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Trism

I was only hoping someone with firsthand experience could clarify for OP whether or not a construction loan is even an option for a renovation, because I do not believe it is. I'm only familiar with construction loans when they're used to build an entirely new home, but that doesn't mean that's the...

Trism

Our electric utility is always trying to convince us to buy less of their product by suggesting that we get rid of wonderful conveniences that make life more enjoyable.

Perhaps you could add a second (and/or third) refrigerator... maybe in the garage, rec room, etc.

Trism

You may want to try for a construction loan. Will have a higher rate. It is what builders use during construction. Principal is doled out by bank during the progress. Once completed a mortgage can be obtained to pay off the construction loan. I found myself in a similar situation in 1988 and posted...

Trism

As someone who was in the business I highly recommend his channel. https://youtu.be/yUwx3TEJuAs There is a reason that no dealer advertises great deals on cars priced at Kelley Blue Book "value." The pitch is always something like, "We are selling this car at $1,300 below KBB... Can you believe tha...

Trism

I would rather get around on a pogo stick than drive a Toyota Corolla. :) No, you wouldn't. When was the last time you drove a Corolla. I think it's one of the most fun cars to drive, ever. It's also fun not to be throwing money at a car constantly throughout its life. A smiling emoji following a s...

Trism

How would putting your first initial on a credit card instead of your first name help protect your privacy? According to whitepages.com, there are 222 people matching "J. Bogle" in Pennsylvania, and only 44 matching "John Bogle." I'm not sure what the scenario is , but supplying only a first initia...

Trism

We have had new car dealerships in our family for three generations. Most of the time I buy at cost from my brother, although I bought my last new car through a relationship my employer had with the auto manufacturer, and I paid the same price as the manufacturer's employees pay. I recommend both a...

Trism

The on-demand systems in my parents' house (built in 2014) are absolutely awful. "On demand" means "turn on the water and wait 20 or 30 seconds for it to get hot," or "push the button under the sink, walk away, and come back later for 'instantly' hot water." According to two different contractors wh...

Trism

We have had new car dealerships in our family for three generations. Most of the time I buy at cost from my brother, although I bought my last new car through a relationship my employer had with the auto manufacturer, and I paid the same price as the manufacturer's employees pay. I recommend both ap...

Trism

Hello all, Well, I’ve dug myself into a bit of a hole. We purchased our first home with the intention of gut-renovating and expanding it. We had an appraisal of the property done during the purchasing process which was arranged by Citi (our mortgage lender). I thought we had enough cash to get thro...

Trism

You may want to try for a construction loan. Will have a higher rate. It is what builders use during construction. Principal is doled out by bank during the progress. Once completed a mortgage can be obtained to pay off the construction loan. I found myself in a similar situation in 1988 and posted...

Trism

The narrow group of people obsessed with virtual card numbers fascinates (and amuses) me. There are over 350 million active credit card accounts in the US. A tiny percentage will become compromised, and yes, in the extremely remote event it happens to you it will create some inconvenience. It should...

Trism

How would putting your first initial on a credit card instead of your first name help protect your privacy?

Trism

I am pessimistic, but I am hoping that this indicator determines whether a purchase qualifies as online shopping or not. This example clearly is, but on a different Bank of America card some transactions I wouldn't expect to see flagged this way are... like our HOA payment. Did the charge post or i...

Trism

I am pessimistic, but I am hoping that this indicator determines whether a purchase qualifies as online shopping or not. This example clearly is, but on a different Bank of America card some transactions I wouldn't expect to see flagged this way are... like our HOA payment. http://i.imgur.com/ARpVHX...

Trism

I would take a chill pill and relax. It's not your debt (according to what you posted) and you have no legal obligation to pay it. You can ignore it. Eventually, the debt collector could try to force you to pay via the court system but then you could clear your name. So I would only work on this as...

Trism

We each have personal accounts to which we have direct-deposited $X per month. The rest of our respective employment incomes that isn't automatically saved/invested goes into a joint household account for housing, groceries, etc. The idea behind this was designing an environment where we never argue...

Trism

I would take a chill pill and relax. It's not your debt (according to what you posted) and you have no legal obligation to pay it. You can ignore it. Eventually, the debt collector could try to force you to pay via the court system but then you could clear your name. So I would only work on this as...

Trism

Depends on the car and whether they can recondition it and sell it themselves, or if they'll just dispose of it at an auction (they have age and mileage limits for what they'll put on their lot). Some years ago Carmax offered me $6,000 for a 7-year-old Mercedes E500 with 138,000 miles. I consigned i...

Trism

I've done AA Business Class between DFW and NRT three times, and between HND and LAX once. All four times I enjoyed the new planes, pleasant service and comfortable lie-flat seats. Carriers based outside the US have a reputation for a superior product, but I'm not willing to stipulate that AA is on ...

Trism

I would take a chill pill and relax. It's not your debt (according to what you posted) and you have no legal obligation to pay it. You can ignore it. Eventually, the debt collector could try to force you to pay via the court system but then you could clear your name. So I would only work on this as...

Trism

New Years resolution?

Wait until August and see if you still feel the same way before spending a fresh nickel on this.

Trism

Trism

Were you being paid a draw against commissions?

Trism

I know that death isn't the only thing to worry about when you drive, but with fatalities at 12.5 per billion miles traveled, what practical difference does it make?

Trism

When the wheels fall of the wagon for somebody planning 10 days in Antigua, it certainly doesn't generate any sympathy. My comments were merely practical, and independent of the purpose of your trip or your destination. There are only a few places further down on our list of desirable vacation spot...

Trism

You canceled an itinerary with a reasonable connection time and didn't have a better backup plan. Sorry to say, but your pain is self-inflicted.

Trism

I've worked from home for almost 10 years. A 14" work-issued laptop with a wired mouse does the trick for me, and I can throw it in the drawer on the weekend. I had 5 Mbps service from my ISP and used it for all home and work tasks, including connecting to the company network over WiFi+VPN and VOIP ...

Trism

Find out their mobile deposit limits (per check, per day, per month).

The community thing is a little unhinged. That line of questioning has nothing to do with delivering quality banking services, and is more suited for interviewing a charity rather than a financial services business.

Trism

Almost any organized tour not touted as adventure will be mostly populated by elderly people like your mom. Gate 1 travel. Grand Circle Travel. Viking cruises The higher you go in overall price of the trip the more likely you will have a majority of older people. This is who has the money. I hadn't...

Trism

Try to check with local banks and see if they have anything like that. It would be more the local banks, not even sure if you have anything like that. I am in Ohio and my local bank puts trips together for the over 55 Group (along with bank discounts, free checks etc) they do international trips an...

Trism

I always try to resolve the matter with the merchant before disputing the charge with the credit card company. I do too when it's tied to what was my legitimate use of the card at that merchant. But in this case, OP was alerted to a charge at a merchant he's used but not recently. At that point, I'...

Trism

I would find something with a soundproof, padded room.

Trism

I always try to resolve the matter with the merchant before disputing the charge with the credit card company. Literally just this morning I noticed that a restaurant charge from Saturday appears 2x on one of our Amex cards (posted/NOT pending). I emailed the restaurant manager this morning (his ema...

Trism

Any assertions that the dealer is incompetent / dishonest are unfair without substantiation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickam%27s_dictum

Trism

Send a message? Yes, that's what Messenger is for. Although I wouldn't use that either. Those messages never go away. At a recent college Homecoming I got some unsolicited late-night drunk messages from a (married) classmate who apparently had a crush on me when we were seniors, and the messages wo...

Trism

Has she looked into Road Scholar? We haven't been on any trips with them (yet) but my in-laws travelled with them extensively back in the day when they were called Elder Hostel. Another +1 for Road Scholar. We have done one of their domestic week long classes and it seemed very worthwhile and well ...

Trism

On our recent Road Scholar trip to the Galápagos Islands there were three solo women in our group of fifteen that sound just like your Mom. One had done a couple of dozen trips with them, including Mongolia. This was our first trip with Road Scholar, and we were very impressed. Thank you for the fi...

Trism

Road Scholar Gate 1 Travel Osher Lifetime Learning Institute Thank you for the RS endorsement. I've looked at Gate 1 for options for a group of us traveling together, so I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to check it out for Mom on her own. We'll do that. I will check out https://web.uri.edu/ol...

Trism

In our travels we have come accross groups of this organization https://www.redhatsociety.com/ Seems to include women of a wide variety of ages and backgrounds. The travel in a "pack" usually. They have their events at various domestic resorts. I don't know if they do cruises or any overseas travel...

Trism

FIBoston wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 04, 2019 4:55 pm
Go Ahead Tours would be worth looking at.

Nice. 175+ choices.

My spouse and I are taking Mom with us to Hong Kong next week. We'll spend a chunk of time on the DFW-HKG flight going through these.

Thank you.

Trism

I suggest your Mom look around her area for some clubs that hike or ski or bike as groups. You need to encourage her to expand her hobbies and to get out to some club events where where she lives. I live in Phoenix and used to spend tons of weekends going on trips with the Phoenix Ski club or Scott...

Trism

In addition to the above, and especially Road Scholar and any alumni associations, there are also organizations like Smithsonian or National Geographic. But Road Scholar does have the advantage, for this purpose, of having begun as "Elder Hostel", and thus is known for being very friendly to "senio...

Trism

Some college alumni organizations offer group tours. We receive brochures from the local county adult education and they offer entertainment type courses and also include some opportunities for local or distant travel. European River cruises might also work. I will have her check with San Diego Cou...

Trism

Not firsthand experience here, but my 70+ Mom is involved in several groups that do trips as well as local stuff. One is a hiking group that does local trips a couple of times a month in the Pacific Northwest, and at least yearly international trips. The other is a kayaking group that does a lot of...

Trism

No particular group to suggest, but I think a useful term might be "solo traveler." That seems to be the term for groups drawing singles who aren't into the mingles :-). My first pass with similar search terms before creating this thread brought me choices like this: https://i.imgur.com/e2fgtW9.png...

Trism

BarbBrooklyn wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 04, 2019 4:20 pm
Has she looked into Road Scholar? We haven't been on any trips with them (yet) but my in-laws travelled with them extensively back in the day when they were called Elder Hostel.

Just looked at their site. Great selection of choices. Love it, thanks!

Trism

Can anyone recommend specific travel groups or clubs for my fit/active 70-year-old mother to travel (preferably internationally, but domestically is okay) with people in her age group or a bit younger? She walks a minimum of eight miles a day for exercise, rain or shine, so mobility is NOT an issue....

Trism

Put your desired pick-up/drop-off locations and dates into https://www.autoslash.com/ and wait a few minutes for the results to be emailed to you. Also check Costco Travel and Hotwire. Hotwire surprised me yesterday by beating Autoslash on a one-way rental later this month. They found a "Premium SUV...

Trism

BogleBoogie wrote: ↑
Sun Feb 03, 2019 7:20 pm
Of course this is all opinion, but I would be looking at a Civic SI or VW GTI before I considered a Miata. I don't view those as sports cars or fun to drive. They seem more like a scooter (fun to ride but not wanting to be seen on one!).

That's not the way I remember that joke.

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