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Archive through November 07, 2004

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2004 Nov. - 2005 Jan.: Home and Garden (ARCHIVES): Tons of Practical Advice Desperately Needed: Archive through November 07, 2004 users admin

Author Message
Schoolmarm
Member

02-18-2001

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 2:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gidget....if you need to downsize AND get a nest egg for emergencies, why don't you have some yard sales? I cleared over $2000 on six weekends of yard sales, and I STILL have stuff left!

You know, I got great pleasure selling my exhusbands college laundry bag for $1!

You CAN do the "living-on-your-own" thing! I ended up with a lawyer sized mortage that I had to pay on my teacher sized salary, and I did it!

Good luck as you start your life over!

PS, I prefer electric (grew up with it) even though I have has gas in three different houses.

Gidget
Member

07-28-2002

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 3:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hiya Marm. For one thing I would need like a whole church parking lot for my yard sale. I have had some in the past and made like $100 a day so I am not sure it would be worth my time at this point. And I am being treated for sun damage. Found a little skin cancer last month. No big deal. But the sun is not my friend. Still that may be the way to go. I was actually thinking about collecting up the useful stuff and instead of trashing it giving it to a charity that could either distribute it to someone who can use it or sell the bric a brac at their own tag sale. We'll see. I have some time yet as I am not planning to dispose of the house for about 3 months. So I could also do the yard sale thing in the late September when the sun is less of an issue.

Thank you for the luck. I often read your posts and you inspire me as an independent lady. I am actually looking to hear about women who live independently. It is such a foreign concept to me.


Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 4:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gidget: I won't give up on you unless you give up on yourself.

Here's a thought on the yard sale: call your local BS council office, and ask them if they could give you contact info for some of the leaders of Eagle Scout candidates. Explain your health/financial situation. Two friends of ours were able to have a yard sale and help packing, moving, old house clean-up, and unpacking as the result of a Eagle Scout award.

Now, granted, they did spend money on pizza and soda, but still...

Schoolmarm
Member

02-18-2001

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 4:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gidget---you will make more if you call it a MOVING sale! Get those little pre-priced stickers at walmart and just go nuts sticking them on things. Fax machines? Do they work? $1 if they don't or you don't know, and maybe$5 if they are in good shape. If you have 40 of them you have made at least $100!

Heck, it doesn't hardly get sunny in PA after mid August. Use the time inbetween to price stuff. (Keep thinking NESTEGG!)

OR just have an auction! Let the auctioneer take care of the sun.

One thing for sure...your health insurance will go down if you don't have a HUSBAND or other dependants.

Just trying to think of some more positives, here! LOL!

Did I mention that I'm HATING the moving process right now....be strong Gidget! Oh, and I hire college students for $8 per hour to do any yucky things that I don't want to do. There are lots of hungry college students out there!

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 5:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Ooh! Good point about the boy scouts, LK! I think yard/garage sale is the way to go. Pick out the things you just can't live without and keep those. Get rid of the rest. We did that when we left Texas and thought we were going from a four bedroom house with three car garage to a one bedroom apartment. It is VERY liberating.

As I keep trying to tell people, it is just stuff. They have more stuff everywhere you go if you find you sold too much stuff and really need more stuff.

Gidget
Member

07-28-2002

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 5:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Boy scouts and college students hmmm. I must confess I thought of finding a college student to help me connect my computer and wireless router thingey. I am seriously challenged in this area. Then DH offered to do it for me. Again hmmmm. We'll see when the time comes. Kinda depends on the apartment I choose lol.

Yes keep those positives and apartment renting tips coming.


Gidget
Member

07-28-2002

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 5:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
LOL Juju... right now I cant live without anything and I long to be liberated.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 7:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Wow...reading all this takes me back, Gidget. One question: Are you certain that you want to rent an apartment over buying a small home?

That's what I did when I had to sell my former big old house after my divorce. And I bought my home on a private school teacher's salary so it can be done.

The rest of the story is that I brought everything with me and the rest of that story is that my sister joined me here, after her divorce, bringing all her stuff, too.

I share all this to serve as a bad example...now is the perfect time to lighten your load, but do consider buying over renting, if at all possible. You can always sell it again if you don't like it or the area. Remember: a small home is not going to be easy for the seller to get rid of because hardly anyone wants one. They're usually much less expensive and interest rates are still very low. Small homes can be a delight...especially with a small garden and a small yard and a small deck and a giant garage for all the stuff you don't know what to do with! No, no, don't let me scare you; you're going to do the hard work of parting with stuff.

Best wishes with all the decisions that you must make in the next few days and weeks.

Gidget
Member

07-28-2002

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 7:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well here's the thing Vee. Since I am not divorced yet and I dont completely trust the legal system there is no way I am buying until I am divorced. I have a year to buy. I have a few weeks to get myself to the new job. So I am in a time crunch anyway. I figure if I like apartment living then I will purchase a townhome and live happily ever after. If I hate apartment living then I know I have to shop for a single family home.

As for parting with stuff that will be a process. Let me tell you just how bad I am. I have Ends Up furniture. It is heavy solid wood and will last forever. I need new cushions but it is otherwise perfectly presentable. Well today I was shopping the Sunday circulars and saw a leather couch which I really love. And it has the two reclining seats.

Ok that's normal enough right? But I cant part with the Ends Up furniture. So my plan is to park it at Mom's house.

Sick huh? I need help!


Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 8:00 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
You'll be fine...really. Thanks for answering my question! Be good to yourself now.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 8:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
*hopes Lk's head doesn't hurt too much from the banging*

Gidget - I totally forgot to address the bug problem. In the apartments I've lived in there's been no bug problem BUT in one that I lived in they sprayed every 3 months, more often if there were report of bugs. Sounds good right? WRONG! They made us take everything out of EVERY cupboard and cabinet, every closet and every drawer. NOTHING was to be left in any of those areas. Pain in the patootie!!!!!!!!!!

RE: the rules and enforcement. Never once did I worry about if the rules would be enforced until this place. But it's a big thing to me now. And it's not the dog doo - tho it's irritating that the owner walks away from his building to let his dog doo his stuff.

Back to the utilities - if you are in an apartment building your heating and cooling should cost less than a house, and an inside apartment costs less than if you are on an outside corner apartment. If it's a building that has 3 or more stories, don't live on the bottom floor or the top floor. That way the heat rises from the apartment lower than you, the cool lowers from the apartment higher than you. And not all places that cover all the utilities rip you off. Just be sure to take weigh all the options. Will would have NEVER dreamed his small apartment is costing him more than our apartment that is twice the size - all because of the utilities. And he has to pay for parking his vehicle in a lot a block away. So check all the options. Which leads me to think of parking situation. Make sure there is plenty of parking. I've been at places where they assign parking spots but it can be a big whine fest when company comes and parks in somebody else's spot. I've never had that problem as I've always told company where to park, and I've told my neighbors that I only use 1 of my parking spots so the other one was free game as long as they tried to make sure company didn't take my spot - worked like a charm for me. But then again depending on where you rent a house you might have the same problem if there isn't a garage and/or drive.

Hope things work out for you and soon!

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 9:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gidget, you may already have looked at this site, but it is a Pennsylvania Tenant-Landlord Handbook with a lot of good information that may answer some of your questions.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 11:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Gidget, think of it as finding good homes for the Ends Up stuff, someone who will love it as you do. Someone younger. Yes! That is it, someone younger, since it will outlast you.

Riviere
Member

09-09-2000

Monday, July 26, 2004 - 4:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Serate, what a timely message in moving season and bugs! Spraying solves nothing except to alienate the renter, their pets, plants, and furnishings.. And, as you said, it's a repeat process. Forever...

Gidget
Member

07-28-2002

Monday, July 26, 2004 - 3:13 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thank you Serate, Vee, Juju and Riviere for the additional tips and advice. Tonight I meet with the first realtor. Because it is a relocation I have to meet with two realtors and two appraisers. It is breaking my heart to have to sell my family home. I am actually praying for a low appraisal so my mom and dad can buy it back from me if that is what they decide they want. I would just sign it over to them if I had a choice. But I dont. Divorce and all.

Max
Member

08-12-2000

Monday, July 26, 2004 - 4:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Remember to look at the positive side of things as often as possible (I know sometimes it doesn't seem like there is anything positive, but it's all in how you frame it). :-)

For example:

Instead of "It is breaking my heart to have to sell my family home." What would it feel like to rephrase it like this: "I'm so grateful that the family home is there to support me financially during this diffcult time. It's nice to know that, even though we have to say goodbye, it will be providing me with the financial stability I need to move forward to a new life."

Just a thought. :-)

Gidget
Member

07-28-2002

Monday, July 26, 2004 - 5:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Yes that does occur to me Max but sentimentality always seems to win out.

Yankee_in_ca
Member

08-01-2000

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 3:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
QUESTION:

Anyone had their refrigerator stop being cold? But the freezer is still working fine...?

And yes, the temperature dial is up high enough...

I just noticed the inside of my fridge is warm.

Bearware
Member

07-12-2002

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 3:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
might be out of freon or whatever coolant they use nowadays - I think the top and the bottom have separate coils.

Yankee_in_ca
Member

08-01-2000

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 3:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks, Bearware -- I just called my mom and she said the same thing.

Bearware
Member

07-12-2002

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 3:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Great minds!

Sia
Member

03-11-2002

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 4:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Yankee, you could have a bad thermostat. It's what tells the fridge to start a cooling cycle, I think.

Another thought: if the water line (not the kind for water/ice in the door, just a normal part of all fridges) from the upper part inside the fridge down to the evaporation pan (which is just above the floor; you access it via the kick-plate) is plugged up, things go all wonky, too.

Have you done anything recently to mess up the gasket? If it doesn't keep the fridge door sealed tightly, the inside temp will rise.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Sunday, November 07, 2004 - 11:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I have a question:

My basin in the bathroom flows very very slowly, and I think most likely the drain is full of hair. The plugs(? that's what I would call them but they might have another name here) are the sort you raise or lower with a knob, and they are metal discs that have a kind of plastic cross shaped thing below them, that goes into the plughole.

My problem is I can't pull them out to clean them or remove the hair or blockage. Surely there's meant to be a way to do this? I've tried using an inscrewing motion but that doesn't do anything. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help gratefully appreciated...

Freckledgrl
Member

08-27-2003

Sunday, November 07, 2004 - 11:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I have this problem all the time too, but I have the type of drains I can get into easier.

They sell draino type cleaners for slow drains for under $5. You could try one of those, but don't mix brands. The chemicals can react to each other. I found that out the hard way after being rushed to the ER because I could barely breath

Also, you can buy a cleaner stick thing (sorry I don't know what it's called...lol). Mine's about the size of a skinny riding crop and has plastic bristles on the end. You stick it down in there and pull the hair out.

Best of luck!

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Sunday, November 07, 2004 - 11:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kitt: You will find instructions for removing the 'Pop-up' drain at www.naturalhandyman.com - Click Here for this specific situation (with diagram & instructions) or click here for a detailed diagram of the sink/drain assembly alone.

Hope this helps.