Our Offer Was Accepted!

Posted by Madison on March 26, 2011

After making our final offer on a vacation home, we got great news: our offer was accepted! We’re planning to head back down in a couple weeks for the closing. In the mean time, I’m working on getting everything set up for our new vacation home business using many of the suggestions I researched last […]

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Vacation Home Shopping Trip

Posted by Madison on March 17, 2011

We’re leaving for vacation today. Well, actually we’re on a shopping trip, shopping for a vacation home specifically. My inlaws checked out the resort first, and it passed their initial test. So we’re on our way down to check out the property for ourselves. After readers shared tips for making lowball offers I feel confident […]

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5 Free iTunes from American Express

Posted by Madison on March 13, 2011

American Express is offering free iTunes songs until Tuesday. The offer is for any American Express cardholders. A reader, Janelle, tipped me off about this deal: Enroll in the American Express iTunes offer. Purchase 5 iTunes songs by Tuesday March 15, 2011. Get a statement credit equivalent to the price of 5 song downloads in […]

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Have You Made A Low Ball Offer?

Posted by Madison on March 3, 2011

Last week I mentioned that we were shopping for a summer home again. We’ve identified a resort we think would work out well, and my in-laws are going to check it out next week. (They are pretty familiar with the vacation rentals that we’ve liked and the ones we’ve hated, so they should be able […]

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Would You Consider Reverse Snowbirding?

Posted by Madison on February 24, 2011

My husband, Scott, and I have been discussing where we live at great length lately. We’re happy here in Wisconsin, but one piece is missing for my husband, his family lives in Louisville. It’s a solid 8 hour drive, and we try to make the trip about 3 times a year. We have considered moving […]

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Budget Protests and the Financial Impact on Our Family

Posted by Madison on February 17, 2011

While the federal budget proposal has a big impact on all of our finances, it’s our state budget bill that is hitting close to home this week. Our new governor rolled out a budget proposal to increase pension and health care contributions and eliminate almost all of the state unions. For the second day in […]

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The Blizzard via Social Media, Groundhogs, and Investing

Posted by Madison on February 2, 2011

Buried in Snow I think this is the first blizzard we’ve had where almost all of our information came via social media. It’s obviously different than when I was a kid and we would wake up early and listen for school closings on the radio. These days, we get a tweet about school closings, our […]

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How Important is the Best Preschool?

Posted by Madison on January 29, 2011

We, like almost all parents, always believed in offering our children the very best when it comes to education, even though we have differing views on how much college we’ll pay for. Our First Preschool Experience For the past 3 years we’ve sent our oldest son to the best Reggio preschool in the county, and […]

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Updates on My Wallet, Penfed CDs, and FIA Billpay

Posted by Madison on January 20, 2011

I found my wallet! Just as I suspected, our daughter hid it. This time, she figured the laundry room was a great hiding place; at least it wasn’t the trash! Now, I’m tempted to put one of those Little Buddy tracking devices on both my keys and my wallet for the future! Then, every time […]

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I Lost My Wallet, My Mind, and Diet Coke

Posted by Madison on January 6, 2011

I lost my wallet. And if you’ve ever lost your wallet, you can probably relate to the complete breakdown I’m having. I can’t concentrate on anything, and I keep retracing my steps the last two days. Luckily, I have a handy photo of my wallet contents that will help as a checklist of who to […]

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