Remodeling Costs: How Do I Pay For It?

To keep remodeling costs under control, there are four key remodeling cost drivers: The design of the remodel, the materials you use, who manages the project, and how you pay for it.

Lets review common ways to pay for your remodel and the pros and cons of each.

1. Loan against retirement account (e.g. 401k)

Pros: You pay yourself the interest on a loan against your 401k.

Cons: You lose the interest you could be making if it was invested. If you lose your job, most loans require you to pay the loan back immediately, and there can be significant income tax consequences.

2. Home Equity Loan

Pros: Usually tax deductible. Lump sum is paid to you at the start so you have flexibility of what you do with the money.

Cons: A second loan to manage. Shorter term than a standard mortgage. Requires that you have sufficient equity in your home. You have to pay interest on the entire loan amount even though you may not need the money to pay for remodeling right away.

3. Home Equity Line of Credit

Pros: You only borrow the money you need at the time, so finance charges are lower at the beginning.

Cons: A second loan to manage. Shorter term than a standard mortgage. Requires that you have sufficient equity in your home.

4. Construction Loan

Pros: Good for larger remodel projects and if you don't have enough home equity to qualify for a loan to cover construction costs.

Cons: Higher interest rate than home equity loans. Not tax deductible. Usually short term until construction is complete and then is replaced with a new first mortgage, which may have processing fees or closing costs.

5. Loan from the contractor

Pros: Available to most homeowners.

Cons: High interest rates. Not the best terms. Can lock you into working with a specific contractor. Not recommended.

6. Refinance and cash out

Pros: You only have a single loan for your home. Usually tax deductible interest. A single larger loan will usually have the lowest interest rate.

Cons: Requires that you have sufficient equity in your home. You have to pay interest on the entire loan amount even though you may not need the money to pay for remodeling right away. May have significant closing costs.

7. Credit Cards

Pros: Most homeowners have this as an alternative.

Cons: High interest rate, not tax deductible.

8. Your savings

Pros: The least expensive way to pay for your remodel.

Cons: Make sure you don't use all of your savings. Always have some available for emergencies.

For free expert advice on the best way to pay for a remodel based on your specific situation simply complete the form at http://www.remodelormove.com/forms/goapply.cfm. Or you can visit http://www.remodelestimates.com to find out how much a remodel project may cost.

About the Author
Dan Fritschen, founder of www.remodelormove.com, a homeowner advocacy organization, speaker at Home and Garden shows Nationwide, author of the award winning, best selling book Remodel or Move? and The Complete Remodeling Workbook and Organizer (available at www.remodelingorganizer.com) has recently been interviewed on CNN, in Better Homes and Garden Magazine and in Newsweek.

Do you have remodeling or moving questions? Email Dan directly at dan@remodelormove.com.

Copyright 2005 ABCD Publishing LLC

Getting Rid Of Horrible Attic Sm

Spiritual Ethical Will - Giving the Gift of Tradition

Spiritual ethical wills are different from a last will and testament. Instead of bequeathing physical assets, ethical wills bequeath personal insights, morals and philosophies. If you are looking for a gift that will keep on giving then invest in the development of a spiritual ethical will.

Parts of an Ethical Will

An ethical will can be formatted in a number of different ways, however, most formats will have the same basic sections. The first section will be the introduction. It will identify who the ethical will is intended for and what its purpose is. The second section will contain personal insights into life, philosophies and values that the writer has. The final section will point out what the reader is supposed to learn from the will, such as cherishing time with their family or learning to be charitable.

Writing Your Ethical Will

Writing your ethical will can be an intimidating process. People who do not write a lot may feel as if the process of composing and editing an ethical will is more than they can handle, or they may feel that they just don't have the time to write one. Fortunately, you don't have to sit down and write the entire thing in one night, nor do you have to write an ethical will that is 100 pages long.

The writing process for an ethical will needs to start with an outline and a brainstorming session. The outline will help you to format your ethical will and the brainstorming session will help you to flesh out the ethical will. There are a lot of brainstorming activities that you can try including word association and freewriting.

The next step is to develop the topics you entered in your outline. To do this you will need to try and write at least one paragraph per topic. You can talk about memories, you can provide examples or you can just discuss your thoughts about the topic.

After you have a first draft completed you will want to put away your will for at least a week. When you take it back out you will be able to look at it with fresh eyes. This will make it easier to edit your will. Start by reading through the ethical will out loud. This will help you to find grammatical mistakes, typos and sentence flow problems.

Get more tips for writing an ethical will at Spiritual Ethical Will.

Developing Wealth Building Habit

Eco Friendly Insulating Paint Additive

Eco friendly paint additives are the buzzwords of modern day society. Fueled by constant demands for energy saving products coupled with a psychological desire to limit the damage being caused to our environment through our actions and daily lifestyles. These products promise to be the future answer to some of these problems.

Products of text book marketing theory referred to as "social marketing" for those in the industry. These products are the result of socio-economic demands as an essential component in the complete insulation of homes, building and other premises. Combining the other buzzword of modern day society - convenience, the product ranges are on the whole efficient, effective and very simple to use. Typically applied by adding to paint and away you go, is the claim made by leading manufacturer and distributor Thermilate, based in the UK.

In using such products society will benefit with a win-win situation. Benefits to consumers of such products are the energy saving they promise, which can be as high as 25%. This in turn impacts on costs and provides users with greater control over the temperature in their homes and other buildings where used. The gains for the environment are the resultant reduction in the usage of damaging carbon fuels, one only has to imagine the millions of homes and buildings out there to visualise what the impact on the environment of the absence of such products has been thus far.

These products work by reducing the amount of heat escaping through walls, which many people have yet to realise are a major form of heat loss in their homes or buildings. Social marketing messages to inform consumers across the world about heat loss through windows proved very successful in the 1970's and 1980's backed by multi million pound marketing campaigns. However, in time it has transpired that the messages were incomplete and failed to inform consumers about the heat loss through their walls, which ironically can be far greater than that which takes place through their windows.

How do they work?

Although technologically advanced and safe to use, these paint additives are amazingly simple in their application. Leading eco-friendly additives company Thermilate stated, "they work by reducing the amount of heat escaping through walls via their insulation and reflection properties. The technology has taken years to develop and the resulting product is highly effective."

Heat loss is a fairly simple process - the walls, roofs and flooring are not impenetrable and they allow significant heat loss. These additives are featured in a multitude of journals. Products such as those mentioned above can slow down this process and inhibit this heat loss permanently.

The technology is based on simple micro-spheres, which create an invisible vacuum effect and thus reflect the heat back into the house, creating a double glazing effect for walls. The brand leader in the industry says its products have proved to reduce significant energy losses and energy consumption when these products were utilized. He is very excited about the future of this technology, particularly in its contribution to the global effort on climate change.

Off course the reverse is also true, these products also prevent heat entering a building in hot climates therefore keeping buildings much cooler, which anybody from such a climate will appreciate is a major problem and in doing so saving on air conditioning costs and creating a far more comfortable living environment.

It is recommended that as your first port of call you Google Thermilate. Its many applications are already assisting in the global effort for climate change. The success or failure of the global climate change strategy is hinged upon the cumulative success of individual efforts which will impact on our collaborative environment in the years to come.

Fixings Squeaking Stairs

Spiritual Affirmation - Healing Your Inner Self With Spiritual Affirmations

From childhood to adulthood, the knowledge we gain or the experiences we have in our lives only helps us to discover our outer personality and brings us closer to material things of this world. At the same time we sometimes get depressed or fall into a low self-esteem Problem. Spiritual Affirmations help us get out of these problems. Spiritual Affirmations leads us towards a happy and satisfying life with a peaceful mind.

Affirmations are a judgment that we pass or any thought we have. An affirmation is directly linked to our sub consciousness. Affirmations can either be negative or positive which can either guide our subconscious actions to a successful life or towards failure.

Spiritual Affirmations are a form of meditation which when mediated often, have a desirable results. For example if a person has a lack of confidence or self-esteem problem sit in a peaceful, quiet place with some spiritual affirmations in your mind, let the emotions flow to you and start saying the spiritual affirmations aloud, 'I believe in myself' or 'My inner self will always guide me towards right path with decisions that are beneficial to me and others'.

The key behind spiritual affirmations is to let go of all your negative thoughts and trust completely in yourself. Instead of thinking 'This project is too difficult for me' try thinking 'I am capable of anything and obstacles do not effect me or my work'. Once you adopting this kind of spiritual affirmation you will notice a positive and healthy change in your life.

The best way to carry out spiritual affirmation technique is to release your mind of any negative thought, sit in a peaceful and quiet place, relax and visualize any positive spiritual affirmation such as 'My mind is at peace now'. At the same time try to use simple words and sentences which can easily be interpreted by our mind and mind can easily accept it to be true.

Spiritual affirmations not only help to achieve a peaceful mind and happy life but also helps us draw closer to God. Remember God and His blessings as much as possible while utilizing the spiritual affirmation technique. For example "I let my renewed soul thank God for His blessings" or 'I release my old self and reborn with a new pure soul'. The most acceptable and commonly used word in spiritual affirmation is 'Amen' meaning 'so be it'. While some of us use it to conclude our prayer, it can be used for spiritual affirmation.

For a positive result spiritual affirmation needs to be repeated many times for effectiveness. Write down any positive thought you get maybe in a diary, on a piece of card or whichever way is convenient to you. Review them daily to get your mind to completely accept these thoughts. Preferably review them twice a day. Initially during spiritual affirmation technique we will also get negative thoughts. Note down these thoughts as well and at the end of the day review them and try replacing them with something more positive. Once you perform this spiritual affirmation technique on a regular basis you will find a positive change in yourself with a renewed spirit.

Robert Watson is a certified hypnotherapist with the ABH and the NGH, and has worked with affirmations and subliminal messages for over ten years. Visit his Subliminal Messages website for more information about using affirmations and subliminal messages to help you lose weight, quit smoking, have a more positive outlook and more.

Habits To Prevent Losing Things

How to Choose the Right Remodeling Contractor

Remodeling your home yourself is no easy task. Some of the duties involved with remodeling are best left to the professionals. While acquiring the right assistance in itself is no easy task, here are some tips on how to find the perfect remodeling contractor for your remodeling project.

Remodeling contractors can be located using yellow-book listings or listings on the internet. They can also be referred by word of mouth. Select about a handful of contractors who specialize in what you're looking for. Thinking of retiling your bathroom and replacing appliances? Surely there is a contractor who specializes in bathroom modifications. Installing crown molding in your den? There are plenty of remodeling contractors who specialize in various home transformations.

After you've made your selection it's time to make your phone calls. A good contractor is one that the client feels comfortable speaking with. The contractor should be knowledgeable and approachable. They should be able to understand your wants and needs and have the tools and confidence necessary to get the job done. Ask for pricing quotes and ask what all is included in the contract price. Negotiate if necessary and see what kind of deal the contractor can offer for the work you're requesting.

Ask for references and feedback from happy (and even unhappy) customers. Assess the contractor's strengths and weaknesses. Feel free to call these references, including older customers to assess how the remodeling work has been maintained over the years. Inquire to the customer service involved with the remodeling job, and the overall job itself. If you can see samples of finished products, request them.

After you've acquired all of your potential offers, assess the cost vs what you're actually getting. Never just go for the lowest bidder. The lower the price may equal a lower quality of work, and that in itself is a bad investment. Consider your needs and the difficulty of the job. High bids may equate to good workmanship, and you should definitely take that into account.

Now that you've reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of hiring a contractor and assessed your needs for your remodeling job, it's time to hire! Good luck in your search for the perfect remodeling contractor.

Sarah Reece writes for Ciniva Systems, an award winning Virginia web design company. Ciniva specializes in web design and SEO. Sarah Reece is an SEO Specialist with Ciniva. Ciniva Systems is in charge of SEO for Chesapeake Remodel

Fixings Squeaking Stairs

What Needs to Change to Become Your Authentic Self?

Becoming your Authentic Self is a process of deprogramming who you were trained to be and rebuilding your perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors to be in alignment with who you were born to be.

And this means change.

"Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die!"

There is good reason why humans resist change. The inborn survival instinct does not want to risk losing what it has in exchange for the uncertainty of change.

The dilemma for the person on the spiritual path is that you must change in order to grow. My Awakening Your Light Body teacher, Duane Packer, often shared this quote: "If you want to have what you've never had, you will need to do what you've never done."

The good news is that the more spiritually evolved you become, the more tools and skills you have for consciously creating your reality.

Although it is quite tempting to believe that if only the other person (or situation) would change all would be well in our world, at some point in our spiritual growth we come to accept that our outside reality is a reflection of our inner reality. It is said that we don't see the world as it is; we see the world as we are. It is a big leap forward in spiritual awakening to understand that what we experience in our outer life is a reflection of our inner life.

The great thing is we can change our mind any time we want and start focusing on how we want our life to be (instead of focusing on what we don't want and creating more of that!)

As Nelson Mandela has said: "We must become the change we want to see in the world."

A good question to ask when you are not liking a life situation:

"What belief, attitude, behavior, or perspective do I need to change so I can be joyful in this situation?"

Once we get past wanting to blame someone else for our unhappiness, it is not too hard to take the next step and ask what we need to change about ourselves.

Is it possible that something as simple as asking what we need to change in ourselves can turn around a seemingly impossible situation? Yes!

How do I know? Because I have done it. The hardest part is acknowledging that the unpleasant outside circumstance is a result of something inside of me. But as the saying goes, "do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?" At this point on my spiritual path I have found myself to be "wrong" so often that I am used to noticing my "faults" and owning what is true no matter how embarrassing, silly, stupid (all judgments, by the way) it is. I encourage you if you have a situation that is causing you unhappiness, use it as an opportunity to ask "What do I need to change in myself so this situation gets better?"

I know you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Jennifer T. Grainger, B.Msc.,Spiritual Growth Coach & Mentor, Founder of http://www.SpiritualGrowthCommunity.com, an online resource center for people exploring their spirituality. Sign up now for a fr^ee membership and receive Jennifer's guided meditation:"Sitting in the Stillness". In this meditation you will connect with your Divine Self for guidance, inspiration and expanded consciousness. Sign Up Now! http://www.SpiritualGrowthCommunity.com

Structuring Your 24 Hour Day

Do-It-Yourself Earthbag Building - Yes You Can!

The two largest obstacles to home ownership are expensive building materials and overly complex construction methods that require specialized skills and equipment. The problem is so acute that over 70 percent of Americans are unable to afford contractor-built homes. With the current downturn in the economy and the loss of millions of jobs, the housing situation in the U.S. is definitely taking a turn for the worse.

Everyone needs a place to live - shelter is a basic need. But since the current system is bypassing the vast majority of the population, it's time to investigate simpler, more affordable building methods.

The answer may be right under our feet (earth). That's right; building with earth is a timeless building tradition with some structures lasting many hundreds of years. Over a third of the buildings in the world are earth structures. Earth is probably the least expensive building material (literally dirt-cheap), and therefore holds enormous potential for solving our housing crisis. Some may assume earth buildings are just mud huts. Far from it! If your background isn't in architecture, you may not be aware of the amazing diversity of earth structures. Look up "earth architecture" on the Internet if you're not already informed.

There are many earth building methods - adobe, rammed earth, CEB and so on. This article explores the growing popularity of earthbag building (also called sandbag building) and how it can be used to provide affordable housing that's simple enough for do-it-yourselfers to build their own home. By using dirt-cheap building materials (earth, sand, gravel, recycled materials, etc.) and eliminating expensive contractors and specialized equipment, the cost of construction can be slashed to a fraction of conventional housing costs.

Earthbag building has it's origin in military sandbag building. For about 100 years, the military have been building durable, blast and bullet proof structures out of sandbags. Also, sandbags have been used for many years to hold back floodwater. Today, builders are using the same basic process of filling, stacking and tamping bags to build a wide variety of structures the world over - beautiful homes, offices, shops, schools and more.

Besides affordability and durability, the other main advantage is simplicity of construction. What could be simpler than filling and stacking bags of earth? The main skills can be learned in a few minutes simply by being shown or watching a video. Almost everything you need to know is available free on the Internet. And most people already have the basic tools around the house - shovels, buckets, garden hose, ladder. The other few tools required can be made quickly and easily or purchased inexpensively.

Here are just a few ways of saving money by building with earthbags:

• Recycled bags are readily available in most places. Polypropylene or burlap bags are ubiquitous, being used for all types of grain, fertilizer and animal feed, and sometimes for concrete, plaster and other products. Talk to local farmers and feed supply outlets.
• Misprinted bags are often available direct from manufacturers at greatly reduced prices. Between misprinted bags and recycled bags (in good condition) you can cut the main expense of earthbag building to almost nil.
• No special mix is required. Most soils, including those on or near most building sites, are adequate or can be adjusted with sand or clay to create an appropriate mix. This makes the other primary material for earthbag building basically free or close to it.
• You can order special mixes of earth from sand and gravel producers, such as road base and reject fines, at very low prices. The main expense is delivery, but this has to be weighed against your time and effort to dig it from the ground. Spending $200-$300 for delivery of an excellent mixture free of large rocks and roots can save hundreds of hours of hard labor. And, they'll dump it in piles around the building site to speed construction and save even more work.
• No need for a typical concrete foundation. Earthbags filled with gravel make an excellent foundation. This step alone can save you thousands of dollars.
• Build an insulated earth floor and save thousands more. Sealed earth floors can last hundreds of years. Think of all the wood, plywood, linoleum, etc. that can be saved.
• Use earth plaster and save thousands more. With wide roof overhangs of 36" or so, earth plaster will hold up very well in most climates, requiring only minor maintenance.
• Use recycled materials whenever possible. Door and window forms, for instance, can be made from scrap wood from pallets, discarded barrels or tires. Sinks, tubs, doors, hardware, shelving, tile and many other components can be salvaged for very low cost.

Owen Geiger, Director of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building at http://www.GRISB.org has co-authored http://www.EarthbagBuilding.com to better focus and keep track of the rapid growth of this novel building method.

Horizontal Or Vertical Drywall