Why I Joined My Homeowners Association Board

May 7, 2019May 29, 2014 by Money Beagle

We’ve lived in our neighborhood for seven years now. The neighborhood itself is now 20 years old, with our house being one of the later ones to be done, coming in at fifteen. As such it’s making the transition from a new neighborhood to an established one.

The economic downturn and the housing market collapse didn’t do many favors. We had a handful of foreclosures and prices suffered around 30-40%, which matched the entire region. Luckily, things have bounced back over the past couple of years.

A current (outgoing) board member planted the seed recently that I should consider joining the board. I stay in contact with the board, inquiring about things going on around the neighborhood, and have also pointed out various things and made suggestions.

Change Your Perspective And It May Change Your Results

May 7, 2019May 27, 2014 by Money Beagle

Perspective is everything. That’s a quote I’ve heard over and over, but it took weeds and two young kids to realize how true it is.

I speak, of course, of dandelions. It is prime time dandelion season right now here in Michigan. Usually that all happens a few weeks prior but due to the hard and late winter, everything that usually happens over the 6-8 weeks of spring is being conslidated into a nice three week period. Those who suffer from allergies are not amused.

Anyways, think of the difference in perspective when it comes to dandelions. As someone who takes pride in my lawn, I dislike them. I put down product in the fall and spring which is supposed to curb them. When they still come up, I pull them out, spray them, or do whatever it takes to get rid of them.

When It’s Necessary To Drop Everything

May 7, 2019May 21, 2014 by Money Beagle

Spring, the month of May in particular, is always a hectic month for us, and this past weekend was no different. We have a long list of projects that we want to get done, and had pegged this past weekend to look at one or both of: Moving the kids sandbox and moving ahead on our painting project.

In the end, we did neither of them.

And it was the best possible decision we could have made.

When Focus Equals Results

The reason that we dropped our other projects is because we had something else that we needed to focus on, and we realized that unless we dedicated ourselves to what needed to be done, it wouldn’t succeed.

Maybe You’re Not Really Being Snubbed

May 7, 2019May 19, 2014 by Money Beagle

Everybody hates being snubbed, right? So much so that some people will write articles about CNN when it happens to them.

I read this article last week, and it stuck with me, because I had some uneasiness about what the author, Jessica Brondo, was claiming as widespread snubbing. Is snubbing a word? It didn’t underline in my writing window, and it sounds cool, so I’m going to go with it.

Anyways, the summary of the article was this: Last year, the author attended a conference (SXSWedu), networked with some people where she got a lot of business cards and such, then upon getting home she attempted to reach out to many of the people to get advice, and got no response. Her idea ended up taking off, and this year, people are seeking her out. People who ‘snubbed’ her last year are suddenly finding the time now that she’s no longer just a face in the crowd.

Be Optimistic Yet Realistic When Setting Big Goals

May 7, 2019May 14, 2014 by Money Beagle

I saw a Facebook post last week posted on the page for my gym that really hit home. It said: “You didn’t gain 20 pounds in a week. Don’t expect to lose 20 pounds in a week.”

How true is that?

Look At Our Goals

The fact is that we often set goals for ourselves that are worthwhile goals. Most times, they will improve our life if we reach the goals. Think about some ‘big’ goals:

Ugh, Clutter Is Invading Our Home

May 7, 2019May 12, 2014 by Money Beagle

I hate clutter. I also know that clutter is always around the corner. Forget about it for one second and it invades your home. Once it creeps in, the cycle of clutter doom starts.

Unfortunately, it’s my opinion that we let clutter in the door somehow. The good news is that clutter can be uncluttered with a few steps. Before all else, you have to recognize clutter.

Well, clutter, consider yourself recognized!

Here are a few areas where clutter has invaded our home, and what we plan to do about it:

Painting Bedrooms: 20 Things I’ve Learned So Far

May 7, 2019May 7, 2014 by Money Beagle

We are shuffling things around upstairs, moving kids around and such, which involves the painting of three of our four bedrooms. I’m done with one room and just started a second, and I wanted to share some things I’ve learned so far:

Should I Give Greek Yogurt Another Chance?

May 7, 2019May 5, 2014 by Money Beagle

This may sound strange, but I actually recall the first time I heard of ‘Greek yogurt’. I don’t remember the exact date, but I was talking to some co-workers and was excited about the fact that our grocery store had a ‘store brand’ yogurt that was about 30-40% less in cost, yet tasted just as good. A co-worker asked, “Do they have Greek yogurt?”

I stared blankly at her, and only afterward did I learn what it was. As it turns out, they did not yet have Greek yogurt.

But, you’d better believe that they do now!

I’ve always been fairly dismissive of Greek yogurt.

I’ve tried it, and it never really did much for me. I’ve always enjoyed yogurt, the kind that many people would consider “regular”, which was the standard sold before Greek became all the rage. I have always enjoyed flavored yogurt, so the standard 6 ounce cups were fine for me.
I always believed that the transition to Greek yogurt was just another way to sell something at a much higher price, as Greek yogurt seems to be about 50-75% higher in price from what I’ve seen.

Recently, I’m starting to think that maybe I should give it another chance. Here are the factors that have changed my mind: