Thanking all of our men and women who served in the military throughout the history of this great nation. We appreciate your valor, bravery, and courage.

Photo from The National Guard via flickr creative commons.

Maybe not so funny to people who’ve actually experienced it, but from I Can Haz Cheeseburger,

When I was a teen, I was pretty frugal.  I babysat, saved where I could, and eventually invested $60 in the stock market.  Ten years later, I had doubled my stock market investment and took the $120 to buy airplane tickets for New York.   I had a great time with my college friends at the convention we attended and remembered the long hours of babysitting that got me to that point.

However, my frugal living and investing acumen are nothing compared to the Ohio teenager who bought a house from her saved 4-H winnings.  She showed hogs for years and each time she won cash, she tucked it away for the future.  According to the Columbus Dispatch, she paid cash for the 4 bedroom home,

By the time she graduated from Greenfield McClain High School last June, she had saved more than $40,000 for college.

But her parents had a proposition: They’d pay for college if she’d live at home and commute to Ohio University’s Chillicothe campus.

The idea appealed to Lindsay’s thrifty, practical side but left her wondering how to invest the money she’d saved.

Her dad, who runs Binegar Auction Service, had a suggestion.

“I said, ‘You should buy a house,’ ” Gary Binegar said.

It’s pretty nifty to be that thrifty!

Photo from Columbus Dispatch.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case the pictures may be worth about sixty-nine thousand words.  This stunning condo is priced perfectly and agent Rhonda Burgess did a phenomenal job showing how beautiful it is in her photos.

Now that’s what I’m talking about when we say real estate agents should take photos that sell!  Kudos!!  The Nashville agent with Southern Living Realty Partners can be reached at (615) 751-6234 for more information.

Shelters throughout the country are still trying to find homes for pets whose owners have been had to move and are unable to bring their pets with them.  The problem is so big that in San Francisco, special posters have been put up all over town that really tug at the heart,

I can’t adopt another pet; however, when I see something that upsets me about animals – like that sad commercial about abandoned pets with the Sarah McLachlan song that makes me want to take a bunch of pills – I donate to an animal-supporting cause such as the SF SPCA. If you have room in your home and your heart for a pet, I strongly encourage you to adopt a shelter animal.

I plan to become the crazy cat lady some day when my children are all grown up and moved out, so know that you’ll be able to bring your cats to me at that time.

HT Brittney’s Shared Items.

This sure beats your children climbing on bookcases and dressers!  From the Yanko Design web page, this wall art is sure to be a hit for the kids of the house,

What kid or child-at-heart wouldn’t love this?

You know how valuable it is to stage a home when you’re ready to sell.  However, here are some Ridiculously Ugly Rugs Owned by People with Extremely Poor Taste that you might want to avoid!

The only thing I can think of that would make me put one of these rugs on my floor would be if it were to cover something hideous going on with the floor underneath it, and that would only be if I had no other options. But for most of these rugs, it would take a real catastrophe in the home to cause a large enough problem with the floor to make me willingly lay one of these rugs down.

Ha! Click through to see the double yolk egg rug.

If the price of Rush Limbaugh’s penthouse keeps dropping, there should be no rush in buying it.  May as well wait until it gets lower!  All kidding aside, the value of a house is determined by a buyer – it’s worth what someone is willing to pay for it.  At this time, you can get the Limbaugh place for a million less than before – now available at $12.95 million.  It’s a beauty, for sure.

Taking up a full floor in an plush 5th Avenue Manhattan apartment building, the home is gorgeous.

Photo from corcoran.com, so am thinking they’ll have any info you need should you want to make an offer.

Shakadoo queen of awesome Kathy H. linked to this article on her Facebook account about how a seller can increase the property value.  It’s the little things that will help and most can be easily done.  For example,

Cosmetics are important.

• Fresh paint will always add more value than it costs.
• Clean or new carpet/flooring adds more value than it costs.
• Landscaping adds more value than it costs. At the very minimum, make the entrance area neat.
• If you can, add some colorful flowers and new sod.

To paint? It costs about $20 per gallon of paint, plus brushes and tape. You can likely paint the entire house for less than $300 if you do it yourself. A carpet clean can rent for about $75 p/weekend. Landscaping may be done for about $100. We’re looking at less than $500 to freshen up the entire house and that’s if you’re not too frugal! Make the investment if you want to impress!

I love the advice given by Emily of Simple Mom to simplify your home life because none of us need to leave the chaos of the outside world for chaos at home.  My guilty conscience is not going through all the junk mail we receive and how it tends to pile up on my kitchen counter.

Paper seems to multiply like bunnies in my house. Between stuff sent home from school and mail, it sometimes feels more like an office than a home. Make a system so you can find what you need and get rid of what you don’t.

Using notebooks to save things like household bills, school papers, insurance documents, and more does seem to make good sense.  Ironically I have a daughter who is a notebook fiend so I could probably nab a couple without her ever noticing.

What tips do you have for simplifying your home life and chaotic house?

Photo by Muffet via flickr creative commons.