10% on a CD is great, but what were the interest rates for mortgages, cars, etc. at the same time?  Granted it only matters if you are shopping around for a new loan (for instance, I would not mind mortgage rates going up as I have mine locked in at a low rate), but I would imagine that around the same time you were…

My wife being a teacher, my daughter has been at school since the day she was born. But realistically, she is in Pre-K now and while she knew her letters and numbers prior to starting, she has still made a lot of progress since the start of the school year.

VRF systems are not the same as a fully variable heat pump. But you are correct that the first cost of a variable heat pump system would be much cheaper if you already have the ductwork in place.

Rather than a bunch of ductless split systems, which would each require a dedicated condensing unit outside, it would be better to go with a VRF (variable refrigerant flow) system which allows you to have a single condensing unit outside and gives you added energy efficiency using “waste” heat to reheat spaces that…

Another good place to stock up on gift cards is at Sam’s Club. Last time I went, I bought $150 in gift cards at Sams at a discount (think it was somewhere around $140). I also made sure to buy them when my Discover card was offering 5% cash back on purchases at warehouse stores, so that only added to the savings.

True. On top of having to manage the deposits into the IRA (manually or with some sort of auto-transfer), I would also need to make sure that I am not going over that threshold.

Is there any benefit to a Roth 401k that is offered by my employer over a Roth IRA that I open on my own? With the Roth 401k, the money is taken out of my paycheck by my employer before I even see it, so it is much easier to “forget” about it as it was never in my pocket in the first place. However, I know that my…

As a parent of a daughter who was born in mid August and a September 1st cutoff, this is something we recently had to decide, only for starting Pre-K instead of kindergarten. We felt she was ready both because she had been attending a “Pre-pre-K” class at the local rec. center 2 days a week for the entire year before.…

The larger counties in Central Florida were majority democratic. I too am sick to my stomach knowing that we now have a racist for a governor and Voldemort is in the Senate. The only glimmer of hope is that the Democrats took back control of the House (although we still need RBG to hold on for 2 more years as it is…

My early voting location did not have the “Future Voter” stickers like I have seen elsewhere, but they did still give my daughter a sticker (just the regular “I Voted” sticker). She’s 4 so that was still good enough for her.

How are you liking the Pacifica?  My wife’s minivan is in need of replacement and while I would probably prefer an Odyssey or Sienna, the new Pacifica is something that I have been considering as well. However, FCA does not have the greatest reputation, so I have been a little hesitant to go with one of their cars.

Amazon is notorious for having “sales” where the current price is significantly lower than another price that is seemingly randomly generated. This is why I love using CamelCamelCamel. Recently my wife needed to buy a new printer for her classroom and found one she liked and was “on sale” for almost half off…

I agree. That’s why I think it is an ignorance/lack of understanding problem (on top of the sometimes blatant voter suppression part). For me, it is honestly not something I had put much thought into before. I just assumed that everyone who wanted an ID would have one/have easy access to one. But I only assumed that…

I think part of the problem is ignorance/lack of understanding of how something like a photo ID can be such a limiting factor. As someone who has fortunately not had to deal with the fact that something seemingly as small as $60 being a deal breaker, voter ID laws previously made sense to me from a common sense…

While Nest and Ecobee have some nice features, you can get some nice capabilities out of just a wifi connected thermostat.  I have the Honeywell RTH8580WF thermostat (paid $70) and it works great.  I can control it from my phone and have it connected to my smart home setup via Smartthings.  While the remote sensors…

Is the new UltraFICO optional only if your regular FICO score is too low? Are there any scenarios where the new UltraFICO score can actually be lower than the regular FICO score? For instance, if you have perfect credit payment history and have a low credit utilization ratio, but you have had a couple of overdrafts on…

Came here to say the same thing. I agree that the regular gas tax should be higher to better support the infrastructure and that there should be some way to tax electric cars who are not paying the taxes to support the infrastructure. One area I do not necessarily agree with would be to charge taxes based on a…

I have used this deal in past years while I had an existing membership. I just went to customer service and signed up as if a new member. Had to get a new card and it make using the online part a hassle as you have to register a different email address, but other than that, it is not difficult to get around the “new”…

I have used this deal in past years while I had an existing membership. I just went to customer service and signed…

That’s not necessarily a good thing. The red tide problem is traditionally on the West coast. Both coasts are at risk for hurricanes/storm surge. Each coast has its own pros/cons. That’s why I stick with the middle of the state and just drive the hour and a half to the beach on either side.

If you are an Orlando local or come to visit and want to try out some new rooms, I highly recommend Dare 2 Escape.  I have done all 3 rooms they have to offer and each one has been very good (got out of all 3 as well).  They are larger rooms, so doing them with just 2 people may be difficult, but at the same time,…