Mortgage Rates are Getting Lower

As interest rates continue to fall, I am getting more and more excited about the possibility of building our dream green house. The house we own isn't awful, environmentally speaking, but it is our goal to own a home with solar power, recycled and earth friendly building materials, a tankless hot water heater, and all the other eco-friendly essentials within the next few years.

Getting a mortgage won't be too hard. My credit score is poor, but my partner has good credit that just keeps getting better. Between the two of us, we can get a mortgage with low rates. We should even be able to keep our current home since now is not the time to sell. We'll just rent it out for enough money to cover the mortgage on it, and move along on our merry way into the crunchiest house ever built.

I hate trying to sort out all the lending details, like the difference between fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, but I love thinking about the house we're going to build. As usual, this means the financial aspects fall on my poor DP while the more concrete details fall in my lap. I feel bad for him, but I suppose we're just working with our own strengths and weaknesses!

Tip for NFL Stores

Do I need to clarify here? NFL is shorthand for natural family living, not football.

I try to shop in a lot of stores run by work-at-home-mamas and others who are doing their best to make and sell quality products that help people to reduce the impact they are leaving on the environment. One thing that I've noticed is that online, most of these stores accept Paypal as the primary method of payment. A few accept RevolutionMoneyExchange payments, and a handful use other payment processors -- usually the more successful companies are able to pay for a real merchant account instead of relying on the cheaper services.

I wish more of these stores were able to accept credit cards directly. I really hate going through third party services and having to keep a separate account with my fun money in it is hard to manage for someone as unorganized as me.

Do any of you know about smaller nfl lifestyle stores that accept Visa or Amex?

When it comes to moving, DIY won't do

I love moving. I love that every time we pack up our house and head off for a new place, we have an opportunity to declutter, reducing how much junk we have yet again. We never stay in the same place for very long, but it does seem like we accumulate more and more in the year or two that we stay put.

The first couple of moves, we had young children but decided to buck up and do the work of moving ourselves rather than hiring a moving company. We had plenty of time with the first relocation since the people who bought our home hadn't yet sold theirs and so didn't need to get into our house/their new home very quickly. The second time, it was a rush all around, with us having a limited time to get out of our apartment and into the house we had purchased -- and it was hell. Trying to pack with a toddler and preschooler wanting to open all the boxes and take out their packed-up toys was a nightmare.

Last time, we decided that we were just not that DIY, and we hired professionals to move our things for us. It was, by far, the easiest move we've made. DH and I were able to concentrate on decorating the new place with paint and clean carpets while the pros took care of our things, stored them for a short bit, and then moved everything in. It was very relaxing, actually. The kids weren't stressed because their things weren't sitting in front of them but still forbidden, and I wasn't frantic trying to accumulate and fill box upon box of kitchen supplies, craft gear, kid relics, and everything else that makes our house a home.

We lucked out with moving companies -- there are some real horror stories out there -- and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. In fact, I probably will, in another year or so.