The Friday Gathering – Learning new things edition
By glblguy
I love learning new things. Our new home here in the mountains has given me an opportunity to learn all kinds of new things. Most of it so far as been around our house and the different “technologies” it uses compared to our old house: For example:
- We now have a heat pump where we had gas heat before. I knew very little about heat pumps before.
- Our new home has a septic system instead of city sewer. First time having a septic system, so been reading up. A bit gross, but necessary knowledge…otherwise you get gross problems!
- We have well water instead of city water. I LOVE well water, especially up here in the mountains. Ice cold and tastes great. It’s a bit harder than I would prefer, but I’m getting used to it.
- Since there is no community natural gas service, we have a propane tank for our gas fireplace. We ran out of gas earlier this week, and have been on a quest this week to get a new and larger tank. Had no idea there were as many options as there are. Most people lease their tanks…who knew! Did you know that a 120 gallon tank only holds 96 gallons of propane?
The gathering
Lots of great reading this week from the M-Network and other blogs on my blogroll. Here are some of my favorites:
- It’s Easy to Let Things Slip – I love articles like this. Just because we write on personal finance, it doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes and poor decisions sometimes. Kudos to you Caveman for being honest and for admitting you’re human.
- Should You Repair Old Appliance Or Buy A New One?
- Examining Expectations – You Are Not The Jones
- How Little Changes Can Add Up To Thousands Of Saved Dollars.
- “Accidental” Savings
- Bailouts hurt our standard of living
- Announcing My First Book, “365 Ways to Live Cheap” – Congratulations Trent! Hope it sells well for you!
- What About An Integrity Bailout?
Photo by: hlkljgk
December 5th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Good luck with the well water and septic system. My parents have both. When my husband and I bought our house one of my requirements was that it must have city water and sewer services. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but I didn’t want to have to deal with the potential problems that can come with a well and septic system.
In terms of the hard water, you should look into a water softener. You can find them for a reasonable price, and they make a real difference. You’ll use less soap in your washing machine. Also, hard water can really dry your skin out.
December 5th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Thanks for the mention. I’m glad I could entertain you with my painful story. ;) Joking aside (and money problems, too), I’m so looking forward to finally getting to use this basement that has stolen all my money. Hopefully my new office will give me the opportunity to earn even more and pay it off quicker. I’d rather look at it as an investment than a money pit.
As far as your water, I also recommend a water softener. Hard water means you have to use more water to clean and it ends up costing you more (in your case, the cost of pumping that water and disposing of it through your septic system). And, of course, make sure your septic system never leeches to your well or you’ll be in for one nasty surprise! Ick…
December 5th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I am with you on well-water – our new house has it as well and wow, what a difference from city water! Thanks for the mention…
December 5th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Hmmm…. a well _and_ a septic tank. I hope they’re far apart form each other ;-)
If you do get a softener, have a bypass for the drinking water – certain types of hard water with lots of calcium and magnesium are actually rather good for you.
December 6th, 2008 at 4:14 am
I think it’s fantastic to have these new learning experiences. What a great attitude you have!
December 9th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I can really relate to learning new things when moving into a new house. I moved two weeks ago and am learning about pellet stoves (I love it, but can’t always get it to light) and gas fireplaces (same problem). I plan to keep learning!