Home & Garden
Small changes so we can stay in this house for 20 more years
Grab bars, a raised toilet seat downstairs and lever door handles. Cheap changes now so we don't have to move later.
Selling the kids' old furniture on Marketplace
Two dressers, a bunk bed nobody slept in and a desk. What sold, what didn't, the no-shows and how we priced it.
A lower-maintenance front yard
Fewer annuals, more hostas and daylilies, and a lot of mulch. How I made the front beds easier to keep up for the next 20 years.
Pricing a new roof after 22 years
Three quotes, from $11,800 to $14,500. What the inspector said, why we're waiting a year or two and how we're saving for it.
Sealing drafts in a 1977 house for under $80
Weatherstripping, foam outlet gaskets and a door sweep. A Saturday afternoon of draft hunting with a candle and a cheap thermometer.
Fall gutter cleaning and our new ladder rule
Greg used to do it in an hour. This year we made a rule about ladders, and we priced what it would cost to hire it out.
Making a split-level easier on our knees
Half-flights everywhere and two bad knees between us. Handrails, better lighting and what we moved to the middle level.
Our 14-year-old water heater finally quit
A puddle in the laundry room on a Wednesday morning. The quotes, the install the next day and what $1,650 bought us.
Shrinking the vegetable garden to two raised beds
For years I planted for four. This spring I cut it to two beds, eight tomato plants and a lot fewer zucchini.
Our first garage sale in 15 years made $612
Pricing, the early birds at 6:45, what sold and what went straight to the donation center. A Saturday of decluttering, by the numbers.
Clearing out the kids' rooms without a fight (almost)
Trophies, yearbooks and 14 bins of who-knows-what. The rules we set, what each kid kept and the one box still in the basement.