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ginyah

Using a US cell phone in Canada is very expensive unless Canada is already on your call plan. Getting data there is even more expensive. WiFi is your best bet. Exchange your money while in Canada. They give the best rates. Since I live close to the border and go to Canada often I don't even have to ...

ginyah

Live on your income, put all she earns into paying off her debt. The good thing about this is you both will feel that she paid her student debts and you will learn to live below your means. When the debt is paid, you can put her income into retirement savings or towards a down payment on a house. Le...

ginyah

Moby Dick - I have had to write a book report on it in high school and again in college and in truth I never could get past the first couple of chapters. It was terribly boring! Thank God for Cliff notes.

ginyah

Loved Guardians of the Galaxy. Was surprised that when I took my grandson to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that I actually enjoyed that one also.

ginyah

Last year I gave 9% of my after tax income to charity. I am working my way up to 10%. I firmly believe that what you give away will come back to you in many ways whether it is in kindness, good will, opportunities, smiles, or even financial advantages. I give to all 3 of the colleges I received degr...

ginyah

If I were you I would start paying off the student loans you cosigned for. They are just accumulating interest now. Your sister in law can always pay you back when she gets a job. This way you reduce the amount of total debt owed as well as your risk that she defaults on the loans and ruins your cre...

ginyah

Toronto, ON but I can't afford it.

ginyah

sometimes a bank will give you a 'bridge loan' to cover you until you close on the old house.

ginyah

I love visiting St. Louis with my grandchildren. I would recommend the zoo and the science museum. You can look on explorestlouis.com for more ideas of what to do with young children. Have a wonderful trip!

ginyah

I am a retired teacher from NYS. The DB plan in NYS is one of the best in the country. It is fully funded and the State's constitution requires that pensions be funded. It is administered outside State government. I congratulate OP for starting a Roth IRA. I also would support funding a taxable IRA ...

ginyah

I think you are doing well financially. My only advise would be to keep the house you have now and raise your children there. Kids really don't need a big house. If they need room to play there is the whole outdoors to use - good for noise control and for health/physical development. If you have two...

ginyah

Have 9 year old and 8 year old granddaughters. American Girl is their best friend. A doll will cost about $100 but if she already has one there are clothes you can buy, pets, beds, cars, baths, etc. you can add to their collection. My niece considered having an American Girl doll a 'status symbol'. ...

ginyah

My nephew and his wife had a small ceremony at a local park and then did a BBQ for all the relatives and friends. It was a cost effective way of having a 'shindig' without the big price tag and they were able to invite everyone they wanted. If you don't care about all the fancy details I would think...

ginyah

Where I live even the community colleges are looking for people with doctorates. You might be able to do adjunct work with a Masters especially if it is in a field like nursing, PT, OT etc. but to get a full time job you need a doctorate in your field. Adjunct work here only pays about $3000 per cou...

ginyah

While in the Buffalo region I would suggest you look at spending some time at Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY. They have re-enactors explain about colonial times, the French and Indian War as well as the War of 1812. (One of the few wars where both sides say they won) There really isn't that much to ...

ginyah

Let me just share my experiences on the other side of this coin. As a single parent I often had less disposable cash than my friends and family. Family affairs were usually planned with little out of pocket expenses except for hotel stays. When that happened my family always offered to let me stay a...

ginyah

I had a 2003 Camry for 10 years, 187,000 miles on it. Gave it to my SIL and he is loving it after almost a year. I bought a new 2013 Sonata and so far I am very pleased. I get (on average) 26 mpg short trips and 36mpg for highway driving. I really like to drive and drive long distances. It really hu...

ginyah

I have learned that people who don't have bank accounts often have a history of trouble with money. My old tenants didn't have a bank account and sent me the rent via money order. Everything was good until they stopped paying rent. I had to evict them and found that they had done thousands of dollar...

ginyah

Wegmans

ginyah

1. Tower of London - spent 2 days there
2. Hampton Court - short train ride out
3. Changing of the Guard
4. Kensington Palace
5. I loved the tobacco shops

ginyah

What about private schools in your current area?

ginyah

IMO you should sell the house. You obviously cannot afford the house and continue the lifestyle you want. It is always a choice. Live big today or save to live well tomorrow. But continuing to accrue debt is a not a way to live. Use any profit from the house to clear debt and start saving more for r...

ginyah

I am a beneficiary of one of the NYS defined benefit pension plan - NYS teachers retirement plan. To the best of my knowledge there are no health benefits involved in the plans so health care costs do not effect benefits paid out. I do think that some local municipalities have included health care a...

ginyah

Duplicate Bridge, taiqi, two literary groups, travel, grandchildren, reading, tv, internet, dinner and movies, cooking, shoveling snow,politics, serving as board member for community organizations, shopping, etc. Rarely do I get bored but it does happen on occasion - but that happened when I was wor...

ginyah

When I first started looking at international travel I did the Hep A and Hep B vaccines. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

ginyah

I'm a little confused. Are there young children still in the house? Is she getting child support for them? Does their father have health insurance? Does he carry his children on his policy? I am so sorry your mother is going through such a heartbreaking and difficult experience. Did your mother have...

ginyah

The Indian food in London is fantastic!

ginyah

I bought a Trane 3 years ago. I live in the northeast with very cold winters. My heat bill went from over $300/mo to $113.17 this month. I have saved enough on heat bills to pay for it in two years. And that doesn't count the tax rebate I got which meant it was paid for in savings in 1 year. I did g...

ginyah

If you pay off your loans you will have more money to put into your retirement accounts every month. You will also be earning the 1.5% interest on the money you would have been paying to the loan holder. IMHO I would pay off the loans, increase my monthly retirement contributions and be very thankfu...

ginyah

Tower of London - I spent two days there and loved every minute of it. So much history and you really feel like you were in England at the end of it.

ginyah

You mentioned possibly leasing the car. In my experience most leases have low mileage limits on them. If your son drives the car from Texas home on vacations he will be putting mega miles on the car and when you turn it in at the end of the lease you will have huge additional fees. Much better to pu...

ginyah

I love the ideas about a dinner out, a spa treatment and/or a short trip without the children. In my opinion the most important part of any of these gifts is for the husband to arrange the childcare and making the reservations for the event. If it is just the 'gift certificate' with the arrangements...

ginyah

OP- if your wife bought Prime she can give it to you free. My daughter buys Prime and lists me and her sister on her membership. We both get Prime for 'free'. So instead of $80/yr. it costs c.$26/person. I think it is a great deal but maybe that is because I buy a lot on Amazon. And by the by my UPS...

ginyah

I just returned from DC with my grandchildren. I stayed in Alexandria and took Metro into DC. Easy walks to all sights. I agree with recommendation to eat at the Museum of the American Indian. We all found food we liked that was excellently prepared. Great exhibits there also. Only disappointment wa...

ginyah

Just something to remember -HOA fees can change at any time. IMO pick the one you like the most.

ginyah

I have read this post with both awe and humor. Lightheir, you can gift your parents $13,000 each year. You and your wife therefore can give each of your parents $26,000 each year without requiring a gift tax, That means you could repay your parents $52,000 per year without the IRS being involved at ...

ginyah

My 2003 Camry had 184,000 miles on it when I gave it to my son-in-law. He loves it and is so happy to have a great car in great condition. The only thing I ever did was change to oil regularly to maintain the car. Of course I changed tires when needed and kept the brakes in good condition. I had to ...

ginyah

I don't know the terms of your 0% credit but I do know that some of these deals have special clauses. If you don't pay off the entire amount before the term is up then they charge you interest from the first day of the loan. I have in the past taken advantage of a 0% loan on a credit card with no tr...

ginyah

It seems to me that a lot of what you need money for in retirement is a place to live. If you pay off your mortgage you won't need to worry about that expense. You would still have taxes and repairs to pay for but this is much less than rent or a mortgage payment. I paid off my mortgage and couldn't...

ginyah

Just a point of information please - are you married but not going to do a big 'wedding' or are you not getting married because of the expense? I agree it is foolish to spend a lot of money on a wedding but everything I've read says that married couples have more wealth than singles. Just trying to ...

ginyah

I see that you want to be a doctor. Do you already have the money set aside to pay for college and med school? If not that your injury award will go a long way to paying those costs, thought it may not cover it entirely. Rather than worrying about how to invest it in a business or real estate or the...

ginyah

I heard that most states have a time limit on how long someone can try to collect an unsecured debt. Where I live it is 6 years. If you don't pay anything on it, don't offer to pay anything on it and don't respond to any letters etc. the only thing they can do is 'ding' your credit score. In this ca...

ginyah

If all you are looking for is a solution to the rabbit problem, get a cat and let it go outdoors. I f you go to the shelter to get one, get an adult who is known as a mouser. The cat will handle the rabbits. I am lucky, my neighbors have a cat and so the rabbits stay away from my house also. Just an...

ginyah

I have now read three threads about how your 'friends' are having issues. I am sorry your friends have so many problems. Maybe they should be posting here themselves about their problems and you should post about issues you may be having.

ginyah

Horses are hideously expensive - ferrier, vet, dentist, food, exercise, etc. While she probably loves her horses, can she really afford them? Has she tried the SPCA to surrender her horses? Is she having a hard time emotionally with the idea of changing her life? Is she willing to sell the land for ...

ginyah

I write the check to my former employer. Insurance company is aware of situation. They have a clause in regard to medicare.

ginyah

I negotiated with my employer prior to retirement to be able to buy into the group health policy at full cost to me. Being part of the group kept my costs low - less than $5000 a year for a single person. great benefits including prescription costs. Have continued to purchase after medicare kicked i...

ginyah

I like to collect books some of which are out of print or just unusual. I often shop at alibris.com. They have a unique set of books. If some of your books have special value than I would look to sell them at this site. They often have multiple copies of books and different prices depending on condi...

ginyah

A lot depends upon what your old interest rate is and what the new rate would be, how long your old mortgage is and how long the new one would be (30 years, 15 or 10) You just need to figure the PMI into your transactional costs and how long it is going to take to recover those costs. To get opinion...

ginyah

Just a point of information here - the reason someone with a good income should receive child support is that the money is to support the child in the lifestyle the child was entitled to if both parents had stayed together. The children should not be punished just because the parents decided to divo...

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