Ideally, you want to keep your credit utilization as low as possible, with 10% being the target number.  Any increase in your credit utilization will have negative impacts on your credit score.  For instance, based on the free credit score websites, when my credit utilization went from 5% to 6%, it dropped my credit…

The only reason I have a Venmo account is because my wife ends up paying for things that she is splitting with her coworkers so she needed a way to have them pay us back. I’m fairly certain that the only transactions I’ve done so far on there have been either sending or receiving money for stuff that my wife has…

I tend to agree, but I am thinking that this year will be time for me to upgrade. I’m still rocking a 6, so mine is coming up on 4 years old. I replaced the battery earlier this year since Apple was offering cheap battery replacements, but I still end up using the battery case I have for it on a daily basis. Also, it…

I’ve done 60 month financing on my last couple of cars. It is a good balance between keeping the payments affordable and not too long of a term that the car is underwater too long.  However, I tend to pay off the car faster than the 60 months through extra payments and early payments whenever possible.  On my wife’s…

At current interest rates I am getting on my savings account (1.8% with Ally) anything less than that 1.8% literally is free. This is why I refuse to pay off the last $150 that I owe on some furniture that I financed for 0% interest rate (had just bought a house and was extremely house poor and needed furniture). Yes…

I for one am against autopay for irregular bills (credit card bills, cable, utilities, etc. that are not the same amount month to month) mostly because not having these set to autopay makes me aware of both what I am spending and what I am being charged. Random price increases with cable are specifically why I like to…

Unfortunately, schools are typically so underfunded nowadays that basic school supplies are not provided by the district and must be provided by teachers and parents.  My wife works in a Title 1 school and we regularly spend thousands of dollars each year buying markers, printer paper, pencils, etc. for use in her…

Not so much something in college, but I wish I would have stayed closer with some of the people I was friends with while in college after graduating. I got really lucky in that I met a lot of great people very early on and that set my college career on a great starting path. I had a lot of good friends while in school…

As the husband of a teacher, I know that when it comes to pencils, its Ticonderoga or nothing.

I don’t know what it was, but the windshield on my old Grand Marquis shed water without having to put RainX or anything else on it.  I don’t know if it was just the design of the car, some coating applied to the glass, or what, but I rarely used the wipers on that car because as long as I was going above 40 mph, the…

For that matter, automatic headlights in general.  The last two cars I owned both had automatic headlights that came on when it got dark outside.  My current car has lights that must be turned on manually.  Normally it is not a problem and I remember to turn them on.  However, there have been a couple times when…

If you have the option to take alternative transportation to work everyday, then yes driving a car will probably not be worth it. A light rail service just started operation near my house yesterday, so until then I didn’t even have that option.  I have taken the train both days it has been available to me and plan on…

It’s very easy for cities to grow to the point where public transport is too inefficient, especially when public transport has always been inefficient. Here in Orlando, there is a fairly large public bus system, but it is slow enough to not ever make it worth it unless you have no other options. There is a relatively…

1,500 miles per month isn’t that unreasonable.  I drive approximately 45 miles to work round trip each day.  Assuming 4 work weeks per month and working 5 days a week, that adds up to 900 miles per month just driving to work. If you factor in driving kids around to their various activities plus driving on weekends,…

As the article mentions, Lyft is not actually making people give up their cars. All you would have to do in your situation (if this were available to you in the first place) is drive your car as you normally would after the credits were gone.  

While I’m not surprised that a supercar caught fire, I am surprised that something like this happened on Top Gear and Hammond wasn’t involved.

What type of system did she have? Legionnaire’s Disease can be contracted from other sources that HVAC. Typically in hospitals and nursing home/assisted living facilities, Legionnaire’s Disease is more commonly contracted via the tubs and showers than HVAC systems. Legionella can just as easily live in the domestic…

Bleach can be effective at keeping the condensate drain piping clean (although you should probably cut back on the every month with bleach as it can damage the piping - white vinegar works well too for more regular cleaning).

There are some ways that you can definitely cut down on the amount of crap that builds up within an AC unit.  UV lights at the cooling coil do a really good job of both keeping the cooling coil clear while also killing mold and other biological growths within the unit.  UV works on a line of sight basis, so it is best…

Now there are life insurance companies that are offering the same sort of deal. John Hancock will give you an Apple Watch for free* if you sign up with them (*free after discounts given for being “active”). Basically, you give them access to information about your day-to-day life and you can get discounts.