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How To Get Cash Back on Top of Great Deals
We are in the throes of a major remodel at my home. We are turning a 1972 master bedroom and bath suite into something a bit more up-to-date, and we're doing most of the work ourselves.
Which brings me to floor tile. We made a trip to a local …Read more.
Swap Books You Have for Those You Want
Dear Mary: I had the address of a Web site that allows you to list your books by ISBN and swap them with other members. My plan was to let my daughter enter all of our books into the system so she would have an allowance for her book purchases. …Read more.
Post Office Clerk Demonstrates New Flat Rate
Today's first great reader tip, from Shirley in Indiana, brings new meaning to the term "flat rate" and also earns Shirley a one-year membership to Debt-Proof Living Online (at http://www.DebtProofLiving.com). You are going to love this:
…Read more.
How To Jump Into the Coupon Game
A recent column about couponing produced a lot of mail. I recommended The Coupon Clippers as a way to choose the grocery coupons that you want and need, instead of taking a chance that you'll find them in the Sunday paper or elsewhere. I learned …Read more.
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Keep the Dream, but Be Smart About Paying for ItDear Mary: We have been paying on a beautiful piece of property that has a creek running through it. We hope it will be the site of our future retirement home. We got a five-year loan on it, and a balloon payment is due soon. We don't know what to do. We can't get a fixed-rate mortgage on it because it is vacant. Is this just our bank's policy, or is this typical? The bank has explained that our options are: 1. Put a house on the property, and then rent it. 2. Refinance the house that we live in to include enough to pay off the vacant property, which would be $31,000. 3. Take out another five-year loan with a balloon payment, at a higher rate than our current loan. 4. Open a home equity credit line against our primary residence to pay the balloon payment. If we do this, the new payment on our home would be equal to the two payments we are making now. 5. Sell the property. Will you please advise us? -- Chris A., e-mail
Dear Chris: With the limited information I have, my advice is for you to exercise option No. 4: Use equity in your home to pay off the land. Here's my reasoning: Your total debt would remain secured (as opposed to unsecured debt, which is very dangerous for your wealth). You simply would transfer the portion secured by the land to your home. Using figures you included with your letter (which I chose not to include herein), your total new payment on the house ($1,005) would be just about the same as what you are paying now on your home mortgage and the land payment combined, or 25 percent of your net income. Dear Mary: I was so proud of myself; I made your biscuits today! As I cut out the last one and laid it on the baking sheet, I realized I had forgotten to add the baking powder and salt to my all-purpose flour. I feel sick over the time and ingredients I have wasted. My biscuits are in the freezer. Is there any hope for them? -- Sarah G., e-mail Dear Sarah: Without leavening (something to make them rise), your biscuits will come out of the oven exactly the same height they are at this moment. They will be dense and hard as rocks. Do your kids play hockey? They will make dandy pucks. If not, I'd toss them now and consider that a small price for an important lesson learned. Do you have a question for Mary? E-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. Mary Hunt is the founder of DebtProofLiving.com and author of 17 books, including "Debt-Proof Living." To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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