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HOME RENOVATION and REPAIR
You want RENOVATION or REPAIR to last a long time—and we are here to help. Our RENOVATION experts can help you keep running smoothly. These tips can help save you time. Read our disclaimer for complete details about the information we present in this section of the site. Remember we are only a phone call away!
Remember: Safety First
- Always unplug the appliance first
- Watch out for sharp edges—especially on dryers
- Never wear jewelry of any type while working on equipment
- Tie back long hair
- Ensure that your work area has ample lighting
- Wear steel-toed safety shoes
- Lift appliances using your legs and not your back.
- AND JUST CALL TO 1-866-949-0089
Specialty Tools You Can Use
Take a look at your paycheck and recalibrate your withholding amounts accordingly. You might be earning more or less than expected and may want to adjust your .
- Hose Pinch-Off Pliers
- Hose Clamp Pliers
- Snap Ring Pliers
- Spanner Wrench
- Nut Driver Set
- Wire Stripper
- Clamp-On Ammeter
- Volt-Ohm-Amp Meter
- Non-Contact Voltage Tester
- Test Leads & Jumper Wires
Energy Saving Tips for Your Appliances
Major appliances use about 13 percent of the electricity load in a home. Finding practical and actionable ways to reduce that pull does more than lower your utility bills each month, however. Electricity is a key player in the escalating environmental problems. You can save money and do your part for the environment by giving your home an energy evaluation. Appliances are a good place to start.
Biggest Energy Culprits in Any Home
A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report. Since most lenders require a credit check before approving a new account, a credit freeze makes it more difficult for identity thieves to open a new account in your name. Once you request a freeze, the credit reporting bureau must apply it within one business day if the request was made by phone or online, or within three business days after receiving your request by mail.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the one appliance that uses by far the most energy after heating and cooling equipment is the hot water heater. This means the appliances that rely on hot water, such as the dishwasher, are costing you even more. The best move you can make when upgrading your water heater is to switch to an energy efficient or tankless model. From there, the next major appliance putting a dent in the electricity is the clothes dryer with the refrigerator coming in at a close second.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this is how the numbers break down for the average home. These figures assume your home has newer appliances, however. The numbers would shift dramatically if the refrigerator or freestanding freezer were 15 years old, for example. down for the average home. These figures assume your home has newer appliances, however.
- Water heater – 2400 kWh for a family of two
- Clothes dryer – 1000 kWh
- Refrigerator – 600 kWh
- Dishwasher – 300 kWh
- Clothes washer – 200 kWh
Are There Laws Governing Energy Usage?
The more electricity a home uses the more tax the homeowner pays each month. Laws apply more to the manufacturers. There are standards set that compel them to produce appliances that use less energy. The law also requires each product to have a label that shows energy usage and the ENERGY STAR rating. Checking that ENERGY STAR rating before buying is one of the easiest energy tips.
What Are The Tax Benefits of Energy Efficient Appliances?
State and federal government offer incentives to reduce energy usage—mostly in the form of tax credits. The tax regulations vary from year to year, so it is important to consult with a tax specialist when looking at appliance energy tips. In general, you may be able to deduct at least part of the purchase cost of an energy-efficient appliance along with the installation fees on your federal tax return using IRS form 5695. In addition to the federal tax benefits, some local utility services offer discounts and rebates for switching to energy-friendly appliances. It is worth a visit to the utility company website.
Appliance Life Expectancy
Do you know how long your refrigerator will last? For how many years should you expect your washer to function? To effectively manage your household budget, it helps to know the average life of appliances. This appliance life expectancy chart will help you determine if an appliance can be saved or if its time might be up.
Of course, the best way to help your appliance age well and have a long, healthy life is to perform regular maintenance and have it checked periodically by an appliance repair expert. If you’d like to learn more about our services for any of the below appliances, simply click on one.
“How Old Is My Appliance?”
If you’re not sure how old your appliance is, you can find this information by analyzing the tag or sticker that shows the serial number. These tags are often located inside the door of an appliance, on the back, or under an easily removed panel (e.g., under a stove top). The serial number tag on most modern appliances lists the manufacture date clearly. If you can’t find the date, you’ll need to decode the serial number to find out the appliance’s age. Search for this “appliance date code” based on the brand of your appliance, or simply determine the appliance age by typing the brand and serial number itself in an online search. Often, the first few numeric characters simply line up with a month and year.
Regular maintenance can help extend your appliance’s working age to the maximum. If it breaks, sometimes it’s more economical to replace an old appliance than it is to repair it. How can you tell? Our appliance repair technicians are happy to advise if you’re unsure about your appliance’s condition.
Expert Advice on How to Grow Your Savings
There’s no two ways about it: Savings are foundational to your financial well-being. As not it gets into full swing, we asked nine experts to share their best tips for growing your savings this year. Whether you’re looking to replenish your emergency fund or save up for a major purchase, here’s some valuable advice from a handful of personal finance experts.
Alissa Todd, The Wealth Consulting Group
- Get clear on your goals and why you want to save money. Are you saving to build an emergency fund? Save for a house down payment? Summer vacation? You are more likely to stick to your budgeting and savings plan if you relate them to goals instead of simply saying that you want to save.
- Automate your bills to avoid late payment penalties and interest charges. Automate your savings so that every time you get paid, a portion of your paycheck goes directly into your savings account.
Marc Andre, VitalDollar.com
- Learn to wait on significant purchases. Whenever you’re buying something that’s not a necessity, wait at least 24-48 hours before buying it. This will help you to avoid impulse buys, and you’ll find that, in many cases, you may decide it’s not really worth the money.
- Don’t pay for too much insurance. Check the details of your insurance policies (like car, home, renter’s, etc.) to make sure that your coverage is not higher than you need. If it is, adjust the policy and it will reduce your premium, freeing up dollars to deposit in your savings account.
Kristin Stones, LifeOfStones.com
- Participate in a money-saving challenge. For example, try the five-dollar bill challenge, where you save every five-dollar bill you come across. Psychologically, challenges make saving more fun and give you a more visual representation of how much you’ve saved—which can be very motivating to help you keep going.
Cherie Lowe, Queen of Free
- Cancel unused subscriptions. Whether it’s wine, clothes, books, streaming services, magazines, or gym memberships, many people have more subscriptions than they can shake a stick at. See which subscription services you can do without for a short or long period. But don’t absorb those extra dollars into your checking account—transfer the exact amount over to a savings account.
WenFang Bruchett, BlissFinance
- Maintain the strongest credit scores you possibly can. Pull your free credit reports from each of the three major bureaus at com. If you catch any errors, fix them to potentially boost your score. A better score can mean you pay less on expenses like a car loan or apartment rental, allowing you to put more money into savings.
- Pay off your debt. If you can eliminate paying interest to lenders, you’ll have more money to save for rainy days.
Logan Abbott, Wirefly.com
- I recommend doing a self-audit of your finances that includes several steps but is actually quick and easy to complete. First, make sure you aren’t carrying any large credit card balances. If you have the ability to pay off the balance, do so. Second, see if you’re paying too much for a monthly service like cell phone, TV or Internet. Third, take a look at your monthly subscriptions and cancel those you’re no longer using. Fourth, consider signing up for a service like Mint or Betterment, which allow you to see a full picture of your finances and track your saving progress over time.
Marcia Layton Turner, Layton & Co.
- Sign up for an automated service, such as Acorns, and have money from your checking account or spare change transferred and invested. It’s a painless way to save.
- Generate extra cash to dedicate to savings by bagging up clothes that you and/or your kids have outgrown or no longer wear. Send them to a consignment service, such as thredUP, where you can earn money on items that are sold. It’s easy to do and also helps control closet clutter. You can also try other income-generating ideas, such as selling your cast-offs on eBay or Poshmark.
Patty Briotta, National Veterans Legal Services Program
- Veterans should make sure they have maximized their awareness of benefits they may be eligible to receive. Through NVLSP’s VA Benefit Identifier App, they can review specific VA benefits to which they are likely entitled. This could represent a meaningful amount of untapped monetary VA benefits for veterans and their families.
Dustyn Ferguson, Dime Will Tell
- Cash back and rebate apps can save you a lot of money on things you are already buying. There are apps to save money on groceries, gas, online shopping—virtually everything. You can then deposit the earned cash straight into your savings account.
If you’re considering paying off your high-interest rate debt to generate more savings in 2019, a personal loan could be a good fit for your financial situation. With a fixed-rate, fixed-term loan through Prosper, you could potentially consolidate your credit card debt with a budget-friendly, single monthly payment.
5 Ways to Pay for a Home Improvement Project
If you’re dreaming of a new kitchen, master suite or outdoor deck and you’re not sure how to finance it, there are several options you can consider. The key is figuring out the best option for your situation.
Your Home as Collateral
Since you’re planning a home improvement, it often makes sense to secure financing for such projects using the equity you have already built up in your home. There are three options for doing this, each of which works a bit differently—but for all of them, you typically need about 20 percent equity in your home. As Bankrate explains, “Equity is the difference between how much you owe and how much your home is worth.” For example, if your home is valued at $200,000 and the balance on your mortgage is $160,000, you have $40,000 or 20 percent in equity.
HELOC
The first option is to take out a home equity line of credit or HELOC, which is a revolving line of credit that you can draw on (up to the limit that you are approved for) whenever you need funds. It’s important to understand that a HELOC is a secured loan, which means that your home is used as collateral.
This variable rate loan is typically tied to the lender’s prime rate, which means that your interest rate can fluctuate up or down.
A HELOC consists of two distinct phases. First is its draw period, when you can take funds as needed and you’re only required to pay down the interest. The draw period lasts anywhere from five to 15 years, depending on your lender. After the draw period ends, the loan converts to its repayment phase, when you make set payments for the remaining balance, typically between 10 to 20 years.
A HELOC works well for borrowers who:
- Have significant equity in their homes
- Are confident about repayment, considering that (as collateral) their homes can be subject to foreclosure
- Like the flexibility of drawing funds as needed over time for various purposes
Home Equity Loans
A home equity loan is similar to a HELOC in that your house is used as collateral, but it is structured differently. A home equity loan is a second mortgage on your home that is a one-time, fixed-rate loan tied to longer-term interest rates, typically with a five- to 10-year term.
Like a HELOC, a home equity loan works well for borrowers who have significant equity in their homes, high repayment confidence, and who are in these situations:
- Longer-term interest rates are lower than the short-term rates used for HELOCs
- They know exactly how much money they need up front for a project
Cash-Out Refinances
The final financing option that uses home equity is a cash-out refinance. In this case, you refinance your entire mortgage with the total new loan amount, including a cash sum that you receive at closing. You have your choice of fixed or variable rate loans, as well as the length of your repayment term.
A cash-out refinance works best for borrowers with a lot of equity in their homes in these circumstances:
- The current mortgage rates available are lower than their existing mortgage rate
- They have excellent credit scores to qualify for the best rates
- Desire no restrictions on the use of the money being cashed out
Other Financing Options
Don’t worry if you don’t have much equity in your home — you can still finance your home improvement project using these other two lending vehicles. Both work best for those with good-to-excellent credit scores.
Personal Loans
Instead of basing your loan on your on your home’s collateral, a personal loan is based on your credit score, income, and financial history. There are more personal loan options available today than ever before. Many, including a loan through Prosper, are fixed-rate and fixed-term, which means you’ll know exactly what your payment will be for the life of the loan (and exactly when it will be paid off).
Additional benefits of personal loans:
- Fixed loan payments help you budget your loan repayment into your monthly cash flow
- No need for a home appraisal
Credit Cards
Finally, you can choose to pay for your home improvement with a credit card; just choose wisely. A credit card makes sense when:
- You’re eligible for a 0% introductory rate (preferably on a card also offering rewards).
- You’ll be able to pay off the project before the introductory rate period ends.
Take Your Time With Your Decision
Financing a large project is a big decision, so take your time to research and learn about your options so you make a decision that works best for your situation. You shouldn’t rush to select a contractor to complete your project, and the same goes for choosing how and from whom to get your project’s financing.
Is a Credit Card Balance Transfer Right for You?
If you’re like the average American who has thousands of dollars in credit card debt, you might be considering a credit card balance transfer. Such offers can be a real solution for lowering your credit card interest rate and paying off your balance sooner; however, there are some caveats to those benefits that you need to understand before taking the balance transfer leap.
Why Consider a Credit Card Balance Transfer?
A credit card balance transfer lets you move debt from one card to another that has a lower interest rate. Many credit card issuers offer a 0 percent, or otherwise low, introductory APR on balance transfers. With a 0 percent APR, all of your monthly payment goes toward your accumulated debt rather than on the interest it is accruing, which in turn helps you pay down your balance sooner than you would on the original card.
What to Consider with a Credit Card Balance Transfer
Like any financial vehicle that you are considering, be a smart consumer and investigate all the terms and conditions of a credit card balance transfer in order to determine if it is right for your particular situation. Look for the following:
Interest Rate
The most advantageous balance transfer offers come with a 0 percent APR; however, those are reserved for consumers with the highest credit scores. MagnifyMoney says such offers typically go to consumers with credit scores of 740 or higher. Those with scores between 670 and 739, i.e., good credit, can likely find some pretty good offers, too.
But Money Under 30 points out that, “When you have poor credit, your options for a balance transfer can be very limited.” Don’t give up without trying though. You may still be able to qualify for a card with a balance transfer offer that includes a lower APR than that of your current card. Just don’t expect it to be 0 percent.
Introductory Period and Beyond
One of the most important things to understand about a balance transfer offer is that the 0 or low APR does not last forever. It is only good for the introductory period being offered by the credit card issuer. This is typically anywhere from six to 18 months, and again the best offers, i.e., those with the longest introductory periods, go to those with the highest credit scores.
Once the introductory period ends, the card assumes its regular APR on your balance, which is why you need to know that rate before you decide to complete a balance transfer. If the regular APR is higher than your current card’s, it may not be worth it, especially if you can’t pay off your balance during the introductory period.
Transfer Fees
Another thing to consider is the transfer fee that may be applied to the transaction. Credit Card Insider says that, “Most credit card issuers charge between 2% and 5% of the balance” for this fee.
Before you apply for or accept a balance transfer offer, find out exactly how much the transfer fee will be. You can also ask the issuer to waive the transfer fee. Some automatically offer such a waiver if “the transfer is made within a certain number of days of opening the card.”
Interest Rate for New Purchases
The 0 percent APR on a balance transfer is a great deal, but it only applies to the balance being transferred. The card’s regular APR will be applied to any new purchases charged to the card. In order to achieve your goal of paying off your debt sooner, avoid putting any new purchases on the new or old card. Otherwise, you could end up even further in debt than you already are.
Penalties
Credit Karma warns that some issuers penalize late or missed payments on a balance transfer by applying a penalty APR to it. The penalty may also include canceling out the 0 or low introductory APR rate altogether. Find out ahead of time if that will be the case with the balance transfer you are considering. If so, consider setting up a recurring automatic payment of at least the monthly minimum amount due.
Do Your Homework Before You Apply
Now that you understand how credit card balance transfers work, find out if a specific deal is right for you by using an online balance transfer calculator. Both creditcards.com and Bankrate offer them for free, letting you determine within minutes if a balance transfer will actually save you money. If you determine a balance transfer is not the right fit for you, you may want to consider a personal loan, which often offers fixed terms and fixed rates so that you understand exactly how long it will take you to pay off your debt.
7 Financial Questions to Ask Your Partner
For most couples, discussing finances isn’t exactly romantic—at times, it’s downright awkward.
This Valentines day, we want to help couples avoid those awkward and potentially damaging conversations. Here are seven important questions every couple should discuss before taking the next big step, whether that’s moving in together or getting married.
How much have you saved?
According to Murphy’s Law, if something can go wrong, it will—which is why it’s important to have a safety net. Ask your partner about the emergency resources he or she has, and if one or both of you haven’t started saving, commit to getting a plan in place.
How much debt do you have?
Being in debt can add stress to any relationship. The average American has about $7,000 in credit card debt, and more than that if you factor in things like mortgages, student debt and auto loans, according to NerdWallet. If you and your partner are on the same page, you can work together to create a financial plan for paying these off.
What’s your credit score?
If you’re planning to make a big purchase or take out a loan together, it’s important that both you and your partner have good credit. Knowing your partner’s credit score will also help you understand how they manage money, since credit, debt and payment history all factor into your credit score. There are many free services for monitoring your credit score and identifying areas where you can improve.
How do you budget and save?
Everyone spends differently, so it’s no surprise that this topic can inspire disagreement. Perhaps one partner is a “saver” and the other a “spender,” or one wants a new car while the other wants to save for a European vacation. Online budgeting apps and modern financial planning tools like LearnVest make it easy for couples to share goals and keep track of spending.
What are your financial goals?
Do you and your partner have a 5 or 10-year plan? If so, are they aligned? These are important questions to ask, especially if you’re thinking of home ownership or hope to grow your family some day. A study by Prosper found that only 38 percent of Americans have a financial plan, although an additional 38 percent said they expect to create one in the future. Planning together — especially with dual incomes — will make it easier to achieve these goals.
How are you planning for retirement?
The Prosper survey results also showed that marriage encourages people to plan for the seemingly distant future. For instance, while 65 percent of married people said they understand a 401(k)—a common way to save for retirement—only 47 percent of single people felt the same. Other retirement options include opening mutual funds, investing in stocks, opening a high-yield savings account, or a combination. Regardless of what you choose, ask your partner what they’re doing to save so you can understand how that impacts your retirement prospects.
How do you envision sharing finances?
The decision to share finances depends on where you are in your relationship, as well as your personal preferences. While some couples pool the majority of their money into joint accounts, others opt to keep their accounts separate and split their expenses. Before you decide, research your options. Some routes, such as taking out a joint credit card, could have a negative impact on your personal credit if your partner racks up the bill.
While it’s not always easy to discuss finances, it’s important for a relationship’s longevity that both partners are on the same page. The ability to have frank conversations about money is a skill that you’ll be glad to have honed — and this seven question checklist is only the beginning.