WEIGHING THE PROS AND CONS OF SWITCHING TO A 15-YEAR MORTGAGE I’ve run the numbers on both, and honestly, the peace of mind with a 30-year is hard to...

TRIMMING DOWN EXPENSES ON PROJECT SUPPLIES I hear you on the leftover pile—my shed’s basically a graveyard for “just in case” materials. Here’s what’...

SMART HOME ON A TIGHT BUDGET—IS IT DOABLE? I’ve been down this road a couple times, and I’ll say—if you’re patient and a little creative, you can get...

Plaster walls are the worst for this stuff. I swear, my 1950s place eats wireless signals for breakfast. I added a Zigbee plug in the kitchen and it h...

SMART THERMOSTATS AND CHILL VIBES That’s a solid point about the envelope—my first winter in this house, I was convinced my old thermostat was the pr...

I ran into something similar a few years back. The land I bought had this awkward drainage ditch running diagonally through it—total eyesore at first ...