About 30 years ago, we were in San Diego.  Went to a recommended dentist for a checkup.  Hygenist had cleaned my teeth and took x-rays.  Dentist walks in and without looking in my mouth says I need 12 crowns on those old fillings.  After quickly counting the teeth that had fillings (about 9), I told him he needed to lo...more

DO NOT let your realtor talk you into more house than you can afford.  Ours tried that and we just kept saying no. We finally said if it's more than xxxxxx, don't show it to us.   I've been glad I did, even though we took less house than we wanted, it has worked out okay.  Someday we'll have our dream home.

Substituting applesauce for olive oil?  Uh - I don't think so.  Don't want to try that on spaghetti.

Keep your receipts!  Scan them and keep them with your home inventory.  Our insurance agent once asked me where I bought my clothes and unless I had receipts as to where I bought them and what I spent, I'd probably only get enough to replace my clothes at Wal-Mart.

Look at the cosmetics as stuff you can/want to do versus stuff you need professional help.  Looking back now at the house we are currently in, I would certainly asked for interior paint (walls and ceiling) instead of replacing some interior doors.

we quit the cable companies several years ago and went with Dish.  Recently our service has gone up.  My ideal provider (Dish or otherwise) would be let me pay for the channels I watch.  I had this rant years ago with cell phone packages, and finally they all jumped on the bandwagon with a pay-as-you-go plan, which is ...more

Just remember, unless you are retiring right away (like the next few months), this is all subject to change.  What the government giveth (even if you earned it!), the government taketh away with interest.

Will these pharmaceuticals be of the same quality/grade as those available at other big box stores and the corner drug store pharmacy?    We already know Walmart cuts corners and does not offer the exact same product as other retail outlets - take toilet paper for instance.  I recently stocked our bathrooms with som...more

I'm with Lil LAM - if you don't owe BIG bucks or are underwater on your mortgage, the banks don't want to talk to you.  I would look at a 15 year refi, but since we are looking to sell/buy something else in the next couple of years, then it would be useless.  I'd rather put the extra into updating this place to get the...more