#it was on sale for 6 dollars a ball if you purchased ten

[vashti-lives]

I impulse bought a full bag of this yarn last week when it was on suuuuper deep discount and in an unusual move for me I’m honestly regretting not buying a second bag. It’s still enough for a sweater as-is but having double the yardage would honestly be nice.

[papermoonloveslucy]

LIZ SELLS DRESSES (1950)

May 28, 1950

“Liz Sells Dresses” (aka “Selling Dresses”) is episode #90 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on May 28, 1950.

Synopsis ~ Liz accidentally returns a dress to a more expensive store than where she bought it, and makes money on the deal. She then decides to go into business buying dresses at one store and returning them at another.

Note: This was a re-write of episode #14 aired on October 16, 1948. At the time, the characters were known as Liz and George Cugat.  Jell-O had not yet come aboard as a sponsor. 

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benadaret was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) is not heard in this episode. 

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury / Little Old Lady Shopper) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricardo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968.

In the 1948 version of the script, Benadaret played a Dress Store Clerk. The character of Iris Atterbury had not yet been introduced.  She does, however, once again play the role of the old lady shopper.  Virtually all little old ladies on the series were voiced by Benadaret. 

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) is not heard in this episode

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

GUEST CAST

Hans Conried (Mr. Quigley, Returns Clerk at Gordons) first co-starred with Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942). He then appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan Jenkins in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) and later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13) – both in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan. On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) and in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (TLS S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was filmed on the Desilu lot. He joined Thomas on a season 6 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973. He died in 1982 at age 64.

Conried played the same role in the 1948 version of “Liz Sells Dresses”. 

Florence Halop (Kramer’s Sales Clerk) was cast to replace Bea Benadaret in a radio show moving to CBS TV called “Meet Millie” when she was hired to play on of the two women on Lucy Ricardo’s party line in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) also featuring Hans Conried. She wouldn’t work for Lucy again until 1974, when she played a Little Old Lady on a Western-themed episode of “Here’s Lucy.” In 1985, she replaced Selma Diamond (who had died of lung cancer) as the bailiff on “Night Court.” Coincidentally, Halop, also a heavy smoker, died less than a year later of the same disease.

In the 1948 version of the script, the role was played by Sandra Gould. 

THE EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “And now lets look in on the Coopers. It’s evening and George is reading the newspaper and Liz has just sat down on the arm of his chair with something obviously on her mind.”

Liz adopts a kittenish mood, kissing and cooing at George. Liz says she was a Kramer’s Department Store and saw the perfect spring dress to add to her wardrobe.  Liz says it was only $39.50. George is aghast at the price. Liz explains that she actually made $20 on the dress by buying it at Kramer’s because the same dress was selling at Gordon’s for $59.50. 

GEORGE: “Yes, but you don’t actually have the twenty dollars.” LIZ: “I know I don’t.  I spent it on a hat to go with the dress!” 

On “I Love Lucy” Kramer’s was the name of the Candy Kitchen where Lucy and Ethel cause havoc in “Job Switching” (ILL S2;E1). Gordon’s may be a nod to Gale Gordon, who plays Mr. Atterbury on “My Favorite Husband.” Previously, the Sheridan Falls Department Store most often mentioned was Miller’s, but Kramer’s and Gordon’s were the names used in the 1948 version of the script, so they are used again here. 

George insists Liz take the dress back and get a refund!  Liz protests - she adores the dress.  She describes it as “navy blue with white polka dots, and a little white collar with a sash in the back.” 

Eerily, Liz is pretty accurately describing the look that would be most associated with Lucy Ricardo on “I Love Lucy”!  It was designed by Elois Jenssen in 1953 and was worn in more than 25 episodes.  

After pleading and crying, Liz gives in and agrees to take back the dress. 

Next day at the store, Liz reports to the refund department. The weepy clerk (Hans Conried) says that money is cheerfully refunded if unsatisfied.  He asks Liz why she is returning it. She is perfectly happy with it. He finally says he can’t refund her money because she IS satisfied. The fact that her husband won’t let her keep it is not good enough. 

REFUND CLERK: “This fourteen story mass of steel and concrete was built on money that husbands can’t afford to spend!” 

Liz insists and he finally gives in giving her her money back - with a laugh and a whimper.  Before she leaves the store, she runs into Iris.  Liz explains that she had to take her dress back.  Liz counts out the money she got back and finds it is $59.50, not $39.50.  Liz realizes that she is in Gordon’s, not Kramer’s where she originally bought the dress!   Iris says she should spend it quick.  Liz realizes that if she could make twenty dollars on one dress - she could do it with more than one!  She heads off to Kramer’s!  

This is similar to the plot of “The Business Manager” (ILLS4;E1), in which Lucy Ricardo realizes that she can balance her books by buying and selling groceries on credit for the entire building.

End of Part One

Bob LeMond does a commercial for Jell-O puddings.  

ANNOUNCER: “As we return to the Coopers, we find Liz at a little gold mine called Kramer’s Department Store, in the hope that she can dig up a few more polka-dot dresses for $39.50 and return them to Gordon’s for $59.50.” 

Liz approaches the salesgirl (Florence Halop), who is confused when Liz isn’t particular about the size. She recognizes Liz from yesterday and wants to know why she wants two more dresses in the same style. Liz facetiously says she’s one of the Andrews Sisters.

CLERK: “Which one are you? Patty, Maxine, or LaVerne?” LIZ: “Neither. I’m their brother Dana.” 

The Andrews Sisters were a very successful trio of singing sisters during World War II with 19 gold records and sales of nearly 100 million copies. The sisters began performing in the early 1930s when the Depression wiped out their father’s business. In 1937, the sisters scored their first big hit with “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen.” In addition to “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” their best-known songs included “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and “Rum and Coca Cola.” The trio officially broke up after the death of LaVerne in 1967, when a suitable replacement could not be found.  Patty Andrews guest starred on “Here’s Lucy” as herself in 1969. The plot had Lucy Carter and her daughter Kim (Lucie Arnaz) stepping in for the other two singers for a charity show.  During a poker game in “Be a Pal” (ILL S1;E2), Lucy calls her two queens ‘sisters.’  When Fred looks at his newly-dealt hand he quips “You can tell your two Andrews Sisters not to wait up for LaVerne.” 

Dana Andrews (1909-92) was not related to the Andrews Sisters, but was a successful actor. He had been in the Oscar-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946, and had three films released in 1948 alone. In 1961, Dana Andrews and Lucille Ball both presented awards on the “Bob Hope Sports Show.” 

At Gordon’s, Iris sees George, who is there to buy Liz a surprise gift: the dress he made her return. 

Meanwhile, at Kramer’s, Liz has brought her newly-purchased dresses to get her refund.  Mr. Quigley shrieks at Liz’s request - two more identical dresses. He has a breakdown.  

MR. QUIGLEY: “I should have never taken this job. I was so happy in ladies lingerie.”  

He notices that they ordered 35 of the blue polka dot dresses and now they have 36. The jig is up!  Mr. Quigley demands that Liz give him the money he refunded her earlier!  He even gives her back the dress she returned earlier and sends her away. 

On her way out of the store with her three blue polka-dot dresses, Liz is approached by a Little Old Lady Shopper (Bea Benadaret) who wants to know where she can get one like it. She needs it to wear to a dance.  

OLD LADY: “We all went to Arthur Murray’s and learned the Lindy Crawl.” LIZ: “You mean the Lindy Hop.” OLD LADY: “Not the way we do it!”

Arthur Murray (1895-1991) was a ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the chain of dance studios that bear his name. He was mentioned in Desi Arnaz’s song “Cuban Pete” and in “The Young Fans” (ILL S1;E20). One of the dances taught there was The Lindy Hop, a very popular during the swing era of the 1930s and ‘40s. Lindy was described as a jazz dance and is a member of the swing dance family.

Liz sells the dress to the little old lady for $59.50, making a profit of $20!  She decides if she sold one, she can sell another, and develops a slick line of sales talk in order to sell the other dresses to customers in the store already!  

LIZ: (to Customer) “Hey lady, step in a little closer. You’re blocking traffic.” SALES CLERK: “Hey! This is my customer.”  LIZ (fast talking): “Get away kid, ya bother me. (To Customer) Honest Liz Cooper, the biggest used dress dealer in town. Gimme $39.50 and I’m losing money on the deal. Come back tomorrow and I’ll give myself a hot foot and have a fire sale!” 

Liz is approached by the indignant Floor Walker who believes her to be a sales girl poaching customers from her co-workers. He directs her to go sell something to a gentlemen who just happens to be her husband George. So she won’t be recognized, Liz grabs a black hat with a veil. She adopts a Brooklyn accent that matches the salesgirl’s. 

George pretends not to recognize Liz and tells her his wife is dumpy - nothing like her figure, but he’ll buy the dress anyway. George flirts with Liz!  Insulted, Liz slaps him across the face!  

Ricky Ricardo did the same thing when Lucy went ‘undercover’ wearing “The Black Wig” (ILL S3;E26).

Later, at home, George presents Liz with the dress, continuing his charade. 

GEORGE: “You should have seen the sales girl who waited on me!  She was a real creep!  I’m glad you like the dress and I’ll tell you what else I’m going to do (Brooklyn accent) I’m gonna buy ya a hat to go with it!” LIZ (Brooklyn accent): “Well, how do you like that! He knew about it all the time!”  

End of Part Two

In the live Jell-O commercial, Lucille Ball plays is a little old miner. With a deep voice (as if she has no teeth) she sings a bar or two of “My Darlin’ Clementine”.  Bob LeMond plays a Census Taker. 

MINER / LUCILLE: “You can’t take mine!  Folks say I aint’ got no senses!” 

The miner (and his faithful mule Sam) says he is a desert rat who used to live in the city. It’s just him and Sam. They mine a little and play a little canasta. He says they have a puddin’ mine.

CENUS TAKER: “What’s a pudding mine?” MINER / LUCILLE: “Do you mean to stand there with a sponsor starin’ you in the face and ask what a puddin’ mine is?  Egad!” 

[togachipblog]

Red Dot Chips

I attended Charles H. Brewer Junior High School in Clark, NJ.   Two of my junior high school teachers hired my dad, who was a CPA, to prepare their tax returns.  One day in school, Mr. Dulk, my science teacher, reprimanded me, probably for blurting out a joke, and I said "There will be no refund for you this year!"  

My Dad's other junior high school teacher client was my math teacher, Otto Picard.  Math was always one of my favorite subjects and Mr. Picard was a very engaging teacher.  He employed an unusual scoring system.  If you did anything beyond what was generally expected, such as extra credit work, you were rewarded with one or more dots.  On the other hand, if you failed to deliver on what was expected or were disruptive, you received one or more asterisks.   He left such an impression that one of my former classmates, Rick Clinton, named his company Dot, and this was before the public access to the internet and the

dot.com

revolution.  

Red Dot was one of the major potato chip companies that had very humble beginnings.  In 1931, Fred J. Meyer was a student at the University of Wisconsin and married.  To help support himself, he answered an ad as a salesperson for Karn Parchies. The second customer he called upon made potato chips and explained that his distributor wasn't doing well and suggested that Red take over his business.  Fred added a line of cookies and sold both the chips and cookies between classes and on weekends.  At graduation, the head of the University of Wisconsin chemistry department offered Fred a job as an instructor for less than what Fred was earning from his distributor route.  He felt that if he devoted himself to his route, the earnings potential was greater than the instructor job.  After his supplier's factory was destroyed by fire, Meyer purchased a small chip making machine out of someone's attic.  

Fred faced some major challenges.  He severely burned himself retrieving a wrench that had fallen into a vat of hot oil and his truck was becoming too small.  A peanut firm offered to paint the truck for free.  Fred's wife Kathryn did the books and demonstrated their products at grocery stores and food shows.  

Fred J. Meyer Co. added cheese products and hired another salesman, but was short of the necessary capital he needed.  His father loaned him $1,000 for two new trucks. and the company relocated.  In 1938, the same year as H.W. Lay & Company was founded in Atlanta, GA, Fred and three others formed Red Dot Foods Inc. and purchased a continuous potato chip making machine from Ferry.  The firm moved again.  In 1943, Fred bought out his other three partners and integrated his Fred J. Meyer Co. into Red Dot Foods.  During World War II, cooking oil was limited to forty percent of pre-war limits and both tires and gasoline were rationed.  

The company built a plant in St. Paul MN (later relocated to Minneapolis) and another one in 1946 in Indianapolis, IN.  By this time, it had 100 trucks operating out of ten branches.  The firm owned 3,000 acres of potato farms and started a program in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture to better breed potatoes.  The greenhouse had capacity for 16,500 varieties of potatoes.  

Red Dot acquired several other Midwestern companies.   At one point it became the largest potato chip manufacturer.  It added nuts and Scottish cookies.  It introduced corrugated "Chip Dips."

Meyer was elected President of the potato chip trade association in 1949 and appointed to the Potato Advisory Board of the US Department of Agriculture.  By 1956, the company had 176 sales routed and 22 large delivery vans, close to 1,000 employees, controlled 18,000 acres of potato farms and distributed product in 13 states.  Sales exceeded ten million dollars.  During the 1950's the company continued its acquisitions and also expanded to Alaska and Europe.  Sales in 1960 exceeded $20 million.  

The public was invited to tour the factories on the 25th anniversary of the company in 1956 (based on when Fred started in the business as opposed to when Red Dot was organized).  Among the highlights were a ventilating duct , which forced warm air through the potatoes to convert the sugar that forms in cold and dormant potatoes to starch for frying.  The potatoes then went through an automatic washer and a buffer that removed most of the skins.  Inspectors then removed non-standard potatoes before they headed to an automatic slicing machine.  After some of the white frothy starch is washed away, the slices are fried at 400 degrees in corn oil, and salt is added.  The fried chips are then spilled into an automatic collecting machine from which they are weighed, then packaged with the bag tops automatically sealed.

Red Dot employed a clown, Ta-To, as its mascot.  He sat on a piano and sang:

Ho-ho-ho

The folks all laugh when I'm around

'Cause I'm the Red Dot potato chip clown,

Ir's potato chip time . . . the folks all tease,

Give us Red Dot . . . Red Dot potato chips please

They're crispy . . . dry . . . tasty, and on sale EVERY WHERE!H-ho-ho . . .

In 1961, Red Dot was merged into H.W. Lay & Company. According to Dirk Burhans in his book

Crunch

, the sale had a tragic consequence.

Within days of Lay's purchase of the company in May 1961, Red Dot founder Frederick J. Meyer committed suicide.  According to Leslie Bellais, curator of costume and textiles at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Meyer believed that the sale was best for the company, but apparently became despondent upon realizing that he had sold away his life's work (Bellasis interview, May 21, 2004).  Red Dot bags made after the sale and after the 1961 Frito=Lay merger had "FRITO-LAY, INC." printed on the back.  The chip continued to be sold as Red Dot until FritoLay sold the company to H.H. Evon of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1970.  Evon closed the Madison factory and discontinued the brand in 1973.  Bellais says that there was a perception at the time that Red Dot lost touch with the Madison community after Meyer sold the company.

  You can read all about Red Dot's history thanks to an online exhibit of the Wisconsin History Society.  Please note that there are four pages and you should use the arrows to navigate to all of them.

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/exhibits/chip/index.asp http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=Ny:True,Ro:0,N:4294963828-4294963805&dsNavOnly=Ntk:All%7cred+dot%7c3%7c,Ny:True,Ro:0&dsRecordDetails=R:CS2611 http://eatwisconsinpotatoes.com/meet-the-two-founders-of-wisconsins-red-dot-foods-inc/ http://www.surroundedbyreality.com/Businesses/Food/RedDot/RedDot.asp

Enjoy the Red Dot Photo Gallery Below:

August 30, 1945 photo of Red Dot Foods Inc. potato chip display, with Red Dot clown posters in window at Wisconsin State Journal office, 115 South Carroll Street.

September 30, 1947 ohoto of Red Dot Foods Inc., delivery truck outside a Red Dot Foods truck garage, 1441 East Washington Avenue. Background includes portions of Ohio Chemical Company, 1400 East Washington Avenue, and Dairy Equipment Company, 1444 East Washington Avenue.

March 19, 1945 photo of two men painting a Red Dot Potato Chips mural / billboard on the side of a building.

1939 photo of women workers bag and process potato chips for shipping at the Red Dot Potato Chip plant.

1939 photo of a group portrait of female workers at the Red Dot Potato Chip Company. Fourth from the left in the top row is Vivian Harrison Matheson, identified by Ellis Mason

1939 photo of exterior view of Red Dot Foods Inc. potato chip plant at 1435 East Washington Avenue.

1939 photo of 1 woman operating the bagging machine at the Red Dot potato chip factory.

1939 photo of man working with machinery at the Red Dot Potato Chip plant.

September 10, 1945 photo of elevated view of a Findorff truck and earthmover and Madison Sand and Gravel truck standing ready to excavate for an addition to the Red Dot Foods, Incorporated, potato chip factory, 1441 East Washington Avenue.

Photo of Red Dot Foods Inc., potato chip plant, 1441 East Washington Avenue.

Workers doing road work near the Red Dot factory, in the background, on East Washington Avenue.

February 23, 1955 photo of q father and two children at the Kroger grocery store check out counter purchase Dean's milk, Red Dot potato chips, Kroger pancake mix, macaroni, and bread.

February 14, 1956 photo of Ed Schumann, owner of Ed Schumann and Associates, and Frank Pellitteri, the production manager at the business, set up an advertising shot for Red Dot Potato Chips.

February 6, 1952 photo of two store employees of a Kroger store stand by an Old Dutch cleanser promotion for gladiolus bulbs in a store in Lancaster. Other merchandise displays including Red Dot Potato chips, flank the special promotion.

Special thanks to the Madison, WI Public Library and the Wisconsin State Historical Society Library for their assistance in researching Red Dot.  

Enjoy Simon and Garfunkel singing "Red Rubber Ball."

The Toga Chip Guy

[imnoexpertblog]

Here's some stuff to do and listen to.

7/20/18

Are you ready to receive some suggestions to entertain your fine selves? ‘Cause I’m ready to give it.

For those who are local: My dad and brother run NYFO together for Green Bay. What’s NYFO? WELL. “NYFO 7on7 Football is the next generation of player development, no matter your skill set. NYFO is the NATIONAL GOVERNING BODY for 7on7 & Non-contact Football. Our leagues, camps, and training exist to ultimately transition better, safer, and more fundamentally sound knowledgeable players. NYFO is committed to helping every player in our program improve no matter their skill level. By doing so we will ultimately enhance the sport of football, from youth organizations through the NFL. NYFO is ‘Non-Contact’ For parents, ‘non-contact’ can be translated into ‘one-hand touch.’ Without the distraction of full-contact, players can focus on fundamentals. With so much negative media attention given to concussions and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), 7on7 offers parents a safer alternative for kids wanting to play football.” Quick additional info: They offer programs for age groups 8U, 10U, 13U, 15U, and 18U. Go to their website if you’re interested in signing your kids up! Okay but anyway, if you need something to do this Friday you should go to a Bullfrogs baseball game! Bullfrogs “Stars Of Tomorrow” fundraiser family & friend tickets are $18 and include your ticket (duh), a Bullfrogs hat, a hot dog, AND a soda! A damn steal if you ask me. It helps out NYFO and you’ll have something fun to do! All registered players from NYFO get in free with and a portion of the proceeds from family/friends tickets sales going to the NYFO by simply using code “NYFO7on7” at the point of purchase. Go to greenbaybullfrogs.com, click Buy Tickets Now in the top right corner, and enter the promo code (NYFO7on7). Gates open at 6:05pm and the game is at 7:05pm!  See you at the diamond on July 20th! Give them a follow on Instagram! @greenbay.nyfo

I never really blog about music for how passionate I am about it. I have mentioned before that I sing, too. I’d love music even if I couldn’t sing though. Anyway, everyone loves finding new music, right? I’m gonna tell you my most listened to artists and songs on my Spotify. First, I’ll tell you how I found this data. I found this question forum on this link: https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-way-to-see-my-most-played-artists-songs-in-Spotify. You’ll see in the answer that there’s Spotify.Me or there’s ManageMyMusic to see your most listened to stuff. Spotify.Me is intricate and gives you information like your favorites, streaming habits, and listening insights. Apparently, what I listen to the most is considered to be a bunch of different types of “pop.” I don’t know if I agree with that. They also tell me that “I know what I want” because 84% of my favorite artists are within my most-listened to genre. That I can agree with. It says I’m high energy lately in my streaming choices, but I don’t see it. I have been choosing really chill music, in my opinion. The other link in that question/answer forum is called ManageMyMusic and it gives you a ton of lists; Top artists and tracks for the “Short Term (4 weeks),” the “Medium Term (6 months),” and for the “Long Term (Years).” I’ll give you my top ten for each category, though I know there will be overlapping. I obviously love everything I am about to include so please give this stuff a listen. You’re about to get an intimate peek at my soul.

Top artists -- Short Term (4 weeks)

Jon Bellion

Drake

Milky Chance

Hozier

Andrew Belle

Bazzi

Aaron Carter

Roy Woods

dvsn

Troy Sivan

I didn’t realize that I listened to that much Jon Bellion lately. I mean, he is fantastic. I just didn’t realize I listened to so much of him in the last month.

Top artists -- Medium Term (6 months)

Drake

Blackbear

Tory Lanez

Marc E. Bassy

Jon Bellion

Bazzi

Post Malone

Hozier

Aaron Carter

Sam Smith

I can say for DAMN SURE that Baby has heavily influenced who I listened to these past 6 months. Drake has always been my man but I never listened to Blackbear, Tory Lanez, or Marc E. Bassy before I met him.

Top artists -- Long Term (years)

Drake

Sam Smith

Troye Sivan

Andrew Belle

Justin Bieber

Jon Bellion

The Weeknd

Jessie Ware

Hozier

Tove Lo

None of that even remotely surprises me.

Top tracks -- Short Term (4 weeks)

Jessie Ware, You & I (Forever)

Hozier, Jackie and Wilson

Sabrina Claudio, Orion's Belt

Jon Bellion, Overwhelming

Jon Bellion, 2 Rocking Chairs

Vance Joy, Mess Is Mine

The 1975, Somebody Else

Jon Bellion, The Good In Me

JAHKOY, Still In Love

Young the Giant, Cough Syrup

This is all very "me" lately.

Top tracks -- Medium Term (6 months)

Alina Baraz, Show Me

6LACK, Learn Ya

Tory Lanez, I Sip

Blackbear, moodz (feat. 24hrs)

Marc E. Bassy, 4am

Tory Lanez, Skrt Skrt

Ansel Elgort, Supernova

Bazzi, Mine

Post Malone, Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)

R I T U A L, Better By Now

This list is definitely Baby-approved.

Top tracks -- Long Term (years)

Justin Bieber, The Feeling

Troye Sivan, WILD

ZAYN, PILLOWTALK

Snakehips, All My Friends

Tatiana Manaois, Helplessly

Bryson Tiller, Don't

Chris Stapleton, Tennessee Whiskey

Sam Smith, Not In That Way

Hozier, Work Song

A R I Z O N A, Let Me Touch Your Fire

Honestly, the first 5 tracks do surprise me a little, but that was back when I had my music on constantly when I was single and home alone quite often. I remember keeping those on repeat for hours at times, so I’m not sure how accurate that actually is only because of that fact. This was all super cool to see, though. Some of it was expected, some unexpected. Either way, I hope I gave you some new stuff to listen to! And you should check out for own profiles. Nice opportunity to learn a little about yourself.

This past weekend, it was pretty warm out. Baby and I wanted to get Nugget a sprinkler so I took the little one with me to the store aaaaand they were sold out. Due to all the warmth. So I bought Nugget some water guns instead. We got 2 smaller ones and 2 larger ones for THIRTEEN DOLLARS, TOTAL. YEAH. This s’mom was shocked by that price, that’s for sure. We played and sprayed when we got home. Baby and Nugget had some fun together. The first thing Nugget did when we filled his gun though was spray me right in the (get ready) vagina. Yes. Then he yells, “I’M SPRAYING YOU IN THE PARTS.” I was like, “Uhhhhh, let’s not spray anyone’s parts and also let’s talk about anyone’s parts. It’s not polite and those are private” LOL. He’s never said anything to me about private parts or anything so that was new to me. He walks into my room when I’m changing a fair amount of the time and I know for a fact he’s seen more than I meant him to, but he has never asked questions, pointed anything out, etc. I think it’s important to set an example for your children in the sense to be comfortable with their bodies and such. This might be a whole new chapter with Nugget! We will see. Enough about my “parts” and back to the water guns. Baby said that on one of the weeks that we don’t have Nugget, that he wants to do a water gun race with me. I got 2 free beach balls from Sprint when I got a new phone last week (among a ton of other free shit, which I'll tell y'all about soon) and Baby said we should see whoever can get the beach ball across our backyard the fastest by spraying them with the water guns. I honestly think that sounds more fun than any idea I've ever had LOL. It reminds me of when I almost bought us both Nerf guns. So, if things are little mundane (or even if they’re not) maybe you and your love should find your inner children together! Get water-balloons and have a water-balloon fight, chalk up your driveway, set up obstacle courses, have a scavenger hunt! You can make it interesting by making fun deals. Whoever loses has to make dinner, for example. I think we will try all of these ideas eventually.

Speaking of shopping with Nugget, I am in the process of teaching him about not asking for toys every time we go. Baby went through a break up after a 3 year relationship before we was with me. He told me that he felt awful that Nugget no longer had two people raising him and Baby made up for that by buying Nugget toys every time they went to the store. I could tell there was a reason why Nugget would ask like clockwork what toy he would get every time we went shopping. I have been working on breaking Nugget of that expectation, as well as working on having him appreciate the things he has at home. I explain to him Daddy and I only have a certain amount of dollars and that its usually only enough to buy what we needed from the store in the first place. He actually understands this concept very well. He always asks why we are going to the store, so I always have the opportunity to tell him what we need to buy. When we went to buy the sprinkler he asked me, "Can we get a toy from here?" and I replied with, "Buddy, remember what we came here for?" He answered correctly about buying a sprinkler. I said in a very positive tone, "Yep and I'm pretty sure we only have enough dollars for a sprinkler. And you also have a bunch of toys at home that you love to play with." We walked by a few things that piqued his interest. As we walked by some bubble-guns, he goes, "Oooh, those look fun. But we only have dollars to get the sprinkler." I was so proud of him for making this connection and also proud of myself for explaining it to him so that he really does understand this. I was raised by people who didn't explain things. It was always a "because I said so" type of world and I learned to accept it. I won't put Nugget in that world, though. I want him to recognize reasoning and be able to grasp why things are the way they are. He is incredibly intelligent and capable of knowing this information. I also want him to trust me and be honest with me as we grow together, so the first step is me trusting him and being honest with him first. Just wanted to share my super proud s'mom moment of the week. I'll be back tomorrow with new recipes for you!

[illusoryteam]

Rant: Take Responsibility for Your Actions, Part 4

Writer: okbdsm Source: Multiple sources (including FetLife) Date: August 29, 2018 Errata: This is the final part of a series of rants regarding the importance of taking responsibility for your actions because whether you’re in individual, a small business, or a major corporation, if you are not going to honor your commitments, then you are putting your own personal and professional reputation at risk.

In 2012, one of my friends on FetLife would end up telling me about a camming Website called MyFreeCams. Either that same year or a year later, I would end  up discovering another camming Website called Chaturbate. Fast forward to 2018, I would dive into the world of Patreon.

This is actually going to be the longest of my rants, so the rest of it can be viewed via the Read More link.

So, what are MyFreeCams, Chaturbate, and Patreon?

Here are the descriptions from the HTML meta tags of each Website:

MyFreeCams: MyFreeCams is the original free webcam community for adults, featuring live video chat with thousands of models, cam girls, amateurs and female content creators!

Chaturbate: Watch Live Cams Now! No Registration Required - 100% Free Uncensored Adult Chat. Start chatting with amateurs,  exhibitionists, pornstars w/ HD Video & Audio.

Patreon:  Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

I will get to Patreon in a little while.

In regards to MyFreeCams and Chaturbate, the vast majority of the Webcam feeds that are broadcasted on those sites are of a sexual nature where models would do things such as flashes, teases, dances, blowjob shows, masturbation (cum) shows, and the list goes on. Models would often offer various forms of content for sale on MyFreeCams and Chaturbate in exchange for the virtual currency known as Tokens. No matter how much a person spends when it comes to purchasing tokens on both Websites, whenever models are tipped on MyFreeCams and Chaturbate, they would earn 5 cents per Token. From models’ perspectives, this is how much they would have to make to get a certain dollar amount:

1 Token = $0.05

20 Tokens = $1.00

200 Tokens = $10.00

1,000 Tokens = $50.00

2,000 Tokens = $100.00

10,000 Tokens = $500.00

20,000 Tokens = $1,000.00

Now, how much do people on MyFreeCams and Chaturbate spend on the Token packages? Well, as of this writing, here are the current prices for the Token packages on each Website:

MyFreeCams:

10 Tokens for $1.49

15 Tokens for $1.89

20 Tokens for $2.49

25 Tokens for $2.99

30 Tokens for $3.49

35 Tokens for $3.99

40 Tokens for $4.49

45 Tokens for $4.99

50 Tokens for $5.49

55 Tokens for $5.99

60 Tokens for $6.49

65 Tokens for $6.99

70 Tokens for $7.49

75 Tokens for $7.99

80 Tokens for $8.49

85 Tokens for $8.99

90 Tokens for $9.49

95 Tokens for $9.99

200 Tokens for $19.99 (~$0.10 per token)

550 Tokens for $49.99 (~$0.09 per token)

900 Tokens for $74.99 (~$0.08 per token)

1875 Tokens for $149.99 (less than $0.08 per token)

3775 Tokens for $299.99 (less than $0.08 per token)

7575 Tokens for $599.99 (less than $0.08 per token)

Chaturbate:

100 tokens for $10.99

200 tokens for $20.99 (5% Bonus)

500 tokens for $44.99 (22% Bonus)

750 tokens for $62.99 (31% Bonus)

1000 tokens for $79.99 (37% Bonus)

1255 tokens for $99.99 (38% Bonus)

2025 tokens for $159.99 (39% Bonus)

4050 tokens for $319.98 (39% Bonus)

There are models that will also accept things such as Amazon e-Gift Cards, GiftRocket, PayPal (which is highly discouraged since they do not allow their services to be used in exchanged for sexual services), Circle (which is highly discouraged since they do not allow their services to be used in exchanged for sexual services), etc. in lieu of people purchasing Tokens.

For the most part, if I tip a model a certain amount of Tokens, provide her an Amazon e-Gift Card, GiftRocket, etc. for certain content (for example, photo sets, videos, Kik access, Snapchat access, cell phone numbers, Skype shows, etc.), most models that I visit will deliver on that content in a prompt and timely manner. However, I have run into three models on MyFreeCams and Chaturbate that I have either purchased content or won contests that they ran and still have not (as of August 29, 2018) received any of the content I’ve purchased and/or won.

Here is a list of some of the content that one model (I’ll call her the 2013 model for the sake of convenience) has owed me since 2013:

Fan Art

Fan Art

Photo of my screen name on the model's body

30 minute dildo masturbation video

Two photo sets

Upgrade from Beginner to Elite Four (some Pokémon themed profile club with certain benefits and features)

Music playlist

One photo set

Boyfriend for a week

Shower point-of-view video

Song request via a Clear the Board/Token Keno game (some chat room game)

Crazy request via a Clear the Board/Token Keno game (some chat room game)

Custom drawing via a Clear the Board/Token Keno game (some chat room game)

Mini song playlist via a Clear the Board/Token Keno game (some chat room game)

One future video via a Clear the Board/Token Keno game (some chat room game)

2 minute video via a Clear the Board/Token Keno game (some chat room game)

Valentine's Day picture via a Clear the Board/Token Keno game (some chat room game)

Song request

6 hours and 35 minutes (335 minutes of Skype time)

Additionally, I have entered a raffle that the 2013 model ran from November 25, 2013 to December 31, 2013 called the Rainbow Holiday Raffle. I actually managed to win The Blue Set which is supposed to contain the following content:

Ten different videos of unreleased content

A 60 minute Skype date

Two unreleased photo sets

A special Christmas card sent by E-Mail or through the mail

A special baked gift

To date, I have not received any of the content from the 2013 model.

Then, we have another model (I’ll call her the 2016 model) that owes me content that I have either purchased and/or won from raffles. This is just a small sample of items that the 2016 model owes me:

A handwritten letter letter (Valentine's Day related raffle content)

A dozen or so Fan Signs

Special Handmade Custom Valentine's Day Card (Valentine's Day related raffle content)

Goodie box with brownies or cookies (This was from a raffle titled the Raffle Raffle Raffle, but I mentioned to the model that I did not want the food, but what I did not tell the 2016 model is that since I never received the special baked gift from the 2013 model, I doubted that the 2016 model would mail them to me either)

A letter (This was from a raffle titled the Raffle Raffle Raffle)

10 minute custom video (This was from a raffle titled the Raffle Raffle Raffle)

All current content (This was from a raffle titled the Raffle Raffle Raffle)

Cookies, handmade Pokémon + Poké Ball & 20 personal pictures (This was from a raffle titled Raffle Me This)

Care package for the highest cumulative tipper in either July 2017 or August 2017

A southern fan sign

Southern post card

2 outdoor Polaroids (Up to 6 per person)

Any photos/videos that she took while she's back visiting home

Skype movie night for buying the movies Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas

Skype time to watch movies

90 minutes of sexual Skype time

HT wins secret print

Personal 10 picture custom set

BJ Snap show

Butt plug show (I'm assuming this is on Snapchat)

Sticky candy video (I'm assuming this is on Snapchat)

Candy Cane Cum Show (I'm assuming this is on Snapchat)

Personal show on Snapchat

HT gets a full size drawing + 2 polaroids! HT @ 160

Santa's Helper! 200 tokens - Santa's helpers get my Sweater photoset and an exclusive Christmas drawing sent to them (drawing can be sent digitally if you don't want it mailed!) + your name here showing my appreciation for your help this month!

These are custom videos that I am owed by the 2016 model (Note: one of these videos is from the Raffle Raffle Raffle that I haven't received yet):

Point-of-Video Dildo Fuck Video with the squirting dildo; seeing you with a shibari rope bra and nude beyond that

Double Penetration Video with the anal plug, the Bad Dragon dildo, and the Hitachi Magic Wand Massager; seeing you naked, of course

Cowgirl Fuck Video with the fuck doll, the sexy halter fishnet lingerie crotchless body stocking, studded spikes punk leather choker collar, fuzzy wristband handcuffs, nipple clamps, and the Hitachi Magic Wand Massager

Hitachi Cum Video with the Bad Dragon dildo and clit rubbing; with the exception of the cosplay restraint bondage sexy bra lingerie, punk goth heart-shape lock link leather collar choker necklace, fuzzy wristband handcuffs, and the nipple clamps, absolutely naked in that video as well

With the final model (I’ll call her the 2018 model), she said that she offers Private Shows on Skype at a low cost of $25 for 30 minutes. I’ve had a few sessions with her, but to date, there are three that still have not been done yet. So far, that’s $75 down the drain.

Finally, we get to Patreon.

I’ve been a Patreon of one of my local friends for nearly three months, and in this particular Tier (the Knight Commander Tier), I am supposed to receive the following:

1 8.5x11 lewd Print

Access to a special division of my Snapchat

Monthly special video chat 

Lewd videos

Access to my NSFW snapchat (which is updated super frequently with tons of exclusive content)

1 4x6 lewd print 

4x6 autographed print with handwritten personalized letter

Access to lewd photosets

Early access to all other Photo sets

Help me decide cosplays & Coordinates!

Lewd photo set previews

Access to Photo set bloopers

Access to exclusive LiveStreams

Added to my Patron exclusive Discord

Access to full cosplay photo shoot sets

Access to my Patreon exclusive feed

1 Digital Print each month

With my friend's Patreon, it's a bit of a mixed bag because while I have access to her current and previous photo sets, Snapchat (which I don't see the difference in the Snapchat content since I'm subscribed to her highest Tier), Discord, and lewd videos, I have not been mailed any of the physical rewards nor have I been reached out to regarding the monthly video chats. Overall, it feels like she completely overextended herself regarding the Patreon rewards because of how many have not been fulfilled.

I can understand that people can be busy. I wholeheartedly understand that. However, it is absolutely inexcusable for me to have to wait over a year (in the instance of the 2013 model, over five years) for me to receive content that I have paid for and owed. I really don't care how busy someone is, they should have time to be able to make and send the content that they owe someone.

What really pisses me off with the 2016 model is that while she is so busy that she hasn't worked on my backlog of items, she has somehow managed to find time to organize raffles in 2017, come up with holiday plans, and get on Streamate to try to earn more funds before the end of the year.

Myself, I don't charge for any photoshoots that I do because it's a hobby. I attend anime conventions, comic book conventions, and other activities frequently, and I can take well over 2,000 pictures a year. However, after any convention or event I attend has concluded, I diligently work on editing and uploading the pictures to Facebook within one week after the events have concluded.

I also know how to run contests and raffles.

In 2014, I did two contests on my personal Website, and those are the following:

Nintendo 3DS XL Contest

The Great Anniversary Contest

For the Nintendo 3DS Contest, I gave away a Nintendo 3DS XL. For The Great Anniversary Contest, I gave the 1st place winner a Nintendo 3DS XL, and the 2nd place winner a Nintendo 2DS. The prizes were immediately mailed after the contests were concluded.

I didn't charge for entry into the contests.

I did not have any sponsorship deals for the contests.

I paid for the prizes out of my own pocket. I took a financial loss doing the contests.

I largely did the contests as a way to drive traffic to my personal Website, and I hoped that people would be encouraged to check out my professional Web Design and Web Hosting Website so I can try to obtain clients.

I'm not going to lie. I've spent a lot of money on MyFreeCams, Chaturbate, and Streamate. While I don't have all of my data for the 2013 model (I know that I've tipped her over 60,000 Tokens), with the 2016 model, after converting the Token amounts to the actual amounts that she's received, she has received the following from the various sources:

200,000 Tokens (which equates to $10,000.00) from the amounts I've tipped on MyFreeCams and Chaturbate from 2015 to present day

$234.08 from the amounts I've spent on Streamate since starting in 2017

$2,039.25 of products from Amazon.com from 2015 to present day

A $1,034.00 customized computer from iBUYPOWER

This does not take into account of any gift cards I've sent on other Websites, any funds that I've sent on Circle, any funds that I've sent on Snapcash, and other things that I have not tracked.

All and all, if people cannot find time to work on content that people have paid for, they should not sell content. They should not do contests. They should reevaluate their business practices because they are accepting funds for services.

I have lost money by loaning/letting friends borrow money and never got paid back (for more information, please refer to Rant: Take Responsibility for Your Actions, Part 3).

I have lost money from models on MyFreeCams (the 2013 model, 2016 model, and 2018 model are on that site).

I have lost money from models on Chaturbate (the 2013 model and the 2016 model have accounts on Chaturbate as well, and I supported both of them on those Websites).

I can’t say that I’ve lost money with my local friend’s Patreon because I have received some of the content, but she either needs to keep better records of what she owes or she should not offer so many things if she does not have time to deliver on them.

Overall, I’m glad that the Illusory Team blog exists because I feel like I can finally post these things that I’ve been wanting to say for the past several years (mostly the contents of Rant: Take Responsibility for Your Actions, Part 3 and Rant: Take Responsibility for Your Actions, Part 4) that I feel like have been largely ignored by those that I should read it. Personally, I do not like ranting about things because I feel like many of my rants and complaints go unnoticed, so we shall see how well my rants and complaints are received here.

[sitavnabi]

How I Saved $10000 in 10 Months

I’m not a saver by birth. I like to spend money. I view money as only one type of currency, not the most valuable one. Time comes first in the ranks, followed by energy, and then comes money. Money is not and has never been particularly valuable to me. It rarely ever brought me happiness but I was convinced while growing up that my net worth was a reflection of my self worth.

I never liked the idea of being frugal. I didn’t enjoy having to go without to prepare for a future emergency. For the last three years I have made a pretty consistent yearly amount through tutoring, babysitting, administrative tasks, and other similar odd jobs. But, I lived like I made a lot more. I wasn’t spending on luxuries and going out. I was just spending more than I had on things that I needed, or seemed to need. I became increasingly worried about not having enough money.

The fear of not having enough money, instilled into me at such a young age added to this terror churning inside me. I went to bed and woke up in frenzy of overwhelming nausea and tears.

But one day, after a particularly bad incident with a client, I decided that enough was enough. This particular client generously offered to pay my semester tuition in full in exchange for unlimited tutoring. Eternally grateful, I accepted. This client proceeded to give me the run around for four weeks and on the final day, had me drive over 30 miles from town to town chasing her for the check. After a grueling three hours, she called to let me know that she was in the hospital and her husband never agreed to give me the money.

I was embarrassed, humiliated, exhausted, spent, and so ashamed of myself for letting this person take advantage of me and exploit my needs. It was in that moment that I decided to stop letting money have any hold on me whatsoever. I was going to manage my money; it was not going to manage me.

I joined Frugal Families on Facebook and gathered several books to help me. I read Ana Newell Jones, Amy Dacyzyn, and Dave Ramsey among countless others. (I don’t necessarily recommend this but I like to read so it was a win win) You can get similar information by watching Youtube videos or short articles.

Through all my collectives, I found that managing finances and saving money comes down to a pretty simple idea: don’t spend money. But, my problem, along with many people, isn’t that I didn’t know HOW to save money, but that I couldn’t convince myself of WHY.

My thinking of money was all screwed up! I associated saving with withholding, going without, deprivation, dependence, poverty, and unhappiness. I held money in the top tier of my self esteem and felt that I needed it to prove to people that they should respect me. Putting $1000 in the bank and not touching it is infinitely easier than learning to love yourself if you don’t already. Once your self esteem has been tied into how much money you spend, its a tough knot to untangle.

So, I took these baby steps ( to all my Dave Ramsey fans out there). It took me a couple months to compile all these steps and even longer to start to truly follow all of them. I am 23 years old, I make about 24K a year, I am a part time college student, and I don’t have any kids or dependents. A lot of people may be discouraged from reading this article because maybe I don’t fit their demographic, make more or less, have fewer expenses or some other excuse. They may be right. I don’t know how well these steps may work for other people and I definitely cannot guarantee any results. It’s just a look into my own experience. But, if you want to break the ball and chain of money has around your ankle or maybe even save up $10000, grab a notebook and at least give this a try!

1.

Remove people from your life that you feel value money too much. These people are easy to identify: who in your life do you feel judges you the most? Limit contact with these people for a set period of time (maybe forever), or just until you save $10000. These people breed thoughts of inadequacy and manipulate us into spending money we don't need and becoming people we don't want to be, i.e. a woman in the Tightwad Gazette who admitted that she spent more money on her wealthy nephew’s Christmas presents than her own children.

2. 

Write down your goals, hopes and dreams (not financial goals). What kind of person are you now and what do you hope will change after you become financially stable? Where do you see yourself in ten years? What would you do if you had a million dollars? What are some things about your life that you wish you could change? Why can’t you? What are aspects of life that you are grateful for? What is your dream career? What are some of your insecurities and fears? Ask yourself all these questions and any more you can think of. This should be a private journal entry that you can look back to so, be as open as you can for yourself.

3.

Write down your financial goals. How much money do you want to save? My goal was $20,000.

4.

Analyze your spending. Print out the last few months of your bank statements. Make a list. In and out. What went into the bank account and what went out. This is on the bottom of every monthly statement.

5. 

Categorize all the items that went “out”. I use a pretty simple system for this: necessary and not necessary. Rent, car payments, gas, and doctors are needs. Mcdonald’s, make up, even buying books instead of borrowing them are not necessary. Be careful not to categorize non necessities as “wants”. This implies a careless decision was made and that we should feel bad or embarrassed about it. Our money is ours and we may choose to spend it however we wish. Remember that we want to feel more confident in our decisions through this process.

6.

Evaluate your needs list. Obviously rent and car payments can’t be negotiated down but if all your needs eat up more than half your income, see if anything can change. In my personal example, I had a car payment of $198/month. During the summer months, when babysitting jobs were scarce, I only made about $900/month. Coupled with rent, I had $100 left over every month to survive on. The solution was not easy, short term, or inexpensive. I had to buy a used car and get rid of my lease, find another side gig for the summer, or find a cheaper place to stay.

7.

Evaluate your non necessities list.Create a category for every expense (eating out, crafts, shopping, subscriptions) and then prioritize them in order of used. If you spent $300 this month on books, it goes to the top of the list. Next, think about what you could and couldnt live without. Put those in order too. Note: this does not mean cutting everything out. Think about what is important to you and what can change. Just because something isnt a basic need, does not mean it is not important. For me, going out with friends, and a small budget to grab some fast food if I was still hungry after lunch meant a lot. So those went to the top of my list.

8.

For future reference, I recommend using a debit card as cash to be able to track all your purchases. So this baby step is get a debit card at a bank that is near you with a safe and convenient ATM. Commit to putting cash onto the card in small amounts to avoid temptation, but often, like once a week. I never keep more than $50 available on my debit card at any time. I have worked my weekly amount down to just $15, just enough to eat out twice a week.

9.

PAY DAY. If you are like me and don’t have a regular deposit schedule, make one and keep to it. Be flexible about how often and how much you want to see your money grow. I tried a bi-weekly deposit schedule but learned that I prefer looking at how much I made at the end of the week. So, I deposit money into my account every Friday.

10.

You have money, now what do you do with it?? Consult your needs list and put aside the amount that you cannot change this month. Pay your bills immediately. 

11.

What is left over? Budget your non-necessities and leave that in your account. Take whatever is left and shove it into your savings account.

12.

Reconsider your budget. This is the part when you slowly trick your brain into enjoying frugality. Remember that amount that you shoved into savings? No you don’t! Next month, create your budget without that chunk of savings, so immediately after payday, shove it into your savings account after bills and before non-necessities. Don’t be discouraged if you have to touch your savings account because you went over budget. Just try to average out the same amount for 3-4 months. Also, even $5 is a hefty deposit amount if you’ve been picking away at your account for the past 6 months. Be proud of yourself for any and all progress!

This last step was very helpful to me because it helped me become more and more creative about how to live on less. I learned to prioritize my hobbies, treated myself sparingly, and invest time I had in place of money I didn’t have. Overall, I became much happier than I was.

Another tip, I’d like to include is to be kinder to yourself. In hindsight it is easy to look at my expenses and realize I could’ve put a little more away here and there but I have no regrets about the mistakes I have made. Step 4 was arguably the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life; analyze my mistakes and have compassion for myself. Even going forward, the continued slip ups I had taught me more about myself and helped me to make better decisions the next time.

I know this article seemingly boils down to taking a portion of your income and putting it into a savings account. But quite honestly, it has nothing to do with money. I have calculated that I could have put an extra $5000 away in the last ten months if I had really stuck to my needs, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted to live a life without the fear of money: not having enough, always wanting more. I was afraid to check my bank balance and I couldn’t resist a great sale that added to my net worth. Since I started my journey to financial stability, I don’t worry as much about what I have. That isn’t because I have a lot, but because I always know exactly what I had and I am confident about my ability to work with it.  It shifted my mentality of depending on money to take care of me to realizing that only I am responsible and capable of taking care of myself and money is just one of many tools that can help me. Break the chain!

[parkdalerealestateexperts-blog]

Avoid These Mistakes When Selling Your Home

Selling your house can be surprisingly time-consuming and emotionally hard, particularly in the event that you've never done it before. They'll criticize a spot that has probably become more than just four walls and a roof to you, also, to top it off, they will offer you less cash than you believe your house is worth.

With no experience and a complex, psychological trade on your hands, it is easy for first-time home sellers to create lots of mistakes. However, with just a tiny know-how you'll be able to avoid a number of these pitfalls. Keep reading to find out how to sell your home whilst obtaining the highest possible price within a reasonable time period without sacrificing your mind.

If you choose to sell on your own, set a fair sale price and maintain the time of year in mind.

Get ready for the sale, do not skimp on the visuals in your list, and disclose any issues with your property.

Getting Emotional

You spent a fantastic deal of time and effort to locate the perfect one, saved up for your down payment and furniture, and generated many memories. People generally have difficulty keeping their feelings in check when it is time to say goodbye.

Think it's impossible? It's not. Once you decide to sell your house, start thinking of yourself as a businessperson and salesperson rather than simply the homeowner. Actually, forget altogether that you are the homeowner. By taking a look at the transaction from a strictly financial perspective, you'll distance yourself from the psychological facets of selling the house.

Also, try to remember how you felt if you're shopping for that home. Most buyers are also in a psychological state. If you can keep in mind that you're selling a parcel of property in addition to a picture and a lifestyle, you'll be more likely to put in the excess effort of staging and performing a few minor remodeling to get top dollar for your property. These changes in appearance will not only aid the sales price; they'll also help you create psychological space because your house will seem less familiar.

Rent A Home In Roncesvalles

Although real estate brokers control a hefty commission--usually 5 percent to 6% of the sale price of your house --it is probably not a great idea to attempt to sell your house on your own, especially in the event that you haven't done it before.1 It can be tempting, particularly if you've seen all those"for sale by owner" signs on people's front lawns or online. So does it pay to hire an agent?

A good agent generally has your best interests in mind. They'll help you decide on a reasonable and aggressive selling price for your home, increasing your probability of a quick sale. An agent may also help tone down the emotion of the procedure by interacting with potential buyers and eliminating tire kickers that just wish to look at your property but have no intention of earning an offer.

Your agent will have more expertise negotiating house sales, assisting you to get more money than you could on your own. And if any problems crop up throughout the procedure --and they generally do--an experienced professional will be present to handle them . Ultimately, agents are familiar with all the paperwork and pitfalls involved in property transactions and will help make sure that the procedure goes smoothly. This means there won't be any delays or glitches in the offer.

After reading all this, in the event you truly hire a broker? Only you can choose.

Things To Do If You Do Not Use a Real Estate Agent

So you have decided not to employ an agent. That's fine, because it's not like it can not be done. There are individuals who sell their own homes successfully. Remember, however, you ought to do your research first--on newly sold properties in your area and properties currently on the marketplace --to determine an attractive selling price. Keep in mind that most home costs have an agent's commission factored in, which means you might need to discount your price consequently.

You are going to cause your own marketing, so make sure that you get your home on the multiple listing service (MLS) in your geographical area to reach the widest number of buyers. As you have no agent, you're going to be the one demonstrating the home and negotiating the sale with the buyer's agent, which is time-consuming, stressful, and emotional for many people.

As you're forgoing a broker, think about hiring a property attorney to help you with the finer points of the transaction as well as also the escrow procedure. Even with attorney's fees, selling a home yourself can save you tens of thousands . In case the buyer has an agent, nevertheless, they will expect to be compensated. This cost is typically covered by the seller, so you will still must pay 1% to 3% of the house's sale price to the purchaser's agent.

Putting an Unrealistic Price

Whether you are working with an agent or going it alone, putting the right asking price is key. Remember the comparative market analysis you or your agent did when you bought your house to determine a fair offering price? Buyers will do this for your house, too, so as a seller you ought to be one step ahead of them.

Absent a housing bubble, foreclosed houses generally don't sell. In a survey conducted by the informational home sale website HomeLight.com, 70 percent of real estate agents stated that overpricing is your number one mistake that sellers make.2 Do not fret too much about placing a price that is on the low side, because in theory this will generate numerous offers and bid the price up into the home's actual market value. In fact, underpricing your home can be a strategy to generate additional interest in your list, and you can always refuse an offer that is too low.

Parkdale Real Estate Experts

Any smart buyer will negotiate, and if you want to complete the sale, you might need to play ball. Many men and women wish to list their homes at a cost that will attract buyers while still leaving some breathing space for negotiations--the contrary of this underpricing strategy described above. This may work, permitting the buyer to feel as though they are getting very good value while letting you get the amount of money you need from the sale.

Of course, if you end up with less or more than your asking price will likely rely not simply on your pricing plan but also on if you're in a purchaser's marketplace or a vendor's market and just how nicely you've staged and updated your home.

Selling During Winter Months

Believe it or not, there really is a ideal time to market throughout the year. Winter, especially around the holidays, is generally a slow time of year for home sales. Folks are occupied with social engagements, as well as the chilly weather across much of the country makes it more appealing just to stay home. Since fewer buyers are inclined to be searching, it may take longer to sell your home, and you might not receive as much cash. But you can take some consolation in knowing that while there may not be as many active buyers, there also will not be too many competing sellers, which can at times work to your benefit.

You may be better off waiting. Barring any mitigating circumstances that can make you sell during the winter or holidays, consider listing whenever the weather starts to warm up. Folks are usually ready and willing to buy a house when it's warmer.

Skimping on Listing Photos

As so many buyers look for homes online these days, and so many of these homes have photos, you'll do yourself a real disservice if you don't have any visuals of your house. At exactly the same time, there are so many poor photos of houses available that in the event that you do a good job, it will place your listing apart and help generate extra attention.

Good photos should be crisp and clear and shot during the day when there is lots of natural light available. They ought to showcase your home's best assets. Consider using a wide-angle lens if possible--this allows you to provide prospective buyers a better idea of what entire rooms seem. Ideally, employ a professional property photographer to get top quality results instead of just letting your broker take snapshots on a telephone.

And don't just stop at photos. Consider adding a video tour or 360-degree view to further enhance your listing. This may be readily done with any smartphone. You might even get more supplies if you provide them an introductory walk-through of your premises.

Not Carrying Proper Insurance

Your creditor may have required you to acquire a homeowners insurance policy. Otherwise, you'll want to make sure that you're insured in case a viewer gets an injury on the premises and tries to sue you for damages. You also should be certain that there aren't any obvious hazards at the property or that you take action to mitigate them (maintaining the kids of potential buyers away from the pool and receiving your pet from the house during showings, by way of instance ).

Hiding Major Problems

Think you can get away with concealing important difficulties with your property? Any difficulty will be discovered during the buyer's review . You have three options to deal with any issues. Either correct the problem beforehand, price the property below market value into account for it, or list the property at a standard price and offer the buyer a charge to repair the issue.

Remember: If you do not repair the problem in advance, you might eliminate a fair amount of buyers that want a turnkey home. Having your home inspected before record is a fantastic idea if you want to avoid costly surprises after the home is under contract. Further, many countries have disclosure rules.5 Some require sellers to disclose known issues in their houses if buyers ask right, while others decree that sellers must voluntarily disclose certain difficulties.

Not Preparing for the Sale

Sellers that do not wash and stage their homes throw money down the drain. Don't be concerned if you can't afford to employ a specialist. There are many things you can do on your own. Failing to perform these items can reduce your sales price and may also keep you from acquiring a sale at all. In case you haven't attended to minor problems, such as a broken doorknob or leaking faucet, a potential buyer may wonder if the home has larger, more expensive issues that haven't been addressed .

Have a friend or a broker, somebody with a fresh pair of eyes, point out areas of the house that require work. Due to your familiarity with the house, you might be resistant to its problem spots. Decluttering, cleaning thoroughly, putting a new coat of paint on the walls, and getting rid of any odors will even assist you in making a fantastic impression on buyers.

Not Accommodating Buyers

If someone wants to view your residence, you need to accommodate them even when it inconveniences you. And yes, you have to wash and clean the house before every single trip. A purchaser will not know or care if the house was clean . It's a lot of work, but remain focused on the prize.

Promoting to Unqualified Buyers

It's more than reasonable to expect a purchaser to deliver a pre-approval letter from a mortgage lender or proof of funds(POF) for money purchases to show that they have the money to buy the home. Signing a contract with a buyer may be determined by the sale of their own property, which may set you in a serious bind if you have to close by a particular date.

[bethanymcateer-blog]

Ten Blunders Most Lottery Players Make

Which Mistakes Are you Producing?

Confident you can easily stroll into just about any store and buy a lottery ticket. It really is just that straightforward. That is just since it ought to be. Playing the lottery is often a entertaining and straightforward diversion using the possibility of a major payoff. You, even so, are a a lot more really serious player. The truth that you happen to be reading this shows that. You happen to be motivated adequate to wade by way of detailed facts to find out how you can cut out the poor habits and practices and locate a better solution to play the lottery in an intelligent manner. Here can be a list of ten also widespread blunders that lottery players make. Each and every single one particular of these things could be costing you ticket cash, time, frustration, and maybe even millions of dollars. Study them, take them to heart, and then put them into practice.

1. Playing the Wrong Lottery Games

Have you ever really regarded as which games you play and why? How much funds do you really require to win? What quantity of winnings would make an impact on your life? Right here in Texas we've lots of diverse options. You are able to play a big multi-state game like Mega-Millions with Huge multi-million dollar payoffs however the unfortunate odds of only 1 likelihood in 175,711,536 of taking house the jackpot! Wow, that is one particular ticket for each of more than half the population with the U.S.A.

Around the other hand the Texas Two-Step lottery prize begins at $200,000 and has typically reached a million dollars. The odds of winning the smaller sized game are only 1 in 1,832,600! By switching from the Mega-Millions game for the Texas Two-Step you improve your opportunity of winning a

prize by over 95 times! Place one more way you would need to get 95 Mega-Millions tickets to possess exactly the same odds of winning with 1 Texas Two-Step ticket.

Inside the region you live you'll find likely the exact same options in between compact games with tiny prizes like pick thee games, five and six ball games with mid-range payouts, and also the massive multi-state games with amazing odds against you.

two. Playing Birthdays as Lottery Number Picks

Trust me, I know. You have got a series of numbers that you just have chosen determined by your children's birthdays plus the day you got married and your mom and dad's wedding anniversary date. Negative move. Here's why.

Once you choose 사설토토사이트 numbers according to meaningful dates you limit your choices to the number of days within a month. In other words you happen to be limited to numbers from a pool of 1 to 31. As an instance in the difficulty in this technique feel about this. Within the Texas Lotto game six numbers are drawn from a pool of 54 numbers. 54 numbers give you a whopping 25,827,165 probable combinations! Any time you choose from the pool of numbers ranging from 1 to 31, how lots of combinations do you assume you can find to choose from? You'll find a measly little 736,281. Consider about that. Any time you opt for in between 1 and 31 you get 736,281 doable combinations BUT you completely, positively drop out around the other 25,090,884 probable combinations! Picking birthday numbers decreases any chance of your obtaining the winning combination by virtually 97%. That's insane.

I know, you study about quite a few people today who chose birthday numbers and won millions. I also realize that your string of birthday numbers has Exactly exactly the same chance of getting drawn as any with the other 25,827,165 possible combinations. It is true, each and every combination has the exact same chance of getting drawn. Still, are you prepared to reduce out nearly 97% of one's possible winning probabilities? I am not prepared to give up practically all of the possible winning combinations simply to work with sentimental possibilities. My goal will be to play smarter than that.

3. Inconsistent Playing

Consistency pays. It is actually for your advantage to become slightly fanatical about producing positive you will be within the mix for each and every drawing. Lottery corporations regularly chant the mantra 'You Cannot Win If you Do not Play' as a sales tool, however they are correct on the funds. You cannot win in the event you never play! You'll want to under no circumstances miss playing the game of the choice, the 1 you might have set your sights on winning. If you cannot afford to play some method you will be fond of or as lots of tickets as you wish you could possibly, should you have no partners to pool money with, whatever the purpose, you'll want to Constantly have no less than 1 ticket in every single drawing within your game.

Some lottery guides give the assistance to remain out of particular overplayed drawings. Possibly if the odds are extreme, the competition as well fierce, or the payoffs as well tiny, then yes. But in general there is no good cause to sit out. Believe about this, what when the numbers you meant to play were selected the a single night you chose to watch that rerun of that sitcom as an alternative to traipse out in to the globe to get your ticket? If that takes place, do not call me to cry, though I would like to hear the story. Just do not anticipate a shoulder to cry on. You have been warned. Sitting out with not even one particular ticket is definitely the very same as saying you do not want the chance of becoming filthy wealthy this week.

4. Playing Also A lot or Too Tiny

You must 1st decide which game may be the most effective 1 for you personally to play, than make a commitment to play it frequently. Subsequent it will be wise to produce a quick spending budget of what you may afford to play or what you happen to be comfy wagering. I as soon as read about a young immigrant man in Houston, Texas who won many million dollars. Great news! Then I study that he played several hundred dollars worth of tickets each week for various years just before winning. I in fact worried a little for him. Absolutely everyone has a budget they're able to reside with but most couldn't and wouldn't want to devote that substantially money on lottery tickets. Was he married? Was he neglecting his family? Did he possess a gambling issue?

So please, commit on lottery only the excess small amounts you could ordinarily invest on coffees or other treats. Don't spend cash you cannot afford to shed. Make sure you can afford the game you play. But ensure you also play, at the least after in each and every drawing. The one headline you might by no means see is definitely the individual that didn't acquire a ticket and nonetheless won the lottery.

five. Utilizing Faulty Information, Math, or Systems

Quite a few systems have superior written advertisements than actual materials and plans, and others use cumbersome application or call for endless hours of drudgery and record maintaining. Quite a few are some form of wheeling system that performs very best (and only a little bit superior than just possibility) when you can afford to purchase numerous tickets within a drawing. It truly is effortless to shed interest when a lot of operate is required and the possibility of winning doesn't modify a lot with all the technique. Seek out the ideal techniques of playing, ways that produce a lot more winners, require tiny or no perform on your element, and are uncomplicated to work with.

6. Playing Popular Combinations of Numbers

Study this meticulously. It could be a very good idea to avoid strange combinations of numbers. Examples could be 1-2-3-4-5-6 or 49-50-51-52-53-54. Avoid sequence choices for example 5-10-15-20-25-30 or 2-4-6-8-10-12 or 7-14-21-28-35-49. Never fill out a lottery slip by checking all of the boxes around the left, or ideal, or spelling out a number or letter or word using the darkened squares around the play slip.

Why? For the reason that in every drawing you will find dozens, occasionally hundreds, as well as a large number of people performing the same thing as you. Envision going to bed right after checking your numbers and knowing you had won a million dollars, only to wake up the following morning to discover 99 other people are sharing your million dollar dream. Hey, any lottery win is much better than no lottery win, but a million dollars will take you a great deal farther in life than $10,000! Go for the big one, and in case you have to share, hope it is having a lotto pool partner as an alternative to 99 strangers.

7. Being Tempted By New Plans and Schemes

You'll find dozens if not hundreds of difficult plans and schemes available that use slick advertisements and empty promises to sell the most recent flavor of information and facts on ways to win the lottery. One particular error lots of players make will be to fall towards the temptation from the slick marketing and empty promises. Are you currently one particular of those folks who generally must try just about every new lottery "winning" program you see? Do you get tickets a single way for a few weeks and then entirely switch your procedures? Lottery games are largely a losing proposition. The odds are Enormous and against you. Spending money and time on various faulty systems, plans, and computer software takes away out of your aim of in fact taking property the large one particular. Uncover one particular very good system and stick with it for the extended haul.

8. Providing Up On the Dream As well Quickly

Have you ever heard of your 'loser's limp'? It's stated that numerous a football player will make a beautiful run down the field, magically skirting previous opposing team members, only to slow and falter within the final handful of yards, getting tackled, and failing to make that all vital touchdown. You might have seen players do this very issue and wondered what in the world they had been undertaking. At times it tends to make me even wonder if the darn game is fixed! Truth is though, loser's limp is true and to be located not just in football but in every single human endeavor. It's constantly darkest prior to the dawn is what they say. Remember, when you never play you can not win. That 1 drawing you miss might have already been the 1. Persistence pays!

Don't quit on the dream. You may win the lottery! A person will!

9. Spending Revenue on Much less Efficient Games

I'm not a massive fan of, nor can I ever recommend that you commit money on, 'scratch-off' style games. Lottery odds are undesirable enough but in the event you dig deep inside the odds and payout figures on scratch off tickets, WOW, they're a significant hole in the ocean in which to toss your hard earned money.

I can practically hear you saying "But come on, they're a entertaining diversion". Hey, it really is your funds so devote it how you need to invest it but know in advance it's a losing proposition. Unlike the lottery exactly where creative varieties have identified a number of strategies that could substantially have an effect on the odds creating it a likelihood worth taking, scratch-off tickets are like shooting within the dark. Typically the bullet will hit you!

When you are going to inform me about Uncle Louie who "always wins with those items," effectively, I've dozens of buddies and not one of them ever has returned from Las Vegas with tales of losing revenue. They ALL won. Having said that do the casinos spend the electric bills on all of those neon signs? For the smart player scratch-offs are not an alternative.

10. Not Using Guaranteed Lottery Numbers

You have got countless selections on the best way to strategy lottery games. You may just blindly purchase swift pick tickets and let fate have its way with you. How has that worked out through the years?

Or you'll be able to invest massive amounts of cash into difficult systems, really hard to find out software program, and keeping records of cool and hot numbers, quantity sums, wheeling possibilities, plus a thousand other details, and in the finish have just concerning the similar opportunity of winning the lottery as if you started.

Or it is possible to make a smart option and use a proven technique that utilizes a proprietary system to pick essentially the most most likely numbers to become drawn, so potent that you are guaranteed to win lottery income!

[mattsammonsez]

Wax Pack Wednesday: Making the Best Out of a Tough Situation

On December 6, 1973, all 11 owners of National League teams approved of the sale and relocation of the San Diego Padres to Washington D.C., bringing Major League Baseball back to the nation’s capital for a third try since 1960. The problem was, the Padres didn’t actually move, and Topps got stuck holding the bag.

Error cards and variations are a fun and sometimes frustrating part of the card collecting hobby. Nowadays many “variations” are purposely done to create a “short print” market, driving the values of these cards up as they achieve rarity status. But prior to the 1990′s an error card or a variation was a true mistake in most cases. A misspelling or a photograph of the wrong player would send collectors scrambling, especially if there was a correction to the error. The shorter print of the two variations would be valued at much higher prices. In 1974, Topps was looking to streamline their production process and save some money during the economic downturn the nation was going through at the time. In the interest of saving money, Topps inadvertently created a subset of error cards that showed that despite your best efforts, sometimes things out of your control force you to adapt quickly. And that’s a lesson any broadcaster or content creator can learn from.

The Padres were an expansion team in 1969, and to say the least they came stumbling out of the gate. From 1969-73, the Padres averaged a woeful 59 wins a season, and drew an equally woeful average of 6,194 fans to the cavernous 50,000-seat Jack Murphy Stadium. In a time when stadium attendance was a must for business operations to succeed, the Padres were bleeding money daily. The team was in the sale process to two Washington D.C. businessmen throughout the 1973 season, as the District was looking to replace the Washington Senators who left for Arlington, Texas, in 1972 (a team that replaced the first Washington Senators team that vacated for Minneapolis in 1961).

Meanwhile, The Topps Chewing Gum Company was looking to cut corners. With the nation mired in a prolonged recession, the company wanted to reduce costs of its flagship product. This was something Topps would combat throughout the 1970′s with innovations including miniature sets and thinner cardboard stock, but the silver bullet in 1974 was releasing the set in one complete series for the first time in company history. As discussed in previous Wax Pack Wednesday posts with Topps as the main subject, since its debut in 1951 Topps was often left with excess product from the later series of a set not selling as well in the late summer and early fall. If Topps couldn’t repackage these cards, like spoiled fruit they went to waste. And that meant tens of thousands of dollars of product that had to be cleared from the shelves, and Topps warehouses, by the next spring. By releasing all 660 cards at once, Topps could eliminate the excess product of later series languishing on shelves, and the company could enter into the catalog sales business as you could buy the complete set from the JC Penney catalog.

The Padres moving wouldn’t be the first franchise move in Major League Baseball, in fact it would have been the third team in five years to relocate following the Seattle Pilots in 1970 and the aforementioned second Senators team in 1972. Topps knew the drill-- even though the name of the new Washington team was unknown (ironically, “Nationals” was reportedly the front-runner in the offices of the intended buyers of the team), Topps would simply identify the former Padres as the “Washington” team of the “Nat’l League” and leave well enough alone. But a world famous burger flipper would flip that idea on its head.

Padres pitcher Dave Freisleben models what was supposed to be the 1974 Washington Nationals uniform, had the Padres moved to the District that winter. 

Ray Kroc had turned the McDonald brothers’ milkshake stand concept in to the world-famous McDonald’s fast food chain, and after stepping down from running McDonald’s in 1974 he was looking for a new challenge. With the impending sale and moving of the team from San Diego bogged down in lawsuits, and the current Padres ownership needing to get out from under water financially, Kroc jumped into the ring and offered a then-record $12 million to purchase the Padres. It was an unconditional offer which the Padres jumped on, and instead of opening the season in RFK Stadium, the Padres opened their home schedule at Jack Murphy Stadium with more than 39,000 fans present. But what should have been a warm comeback story became a nightmare for Topps.

In order for the set to come out in time for retail in early March, the cards had gone to press earlier that year. There were 15 cards in circulation with the embarrassing “Washington” mistake, and Topps stopped the presses to correct them to the usual “San Diego Padres” version. Topps couldn’t do anything about the cards that were already out there, and what should have been a banner unveiling of the company’s first ever full series release was a flop. But time heals all wounds, and in a collectible hobby the mistake became a sought after item. 

Collectors who try to hand collate a 1974 Topps set sometimes go out of their way to include the 15 variations, for a special 675-card “official” set. Even if you’re not collecting the whole set, the Washington cards are a quirky (and surprisingly affordable) collectible. It marks a time when Kroc saved baseball in San Diego as the Padres recently celebrated their 50th anniversary, and it marks a time when Washington D.C. got called out with the old hidden ball trick. Of course D.C. would get the last laugh with a World Series Championship this fall, as the Padres are still looking for their first.

The important lesson to learn is that sometimes some uncontrollable force changes everything, and while you can make a correction or a tweak here and there, you often just have to let it go. Here are some more things we can pull from this story:

If you’re a broadcaster, don’t hang on a mistake: Often when you make a mistake, most people don’t notice it. Now this of course is something that’s not too egregious, like a slight tripping over your tongue or maybe referring to “Tom” as “Tim”... a simple “brain fart” if you will. If you go all Ron Burgundy on your Teleprompter then you have to pay the price, but most mistakes are little and go unnoticed. Move on like it didn’t happen, because many viewers and listeners won’t notice. And speaking from experience, sometimes when you try to correct yourself on air you end up making the correction worse than the original mistake.

Ok, my mistake won’t just go away. Now what?: If it’s not egregious, you can actually have some fun with it. That’s counter to the on-air advice I just gave, but in the instance of a print or social media mistake it’s going to be floating in the ecosphere for a while. That’s not unlike the Nashville Predators, who in 2013 sent out an email to their season ticket holders just prior to the start of the season. The problem is the email was signed “Go Perds!” instead of “Go Preds!” The mistake went viral, and rather than blush, the Preds issued a “correction” email the next morning. 

A similar thing happened in 2015 when the St. Louis Blues’ Instagram account told of how the Blues roared back to tie the rival Chicago Blackhawks 5-5 in a game. The problem was the device that posted the screen graphic auto-corrected “roar back” in to “roar bacon”. The nonsensical phrase went viral, and when the Blues went on a little hot streak after that game, “Roar Bacon” became an unintended but funny rally call. 

ALWAYS check your work! Topps was left out to dry by the sudden about-face of the Padres move to Washington D.C., but in the other examples above I shared, a simple proof-reading would have saved some embarrassment. Especially in the auto-correcting of pretty much every social platform, you need to double and triple-check what you’re about to post. Sometimes one letter changes an innocent message into something profane! And don’t put your faith in the squiggly little red line under words indicating a misspelling-- sometimes the software that does this doesn’t pick up a mistake, or it won’t acknowledge you put the wrong word down when it was spelled correctly.

After you wax nostalgic on some of these goofs, visit SammonSez.com to see how we can be that extra set of eyes for all of your broadcasting and content creation work.

[samuelfields]

8 steps to selling a house

Maybe you have to move for work.

Maybe your financial situation changed and you can’t afford your mortgage.

Maybe you want to go off the grid, throw your cell phone into a river, and travel the country in an old VW van.

Also, your name is just “Reingold” now.

Whatever your situation, one thing might be clear to you: It’s time to sell your house.

The process can be confusing though — that’s why I want to show you the exact timeline and steps you need to take in order to sell your house.

Are you selling your house for the right reasons?

Selling a house in 3 months

Within a week

Step 1: Choose your route

Step 2: Pick a price

3 months before listing

Step 3: Clean out the home

Step 4: Hire a home inspector

A month before listing

Step 5: Stage your home

Step 6: Hire a photographer

Week of listing

Step 7: List your home

Step 8: Sell your home

First, we need to make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons.

Are you selling your house for the right reasons?

It’s no secret I think real estate investing can be a bad decision. One of the reasons I hear from people that drives them to sell their homes: “My house is probably worth WAY more than it was when I bought it.”  

Probably — but only because that’s how inflation coupled with good home maintenance works.

We’ve all probably heard stories from old people talking about how they bought their house during the Taft administration for a sack of corn and a firm handshake and now it’s worth $1,000,000.

The truth is, when you factor in taxes, maintenance, and other real estate expenses, most houses make a very poor investment.

Yale economist and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller reported that from 1890 to 1990, the return on residential real estate was just about zero after inflation.

Even Warren Buffett, one of the world’s wealthiest men, points out that houses don’t necessarily increase in value. By the way, he’s still living in the same five-bedroom house he bought in Omaha, Nebraska, back in 1958.

BUT if you’re selling your home because of reasons like work, family, financial troubles, or going off the grid, etc … that’s fine. Just know that it’s not going to be the cash cow you might have thought it was going to be.

If that’s the case, I want to show you how to do exactly that.

Selling a house in 3 months

The time you actually sell your house will vary depending on where you live.

Housing markets differ from city to city. You might live in an area where it’s a seller’s paradise and everyone is looking to buy a house.

Or you might find yourself in a buyer’s market, where people can’t get rid of their homes fast enough.

Whatever your case, I’ve provided the exact steps you need to take in order to sell a house — along with a rough timeline.

Within a week…

Below are all the steps you need to accomplish this week in order to get the ball rolling with selling your house.

Step 1: Choose your route

There are two routes you can take when selling your house: For sale by owner (FSBO) or hiring a real estate agent.

Both have their benefits and drawbacks, so let’s jump into each now so you can make the right decision for you:

For sale by owner (FSBO) If you go the FSBO route, there’s the potential to save money on the real estate agent’s commission, since most agents get about 3% – 6% on the sale of a house.

So on the sale of a $300,000 home, you could lose as much as $9,000 – $18,000. Of course, you save even more the higher the price of your home is.

If you decide to go this route, you need to be serious and diligent about listing your home on places such as Craigslist, Zillow, and Facebook real estate groups for your hometown.

You’ll also be on your own when it comes to things like:

Home appraisal and pricing

Listing on a Multiple Listing Service, which could cost hundreds of dollars if you do it on your own (more on this in a bit)

Finding reputable home inspectors and photographers

Showing the home to potential buyers

Of course, you can avoid all that headache by going the route the majority of people take when selling their home: Getting a real estate agent.

Real estate agent A good Realtor will be able to add a TON of value to the process you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise, including:

Getting your house in front of potential buyers. Real estate agents have access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is a comprehensive online resource that has listings to the vast majority of properties in the country — and it’s a resource many American households turn to when searching for new homes. Since only real estate agents can list houses on the site, this gives them an edge on homeowners selling on their own.

Saving you time. A Realtor will do all the legwork of scheduling and showing your home to potential buyers, as well as the tricky negotiations that will occur when a buyer decides to make the purchase.

According to a 2017 report by Zillow, 36% of home sellers attempt the FSBO route — but only 11% are eventually able to sell their home without an agent. That’s because the challenges of selling a home are often too confusing for the layman. That’s why you might just want to make it easy on yourself and hire a Realtor.  

Of course, a real estate agent will take a commission from your home sale. But that price might be worth it to you to avoid the stress.

Note: We’ve been using Realtor and real estate agent interchangeably — however, they’re not exactly the same.

A real estate agent is someone who sells property or helps you sell property. Realtors are also real estate agents, but they’re members of the National Association of Realtors.

As a part of this membership, though, Realtors must abide by a strict code of ethics. The code outlines requirements for how Realtors interact with clients.

Respect for other Realtors and the clients themselves is sacrosanct (mostly because violating them can cost them money and get them sued). As such, the code of ethics is the key distinction between a normal licensed real estate agent and a Realtor — and might be a factor in choosing an agent for you.

You can check out the entire code of ethics here. 

For our intents and purposes (and since the vast majority of home sellers will hire a real estate agent anyway), we’re going to assume you’re going to get a Realtor from here on out.

ACTION STEP: Find a good Realtor.

While you don’t necessarily have to go the Realtor route to get a good real estate agent, you might want to, since they’re bound by a code of ethics.

There are a few good ways you can find a good real estate agent though:

Referrals. If your friend or family has sold their houses recently, ask them if they know of any good agents.

Find a Realtor. Check out the National Association of Realtors agent listings for a list of certified Realtors in your area.

Open houses. By going to open houses, you’ll be able to get an inside look at how a Realtor conducts themselves. Get their contact information if they’re attentive and show that they know the ins and outs of the house.

Come up with a list of five to ten good Realtors and give them each a phone call expressing your desire to sell your house.

Be sure to ask them for proof of their licensing, examples of the types of homes they typically sell (you’ll want an agent who normally sells homes like yours), and even the contact information of recent clients. You can call these clients later and vet your potential agent.

Pick one of the agents. Your Realtor will work with you in order to pick a date for when your listing goes up. They’ll also work with you on home pricing, which brings us to …

Step 2: Pick a price

Your real estate agent will run a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine a good price for your home.

This is a comprehensive report comparing your house to other similar houses in your area that are listed to be sold. These houses will be comparable to yours in terms of size, the number of rooms, the number of bathrooms, etc.

A good agent will walk you through the report and help you come up with an estimated price for your home.

It’s important to keep in mind that while you believe your house is worth one thing, the market is the true determining factor of your home’s price. If you price your home too high, people aren’t going to want to buy. Price it too low, and you risk losing out on thousands.

Work with your agent. They’ll help you come up with a good, objective price for your home.

3 months before listing

Once your agent and you come up with a price as well as a listing date, it’s time to prep your house for when it finally goes on the market. Below are all the things you’ll need to do to make sure your home is in top shape to sell.

Step 3: Clean out the home

Move anything that isn’t essential to your day-to-day life out of your home. This means things like:

Electronics (TV, stereos, the 15 Amazon Alexas you got for Christmas)

Art (paintings, statues, etc.)

Books

Seasonal clothes

Non-essential cookware

Workout equipment

Whatever

Decluttering does the double duty of helping you pack and move ahead of when you sell your house, while also making your house more presentable for potential buyers.

ACTION STEP: Get a storage space and declutter your home.

If you don’t already have a place to move your things to, get a storage unit to store your items until you do.

PRO TIP: Get a portable storage unit in order to make moving day all the easier for you.

Step 4: Hire a home inspector

Home inspectors help assess your home for anything that could negatively impact its value.

This includes things such as:

Electrical

Plumbing

Gas

Structural (walls, foundation, ceilings, windows, etc.)

Heating / Cooling

A home inspector will look at these specific areas throughout your house. When they’re finished, they’ll give you a report on any issues they run into.

With most homes, they’ll likely find a good number of issues. However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to repair every little thing.

However, if you want to really maximize the value of your home, you’ll want to address big issues such as plumbing, foundation, and electricity.

ACTION STEP: Get your home inspected and make repairs.

Your real estate agent should be able to refer you to a solid home inspector. They’ll work with your inspector to come up with a list of repairs you should make before the home goes on the market.

You can also head to the website of the American Society of Home Inspectors to find a certified inspector. Much like the National Association of Realtors, this trade organization binds its members by a code of ethics and provides them with certification.

A month before listing

You’ve made the repairs and cleaned out your home. Now you’re ready to put the finishing touches on before potential buyers see it.

Step 5: Stage your home

It’s now time to make sure your house looks attractive for potential buyers as well as the photographer (more on that in a bit).

This means giving your home a DEEP clean. Every surface needs to be cleaned and polished. The carpets need to be destained. Dingy walls should be washed and repainted.

Make sure your house is well lit. Replace old / burned out light bulbs and consider getting lamps for darker rooms. You don’t want potential buyers to walk in and feel like a vampire lives there.

Also, keep your closets empty. Potential buyers should be able to walk into your walk-in closets and peek into your pantry and see a spacious area. They want to envision their things in there. Not yours.

While it’s important to keep your inside space clean, don’t forget the outside of your house too. You’ll want to maximize “curb appeal” (how your house looks from the sidewalk or curb) as much as possible.

Some things you might want to do:

Power wash your driveway and deck.

Add a fresh coat of paint to your door and trimming

Place plants and flowers near your door.

Consider removing that novelty welcome mat from your entryway

“Huh. I don’t remember the listing saying we needed to bring anything.”

Once your home is clean and looks good, it’s time to have some pictures to show it off. Which brings us to …

Step 6: Hire a photographer

Don’t think you can snap a few pics on your iPhone, slap a filter on it, and call it a day. A good photographer can make or break your home listing.

They’re responsible for giving potential buyers a look at your house for the first time. As such, they’re on the vanguard of the house selling process.

That’s why you need to hire not only a photographer, but also a good photographer. Doing so will 10x your chances of getting your home looked at by your potential buyer.

This is classic “Craigslist Penis Effect” — the idea that if you’re even a little better than your crappy competition, you’ll find great success (e.g., sending a thoughtful message on a Craigslist personal ad rather than just sending a picture of your bollocks like everyone else).

ACTION STEP: Get attractive photos of your house.

There are a few places you can look into when finding a real estate photographer.

First, your agent likely has a list of great photographers they’ve worked with already. They’ll be perfect if you’re looking for a trusted, proven photographer.

Second, check out listings of homes similar to yours and see what photos really stand out to you. If the photographer’s contact information isn’t listed, you can contact the Realtor directly and inquire about the photographer.

Find at least five potential photographers. Look at their portfolio to make sure their photos are well lit, showcase the outside and inside of the houses well, and have actually sold the houses. Once you’re done, just choose one and arrange for a time for them to come photograph your house.

Week of listing

The big day is almost here. Your house is clean, the photos are taken, and everything is set for you to list your home — which brings us to …

Step 7: List your home

Once your home is listed and your real estate agent has staked a sign in your yard, it’s time to conduct showings.

Much of this will be up to your real estate agent. But there will occasionally be times when you’ll need to interact with the potential buyer and answer questions.

When that happens, it’ll typically be a short-notice showing. That’s fine. Just do the best you can to clean up any clutter that might be lying around, and politely answer their questions.

For open houses and showings planned in advanced, there’s no obligation for you to stick around — in fact, it’s probably better you’re not in your home.

This allows potential buyers to more easily imagine themselves living in your house. So make plans to be out of the home during these times.

Once your home is listed, though, congrats! Most all of the hard part is over.

I say most because you still need to negotiate and sell your house.

Step 8: Sell your home

So you’ve hooked a few potential buyers — it’s now time to reel them in.

(That’s how fishing works right?)

Your agent should have run a credit and background check into the potential buyer’s information to make sure they’re able to purchase the home. They’ll also give you the asking price offered by each of the potential buyers to you.

The asking price will be lower than the price you decided on in step two. After all, your buyer wants a good deal too. At this point, you need to decide upon a settlement price. Your agent will help you come up with a number.

A few things to keep in mind when deciding upon a number:

Real estate agent’s commission

Home inspector’s cost

Repairs and improvement costs

Closing costs (this is typically on the buyer but you might encounter it depending on the market you’re in)

Taxes and fees (homeowners association, attorney fees, insurance, etc.)

There’ll be likely a few rounds of negotiations. Don’t get nervous about this process. You can learn the skills needed to negotiate through the process with a few systems. Check out our article on how to negotiate anything to learn how to master the art of negotiations today.

Once you’ve negotiated the price and agreed on a sale — CONGRATS! You just sold your house.

From here, you’ll be working with your real estate agent, an attorney, as well as the buyer in order to sign the contracts. Once you’re done with that, it’s time to pack up and move out … but I’m definitely not helping you with that.

8 steps to selling a house is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/selling-a-house/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[paulckrueger]

8 steps to selling a house

Maybe you have to move for work.

Maybe your financial situation changed and you can’t afford your mortgage.

Maybe you want to go off the grid, throw your cell phone into a river, and travel the country in an old VW van.

Also, your name is just “Reingold” now.

Whatever your situation, one thing might be clear to you: It’s time to sell your house.

The process can be confusing though — that’s why I want to show you the exact timeline and steps you need to take in order to sell your house.

Are you selling your house for the right reasons?

Selling a house in 3 months

Within a week

Step 1: Choose your route

Step 2: Pick a price

3 months before listing

Step 3: Clean out the home

Step 4: Hire a home inspector

A month before listing

Step 5: Stage your home

Step 6: Hire a photographer

Week of listing

Step 7: List your home

Step 8: Sell your home

First, we need to make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons.

Are you selling your house for the right reasons?

It’s no secret I think real estate investing can be a bad decision. One of the reasons I hear from people that drives them to sell their homes: “My house is probably worth WAY more than it was when I bought it.”  

Probably — but only because that’s how inflation coupled with good home maintenance works.

We’ve all probably heard stories from old people talking about how they bought their house during the Taft administration for a sack of corn and a firm handshake and now it’s worth $1,000,000.

The truth is, when you factor in taxes, maintenance, and other real estate expenses, most houses make a very poor investment.

Yale economist and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller reported that from 1890 to 1990, the return on residential real estate was just about zero after inflation.

Even Warren Buffett, one of the world’s wealthiest men, points out that houses don’t necessarily increase in value. By the way, he’s still living in the same five-bedroom house he bought in Omaha, Nebraska, back in 1958.

BUT if you’re selling your home because of reasons like work, family, financial troubles, or going off the grid, etc … that’s fine. Just know that it’s not going to be the cash cow you might have thought it was going to be.

If that’s the case, I want to show you how to do exactly that.

Selling a house in 3 months

The time you actually sell your house will vary depending on where you live.

Housing markets differ from city to city. You might live in an area where it’s a seller’s paradise and everyone is looking to buy a house.

Or you might find yourself in a buyer’s market, where people can’t get rid of their homes fast enough.

Whatever your case, I’ve provided the exact steps you need to take in order to sell a house — along with a rough timeline.

Within a week…

Below are all the steps you need to accomplish this week in order to get the ball rolling with selling your house.

Step 1: Choose your route

There are two routes you can take when selling your house: For sale by owner (FSBO) or hiring a real estate agent.

Both have their benefits and drawbacks, so let’s jump into each now so you can make the right decision for you:

For sale by owner (FSBO) If you go the FSBO route, there’s the potential to save money on the real estate agent’s commission, since most agents get about 3% – 6% on the sale of a house.

So on the sale of a $300,000 home, you could lose as much as $9,000 – $18,000. Of course, you save even more the higher the price of your home is.

If you decide to go this route, you need to be serious and diligent about listing your home on places such as Craigslist, Zillow, and Facebook real estate groups for your hometown.

You’ll also be on your own when it comes to things like:

Home appraisal and pricing

Listing on a Multiple Listing Service, which could cost hundreds of dollars if you do it on your own (more on this in a bit)

Finding reputable home inspectors and photographers

Showing the home to potential buyers

Of course, you can avoid all that headache by going the route the majority of people take when selling their home: Getting a real estate agent.

Real estate agent A good Realtor will be able to add a TON of value to the process you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise, including:

Getting your house in front of potential buyers. Real estate agents have access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is a comprehensive online resource that has listings to the vast majority of properties in the country — and it’s a resource many American households turn to when searching for new homes. Since only real estate agents can list houses on the site, this gives them an edge on homeowners selling on their own.

Saving you time. A Realtor will do all the legwork of scheduling and showing your home to potential buyers, as well as the tricky negotiations that will occur when a buyer decides to make the purchase.

According to a 2017 report by Zillow, 36% of home sellers attempt the FSBO route — but only 11% are eventually able to sell their home without an agent. That’s because the challenges of selling a home are often too confusing for the layman. That’s why you might just want to make it easy on yourself and hire a Realtor.  

Of course, a real estate agent will take a commission from your home sale. But that price might be worth it to you to avoid the stress.

Note: We’ve been using Realtor and real estate agent interchangeably — however, they’re not exactly the same.

A real estate agent is someone who sells property or helps you sell property. Realtors are also real estate agents, but they’re members of the National Association of Realtors.

As a part of this membership, though, Realtors must abide by a strict code of ethics. The code outlines requirements for how Realtors interact with clients.

Respect for other Realtors and the clients themselves is sacrosanct (mostly because violating them can cost them money and get them sued). As such, the code of ethics is the key distinction between a normal licensed real estate agent and a Realtor — and might be a factor in choosing an agent for you.

You can check out the entire code of ethics here. 

For our intents and purposes (and since the vast majority of home sellers will hire a real estate agent anyway), we’re going to assume you’re going to get a Realtor from here on out.

ACTION STEP: Find a good Realtor.

While you don’t necessarily have to go the Realtor route to get a good real estate agent, you might want to, since they’re bound by a code of ethics.

There are a few good ways you can find a good real estate agent though:

Referrals. If your friend or family has sold their houses recently, ask them if they know of any good agents.

Find a Realtor. Check out the National Association of Realtors agent listings for a list of certified Realtors in your area.

Open houses. By going to open houses, you’ll be able to get an inside look at how a Realtor conducts themselves. Get their contact information if they’re attentive and show that they know the ins and outs of the house.

Come up with a list of five to ten good Realtors and give them each a phone call expressing your desire to sell your house.

Be sure to ask them for proof of their licensing, examples of the types of homes they typically sell (you’ll want an agent who normally sells homes like yours), and even the contact information of recent clients. You can call these clients later and vet your potential agent.

Pick one of the agents. Your Realtor will work with you in order to pick a date for when your listing goes up. They’ll also work with you on home pricing, which brings us to …

Step 2: Pick a price

Your real estate agent will run a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine a good price for your home.

This is a comprehensive report comparing your house to other similar houses in your area that are listed to be sold. These houses will be comparable to yours in terms of size, the number of rooms, the number of bathrooms, etc.

A good agent will walk you through the report and help you come up with an estimated price for your home.

It’s important to keep in mind that while you believe your house is worth one thing, the market is the true determining factor of your home’s price. If you price your home too high, people aren’t going to want to buy. Price it too low, and you risk losing out on thousands.

Work with your agent. They’ll help you come up with a good, objective price for your home.

3 months before listing

Once your agent and you come up with a price as well as a listing date, it’s time to prep your house for when it finally goes on the market. Below are all the things you’ll need to do to make sure your home is in top shape to sell.

Step 3: Clean out the home

Move anything that isn’t essential to your day-to-day life out of your home. This means things like:

Electronics (TV, stereos, the 15 Amazon Alexas you got for Christmas)

Art (paintings, statues, etc.)

Books

Seasonal clothes

Non-essential cookware

Workout equipment

Whatever

Decluttering does the double duty of helping you pack and move ahead of when you sell your house, while also making your house more presentable for potential buyers.

ACTION STEP: Get a storage space and declutter your home.

If you don’t already have a place to move your things to, get a storage unit to store your items until you do.

PRO TIP: Get a portable storage unit in order to make moving day all the easier for you.

Step 4: Hire a home inspector

Home inspectors help assess your home for anything that could negatively impact its value.

This includes things such as:

Electrical

Plumbing

Gas

Structural (walls, foundation, ceilings, windows, etc.)

Heating / Cooling

A home inspector will look at these specific areas throughout your house. When they’re finished, they’ll give you a report on any issues they run into.

With most homes, they’ll likely find a good number of issues. However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to repair every little thing.

However, if you want to really maximize the value of your home, you’ll want to address big issues such as plumbing, foundation, and electricity.

ACTION STEP: Get your home inspected and make repairs.

Your real estate agent should be able to refer you to a solid home inspector. They’ll work with your inspector to come up with a list of repairs you should make before the home goes on the market.

You can also head to the website of the American Society of Home Inspectors to find a certified inspector. Much like the National Association of Realtors, this trade organization binds its members by a code of ethics and provides them with certification.

A month before listing

You’ve made the repairs and cleaned out your home. Now you’re ready to put the finishing touches on before potential buyers see it.

Step 5: Stage your home

It’s now time to make sure your house looks attractive for potential buyers as well as the photographer (more on that in a bit).

This means giving your home a DEEP clean. Every surface needs to be cleaned and polished. The carpets need to be destained. Dingy walls should be washed and repainted.

Make sure your house is well lit. Replace old / burned out light bulbs and consider getting lamps for darker rooms. You don’t want potential buyers to walk in and feel like a vampire lives there.

Also, keep your closets empty. Potential buyers should be able to walk into your walk-in closets and peek into your pantry and see a spacious area. They want to envision their things in there. Not yours.

While it’s important to keep your inside space clean, don’t forget the outside of your house too. You’ll want to maximize “curb appeal” (how your house looks from the sidewalk or curb) as much as possible.

Some things you might want to do:

Power wash your driveway and deck.

Add a fresh coat of paint to your door and trimming

Place plants and flowers near your door.

Consider removing that novelty welcome mat from your entryway

“Huh. I don’t remember the listing saying we needed to bring anything.”

Once your home is clean and looks good, it’s time to have some pictures to show it off. Which brings us to …

Step 6: Hire a photographer

Don’t think you can snap a few pics on your iPhone, slap a filter on it, and call it a day. A good photographer can make or break your home listing.

They’re responsible for giving potential buyers a look at your house for the first time. As such, they’re on the vanguard of the house selling process.

That’s why you need to hire not only a photographer, but also a good photographer. Doing so will 10x your chances of getting your home looked at by your potential buyer.

This is classic “Craigslist Penis Effect” — the idea that if you’re even a little better than your crappy competition, you’ll find great success (e.g., sending a thoughtful message on a Craigslist personal ad rather than just sending a picture of your bollocks like everyone else).

ACTION STEP: Get attractive photos of your house.

There are a few places you can look into when finding a real estate photographer.

First, your agent likely has a list of great photographers they’ve worked with already. They’ll be perfect if you’re looking for a trusted, proven photographer.

Second, check out listings of homes similar to yours and see what photos really stand out to you. If the photographer’s contact information isn’t listed, you can contact the Realtor directly and inquire about the photographer.

Find at least five potential photographers. Look at their portfolio to make sure their photos are well lit, showcase the outside and inside of the houses well, and have actually sold the houses. Once you’re done, just choose one and arrange for a time for them to come photograph your house.

Week of listing

The big day is almost here. Your house is clean, the photos are taken, and everything is set for you to list your home — which brings us to …

Step 7: List your home

Once your home is listed and your real estate agent has staked a sign in your yard, it’s time to conduct showings.

Much of this will be up to your real estate agent. But there will occasionally be times when you’ll need to interact with the potential buyer and answer questions.

When that happens, it’ll typically be a short-notice showing. That’s fine. Just do the best you can to clean up any clutter that might be lying around, and politely answer their questions.

For open houses and showings planned in advanced, there’s no obligation for you to stick around — in fact, it’s probably better you’re not in your home.

This allows potential buyers to more easily imagine themselves living in your house. So make plans to be out of the home during these times.

Once your home is listed, though, congrats! Most all of the hard part is over.

I say most because you still need to negotiate and sell your house.

Step 8: Sell your home

So you’ve hooked a few potential buyers — it’s now time to reel them in.

(That’s how fishing works right?)

Your agent should have run a credit and background check into the potential buyer’s information to make sure they’re able to purchase the home. They’ll also give you the asking price offered by each of the potential buyers to you.

The asking price will be lower than the price you decided on in step two. After all, your buyer wants a good deal too. At this point, you need to decide upon a settlement price. Your agent will help you come up with a number.

A few things to keep in mind when deciding upon a number:

Real estate agent’s commission

Home inspector’s cost

Repairs and improvement costs

Closing costs (this is typically on the buyer but you might encounter it depending on the market you’re in)

Taxes and fees (homeowners association, attorney fees, insurance, etc.)

There’ll be likely a few rounds of negotiations. Don’t get nervous about this process. You can learn the skills needed to negotiate through the process with a few systems. Check out our article on how to negotiate anything to learn how to master the art of negotiations today.

Once you’ve negotiated the price and agreed on a sale — CONGRATS! You just sold your house.

From here, you’ll be working with your real estate agent, an attorney, as well as the buyer in order to sign the contracts. Once you’re done with that, it’s time to pack up and move out … but I’m definitely not helping you with that.

8 steps to selling a house is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Surety Bond Brokers? Business https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/selling-a-house/

[papermoonloveslucy]

SAFE DRIVING WEEK

October 21, 1950

“Safe Driving Week” (aka “Safety Drive”) is episode #102 [some sources say #101] of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on October 21, 1950.

This was the sixth episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 31 new episodes, with the season ending on March 31, 1951.  

Synopsis ~  When Liz gets a traffic ticket on the day George is Safety Week chairman, George decides to lock the car in the garage and hide the key.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

Gale Gordon and Bea Benadaret (Rudolph and Iris Atterbury) do not appear in this episode. 

GUEST CAST

Elvia Allman (Marge Van Tassle) was born on September 19, 1904 in Enochville, North Carolina. She started her performing career on radio in the 1920s, as both a storyteller and singer. Allman’s first episode of “I Love Lucy” is also one of the most memorable in TV history: “Job Switching” (ILL S2;E1) in September 1952.  She played the strident foreman of Kramer’s Candy Kitchen. Allman returned to the show as one of Minnie Finch’s neighbors in “Fan Magazine Interview” (ILL S3;E17) in 1954. Changing gears once again she played prim magazine reporter Nancy Graham in “The Homecoming” (ILL S5;E6) in 1955. She made two appearances on “The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour“ - first as Ida Thompson, Westfield’s PTA director in “The Celebrity Next Door” (LDCH S1;E2) and as Milton Berle’s secretary when “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos” (LDCH S3;E1) in 1959. On “The Lucy Show” she was seen in “Lucy Bags a Bargain” (TLS S4;E17) and in “Lucy The Babysitter” (TLS S5;E16).  Allman died on March 6, 1992, aged 87.

Lucy characters have always had a peripheral character named Marge. In this case, the character largely takes on the action that might normally be taken by Iris Atterbury. It is likely that Bea Benadaret was not available that week, so the character was rewritten for Elvia Allman as Marge Van Tassle. 

Sheldon Leonard (Motorcyle Cop) was born Leonard Sheldon Bershad in New York City in 1907. In 1953 he played fast-talking salesman Harry Martin, who sells Lucy Ricardo the Handy Dandy vacuum cleaner in “Sales Resistance” (ILL S2;E17). He played himself on a 1967 episode of “The Lucy Show.”  Leonard was an integral part of the Desilu family off-screen as well, directing “Make Room for Daddy” including an episode that featured Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in 1959. He was one of the creators of “The Andy Griffith Show,” also filmed at Desilu. Leonard may be best remembered as the Nick, the bartender in the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life (1945). He died in 1997. 

THE EPISODE

ANNOUNCER:  “As we look in on the town of Sheridan Falls, where the Coopers live, it's an average Wednesday morning. The traffic on Elm Street is fairly heavy, the cars are moving along about as usual, except - wait a minute! Pull over to the curb! Here comes a woman driver!  It's Liz Cooper driving!”

Liz is pulled over by a policeman (Sheldon Leonard), although she’s unclear why. He says that Liz made the wrong arm signal when turning left. 

Turn signal lights in cars didn’t become common until later in the 1950s. Before that, letting everyone know which way one planned to turn was by using the hand signals above, which were taught in driving classes.   

When Liz asks what he is writing, he facetiously calls it a story for Reader’s Digest about ‘The Most Unforgettable Person I’ve Ever Met’!  Naturally, it is a traffic ticket.

Reader’s Digest was known for their publication of abridged novels, short stories, and articles that could be read in one sitting. Ricky was seen reading the Digest in “Lucy Writes a Novel” in 1954. That same year, a biography of Ball by Eleanor Harris was included in the Digest - condensed, naturally. Ball appeared on the covers in 1990 and 2003. “My Most Unforgettable Character” was a regular feature, along with “Life in These United States.”

Arriving home Liz is greeted by Katie the maid, who encourages her to face George and tell him about the ticket.  After a kiss, George has big news, but so does Liz. She allows him to go first. He has been chosen as Chairman of Sheridan Falls Safe Driving week by the Chamber of Commerce. Liz now cannot possibly tell George about the ticket!  

Safe Driving campaigns were not unusual in post-war America. Roads were seeing increased traffic as automakers vied for consumer dollars. For example, Cynthia Gary was crowned Queen of Safe Driving and reigned over the 1950 Safe Driving Week campaign sponsored by the St. Paul Junior Chamber of Commerce.

The doorbell rings. Liz is saved by the bell!  While Liz is answering the door, Katie spills the beans about the citation to George!  George tells her that he knows about her ticket.  He tells her about the Safety Week celebrations. 

GEORGE: “They’re having a big ceremony at the site of the new automobile club. There’s going to be a parade of all the drivers in town who haven’t gotten a ticket in ten years.” LIZ: “Well, that’ll be a short parade.”

To keep Liz from getting any more tickets during his Safety Week, he takes her up on her off-handed suggestion to lock the car in the garage for the week. George will have the key to the garage in his pocket. Liz will have to walk! 

GEORGE: “I’ll take you to a movie after dinner. There’s a movie that reminds me of your driving: ‘Panic in the Streets’!”

Panic in the Streets is a 1950 film noir directed by Elia Kazan. It was shot exclusively on location in New Orleans, Louisiana. It starred Richard Widmark ("The Tour”), Zero Mostel (DuBarry Was A Lady and "Carol +2″), and Paul Douglas (”Lucy Wants A Career”). The film was released a month before this broadcast. 

At the end of the week, Liz is visited by Marge Van Tassel (Elvia Allman). Liz has a plan and needs her help. She has had mishap and lost the front fender to an anonymous accident. Naturally, she doesn’t want George to find out. 

LIZ: “Somewhere in this town there’s a car with five fenders.”

Note: A fender is different than a bumper because it's a metal structure that frames the wheel well of your car, instead of the front or back. The fender extends between the front door to the front bumper covering the front wheels of the vehicle. 

Without the key, Liz and Marge plot to take the drastic action of taking the garage door off! 

LIZ: “I guess it’s either take down the garage door or start hunting for a very thin, flat mechanic.” 

In the act break, there is a public service announcement to debunk the misconception that the US finances most of the cost of the mutual defense program of NATO.

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers once again we find Liz and Marge Van Tassel in the backyard, gently removing the garage door.” 

There is a great splintering of wood as Marge and Liz finally gain access to the car. Unfortunately, they don’t have the car key!   Looking for a way to start the car without the key, they look under the hood. 

LIZ: “Hmmmm... It’s a motor alright!” 

Liz toys with the idea of pulling out the plugs leading to the spark plugs. Marge thinks the fan belt is a little propeller. Liz insists it is an electric fan to keep the mechanic cool. Somehow, Liz connects two wires and the car starts!  Leaving the garage, she backs over the doors!  

In “The Not So Popular Mechanics” (HL S5;E22) in 1972, Lucy Carter and Mary Jane take apart Harry’s prized Rolls Royce thinking it will be easy to give it a home oil change!  They end up with a puzzle they cannot put back together!

Once pn the street, Liz realizes she can’t turn!  The steering wheel is locked!  It isn’t long before they have a hit and run accident and lose another fender!  The collision at least knocks the car at an angle.  But the wrong angle. They are facing the opposite direction of the repair shop! 

LIZ: “Well, we have a choice, Marge. We can back-up ten blocks or drive around the world!”  MARGE: “I’ve seen you back-up. It’d be quicker to drive around the world!” LIZ: “I just hope there’s a good mechanic in Hong Kong!”

When “Lucy Learns To Drive” (ILL S4;E12) in 1955, she also has a traffic accident - with herself!  

It isn’t long before Liz comes face to face with another car, who passes them on the wrong side because she’s three feet from the left curb!  A policeman pulls them over - the same officer who issued Liz the ticket. To explain her driving on the left, Liz decides to adopt a British accent. 

LIZ: “Pip-pip, cheerio, hallo there, Bobbie!”

Lucy will use her British accent when “I Love Lucy” visits London and the British countryside in early 1956. British policeman are known as Bobbies after Sir Robert Peel (1778-1850), who helped establish their modern police force. 

The Officer tests her by asking her to sing the British Anthem. Marge and Liz sing “London Bridge is Falling Down.” 

In “Lucy in London” (1966), The Dave Clark Five perform a medley of “London Bridge is Falling Down” and “Pop Goes the Weasel, instead of the real anthem, “God Save the Queen”. The London Bridge seen in the special is the old London Bridge (1831-1967).  A year after filming, this bridge was dismantled and sold while a new version (that still stands today) was built to replace it. The old London Bridge was reassembled in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, opening in 1971, where it remains the number one tourist attraction.

The policeman insists on driving the car away from the curb, but runs over his own motorcycle in the process!  

Marge and Liz drive away, leaving the motorcycle cop in tears, clutching only his handlebars. 

Fred Mertz backs wrecks his motorcycle when “Ricky Sells The Car” (ILL S5;E4) in 1955. He, too, is left clutching only the handlebars!

Marge and Liz notice that the traffic has gotten slower and heavier and that spectators are crowded on the sidewalks. They are in George’s Safety Week Parade for drivers with no tickets in the last ten years!  Rather than let George Liz stops suddenly and causes a multi-car collision. 

LIZ: “I see a wreck.” MARGE: “Just one?” LIZ: “Yep. Just one. But it’s three blocks long. There are very few drivers left in this town who haven’t had an accident in the last ten years.”

George comes down from the reviewing stand and angrily insists that he will move the car himself - despite Liz’s attempted warnings not to...

[mcjoelcain]

8 steps to selling a house

Maybe you have to move for work.

Maybe your financial situation changed and you can’t afford your mortgage.

Maybe you want to go off the grid, throw your cell phone into a river, and travel the country in an old VW van.

Also, your name is just “Reingold” now.

Whatever your situation, one thing might be clear to you: It’s time to sell your house.

The process can be confusing though — that’s why I want to show you the exact timeline and steps you need to take in order to sell your house.

Are you selling your house for the right reasons?

Selling a house in 3 months

Within a week

Step 1: Choose your route

Step 2: Pick a price

3 months before listing

Step 3: Clean out the home

Step 4: Hire a home inspector

A month before listing

Step 5: Stage your home

Step 6: Hire a photographer

Week of listing

Step 7: List your home

Step 8: Sell your home

First, we need to make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons.

Are you selling your house for the right reasons?

It’s no secret I think real estate investing can be a bad decision. One of the reasons I hear from people that drives them to sell their homes: “My house is probably worth WAY more than it was when I bought it.”  

Probably — but only because that’s how inflation coupled with good home maintenance works.

We’ve all probably heard stories from old people talking about how they bought their house during the Taft administration for a sack of corn and a firm handshake and now it’s worth $1,000,000.

The truth is, when you factor in taxes, maintenance, and other real estate expenses, most houses make a very poor investment.

Yale economist and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller reported that from 1890 to 1990, the return on residential real estate was just about zero after inflation.

Even Warren Buffett, one of the world’s wealthiest men, points out that houses don’t necessarily increase in value. By the way, he’s still living in the same five-bedroom house he bought in Omaha, Nebraska, back in 1958.

BUT if you’re selling your home because of reasons like work, family, financial troubles, or going off the grid, etc … that’s fine. Just know that it’s not going to be the cash cow you might have thought it was going to be.

If that’s the case, I want to show you how to do exactly that.

Selling a house in 3 months

The time you actually sell your house will vary depending on where you live.

Housing markets differ from city to city. You might live in an area where it’s a seller’s paradise and everyone is looking to buy a house.

Or you might find yourself in a buyer’s market, where people can’t get rid of their homes fast enough.

Whatever your case, I’ve provided the exact steps you need to take in order to sell a house — along with a rough timeline.

Within a week…

Below are all the steps you need to accomplish this week in order to get the ball rolling with selling your house.

Step 1: Choose your route

There are two routes you can take when selling your house: For sale by owner (FSBO) or hiring a real estate agent.

Both have their benefits and drawbacks, so let’s jump into each now so you can make the right decision for you:

For sale by owner (FSBO) If you go the FSBO route, there’s the potential to save money on the real estate agent’s commission, since most agents get about 3% – 6% on the sale of a house.

So on the sale of a $300,000 home, you could lose as much as $9,000 – $18,000. Of course, you save even more the higher the price of your home is.

If you decide to go this route, you need to be serious and diligent about listing your home on places such as Craigslist, Zillow, and Facebook real estate groups for your hometown.

You’ll also be on your own when it comes to things like:

Home appraisal and pricing

Listing on a Multiple Listing Service, which could cost hundreds of dollars if you do it on your own (more on this in a bit)

Finding reputable home inspectors and photographers

Showing the home to potential buyers

Of course, you can avoid all that headache by going the route the majority of people take when selling their home: Getting a real estate agent.

Real estate agent A good Realtor will be able to add a TON of value to the process you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise, including:

Getting your house in front of potential buyers. Real estate agents have access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is a comprehensive online resource that has listings to the vast majority of properties in the country — and it’s a resource many American households turn to when searching for new homes. Since only real estate agents can list houses on the site, this gives them an edge on homeowners selling on their own.

Saving you time. A Realtor will do all the legwork of scheduling and showing your home to potential buyers, as well as the tricky negotiations that will occur when a buyer decides to make the purchase.

According to a 2017 report by Zillow, 36% of home sellers attempt the FSBO route — but only 11% are eventually able to sell their home without an agent. That’s because the challenges of selling a home are often too confusing for the layman. That’s why you might just want to make it easy on yourself and hire a Realtor.  

Of course, a real estate agent will take a commission from your home sale. But that price might be worth it to you to avoid the stress.

Note: We’ve been using Realtor and real estate agent interchangeably — however, they’re not exactly the same.

A real estate agent is someone who sells property or helps you sell property. Realtors are also real estate agents, but they’re members of the National Association of Realtors.

As a part of this membership, though, Realtors must abide by a strict code of ethics. The code outlines requirements for how Realtors interact with clients.

Respect for other Realtors and the clients themselves is sacrosanct (mostly because violating them can cost them money and get them sued). As such, the code of ethics is the key distinction between a normal licensed real estate agent and a Realtor — and might be a factor in choosing an agent for you.

You can check out the entire code of ethics here. 

For our intents and purposes (and since the vast majority of home sellers will hire a real estate agent anyway), we’re going to assume you’re going to get a Realtor from here on out.

ACTION STEP: Find a good Realtor.

While you don’t necessarily have to go the Realtor route to get a good real estate agent, you might want to, since they’re bound by a code of ethics.

There are a few good ways you can find a good real estate agent though:

Referrals. If your friend or family has sold their houses recently, ask them if they know of any good agents.

Find a Realtor. Check out the National Association of Realtors agent listings for a list of certified Realtors in your area.

Open houses. By going to open houses, you’ll be able to get an inside look at how a Realtor conducts themselves. Get their contact information if they’re attentive and show that they know the ins and outs of the house.

Come up with a list of five to ten good Realtors and give them each a phone call expressing your desire to sell your house.

Be sure to ask them for proof of their licensing, examples of the types of homes they typically sell (you’ll want an agent who normally sells homes like yours), and even the contact information of recent clients. You can call these clients later and vet your potential agent.

Pick one of the agents. Your Realtor will work with you in order to pick a date for when your listing goes up. They’ll also work with you on home pricing, which brings us to …

Step 2: Pick a price

Your real estate agent will run a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine a good price for your home.

This is a comprehensive report comparing your house to other similar houses in your area that are listed to be sold. These houses will be comparable to yours in terms of size, the number of rooms, the number of bathrooms, etc.

A good agent will walk you through the report and help you come up with an estimated price for your home.

It’s important to keep in mind that while you believe your house is worth one thing, the market is the true determining factor of your home’s price. If you price your home too high, people aren’t going to want to buy. Price it too low, and you risk losing out on thousands.

Work with your agent. They’ll help you come up with a good, objective price for your home.

3 months before listing

Once your agent and you come up with a price as well as a listing date, it’s time to prep your house for when it finally goes on the market. Below are all the things you’ll need to do to make sure your home is in top shape to sell.

Step 3: Clean out the home

Move anything that isn’t essential to your day-to-day life out of your home. This means things like:

Electronics (TV, stereos, the 15 Amazon Alexas you got for Christmas)

Art (paintings, statues, etc.)

Books

Seasonal clothes

Non-essential cookware

Workout equipment

Whatever

Decluttering does the double duty of helping you pack and move ahead of when you sell your house, while also making your house more presentable for potential buyers.

ACTION STEP: Get a storage space and declutter your home.

If you don’t already have a place to move your things to, get a storage unit to store your items until you do.

PRO TIP: Get a portable storage unit in order to make moving day all the easier for you.

Step 4: Hire a home inspector

Home inspectors help assess your home for anything that could negatively impact its value.

This includes things such as:

Electrical

Plumbing

Gas

Structural (walls, foundation, ceilings, windows, etc.)

Heating / Cooling

A home inspector will look at these specific areas throughout your house. When they’re finished, they’ll give you a report on any issues they run into.

With most homes, they’ll likely find a good number of issues. However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to repair every little thing.

However, if you want to really maximize the value of your home, you’ll want to address big issues such as plumbing, foundation, and electricity.

ACTION STEP: Get your home inspected and make repairs.

Your real estate agent should be able to refer you to a solid home inspector. They’ll work with your inspector to come up with a list of repairs you should make before the home goes on the market.

You can also head to the website of the American Society of Home Inspectors to find a certified inspector. Much like the National Association of Realtors, this trade organization binds its members by a code of ethics and provides them with certification.

A month before listing

You’ve made the repairs and cleaned out your home. Now you’re ready to put the finishing touches on before potential buyers see it.

Step 5: Stage your home

It’s now time to make sure your house looks attractive for potential buyers as well as the photographer (more on that in a bit).

This means giving your home a DEEP clean. Every surface needs to be cleaned and polished. The carpets need to be destained. Dingy walls should be washed and repainted.

Make sure your house is well lit. Replace old / burned out light bulbs and consider getting lamps for darker rooms. You don’t want potential buyers to walk in and feel like a vampire lives there.

Also, keep your closets empty. Potential buyers should be able to walk into your walk-in closets and peek into your pantry and see a spacious area. They want to envision their things in there. Not yours.

While it’s important to keep your inside space clean, don’t forget the outside of your house too. You’ll want to maximize “curb appeal” (how your house looks from the sidewalk or curb) as much as possible.

Some things you might want to do:

Power wash your driveway and deck.

Add a fresh coat of paint to your door and trimming

Place plants and flowers near your door.

Consider removing that novelty welcome mat from your entryway

“Huh. I don’t remember the listing saying we needed to bring anything.”

Once your home is clean and looks good, it’s time to have some pictures to show it off. Which brings us to …

Step 6: Hire a photographer

Don’t think you can snap a few pics on your iPhone, slap a filter on it, and call it a day. A good photographer can make or break your home listing.

They’re responsible for giving potential buyers a look at your house for the first time. As such, they’re on the vanguard of the house selling process.

That’s why you need to hire not only a photographer, but also a good photographer. Doing so will 10x your chances of getting your home looked at by your potential buyer.

This is classic “Craigslist Penis Effect” — the idea that if you’re even a little better than your crappy competition, you’ll find great success (e.g., sending a thoughtful message on a Craigslist personal ad rather than just sending a picture of your bollocks like everyone else).

ACTION STEP: Get attractive photos of your house.

There are a few places you can look into when finding a real estate photographer.

First, your agent likely has a list of great photographers they’ve worked with already. They’ll be perfect if you’re looking for a trusted, proven photographer.

Second, check out listings of homes similar to yours and see what photos really stand out to you. If the photographer’s contact information isn’t listed, you can contact the Realtor directly and inquire about the photographer.

Find at least five potential photographers. Look at their portfolio to make sure their photos are well lit, showcase the outside and inside of the houses well, and have actually sold the houses. Once you’re done, just choose one and arrange for a time for them to come photograph your house.

Week of listing

The big day is almost here. Your house is clean, the photos are taken, and everything is set for you to list your home — which brings us to …

Step 7: List your home

Once your home is listed and your real estate agent has staked a sign in your yard, it’s time to conduct showings.

Much of this will be up to your real estate agent. But there will occasionally be times when you’ll need to interact with the potential buyer and answer questions.

When that happens, it’ll typically be a short-notice showing. That’s fine. Just do the best you can to clean up any clutter that might be lying around, and politely answer their questions.

For open houses and showings planned in advanced, there’s no obligation for you to stick around — in fact, it’s probably better you’re not in your home.

This allows potential buyers to more easily imagine themselves living in your house. So make plans to be out of the home during these times.

Once your home is listed, though, congrats! Most all of the hard part is over.

I say most because you still need to negotiate and sell your house.

Step 8: Sell your home

So you’ve hooked a few potential buyers — it’s now time to reel them in.

(That’s how fishing works right?)

Your agent should have run a credit and background check into the potential buyer’s information to make sure they’re able to purchase the home. They’ll also give you the asking price offered by each of the potential buyers to you.

The asking price will be lower than the price you decided on in step two. After all, your buyer wants a good deal too. At this point, you need to decide upon a settlement price. Your agent will help you come up with a number.

A few things to keep in mind when deciding upon a number:

Real estate agent’s commission

Home inspector’s cost

Repairs and improvement costs

Closing costs (this is typically on the buyer but you might encounter it depending on the market you’re in)

Taxes and fees (homeowners association, attorney fees, insurance, etc.)

There’ll be likely a few rounds of negotiations. Don’t get nervous about this process. You can learn the skills needed to negotiate through the process with a few systems. Check out our article on how to negotiate anything to learn how to master the art of negotiations today.

Once you’ve negotiated the price and agreed on a sale — CONGRATS! You just sold your house.

From here, you’ll be working with your real estate agent, an attorney, as well as the buyer in order to sign the contracts. Once you’re done with that, it’s time to pack up and move out … but I’m definitely not helping you with that.

8 steps to selling a house is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Money https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/selling-a-house/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[goldeagleprice]

Seated Liberty design types help frame half dollar collection

By Mike Thorne, Ph.D.

For most coin collectors, the best approach to take when collecting 19th century series is the type approach. That is, instead of being deterred by all the rare and pricey date/mintmark combinations in an early series, it may be better to purchase a single, common date to illustrate each design type.

As an example, suppose you’re interested in Liberty Cap quarters minted between 1815 and 1838. Instead of trying to get a complete run of dates, some of which are incredibly expensive, a single example in the best condition you can afford may be preferable and a lot less frustrating.

In this article, I’m going to discuss a type set of Seated Liberty half dollars. These are coins minted between 1839 and 1891, an incredible span of 53 years. A complete run of all date/mintmark combinations would be a challenge for someone as wealthy as Bill Gates and an impossibility for a collector of normal means.

But a single example of each Seated Liberty half dollar design type seems eminently doable. To begin, let’s take a closer look at the basic design.

The Seated Liberty design first appeared on silver dollars before being adopted for half dimes, dimes, quarters, and, finally, half dollars. Based on drawings by portraitist Thomas Sully, Mint Engraver Christian Gobrecht created the Seated Liberty (or Liberty Seated) design.

The obverse shows a figure of Liberty sitting on a rock. Her right hand rests on a shield with LIBERTY spelled out on it. In her left hand, she holds a staff with a Liberty cap on its top. Liberty is looking over her right shoulder. The date appears below the rock, with 13 stars arrayed above and around Liberty.

The reverse design is essentially the same as that found on the earlier Capped Bust series. It shows an eagle with a shield on its breast poised for flight. The words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA appear above and around the eagle, with the coin’s denomination (HALF DOL.) below.

The design types I’ll discuss are taken from the 2nd edition of A Guide Book of United States Type Coins by Q. David Bowers.

  Not only is this 1839 MS-65 a first issue Seated Liberty half, but it also belongs to the limited ranks of the ‘No Drapery’ halves, which is a subtype of the one-year series. (Image courtesy Heritage Auctions)

1. Seated Liberty, No Drapery (1839). In the first half dollars of the Seated Liberty design, there’s no drapery at Liberty’s elbow. Fortunately for the type collector, mintage of this initial type was plentiful. Bowers estimates a mintage of 600,000, about a third of the 1,972,400 total mintage of 1839 Seated half dollars.

According to Bowers, the average collector should be satisfied with a circulated specimen of this type, as “Mint State pieces are rare.” Numismatic News “Coin Market” (CM) values range from $40 in G-4 to $125,000 in MS-65.

Bowers’ optimal collecting grades for the type are Fine to AU for the casual collector, or the collector with a limited numismatic budget. In F-12, the coin lists for $325, whereas an AU-50 has a CM value of $2,600.

In United States Coinage: A Study By Type, Ron Guth and Jeff Garrett note that there’s “. . .a considerable premium on this date” because this is the only possibility if you want an example of the No Drapery type. A more recent type of coin that shows this form of premium is the 1921 Peace dollar, which is pricey because it is the only option for collectors looking for a high-relief Peace dollar.

  1854 Seated Liberty Half Dollar Proof-64 with arrows flanking the year and a striking coppery-russet gold tone at the center of the coin. (Image courtesy Stack’s Bowers)

2. Seated Liberty, With Drapery, No Motto (1839-1866). Drapery was added later in 1839 by Robert Ball Hughes, creating a second type. Of course, the With Drapery type was minted over many years through 1866, which means that it’s a modestly priced type.

Bowers’ optimal collecting grades are VF to AU for the casual collector, MS for the specialist, and gem MS for the collector with a sizable budget. Guth and Garrett note that the most common coin for this type is 1861, but there are other dates with much higher mintages and somewhat lower values. One example is the 1858-O, with a mintage of over seven million pieces. In VF-20, Coins Magazine gives it a value of $70, and it’s only worth about $150 in AU-50. In MS-63, it’s a $920 coin.

It’s worth noting that Philadelphia coins tend to have better strikes than ones minted in New Orleans. Thus, in terms of detail, an 1861 piece may be preferable to a less expensive New Orleans half dollar.

  In one short year, 1853, the U.S. Mint produced a half dollar that entices many present-day collectors. This Gem 1853 Liberty Seated Half Dollar with arrows and rays, MS-66+, is an example of that coin. (Image courtesy Stack’s Bowers)

3. Seated Liberty, Arrows at Date, Rays on Reverse (1853). In 1853, we encounter another one-year type coin in the Seated Liberty series, a coin with arrowheads on either side of the date and rays around the eagle on the reverse. The added design features indicated a change in the weight of the coin. Because of rising silver prices, the weight was reduced by nearly seven percent. The arrowheads and rays told the public which coins to turn in, and many earlier, heavier coins wound up as new half dimes, dimes, quarters, and half dollars.

Fortunately for the type collector, mintages of the new half dollars at Philadelphia and New Orleans were substantial. Values of the Philadelphia product range from $45 in G-4 to $20,000 in MS-65. Bowers’ optimal collecting grades are VF to AU for the casual collector, mint state for the specialist, and gem mint state for the well-heeled collector. In VF-20, the 1853 arrows and rays is worth about $115, whereas an AU-50 lists for $400. An MS-63 example should cost you around $2,750.

  An 1855-S Seated Liberty half dollar with arrows at the year on the obverse. (Image courtesy Heritage Auctions)

4. Seated Liberty, Arrows at Date (1854-1855). Half dollars the next two years, 1854 and 1855, retained the arrowheads at the date but not the rays around the eagle. Presumably the rays were removed to lengthen the life of the dies to strike the coins. The same thing was done in the second year of mintage of Shield nickels.

Again, type collectors are fortunate in that the mintages were quite substantial for the type overall. With the exception of an overdate (1855/4) and halves minted at San Francisco in 1855, values are relatively low. Bowers suggests the same optimal collecting grades for this type as for the previous one: VF to AU for the average collector, mint state for the specialist, and gem mint state for the collector with a large budget for coins.

Values range from $36.50 in G-4 to $6,750 for MS-65. In VF-20, CM gives a value of $70 for an 1854-O and $185 for the same date in AU-50. An MS-63 should cost about $1,250.

  1869 Seated Liberty half dollar, MS-62, with the motto on the reverse. (Image courtesy Stack’s Bowers)

5. Seated Liberty, With Motto (1866-1891). 1866 brought the addition of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to the reverse of the Seated half dollar. Presumably the horrors of the Civil War caused an increase in religiosity, which made its way onto our nation’s coinage.

As you can see from the time frame, these With Motto pieces were coined over an extended period. As a result, this is another relatively inexpensive type to acquire.

Guth and Garrett cite the 1877-S as the most common date, although it doesn’t have the highest mintage. Coins Magazine values range from $36.50 in G-4 to $3,000 in MS-65. The date lists for $70 in VF-20, $200 in AU-50, and $700 in MS-63. Bowers’ optimal collecting grades are the same as before.

About the type, Bowers writes, “Now, at long last, finding a well-struck Liberty Seated half dollar with good eye appeal will not be much of a problem!” He further notes that “Mint State coins are quite plentiful. . . .” In line with this, Guth and Garrett write, “Mint State examples can be obtained easily up through the MS-66 level [if you can afford them], but anything finer becomes extremely rare.”

  This scarce 1874-S Seated Liberty half dollar with arrows at the date is a rare issue of a small mintage of coins, just 394,000. (Image courtesy Heritage Auctions)

6. Seated Liberty, Arrows at Date (1873-1874). There was a break in the preceding With Motto type in 1873 and 1874. In these two years, arrowheads were again placed on either side of the date to indicate a change in the coin’s weight. Unlike the situation in 1853, the weight of the coin actually increased, which resulted in the destruction of many of the earlier, lighter half dollars. The weight change was caused by the Mint’s conversion to the metric system.

Coins of this type were struck at three mints: Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Carson City. As you can probably guess, CC dates are both scarce and quite expensive. Guth and Garrett list the 1874 Philadelphia product as the most common date of this type, and its mintage is the largest of the group. Values range from $35 in G-4 to $1,300 in MS-65.

Actually, the MS-65 value in CM is too low, by a factor of ten or more. I looked at sales of the date by Heritage Auctions, and the most recent sale of a coin in MS-63 brought nearly $2,000. In MS-65, the most recently sold coin went for more than $14,000!

However, if you can’t afford the type in mint state, an 1874 in AU-50 lists for just $350. From my search of the Heritage archives, I found that if you can find a no-problem example in that grade, the price should be fairly close to the CM figure.

  • • •

That’s my look at putting together a type collection of Seated Liberty half dollars. If you decided to put together a type set in Bowers’ optimal grades for a casual or typical collector, the most problematic coin is going to be the first one in the series, the 1839 No Drapery. At the lower end of Bowers’ range, F-12, the cost is likely to be around $325. As for the remainder of the type set, in VF-20, the cost would be about $395, which gives a total for all six coins of a little over $700.

If your budget is larger and you can afford the set at the other end of the scale, AU-50, then the total will be considerably larger, as the first type alone lists for $2,600. The rest are not too bad, however, and the Coins Magazine value is about $3,885.

I would strongly urge purchasing only coins certified by one of the major certification services, such as ANACS, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, and the Professional Coin Grading Service. Also, steer clear of coins with problems. From my search of the Heritage archives, I found that most of the higher-grade circulated pieces had problems of one sort or another. Most of the problems involved cleaning in some form.

Any way you look at it, a set of the design types of Seated Liberty half dollars would be a worthy addition to your U.S. collection. Of course, there’s no law saying that you have to get the coins in one of Bowers’ optimal collecting grades. If you can only afford the coins in the grade of VG-8, it would still be a worthwhile project.

And best of all, it would be a fun set to assemble.

  This article was originally printed in Coins Magazine. >> Subscribe today.

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• Keep up to date on prices for Canada, United States and Mexico coinage with the 2018 North American Coins & Prices guide.

[doriscahill]

On my Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday, I was greeted with a yellow balloon, chocolate hazelnut  cake and torch candle. Literally, a jumbo sparkler. Dangerous and disallowed in much of American, what a joy. A ten second pyrotechnic show just for me..

Birthday’s are a big deal in Georgia, even more so than America, you can not escape it. Overt glitz, broad smiles and excessive hugs. Over 200 well wishes on face-book and flooded inboxes; a wave of love from one end of the world to the other.  

My colleagues/friends did something for me over the top, something making this 57th birthday, a favorite. 

This is for real.

I thought I had requested “please do not go out of your way”  and “its not a day of my best memories”. 

No to Georgians means yes unless it is three no’s. It’s been a month of friends asking, “what are you plans? We must celebrate!!” Those who work side by side with me for years would know I mostly skip work on my birthday, seeking a peaceful day.  

When young this day meant a party and gifts we could not have nor always afford. If we had cake it was often shared with my cousins  also, celebrating their birthday. There were so many of us.  The shared cake would have a sculpted rose on top, pinkish-red made of  buttercream icing; yet no guarantee that single rose  would be yours to eat.   It would be days of anticipation and then disappointment, few parties;  no gifts. A did treasure a birthstone ring gifted to me by mom, unfortunately it was stolen  when my house was robbed a few years ago. I  held in my drawer for 40 years. 

Not to be a downer, but there were 3 birthdays in 57 years that brought me special feeling. My 12th, 21st and 50th. 

On my 12th birthday, I begged my dad daily, for at least 6 months,  to buy me a 10 speed bike on my birthday. A bike he could ill afford making $4-$6 dollars an hour. I became privy to this info when working a summer job at the factory. I  peaked at his pay records when the office was at lunch.  On my special day we went to the bike store to pick one out, choosing a deep maroon. He negotiated so hard, it was embarrassing, he refused to pay the sales tax and insisted on a good warranty, about $110, a weeks pay.  

That maroon bike changed me, I felt free; wind in my long ponied brown hair; peddling, switching gears uphill, then gliding hands-free downhill,  water bottle and basket attached. Visiting places: CandleWood Lake, Nanny’s, St Gregory’s School/Church, and Jimmies market.  I raced it with friends skinning my knees and participated in 26 mile charity ride with a good girl friend passing the old Fair Grounds.

One day I left my bike on the grass in our front  yard. I was late for  dinner again and had not placed it back in the garage. The next time I looked for it, it was gone, stolen. It took me four years to save money to buy my own bike. I was severely scolded.

I still love to bike and have  proudly keep my 1978-9 Peugeot.  Newport, RI.

On my 21st birthday I was taken to the Pocono Mountains. I remember this birthday well. I was gifted the most dainty earrings; gold hearts with the smallest pearl. I was to join another  family and remember sharing the news with my parents, who were surprisingly pleased. My view of my parents changed  post college; their predilections no longer bemuse.  Unallowable behavior became encouraged.   

This family was different than mine; children and parents ate together most meals, played charades and board games for hours. A consolidated unit that operated in unison.  We hiked to the forest and took pictures at the falls. Crossing a foot bridge,me,  dreadfully fearing heights, my hand was tightly held by my host. We visited the local museum and bowled. Always in a group of many, valuing time together, creating memories.  Time was made to teach me how to  juggle 3 balls. I remember feeling free, walking in nature, welcomed.  On my special day  my once small frame adorn a beloved dress: just above the knee, light fabric that bounced, and pale yellow with black polka-dots accented with a black patent leather belt.  I do not recall a birthday cake, only the smiles of those few day. 

The earring, the mate it lost. 

Then birthday’s became a time for my children and their birthdays. A promise with my husband agreeing to not to fuss with my birthday, but give our girls birthdays and make new memories for. To not gift me on my day, but surprise me on other days with kindness.  My happiest gift to him on his birthday was the surprise birth of my youngest daughter who arrived a week early. He, missing his first day of work for his new job, me sleeping through a night of labor. Only to wake and be taken to the hospital.  Most nights I sleep like a rock. 

Each birthday for my girls starting from the first year I was out of control; friends, clowns, cakes, barbecues, balloons, pool, painting and gym; all themed parties. My funniest party for our eldest daughter was at age 13. We  decorated the basement family room with black lights and streamers for a night dance at the house. She asked me to hold the spin the bottle pillow dice.  Nothing changes, except she asked. My funniest memory of my youngest daughter is the year we had the fake birthday party, her birthday falls at summers end and the prior year attendance was low, families tend to take vacation,  so we moved her party up to June :-) and opened the pool. Her idea, no one  would know. 

I lost my father in my 50th year. IA month after passing, my husband Andy asked to take me into Boston for dinner with friends; a date. We had a gift certificate for Capital Grill. $200 and would make a night of it. I grimace but agree; Capital Grill is a premier steak house in the BackBay neighborhood of Boston. I spent  many years working on Newbury, Bolyston Street and Commonwealth Ave. The gift certificate was from our lawyer who failed to pay our es-crowed real estate taxes from  our house closing. Andrew asked me not to check  closing documents because I catch too many errors and tend to be stubborn for correction. We still laugh over this. 

Andy knew it would make me happy surrounding me with memories. We drive in. He hates driving into Boston and specifically parking, anyone would. We park the car nearby,  at a meter near my old office (on Newbury St and adjacent to the Mass Pike). Hoping the car would not be vandalized or towed, we take turns filling it during our meal. Now, one can pay parking remotely with an App. While working, my car was stolen twice plus 6 break-ins and two tows, the parking tickets were, lets say alot.  Today, most young workers take the commuter rail; it now extends to my surburb. The new station opened the day after I stopped commuting, sigh. 

Meeting our close friends, we ordered on the right side of the menu, and the chat was pleasant, but strain of dad’s death overwhelmed me. I ponder why am I out on my birthday. At the meals end, a chocolate birthday cake with candles is placed on the table, and all sang the birthday song, I could not stop crying.  I felt loved. I got to eat the rose.  We return to the car; thankfully intact. 

Back to Georgia.  Last year I had milk  poisoning so we can skip past that birthday (click and read  No Milk for You!) 

At my site, I have a new co-worker and they  mention an ancient monastery. Located in the Village of Uraveli; it dates 1100 A.D. or so and is under renovation. He exclaims “It is majestic.” Continues, thinking “and it is great potential for tourism as the road leading to there has a mineral spring. Healing waters.” He and  my other co-worker families come from this village. And he purchased land near the spring, hoping to develop it. 

Having ate my cake with the crazy candle.  He was again talking about the property and the monastery. He had not seen it, since a young boy. I blurt “let’s go there, today!, that would be the best gift” Some intense discussion in Georgian commenced. Mostly answering the questions, when and should we. Its decide to leave at 4 pm.  It would be  us, three , our driver and my guest; a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer. I am pumped, an unplanned road trip.  

Timeliness is rare in Georgia, around 4;30 pm we set out; five packed in a small SUV, estimated travel 45 minutes; one way. We take the main round south and turn at the Potato World Sign, the road begins to wind as we ascend. We pass another Potato World Sign in the Village Mushki, this has a famous craft woman and her school and museum. We discuss how old she is. We gaze out at the potato fields. 

We enter Uraveli Village and each colleague  points out there grandparents home on the adjacent hillsides.  We crane from our windows, to see  their homes, as they point and describe where to look. The Uraveli river flows along the road to the monastery. We follow it. My coworker says it will become cool soon and darker.  The pavement road ends abruptly and turns to dirt; uneven, potholed, riddle with river rock and deep puddles; the ride becomes increasingly bumpy. You can see the topography change in the aerial google map view and the “red” pin where we are heading. Note the dropped pin is after the fact. 

Rough, the road continues to narrow and loose gravel turns to larger river rock. We are all giggling; only feet away from water’s edge. My co-workers point out river side picnic spots, soviet posts and the City water supply facility. We stop roadside; stretch and drink the from the mineral water fountain, take pictures of the undeveloped land lot, noting is boundaries and abandoned horse stable.  We continue on.  Road sections are damage from spring floods; we swerve to avoid muddied pools. We come to a fork in the road and more giggling;  there is ongoing debate ( in Georgian): how much further and which way and the monastery is not in site yet. Georgian banter continues; “where, when, when?, soon? how far?, close?” 

Unsure, we choose to go left.  The forest canopy now filters the light. We hear thunder, then see lightening strike the mountain. Again we all ask “how many kilometers?”. The ferns and wetland flowers are in bloom, we ascend up the increasingly rocky worn road. We come to a  river crossing; so far all crossings were on aged bridges, but not this crossing; only river.   Giggles turn to cackles, we cross a narrow section; reinforced with poured cement on rocks and  fast moving water. I assume the  wood plank, leaned on nearby rocks is for those on foot :-).

Again, our happy group discusses how much further is our ascent. Latest discussion, we had agreed on 2 kilometers. It seemed closer to 10. My colleague comforts the group stating “it always seems longer going”  and in the same breath “I was last hear as a boy”. We arrive, but the rain comes. All are welcomed  by the head priest and his very large German Shepard. There are workers busy building. We stay only a short time, walking the complex taking pictures. Women need to cover their heads to enter the monastery. Darn we forgot our veils and could not go in to see the ornate paintings. 

I take a short walk. Alone, on top this  mountain, next to this most ancient building of prayer,  Folding my hands, looking towards the sky and in private I thank G-d for this life and one more birthday. 

We descend and it does seem shorter, but certainly as narrow and rocky. I video taped the river crossing (please click). 

 Here are a few more pictures. The hand holding the clover is a fellow Peace Corps volunteer. 

Thanks for listening and following this Blog. Doe

[reviewnvvx977-blog]

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