Bogleheads.org

Honestly, I am not sure how important I think central air is in most places in WI. Last summer maybe the exception to the rule, but I am not sure that the captital expense of AC ductwork for something I have generally used 4-5 days per year is worth it especially since I prefer non-forced air heatin...

Not all kids dig into the smash cake. DS1 who in general is messy and leaves a huge wake was not a fan of his first cake. Anyway it didn't make for the most interesting photos (and the ones we had burnt in our house fire anyway :( ) I didn't get my kids anything although I have always got EE bonds f...

I've been looking into this. As far as I'm aware, only the Verizon-type unlocked iPhone 5 is available. So the Straight Talk plan for the iPhone 5 will use the Verizon network. I don't believe there's an AT&T-type unlocked iPhone 5 up for grabs yet. Are you sure about this, Englishgirl? If this...

Searching for the "right" used car is overwhelming. What recommendations do you have for spending $7K-$9K? -- Neither of us drive to work, but we put on lots of miles in the summer and driving 250 miles to her hometown quarterly. -- Car needs to be safe -- We're from Minnesota, so snow dr...

I am on the fence about this. I looked at Straight Talk last summer when we moved to "Verizon land" The only true choices here are Verizon and Straight Talk off Verizon towers. I really wanted to go with the $45 plan, but DH balked at the overall non state of the artness of the phones (he ...

I am curious about the 2014 Forester after reading this thread. We just got our Subaru Forester last year, and its MPG is rated 27 highway and 21 city. The 2014 model improves on it with 32/24 with the CVT which is pretty good for AWD (and cheaper than comparable AWD). Our main complaint for the Fo...

I am pretty sure DH didnt put premium fuel in a rental.
I wonder how much that would impact things?

I am curious about the 2014 Forester after reading this thread. DH rented and drove a 2013 Escape (apparently it is available with two different engeines. He had the larger Ecoboost engeine.) for approximately 1000 miles. He really liked everything about it except that the mileage which was IMO was ...

Yes. Too bad that Rick Ferri does not sell cars! I have made it a priority to find a car salesman I can deal with and trust. Had a good one at a Pontiac dealer, now I have a good one at a Chevy dealer. ScotchGaurd, Ziebart, pinstriping, ... never come up. Do you live near an auto plant? If so, find ...

I don't think your challenge is that challenging. In Feburary of 2004 I bought a 2004 Pontiac Vibe. My out the door price for the car, tax, title, and registration was $14,500. I still own it and its current private party sale price is about $3500. I have spent about $750 fixing stuff (including th...

I've never seen the math work out so that leasing is doing anything other than gaining a short-term cash flow advantage at the expense of long-term higher costs. Show me the math that purchasing any car is less than $200 per month, no matter how long you own it. Please include purchase price, tax, ...

I agree with a pp that said once you have a joint account gifts change. I also suspect you are struggling with this because she has a less gift oriented love language than you do. Most likely there is not a retail shopping experience that will fit the bill. I would way rather be show love by affecti...

We sold a house in May 2012 several weeks after we had moved. Neither DH or I was present for the closing and IIRC we did not have a POA signed either. We did have several documents that needs to be signed, notrarized, and sent overnight to the title company the day before the closing and we paid to...

Not many folks will get a mortgage interest deduction with a rate 2.65. Even with no mortgage I pay property taxes and state income taxes and give to charity. Don't you? I almost itemized last year when I didn't own a house. The standard deduction was more than itemizing when dh and I were home own...

Not many folks will get a mortgage interest deduction with a rate 2.65.

Do you park it outside in Minneapolis and wash it once a decade?

Or do you lovingly wash it and live in Charlotte?

I did some more checking we are both solidly in the 32% PIA range. I doubt it really makes all that much differance as I doubt DH has 20 plus years of corporate life in him. I also doubt I'll stay home long term either. Sooner or later we will have a farm and some farm income either earned or unearn...

1. Don't buy a house in a subdivision because it is too conformist for you and your spouse. You would like a smaller, cheaper, older house close to the park and the library more. 2. Don't have a hospital birth. A home birth is just as safe and way more pleasant. 3. Don't let the stress and work of t...

Thanks sscritic

Your response makes sense.

We most defintely would assign the first several thousand to me.

I quickly checked the Wiki's but I didn't find anything relevant. DH and I are comtemplating starting a small business together in 2013. DH would continue to work full-time and we would run the side business together sharing the actual work roughly evenly. I would have none or very little paid emplo...

You don't' necessarially need to sign up for COBRA the day your employee sponsored coverage ends in order to participate in COBRA. I think you get about 60 days to sign up. Your soon to be former employer will give you forms before your last day. We had a situation earlier this year with a job chang...

I thought the article was interesting as well as the discussion on the thread. I envision a retirement when DH and I have an empty nest that involves seeing the world in a much cheaper fashion (i.e. my bucket list includes being the volunteer lighthouse keeper in a national lakeshore area and hiking...

[When I had a kiddo in a rear facing seat and owned a Civic I had him in the center position (no idea if that is the recommended placement) and I could usually reach him if I needed to my right hand which would be an advantage over any minivan. No airbag is situated in the middle of a car, to my kn...

The last I heard that children under 14 are supposed to sit in the back. That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. While I didn't make it up it was/is an american academy of pediatrics research based recommendation. http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/pages/Air-Bag-S...

A car with a bench seat would allow you to place the child up front, between you and your spouse. I think the Chevy Impala has a bench seat. This is a horrible idea. It is very dangerous to have a child in rear facing child seat sitting in the front because if the air bag was to be deployed it push...

Not that it is your orginal question, but it sounds like an awful nice truck to just sit there.

Could you rent, use a zip car or call a taxi when you need a vehicle?

I let the coverage that DH and I had as an employee benefit lapse when my employee both stopped playing the premium and they changed to much lower quality provider. Anyway given our ages at the time 42 and 43 and that they wanted $150 per month in premiums to replace what we had we passed. The insur...

When DH and I wrote our wills we where encouraged by the attorney we used to select guardians and put assets in a trust with a trust company as an administrator. Part of his reasoning was that he had seen guardians be indulgent (sometimes way overindulgent) of children in their care because the poor...

The farm consists of 60 acres tillable, 60 acres wood and 9 acres miscellaneous. The tenant plants corn or soybeans and we have no idea what the yield is. Fair value is approximately $275 / acre while my mother is charging approximately $125 / acre. I would not sell the farm. What is she going to p...

First I think a couple of the biggest parts of this situation are not really about money. You were questioning the time commitment of 5 or 6 days of swimming per week. On its face value it sounds like a big time commitment for a ten year old. Last year my son (who is also ten) was on a Pop Warner fo...