I live in Florida. One commodity we have a whole lot of here is sunshine. We have in droves. Even on stormy days, you can pretty much assume the sun will come out to play before the day is over. In fact, the area of Florida in which I live is called the Suncoast, hence the name of my blog.

Anyway, it seems s shame to waste a resource as readily available as the sun. I use solar lights in the yard. I have a solar powered lit house number sign. I made sun tea on the back porch in big glass jugs. I open my windows and blinds and use sun for light most of the day.

I’ve long been pondering switching more of my daily living over to solar power. Things powered by the sun are free from pollution and don’t emit waste into the environment. With all of the talk about greenhouse gasses and dwindling power supply, it only seems rational to look into switching some our home power over to solar at some point.

In the meantime, I can add more to our outdoor lighting that will take full advantage of the Florida sunshine. I even found a cool flexible neck reading light online that can be used outside. And, I’ve been looking at some cool water fountains that are solar powered. Adding light and movement to the yard and garden is a good thing, and being able to do it 100% independent of a power source is even better.

I should have posted this information a long time ago.

For any of you following the Christmas Day story about how David Belniak crashed into the back of another vehicle that was stopped at a red light, killing 3 of the 4 people inside, you were probably just as anxious as me to find out how authorities were dealing with the case. Especially in light of the fact that Belniak has killed while behind the wheel before and never been charged!

He has been charged with DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and reckless driving. Belniak’s blood alcohol content was .045 and he was driving 88 mph in a posted 55 mph zone at impact.

Rest in Peace:
Linda McWilliams
Gerard Bassi
Denise Bassi

I have bought and sold my share of houses since 2000. When I was married, we moved so often that it felt like we always had a house on the market. We even got to the point where we had specific professionals we liked to use regularly for our transactions. I am not sure we will be using all of the same people when we sell this current home, but that is simply because we are taking such a beating from the real estate market right now. I get so mad I could spit when I think about my ex’s timing on the divorce,… and the blasted real estate market condition.

If you have been involved in even one real estate transaction, you understand the importance of title insurance. When I was talking about having preferred professionals we worked with over and over, our title insurance company was one of those. On the whole, most title companies seem very much the same, but when you look a little deeper you will find that they differ greatly when it comes to reputation and community standing.

Basically, title insurance is your protection against the possibility that someone might come along who feels like they have some sort of legal claim to the property you have purchased, such as an inheritance or a lien. There are cases where someone purchases a property without knowing that another party had a lien on the property and that situation can get terribly messy. Title insurance covers the situation for future loss. You want to make sure the title company you are working with is thorough and reputable. That is why we tended to stick with one company over and over.

…but, the catch is that they are going to raise the commission sellers pay for items that do sell. All in all, eBay is still planning on bringing in the same money as they do now. Their fee changes are an attempt to entice more people to list more times. They say they are making the changes in order to keep pace with other online commerce sites.

But, is cutting the listing fees by up to 50% really going to convince more people to go back to using eBay to sell items? It may have, if the commissions you have tp pay on the final sale price were not going to go up a whopping 68%. Sellers will now pay 8.75 of the final sale price for items under $25.

The new fee structure goes into effect February 20 in the United States. More pricing changes are coming shortly in the United Kingdom and Germany.

EBay says that their growth has flattened out and they are currently seeing a drop in the number of items being listed for sale. They feel the fee changes will remedy this. They are up against sites that do not charge listing fees, like Amazon.

I say, simply remove the listing fees altogether. I know that I stopped selling on eBay when the fees got too high. I could do as other sellers do and simply charge more for shipping, but I feel that is dishonest and I cannot bring myself to play that particular game.

On the other hand, I met a mom at school today who sells new and used Gymboree on eBay for a living. We talked about her selling my daughter’s used boutique clothing. She says there are ways to make sure you make more than enough profit to cover fees.

Have you ever made one of those smashed pennies? I am not talking about the old fashioned method of putting a penny on train tracks, though I have done that in my time. I am talking about those hand cranked penny press machines you see at tourist attractions?

My step mother collects smashed pennies and every time we go to one of the Disney theme parks we look for a penny machine and make one for her. It’s an economical souvenir and easy to ship. We just put it in a regular envelope along with a letter. No fuss. Plus, they are a hoot to make – at least the hand cranked ones are fun. I am not as charmed with the fully automated machines.

In fact, we are going to Disney for the Princesses and Pirates party in February and already have plans to make several smashed pennies to send off to my step mom. Since we are going to hit at least three of the theme parks over that particular weekend, we should be able to make at least three unique coins for her.

I have to buy a gift for a birthday party my daughter is attending this Saturday. Money is tight right now and I want to be frugal, but I also want to give the child a nice gift. She is in my daughter’s class and has ridden in my van for field trips. She is one of the sweeter girls in the class and gets along well with my daughter.

I made a compulsive stop at the local Hospice Thrift Store and was thrilled to find someone had donated cases and cases of brand new Cherished Teddy figurines by Enesco. I picked through the box and although I could not find one for a 5th Birthday specifically, I found loads of nice figures and even a plush Cherished Teddy. Most of the items were priced at $1.99, so I stocked up and bought ahead for other events. Just because I did not pay full retail does not make these cute Cherished Teddies any less thoughtful or appropriate.

I love a thrifty find like this! Stretching my dollar as far as possible is important to me.