didn’t have some wisdom to rest on. If a ship’s captain relied on the stars for navigational decisions and the stars shifted their positions drastically each night, the captain would never get anywhere, except, perhaps lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Here are the “Queen of Bargains Principles for Buying and Selling Almost Anything.” I recommend them to you because they will help give you peace of mind and they will protect your money from the chaos of impulse spending.
Principle #1. Just because you have the money to buy something doesn’t mean you have to spend it. (I’m not sure whether to buy carpet, a wood laminate, or hard wood for my basement floor. Therefore, even though I can afford it, I am waiting until I’m sure about what to choose. I will wait for a year if I have to in order not to make a costly mistake.)
Principle #2. When you don’t have the money to buy something, don’t use someone else’s money to buy. (I am only charging what I can pay for when the bill comes in. I will not string along payments and incur interest on a credit card bill.)
Principle #3. Budgets aren’t just for the poor. Budgets are also for the rich and the in between. ( Even though I am debt free and pay my bills on time, I’ve planned to spend only a certain amount on my new home. I will stick to that budget and wait for another year if I am tempted to exceed it.)
Principle #4. Ask for advice and research your desired purchase. You don’t have to take the advice or recommended research but have really good reasons for differing from others. Listening to others helps you clarify your own ideas which is helpful if you start out confused or unsure. (Friends, a decorator, and two stores counseled granite counter tops for beauty, permanence and ease of care. I am saving thousands by using a very interesting, rough textured, stone like laminate called ebony star. When the decorator heard and understood my reasons, she helped me find the perfect choice.)
Principle #5. An upscale look can cost downscale prices if you are willing to wait, think creatively and look far and wide. (I looked at scores of tile kitchen backsplashes and visited one store several times before figuring out what to get. I changed my design concept several times until the look and cost were right. Bringing a wallpaper sample into the tile store was also useful.)
Principle #6. Make your decisions and then wait two days. If you have the money and peace about your choices, go ahead. If not, rethink your solutions. (Even though I like white walls, my new walls are painted in Benjamin Moore creamy tone. It would be wasteful to paint over a perfectly good and expensive paint job. I am decorating around the color and I find that I like it.)
Principle #7. Don’t assume expensive stores will be out of reach. (Walls For U in Chantilly, VA has the perfect kitchen wallpaper in stock for $14.95 a double roll instead of $50 a roll on special order elsewhere.)
Principle #8. Don’t assume that the cheapest store will have what you want or need.
(Lowes is selling their best shower curtain rings for $9.99 and an upscale bathroom store, Bed ‘N Bath in the Bradlee Shopping Center in Alexandria is selling nicer ones for less. I bought a Fleur de Lys silver tone set for $6.99.)
Principle #9. Use window shopping in expensive stores to teach you. Union Hardware has kitchen cabinet hinges that are upscale and expensive, around $12.00 a pair. They taught me what to look for. I found it, an antique look 3/8” self-closing hinge, at Home Depot for $1.89 a pair. For 18 pair I’ve saved roughly $182 plus tax.)
Retirement
Whether you plan to sit on a porch and rock when you retire or be “refired” into some inspiring and fulfilling second career, you are still going to have expenses. There is no reward this side of heaven for patient long-suffering devotion to your work and fulfilling your responsibilities to yourself and others that may depend on you without money.
Traditionally, company, union, government sponsored pensions and or Social Security have helped meet the need providing you pared down expenses and lived simply or moved somewhere where expenses are less than you are used to paying now.
In addition to these pensions there are IRA’s that some people contribute to yearly, from which you are able to withdraw without penalty beginning at age 59 ½. If you can live without this money until you are 70, you must take payments and that could be a nice nest egg to have.
Or you could have managed to be born into a family where trust funds have provided for your future along with your children and grandchildren. Unless the stock and bond markets all crash and then you will be standing in line for handouts along with the rest of the country.
Forty years ago and more people looking forward to retirement also had their homes as security. It was considered desirable to pay down your mortgage and live securely, during retirement in a home that was all yours. With only taxes and insurance to worry about, your monthly obligations would be considerably lower than they were with mortgage payments and that could keep you at home in familiar surroundings perhaps until the end of your life.
Today families have begun to refinance their homes every time they want to remodel their home, pay college tuition, or pay for extraordinary medical expenses. By the time they retire, their home is worth less to them than perhaps when they bought it. Still mortgaged up to the hilt, they are hit again if the housing market is in a dip and the value of their home is less than the value for which they refinanced.
Or perhaps people who are close to retiring have been “Enronned,” the new action verb cloned by the bankruptcy of the large energy company that was supposed to be a solid investment for their employees and stockholders. In 1929 almost all of America was shut down this way because of the stock market crash. Stocks became worthless and fortunes were worth less than yesterday’s chewing gum.
I have a plan that will work to protect you from financial disaster and provide for your future unless we have a nuclear or other disaster from which almost no one will escape. The plan for that future is only in the plan of salvation and if you don’t know what that is, e-mail me for more information.
The financial plan lies in real estate. When I was 25, I had never heard of this plan. Now many years later, I am continually grateful to my former dentist, Dr. Pat Tigani, who advised me to go this way and I have never looked back.
Here’s how it works.
Buy a home, condo or townhouse, some well-chosen piece of real estate that you can afford, that costs less than 35-40% of your take home income. Have the payments be as low as you can go and still be habitable and in a good location. A good realtor will help you get started. Resist paying a lot.
First live in this place for at least 2 years, so you can avoid paying investor’s mortgage rates, which are higher than what you would normally pay for a residence. Make sure that your monthly payment of principal, interest, taxes, insurance and other fixed fees like condo fee are equal to or less than what you could get as rent for the property. While you are living there, tastefully and reasonably fix the place up for the long haul. You intend to rent this out forever.
After 2 years, rent out the place and move on to another future rental home and follow the same guidelines.
At retirement, you will own at least one, perhaps 2 or 3 properties with paid off mortgages that will offset your pension. Stocks may come and stocks may go but real estate is forever.
Traditionally, company, union, government sponsored pensions and or Social Security have helped meet the need providing you pared down expenses and lived simply or moved somewhere where expenses are less than you are used to paying now.
In addition to these pensions there are IRA’s that some people contribute to yearly, from which you are able to withdraw without penalty beginning at age 59 ½. If you can live without this money until you are 70, you must take payments and that could be a nice nest egg to have.
Or you could have managed to be born into a family where trust funds have provided for your future along with your children and grandchildren. Unless the stock and bond markets all crash and then you will be standing in line for handouts along with the rest of the country.
Forty years ago and more people looking forward to retirement also had their homes as security. It was considered desirable to pay down your mortgage and live securely, during retirement in a home that was all yours. With only taxes and insurance to worry about, your monthly obligations would be considerably lower than they were with mortgage payments and that could keep you at home in familiar surroundings perhaps until the end of your life.
Today families have begun to refinance their homes every time they want to remodel their home, pay college tuition, or pay for extraordinary medical expenses. By the time they retire, their home is worth less to them than perhaps when they bought it. Still mortgaged up to the hilt, they are hit again if the housing market is in a dip and the value of their home is less than the value for which they refinanced.
Or perhaps people who are close to retiring have been “Enronned,” the new action verb cloned by the bankruptcy of the large energy company that was supposed to be a solid investment for their employees and stockholders. In 1929 almost all of America was shut down this way because of the stock market crash. Stocks became worthless and fortunes were worth less than yesterday’s chewing gum.
I have a plan that will work to protect you from financial disaster and provide for your future unless we have a nuclear or other disaster from which almost no one will escape. The plan for that future is only in the plan of salvation and if you don’t know what that is, e-mail me for more information.
The financial plan lies in real estate. When I was 25, I had never heard of this plan. Now many years later, I am continually grateful to my former dentist, Dr. Pat Tigani, who advised me to go this way and I have never looked back.
Here’s how it works.
Buy a home, condo or townhouse, some well-chosen piece of real estate that you can afford, that costs less than 35-40% of your take home income. Have the payments be as low as you can go and still be habitable and in a good location. A good realtor will help you get started. Resist paying a lot.
First live in this place for at least 2 years, so you can avoid paying investor’s mortgage rates, which are higher than what you would normally pay for a residence. Make sure that your monthly payment of principal, interest, taxes, insurance and other fixed fees like condo fee are equal to or less than what you could get as rent for the property. While you are living there, tastefully and reasonably fix the place up for the long haul. You intend to rent this out forever.
After 2 years, rent out the place and move on to another future rental home and follow the same guidelines.
At retirement, you will own at least one, perhaps 2 or 3 properties with paid off mortgages that will offset your pension. Stocks may come and stocks may go but real estate is forever.
Reinvent the Use of Space in your Home
Why does a dining room have to be the place where your family eats or a warehouse for a duplicate of what you might already have in your kitchen?
Why do the living room and the family room have to compete for your family’s attention?
Why can’t an unused bedroom be a closet or dressing room or both?
So you’ve guessed that I’m at it again. Here’s the new plan.
My stepdaughter just bought her first place and I enjoyed giving her our dining room furniture, our basement TV couch, and a dresser that we reinvented in to an office credenza. After studying the empty dining room for several weeks my husband realized that his horseshoe shaped oak desk could “temporarily” live in the dining room so I could begin converting his study into a closet/dressing room.
Once we got the desk downstairs, it seemed to belong in the space. I had often thought that our dining room would make a cozy library/ den and now it was beginning to take shape in my mind.
But where would we dine? Our kitchen table is big enough, an 81 inch long masterpiece handcrafted by an Amish carpenter who used wood from the underside of an old barn for the top. He added new legs and a “bowtie” to cover a wood knot on the top, which gives the table so much character. Purchased from Village Reproductions and Antiques on Sullyfield Circle in Chantilly, VA 10 years ago for $1000 it will definitely be a prized possession for generations.
I have always wished I could live in an historic home complete with working fireplace in the kitchen. If I move the kitchen table into our family room, it will be parallel to the fireplace that has a wood stove insert installed in it. I’ve done that temporarily for special occasions and loved the look. With a soaring 22 foot ceiling, I’m easily transported in my mind to a Jacobean Great Room, which is my favorite English décor. Of course, the leather loveseat and ottoman could go to the basement TV room.
Knowing these two room reinventions would be incomplete without other complimentary furniture, I have resisted doing anything but fantasizing about them. Until this week.
My favorite, discount furniture store is Warehouse Furniture Showrooms, 5641 General Washington Dr., Suite K, Alexandria, VA 703-256-2497. I visited to see if the colonial hutch I’ve imagined in my fantasy dining room was still in the warehouse. Not only was it there but signs proclaimed an unannounced special for a week of spring-cleaning. That meant an additional 20 % off was available on all merchandise “upstairs” which is exactly where this beauty was. Colonial red and natural pine, it has pewter hardware, four shelves above the buffet bottom which has drawers and four roomy cupboards underneath. With built-in plate racks on each open shelf, I can finally display my lovely china or my eclectic collection of 31 bone china teacups and saucers inherited from my mom and Aunt Sarah. Normally reduced $600 from retail, it was now reduced by almost another $300. How could I turn this down? I’d visualized it in my home for months.
Still upstairs in the warehouse I noticed the beautifully crafted bookshelves, which would complete the upscale study I was creating for my husband in the old dining room. They were also 20 % off so for about $1000 I would get 99 inches of bookcases. A lovely mahogany hand rubbed finish, they would go well with the library table that was now just a resting-place for plants and old books in the family room.
The only problem left was to adjust my husband’s desk, a medium oak finish, to go with the mahogany. An additional $4.68 spent at Sears got me a mahogany oil-based wood stain which I have been rubbing onto the desk to turn the brown/yellow oak look into a brown/red mahogany look. After applying two coats, it looks like I will succeed.
A new dining room set would have cost thousands more than I have spent to recreate a study and dining room. I’ve used what I had and added one key piece to each room to enhance the look.
People exclaim all the time “Your husband must really love you.” They are implying that I am so much more low maintenance than most wives.
I don’t call $2000 low maintenance. But it sure beats $10,000.
Why do the living room and the family room have to compete for your family’s attention?
Why can’t an unused bedroom be a closet or dressing room or both?
So you’ve guessed that I’m at it again. Here’s the new plan.
My stepdaughter just bought her first place and I enjoyed giving her our dining room furniture, our basement TV couch, and a dresser that we reinvented in to an office credenza. After studying the empty dining room for several weeks my husband realized that his horseshoe shaped oak desk could “temporarily” live in the dining room so I could begin converting his study into a closet/dressing room.
Once we got the desk downstairs, it seemed to belong in the space. I had often thought that our dining room would make a cozy library/ den and now it was beginning to take shape in my mind.
But where would we dine? Our kitchen table is big enough, an 81 inch long masterpiece handcrafted by an Amish carpenter who used wood from the underside of an old barn for the top. He added new legs and a “bowtie” to cover a wood knot on the top, which gives the table so much character. Purchased from Village Reproductions and Antiques on Sullyfield Circle in Chantilly, VA 10 years ago for $1000 it will definitely be a prized possession for generations.
I have always wished I could live in an historic home complete with working fireplace in the kitchen. If I move the kitchen table into our family room, it will be parallel to the fireplace that has a wood stove insert installed in it. I’ve done that temporarily for special occasions and loved the look. With a soaring 22 foot ceiling, I’m easily transported in my mind to a Jacobean Great Room, which is my favorite English décor. Of course, the leather loveseat and ottoman could go to the basement TV room.
Knowing these two room reinventions would be incomplete without other complimentary furniture, I have resisted doing anything but fantasizing about them. Until this week.
My favorite, discount furniture store is Warehouse Furniture Showrooms, 5641 General Washington Dr., Suite K, Alexandria, VA 703-256-2497. I visited to see if the colonial hutch I’ve imagined in my fantasy dining room was still in the warehouse. Not only was it there but signs proclaimed an unannounced special for a week of spring-cleaning. That meant an additional 20 % off was available on all merchandise “upstairs” which is exactly where this beauty was. Colonial red and natural pine, it has pewter hardware, four shelves above the buffet bottom which has drawers and four roomy cupboards underneath. With built-in plate racks on each open shelf, I can finally display my lovely china or my eclectic collection of 31 bone china teacups and saucers inherited from my mom and Aunt Sarah. Normally reduced $600 from retail, it was now reduced by almost another $300. How could I turn this down? I’d visualized it in my home for months.
Still upstairs in the warehouse I noticed the beautifully crafted bookshelves, which would complete the upscale study I was creating for my husband in the old dining room. They were also 20 % off so for about $1000 I would get 99 inches of bookcases. A lovely mahogany hand rubbed finish, they would go well with the library table that was now just a resting-place for plants and old books in the family room.
The only problem left was to adjust my husband’s desk, a medium oak finish, to go with the mahogany. An additional $4.68 spent at Sears got me a mahogany oil-based wood stain which I have been rubbing onto the desk to turn the brown/yellow oak look into a brown/red mahogany look. After applying two coats, it looks like I will succeed.
A new dining room set would have cost thousands more than I have spent to recreate a study and dining room. I’ve used what I had and added one key piece to each room to enhance the look.
People exclaim all the time “Your husband must really love you.” They are implying that I am so much more low maintenance than most wives.
I don’t call $2000 low maintenance. But it sure beats $10,000.
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