Undertaking any renovation project means considering all aspects of the work to be done before getting started. Cost, hiring contractors, possible temporary displacement from your home, and the like must all be weighed. Yet, if a renovation is desired, now is the best time to get it done.

Reasons Why Renovating Should Not Be Delayed

If you delay your renovation project, you’ll soon learn that:

Project costs most certainly will increase — higher fuel prices are pushing the cost of housing materials ever higher. Products that are petroleum based, such as shingles, rise when gas prices go up. Wait a few months and you could be adding hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars to the cost of the work.

Interest rates may rise — if you are taking out a loan for your home renovation, interest rates are expected to begin rising later this year. Right now, mortgage rates are low, but a shaky economy means that future rates will be higher. Lock in the lowest rate while you can!

Contractor availability — with the housing slump in full force, plenty of contractors are looking for work. This can work to your advantage too — get at least three quotes and compare services offered and prices to find the best deal today.

Of course, when renovating you’ll want to choose your renovations wisely especially if you plan to eventually sell your home. Kitchens and bathroom renovations almost always offer a full return on your investment while most other rooms do not. However, don’t discount the enjoyment a particular room has to offer you as return on investment shouldn’t be allowed to trump your personal satisfaction ever.

Resources

Planning Your Home Expansion Project

All About Spec Planning

Home Equity Lending

Review House Plans

Tags: Home Improvement, home renovation, home repair

Travel Tip

The 4th of July is next Friday. Instead of traveling to expense gas, may we suggest 4th of July activities closer to home.  Get ideas:

4th of July celebration database
4th of July cooking

news results for 4th of July fireworks

Home Improvement Tip

Nothing like grilling on the 4th — have your considered smoking some meat? Check out the latest in home grilling for your 4th celebration.

home grills and other grilling information

Consumer Financing Tip

Still looking for that new home? It’s never been a better time to buy. Equip yourself with the knowledge and information you need to fnd the right home at the right price at the right mortgage lending terms:

view our home buying center for information | understand how best to finance your home

Credit Card Tip: Build Up Those Miles

College Planning Tip

Monthly Checklist for June 29

see our BLOG:
campus life for planning tips and other campus gossip

Tags: Home Tips, traveling tips, Weekly Tips

BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)

Discipline to Success:

The Education Attribute

Educated men are as much superior to uneducated men as the living are to the dead.
Aristotle

continuation from BLOG post: part IX.a

We continue our review of the attributes that makeup our education attribute. We reviewed last week developing perception and positive language skills. Let’s move onto the final 3 attributes:

Education Includes Scholastic Abilities

Practically everything that you pursue in life will require some scholastic abilities. Almost all jobs today require high school diplomas, and many managerial positions require collegiate degrees and, in increasing numbers, Masters and Ph.D. degrees.

Scholastic achievements such as diplomas and degrees are individual goals. The skills to achieve these degrees are part of your education attribute. You can strengthen your scholastic skills by increasing your reading and listening skills and improving your study habits. You need to develop study habits that force you to study and learn subject materials.

Developing good study habits is exactly like building a strong physical body. You need to schedule time each day to study. Look for a secluded corner in the library or your home to study. Try to schedule the same time each day to study and don’t allow distractions to tempt you away from your studies. If your mind wanders, bring it back to the subject matter at hand. Scheduling time each day to study and then rewarding yourself when you complete the schedule is an effective method to strengthen your scholastic abilities.

Education is the Expansion of Your Knowledge Base

Most people are experts in one or two areas. A doctor, for example, will have advanced knowledge in medicine while a marketing executive has expert understanding of product launching. The expansion of our knowledge base includes learning subjects and materials that are not part of our current knowledge base.

Finally, Education is the Application of Knowledge and Experience

Education avails us nothing if we fail to apply our new knowledge. Well-rounded people apply what they learned, and then learn from the experience by applying their new knowledge. They gain wisdom as they reason between two or more variables.

For example, say you want to study and expand your knowledge in investment analysis. You can read and study every possible book on investment logic. But unless you apply that knowledge by investing in the market with real money, you will fail to experience the selection of investment securities that give you the best return.

That sums up my discussion on what you can do to develop and strengthen your education attribute. I’m sure you can suggest other educational ideas. Use them if they are appropriate.

Next time: we will review how the education attribute fits in your character development.

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Tags: building success, education building, education skills, increase education, success building