About a month ago, we had a pretty lively discussion about whether or not you should pay off your mortgage early. A number of readers made great points on both sides of the debate. Since that time, I put together some thoughts on how to pay off your mortgage early for those that are interested [...]

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“How fair is a garden amid the toils and passions of existence.”
-Benjamin Disraeli

In recent years, the adoption of an independent and sustainable lifestyle has become increasingly attractive to a growing number of people. I am one of the many who seek such a lifestyle and, though I am far from reaching this goal, my journey [...]

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Installing a rain barrel is an excellent way to reduce runoff, keep storm water out of the municipal system, and save money. Pure rain collected from your rooftop has relatively few contaminants, and is perfect for a variety of outdoor uses.
The idea of harnessing rainwater has intrigued me for years now, but I’ve never gotten [...]

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Should you payoff your mortgage early? I asked that question a couple of weeks ago, and the majority of respondents said “yes.” With that in mind, I thought I’d put together a list of strategies for doing just that…
Refinance your mortgage to a shorter term
If you refinance your mortgage to a shorter term, say from [...]

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This morning I wrote about the high cost of hurricane insurance. Since today is the first day of hurricane season, I thought I’d follow that up with a list of tips from the National Hurricane Center on preparing for and surviving a hurricane.
While some of these tips are hurricane specific, others make good sense in [...]

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The 2009 hurricane season officially starts today. As such, I thought I’d talk a bit about hurricane insurance. Unfortunately, according to recent reports, hurricane insurance rates are on the rise. Beyond increased premiums, issuers have been increasing deductibles and, in some cases, dropping policy holders in high risk areas.
These changes have been driven by a [...]

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Should you pay off your mortgage early? Or should you focus on investing with your spare cash? This is one of the most hotly debated topics in personal finance, with vocal proponents on both sides. Today, I thought I’d take a look at this issue from both angles and then share our approach with you.
Why [...]

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I’m guilty of buying small gadgets and/or books that I don’t really need. On the surface, many of these items look like they’ll save me time or money, but I either rarely use them or otherwise find that I don’t want to keep them around. Not only does this waste money, but it also results [...]

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Since most power outages occur during the spring and summers months, this article will focus on power outages in warmer weather. If you experience an outage in cold weather, make sure you have an alternative heat source such as a propane-powered heater and lots of fuel! Either that, or you’ll need a generator.
This past weekend [...]

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I’ve talked at length in the past about how your credit score is determined and why it’s important. Aside from paying your bills on time, one of the biggest things you can do to protect your credit score is to keep a close eye on your credit report.
While you’re entitled to one free credit report [...]

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