Leftovers. The bain of your childhood, the stuff of your college cafeteria and the reality of your postgraduate scrounge of a life. So why, now that you’ve finally established yourself as as somewhat functioning adult, would you eat leftovers of your own volition? Because you could save over $2,000 a year just by eating leftovers, at least that’s what the hubs and I saved by forgoing the brown-bagged lunch and sticking to tupperware filled with yesterday’s goodies.
An average lunch for Hubs and I looked like this, sandwich, cookies, chips, grapes/apple, and sliced carrots. Sounds harmless right? Actually this little number multiplied by two people over five days clocks in at $39.50 a week. Here’s the math.
The hubs and I are redecorating. Or, should I say decorating for the first time since being on a college student budget :). What this means is we aren’t limited to what our local Goodwill has to offer. What it doesn’t mean is we can spend a small fortune decorating our three bedroom abode (we have a little one afterall!). We know this and yet our first stop this weekend was Restoration Hardware. Yeah...I know what you’re thinking. But don’t worry, this story has a happy ending.
Perhaps it’s the artist in us or maybe it’s just that we like looking at stuff we can’t afford, either way our trip to Restoration sent me home on a wild rampage to find out how I could make my favorite items myself. The key for me is a good tutorial, otherwise I’m in a bad mood with a huge mess on my hands. So after a long search here they are - five fabulous Restoration Hardware items that you can DIY!
With Mother's Day creeping up, I'm guessing many of you still have not gotten anything for your own mother. Instead of going for the usual scarf, flowers, or cheesy greeting card, why not try one of these more meaningful (and thrifty!) ways to show Mom you care!
People thinking about buying a home typically need to determine the mortgage payments they can afford to pay each month, and the down payments they can come up with. Often, new buyers struggle to come up with the money for their down payments and to fully understand all the upfront charges.
A down payment on a home is simply money that a buyer gives to the seller when closing on the house. Typically, lenders require a minimum of between 5 and 20 percent of the home price as a down payment. So a buyer who bought a house priced at $200,000 would likely be required to pay a down payment of between $10,000 and $40,000. The lender would then give the buyer a mortgage loan for the remaining $160,000 to $190,000, which the buyer would repay, with interest, bit-by-bit each month.
The hubs and I love renting, for many reasons, and it’s not just because we’re scared of the “m” word. What it boils down to is, as artists, we love adventures and new places and so while we’ll probably have to settle down one of these days, we’re not going to relegate ourselves to one area sooner than we have to.
While this approach is agreeable with our lifestyle, it’s presented some decorating challenges. Our landlords have had rules that run the gamut from no painting allowed, to no nail-holes in the wall, to anything goes as long as you undo it. If you find yourself in an apartments befuddled, here are 5 ideas for decorating apartment walls on the cheap!
