We did report for income tax purposes, on the “always report any income” principle, and for clear consciences – and also then we could deduct a portion of our utilities. In general it didn’t cause as much net change in our tax liability as it did in our income – we were going to heat those rooms anyway, and the extra water is cheap. Plus we saved more money by sharing food & chores, though that’s not as quantifiable.

But we found that in terms of other legal requirements of landlords, we got a different answer from every legal authority we checked with, including the city tenant/landlord association – can your home be seized if your tenant is storing drugs in their room? Maybe. Are you legally required to heat to a certain temperature or give warning before you enter the tenant’s room? Probably not. Et cetera.

And I found that living with another person is a lot of work, so now with the rental market lower it’s just not worth the money – I could get more cash for fewer hours of work with a second job, if we needed it. This may not be true depending on how your house is (we only have one bathroom, for example.)

Trent – my favorite articles are when you break down the amount you save on a given activity (ex. the laundry soap).

I’ve read bits of All Your Worth and some of the discussions that have taken place about it on this website. Perhaps they address this is in the book but I would like to know the difference between pennies and dollars. For example, wouldnt netflix count as a WANT and thus come from 30% of your monthly budget that is set aside for such things? If netflix is $15/month how is cutting this out not different from advocating for cutting back on lattes?

I used to work for the polce department as a 911 call taker awhile ago and this is how it works.

A landline phone will give us your name, location and call back telephone number making it easier to get help to you if accidentally disconnected. This is known as ANI/ALI, automated number identifier and automated location identifier.

A cellphone gives us the number and the address of the nearest cell phone tower where your call was routed through. If disconnected, we try to call back, but if you don’t answer we can’t send help.

And yes, all cell phones are allowed to call 911 (for free) wether activated or not. And all payphones for that matter.

Also, I would like to know more about the impact to 911 of going all digital. I know that cell phones CAN call 911, but we installed a landline after our baby was born because:
- sometimes we misplace the cell phones
- sometimes the cell phones run low on batteries
- I read somewhere that 911 can pinpoint your location faster if you call from a landline (is this still true?)

We had lived happily without a landline for years, and even now we don’t actually use it often; but it does make me feel better in case of an emergency.

Thanks!

I’m keeping my Netflix subscription, but I still consider it a money-saving move because the $18/month is a lot cheaper than cable TV. I don’t even own a TV — I watch the DVDs on my computer. The library is a 9-mile round trip from my home, so just the gas to get to and from the library would cost over $1/trip.

Also, I switched to a prepaid phone when my contract with Verizon expired and can’t tell you how much happier I am not paying that bill.

My first car was a 1987 Honda CRX which I drove until it had 250,000 miles with virtually no maintainence outside of oil changes, 40mpg city and 45mpg highway.

Then I purchased a 1995 Honda Civic coupe with 90,000 miles, virtually no maintainence outside of oil changes (it will go for another 100k, easy) from which I get 35mpg city and 40mpg highway.

You can purchase a well-maintained 1995-1998 model Civic for anywhere between $2,500 and $4,000 and plan on driving it for at least ten years. What’s not to love about that???

My husband is a used car dealer and he can’t keep enough of these Civics on the lot anymore, now that people are finally getting concerned about gas milage. Honda has been making high-quality, high-mpg cars for over two decades, and no one has picked up on that???