Money Hacks

Last week's Two For Tuesdays: The Food-Poisoned Wife Edition was about how to save money by buying local and by buying an Entertainment book (by the way, the wife is doing well and I suffered no ill effects from the dropped steak sandwich. I guess the five-second rule applies). This week, we talk about how to save money by preparing our homes for the summer.

Where I live, in Northern California, the weather is pretty moderate most of the year. There are a few weeks of the year where it's unbelievably hot (over 110 degrees Farenheit) and cooling the house becomes almost impossible. No matter what you do, the A/C alone cannot cool the house down to less than about 20 degrees less than the outside air temp, so the trick is to help the A/C by keeping the house as cool as possible in the first place.


#1

The first trick is to get the heat out of your attic by installing an attic, or whole house, fan. Doing so will work wonders for keeping your house cool and keeping down your energy bills. Your A/C will thank you, too, in terms of running more efficiently (a unit that runs all the time doesn't work very well) and lasting longer.

According to Popular Mechanics,

These inexpensive fans are thermostatically controlled so they run only when they're needed. When you consider that attics can reach 150 degrees F, and that attic heat accounts for 20 percent of the average cooling bill, these fans are a good investment. Most can be installed for around $100.

Sure, you have to spend a little to save a lot. Home Depot and Lowes sell a few varieties of these types of fans. The most interesting one is the solar-powered fan. They're more expensive but they use 0 electricity; all the power the unit uses comes from the solar-collector panel that comes with the unit. A good hybrid is a unit that uses both the sun's energy and your home's energy: In the evening the fan will work too. Oftentimes, in my house as an example, the heat inside the house and the attic rises as the outside temp falls. Think of your house as a sponge: It takes a while for the sun's energy to sink into your house.

So while the temp is falling outside, the temp is rising in your house, but the sun has set already (thus not producing any power for your attic fan). So, if your attic fan runs on both solar and electricity, you get the best of both worlds. One day, when all homes are solar-powered (or at least solar-enhanced), this hybrid solution will be rendered moot (in a truly solar-powered house, batteries are used to store the excess power that the solar panels take in).


#2

Windows are a huge heat-exchanger, but not in a good way. First of all, if you're running an A/C, you'll most definitely want to close all of your windows; no need trying to cool down the entire neighborhood. But south- and west-facing windows let in a huge amount of heat. It may be too late now to plant some trees, but you can try to keep the heat out in other ways. Various physical barriers are the way to go.

First off, install some UV film on your offending windows. This will trap a little heat. Install awnings, too. This is one of the most effective ways of keeping south- and west-facing rooms cool. My bathroom window allows a ton of heat to come into the house. Last year, I "installed" a towel over the window (I tacked it up on the outside of the house) and it helped a great deal in keeping the bathroom, as well as the rest of the house, cool.

This year, I'm installing an attic fan, UV file on the windows, and awnings on my west-facing windows. I hope that it helps us keep our electricity bills within reason. But my greater aim is that it keeps the house cool. We have two small boys who tend to run hot anyway. Doing what we can to keep them cool will keep us all more comfortable.

That concludes this week's edition of Two For Tuesdays.

Even rock and sports stars have fallen prey to the Mortgage Meltdown. First Jose Canseco, now Michael Jackson. Wait!

He said Beat It! And he did. At least for now. A private equity firm bought Neverland Ranch from the bank holding the mortgage, so at least for the time being, Jackson still "owns" the hell hole.

The picture on the left (right below us) is how Jackson looked before the Meltdown. The picture to the right is how he looks now that his net worth is negative. I joke, but the Mortgage Meltdown isn't nearly as bad as everyone in the media wants you to believe. It's as if they want to accelerate everyone's demise. It's dreadful.

Not that it won't get worse (it will). But it will come back sooner than a lot of "experts" think. You know why? Land is the only thing "they're not making more of" that us ordinary folks can buy (we can't buy crude oil or platinum).

Here's an interactive map from the Wall Street Journal that lends some credence to the axiom that real estate is not a national market like stocks or bonds, but many local markets that are affected by macroeconomic change but not nearly so much as the microeconomic forces at work like supply and demand. Look at San Francisco (up from the "peak"). Same for Seattle.

Will they follow? Doubtful. They are such small geographic areas and people want to live there.

Michael Jackson Dodges Foreclosure - The Home Front (usnews.com)

Two studies published in the last few years have shown that the US Stock market performs better under a Democratic president than a Republican. This is a little surprising to me. What does it mean?

I don't know. But if I had some money invested (I do), I might want to consider this (I will).

One of the studies shows that the market performs significantly better under a Dem. The other study shows that the market is less volatile.

Better performance and reduced volatility? Sign me up!!!

Seriously, is it because Republicans "set the table" with lower taxes, reduction or elimination of stifling regulation, are pro-growth, and claim to be supply siders,

OR,

Is it because the Democrats know more about the economy?

I think it's some of both, and then some. But to an outsider with the only facts of less volatile and better performing markets when a Democrat is in office might just pick a Democrat.

I don't like to talk politics here (if you want my views on that, and then some, go here.), just personal finance and economics. Take these two research reports under advisement. It's fun to think about all the causes and effects and coincidences. But I think that's all we can do here.

Stock markets historically do better under Dems than Reps. - Jan. 22, 2004

Below is an article that shows how our federal government increases its take of our money without raising taxes or monkeying around with the tax code.

And we all go along with it.

The Coming Tax Hike
Wall Street Journal

Welcome to the May 9, 2008 edition of Kids & Money. Last week's edition, The Lost Edition, is followed by The Found Edition (get it? Lost and Found); but the Finds here are great. All of the posts below have something very important to say and you can learn a lot from each and every one of them.


My Pick of the Week

My favorite post this week comes from a blogging friend, Tim, from the The Money Kings, who wrote the post, 10 Big Time Family Money Mistakes, saying, "Believe it or not, plenty of people need to be thinking of the following when dealing with money, relationships and family. Some of you people just don’t get it. Here are 10 Big Time Family Money Mistakes." Here are a few:

• Not saving enough money for college
• Having too many pets
• Owning a huge SUV
• Tanning (this one is really funny)

More here.


Learning About Personal Finance

Larry Ferlazzo presents The Best Sites For Learning Economics & Practical Money Skills posted at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites Of The Day For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL, saying, "The best online sites for students to learn financial literacy." While the sites listed in the post are geared towards ESL students, all are worthy of our children's attention. Starting kids out right on the path to financial responsibility is key to their growth into adulthood.

Uncle Leo presents Uncle Leo Rumbles: How to Teach a Child to Manage Money and Save posted at Uncle Leo Rumbles. More sound advice on how to teach our children about personal finance.


Credit

Silicon Valley Blogger submitted Hooked On Credit! 5 Ways The Credit Card Companies Get Our Kids To Sign Up » Money and Personal Finance Blog In Silicon Valley posted at The Digerati Life, saying, "A look at kids and credit." There are some truly genius marketing ploys aimed right at our children. The best advice: "Just say NO."

Matthew presents Credit Card Companies posted at Conservatives and Normals . Com - The Blog, saying, "Thank you." Yeah, credit card companies kill us with fees: Late fees, Returned payment fees, Overlimit fees. Best teach our kids to pay our bills on time and not go over limit.


Investing

Steve Faber gives us Investing for Kids posted at DebtBlog. There is some really good information here about the Uniform Gift to Minors Act, or UGMA.


Insurance

KCLau presents Don’t be stupid! Keep paying. posted at KCLau's Money Tips, saying, "About why paying for premiums for existing policies can be the best savings that you have." This is true: If you already have a policy, by all means, keep paying it. Otherwise, buy term life insurance and invest the difference.


Student Loans

hank@myinvestingblog.com presents What Effect Does It Have On The Economy When Companies Stop Offering Student Loans? posted at My Investing Blog, saying, "no student loans might make it tough for our kids!" Yes, the Credit Crunch (read more here, here, and here) is taking its toll on all sectors and facets of the economy and society. Time will tell when the tide turns, but for now, better learn to tread water.


College

Mark Montgomery presents College Applications: They Can Make You Sick posted at Great College Advice, saying, "The college application process can be very stressful--so stressful, in fact, that kids become physically ill. To say nothing of the parents!" Yeah, it was a long time ago for me, but just reading this post made me feel ill.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Kids & Money using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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