Looking Great While Staying on a Safe and Sane budget

A quick glance at the latest fashion trends in glossy magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar can be enough to cause heart palpitations in a budget-minded, but design conscious consumer. Does looking great have to mean spending a small fortune? Does it? Does having an unlimited budget really translate into killer looks? Or is there another way?

Here at Affordable Living, we say yes, indeed, there is another way to look great—while staying on top of your budget and keeping your savings account safe. It’s called doing your research before you shop, so you can be design and fashion savvy while still staying in a good place financially.

If great fashion on a budget is what you are looking for, don’t be afraid to utilize the Internet to find great looks that are affordable. The fashion world is as close as your fingertips! The many online sites that specialize in clothing fashion blogs and fashion make comparison-shopping easy.

Where to start? Get a feel for the looks you are interested in by checking out many of the online. Once y

Fashion model

ou know what kind of looks you are craving, do some checking around at the various online stores. Some major lines have online sites that offer sales on a regular basis. Ebay also carries fashion items at steep discounts. Some sites also offer a sizing guide so you can get a feel for how a piece will really fit once it’s arrived.

Paying high prices for fashion is so five years ago! Be smart, compare, check Affordable Living for tips on saving, and get yourself looking great!

 

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Filed Under: Finance, General Tagged With: , ,

Choosing a Location

House in Lipsk.

Image via Wikipedia

When you’re trying to decide where to put down some roots and live for awhile, which house or apartment you choose to rent or purchase isn’t the only concern. Location is also extremely important. Before you go signing a rental contract, you should always take the location into consideration, even if the house itself seems like your dream home.

Theideal location for you really depends on what kind of lifestyle you lead. Somebody who loves to kayak on the weekends doesn’t want to live too far from a body of water, for example. Hobbies aside, if you don’t own a car, you’ll probably want to stick to living close to town or at least close to a bus stop, for ease of travel. A remote location for someone who has no car just wouldn’t be practical.

Your safety also comes into play when you choose the location that you want to live in. For example, some locations have hazardous weather. If you aren’t prepared to deal with the very real possibility of tornadoes mowing your rental home down, don’t rent anything in Kansas. If you can’t handle extreme cold, stay away from Alaska.

It’s really mostly common sense that dictates what location you choose — and since you know yourself and your lifestyle the best of anyone, you should be the one to decide where exactly it is that you want to live. Provided that they don’t have a hobby that limits them to a specific climate, such as skiing, most people have more than one location where they could live and be perfectly happy. And if one doesn’t work out, you can always move!

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Filed Under: Renting/Buying Tagged With: , ,

Things to Consider Before Signing a House Rental Lease

You’ve found the perfect house to rent, you get along well with the landlord, and you’re about to sign the paperwork. Hold it a second and read on before you scrawl that signature — you could be signing yourself on for months or even a year’s worth of trouble!

Rental contracts may all seem the same, but renting a house is decidedly different than renting an apartment or other residence. Read the agreement carefully, and watch out for the following in particular:

  • Yard care responsibilities. Read and see who is responsible for the upkeep of the lawn and yard. Most often homes for rent expect you to maintain the lawn and yard, including lawnmowing, snow shoveling and autumn leaf-raking, so don’t agree to that if you don’t think you’re up to it. Alternately, you can hire someone to care for the yard for you
  • Privacy. Check the rental contract carefully to see if the landlord is allowed to enter the home without your permission, or if they have written it into the contract that you have a right to privacy. Since the home is not your property, landlords can enter unannounced if the contract says so.
  • Appliance maintenance. Read to see if you or the landlord is responsible for maintaining the fridge, washer and dryer, dishwasher and any other large appliances in the house. If the responsibility falls on you, you must pay to repair these if they break!
  • Existing damage. Do a walkthrough right away. Document any existing damage with photos and a written list to prevent losing some or all of your deposit later if the landlord believes thatyou caused that damage.
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Filed Under: Renting/Buying Tagged With: , ,

Emergency Cash for Home Improvements

You need to get to fixing the bathroom—today. You’ve let it sit for months and the problem is worse.  You’ve just had an emergency flood in your basement. The water has ruined the carpet. The good news is you have some emergency cash for just such a reason. The problem is you don’t quite have enough to foot the bill.

Now what?

Check into the services of a payday loan provider. Get the help you need quickly and easily.

  • Learn about the company, including the cost and terms of receiving a loan, the workings of your loan, and if getting a loan from a lender like PaydayOne.com is the answer to your emergency home improvement dilemma.
  • Make sure your lender is credible. Find a lender that is considered a “leading provider”.
  • Apply easily online. The application process is secure and simple to fill out.
  • Want your questions to be valued? Get quick and to-the-point answers. Associates for any lender you choose will be available to answer any questions you have or walk you through the process. Most places have very friendly customer service.
  • Get the cash you’re asking for by the next day. There is no need to wait long. Avoid the bounced check by using a cash advance service that gives you the money fast.

Emergency cash comes easy with payday loan businesses. Go online; fill out the application, and in moments you will receive an answer regarding your request. Allow the stress to fall off your shoulders. Get what you need through taking these steps. You’ll be glad you did.

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Filed Under: Finance Tagged With: , ,

Decor Debunked for the Design-Challenged

interior design oxford rogue designs

Image by rogue-designs via Flickr

Purchasing a home usually gives people a sense of security and personal achievement. It has often been said that home is where we long to be. Whether we’re making the four walls of our apartments, ranchers or mansions into our chosen homestead, it requires some thinking about the placement of our knick-knacks. As we contemplate, we might want to go ahead and give the dog a bone so he doesn’t get in the way.

Home décor is in itself an art and does involve a skillful eye, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be masterful and crafty artists. We can stay abreast of current trends and design merely by visiting a home improvement store, or by perusing through the latest issue of our favorite home design magazines.

Some homeowners may elect to obtain a moving company quote, should they decide to explore new territory later. If we push the concept of design aside, many of us understand that everyone’s tastes can change. Of course wherever we move, it doesn’t hurt to have some modest decorative know-how. If people like the look of a southwestern theme, the furnishing pieces shouldn’t be too over-the-top.

We’ll most likely find it unwise to have a bathroom painted in pink or a kitchen in fluorescent orange. Some of us have come to realize that there are many variations of white and beige which we can safely present on the wall. It’s all a matter of personal taste, but design is not just about the usage of color. Shape and texture are also important in terms of what we include within each space.

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Filed Under: Real Estate

How to Host a Successful Open House

The open house may be disliked by some real estate agents for creating too much work for them, but it stands as one of the most quick and effective ways to get a bunch of potential buyers to come and take a look at the home you have up for sale. Especially if you are eager to sell your current home so that you have money to purchase a new one, an open house is a good idea.

To hold a successful open house, here are some tried and true tips and tricks:

  • People will not bother to go to an open house if the home is difficult to locate, or in an area that feels unsafe.
  • If the home you are trying to sell has many physical flaws, or even just a few bigger ones, an open house can hurt your chances of selling it. People will spread the word that the house is damaged, and everyone knows how quickly word of mouth gets exaggerated beyond the truth!
  • You should treat this as an event with guests. Serve refreshments and snacks.
  • Prepare and offer pamphlets with information about and photos of the house, as well as financing options.
  • A great way to make a home easier to find is to set out signs saying “Open house” with arrows on them leading to your home. Start them somewhere with good traffic, such as an intersection.
  • Finally, tie colorful balloons to the mailbox or front rail of the house to show visitors that they have found the correct one. This is especially important in neighborhoods where all of the homes are the same model.
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Making a Home Inventory Less Daunting

CWS Home insurance advertising postcard.

Image by sludgegulper via Flickr

Your home is your safe haven, and the most likely location for you to store the items dear to you. Whether they are keepsakes or valuables, keeping them in your home creates a certain level of risk — that’s why, if you own your home, you should definitely invest in homeowner’s insurance. Depending on which plan you choose, homeowner’s insurance covers your home and everything in it, down to the very last piece of clothing in your closet. Sounds great, right?

The downside is that you must run the inventory of what exactly is in your house on your own. That means counting — and writing down information about, and taking a photo of — every last item in your home that you want to insure in case something happens to destroy it and your home. A home inventory can seem very daunting, so here are some tips for making it easier:

  • Work room by room. Instead of trying to inventory all of one type of item, such as furniture, inventory every item inside a particular room and then move on to the next room. This way you will be sure you didn’t miss anything, and it also keeps you from running from room to room looking for a particular item.
  • Use inventory software. This can make referring back to any particular item much easier, and you can organize the information into item types and such later. You can also print out multiple copies, and nobody has to decipher anybody else’s handwriting.
  • Be detailed — or not. Remember serial numbers for electronics and appliances, but just count your pairs of shoes, don’t list the type.
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Using Low-ball Offers to Get a Home For Less

Picture of the

Image via Wikipedia

In real estate, the term “low-ball offer” refers to an offer to an offer to purchase a property for less than the listed price — typically at least ten percent below the asking price of the home or property. If you are in the market to sell a home or property, this is bad news, because the only offers you may receive are low-ball offers — and the people offering them know it, so they are fairly confident you’ll pick one of them rather than rejecting everyone.

If you are in the amrket o purchase a home or property, however, then things work in your favor. Your low-ball offer could well be the best deal a homeowner is going to get for the property they have on the market. Homes that have been on the market for a long time tend to work even better for low-ball offers, because the seller is getting more and more frustrated with waiting for the home to sell, and may accept a lower price than the asking price.

To use low-ball offers to your advantage to acquire the home you have your eye on, do a little homework first. Investigate the going price of houses similar to or identical to the one you want to purchase, and then calculate your ten percent less (or lower) offered price based on the information you collect. Be aware that low-ball offers are almost always received badly; even if the seller accepts your offer, it’s below the asking price, so they aren’t going to be enthusiastic about the sale. Some will reject the offer outright — but one acceptance wins you a home.

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Filed Under: Renting/Buying Tagged With: , ,