It’s Labor Day weekend. My wife and I are spending it, well, laboring. While working on the house and in the yard, I won’t have time to write about frugality and investing. If you’re looking for good stuff to read, try some of my favorite articles from the past month:
- Aug. 1st: Some thoughts on discouraging materialism in children
- Aug. 3rd: Which financial records to keep (and how long to keep them)
- Aug. 8th: Use purpose-driven investing to achieve your goals
- Aug. 11th: How to give yourself a raise (a guest entry)
- Aug. 14th: Beggars on the streets of San Francisco
- Aug. 22nd: An entrepreneurial leap of faith
- Aug. 25th: The only credit card guide you’ll ever need
- Aug. 30th: 27 money saving tips for college students
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As I say, Kris and I are hard at work this weekend. Summer is winding down, and that means the yardwork is picking up. Our current chore is painting the house.
We have an old house. The exterior is in fairly good shape, but for some reason the north side — the side out of the weather — is in the worst condition. We spent yesterday evening and all this morning scrubbing the siding and scraping paint in rough spots. Tomorrow and Monday we’ll make a pass with a layer of paint.
Our goal is to paint one section of the house most summers. In this way, each area should get fresh paint every five years. It’s not a terrible chore when broken into chunks like this. We’d really love to hire somebody to paint the house for us, but that seems like a waste of money when we’re perfectly capable of doing it ourselves. Maybe if our grand “wash-and-touch-up-every-five-years” plan doesn’t work we’ll resort to getting it done professionally once.
I hope you’re enjoying your long weekend. Have fun and be safe! I’ll see you on Tuesday or Wednesday.
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Same here, we are (well mostly hubs) is building a new fence. I agree with you, if things can be done by yourself it seems a waste of money to pay someone to do it. Good luck painting the house and that’s a smart strategy to do one side a summer!
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There are many things you can do yourself- but I highly advise you pay a professional to paint your house. I was married to a paint contractor and we had our own business for several years. I cannot tell you how many homeowners we came in and had to fix their diy projects. It’s not as simple as slapping some paint on! (It’s not rocket science either). I would at least consult with a few good paint companies in the area first. Have them come give you a free esitmate. Listen carefully to what they point out that may be problems etc. Then decide. The point is to do it right without breaking the bank right? Be careful cuz a DIY project can still break the bank! A professional has the skills and tools to come in and bang it out. They know the materials to use and how much. Forgive my rant, I haven’t had coffee yet! LOL
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[...] Last month, I shared my favorite Get Rich Slowly articles from August. A monthly “best-of” seems like an excellent way to force myself to review recent progress. It’s also a good introduction to the site for new readers. Here are my favorite articles from Septemeber: [...]
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[...] Laboring on Labor Day Weekend ? Get Rich Slowly It’s Labor Day weekend. My wife and I are spending it, well, laboring. While working on the house and in the yard, I won’t have time to write about … [...]
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