May 2020

Have You Been Scammed!!

Steps to take if a contractor has left your project without completing.

Let’s talk about those people, who intentionally decide to scam folks. OK, they may not go out and think I am going to get you. However, in the end they do, mislead you to get your money. We will look at one case that I know of, and work through it.

Contractor offers to do a job. A contract is completed, a check for supplies is written. The following day the job has began. The contractor is on the job for a bit, then leaving to run to get more supplies. He leaves his crew at the site, to continue to work. Four people, to complete a two story deck. They work most of the day, get a good start. Day 2, only two show to work, on this two story deck. The contractor does not show up at all. Things are not being done correctly, phone call to contractor leads to contractor being busy and not coming to site. End result, contractor pulls his crew and says “we will be back”. That was the last time the contractor was seen.

Doing what was thought. to be a good bit of research prior to hiring the contractor, the home owner was very upset. What recourse does a homeowner have. Several options but, they led to nowhere for this home owner. Numerous phone calls, emails, reaching out on social media, lead to no response from contractor. The homeowner was contacted by 3 other individuals, that had the same experience.

Home owner decided to file a small claims case, more money spent and again no response. Homeowner sent information to local TV station that does investigations, no response. That could be that not enough folks had been scammed by this contractor. Attorney general, no response to them, from the contractor. BBB, no response from the contractor. So, While every step was taken that is available, the homeowner was left with an unfinished deck. They lost money and time. A lawyer was contacted, the amount in question was to small, so the lawyer would not take the case.

Here are some steps that you can take if this happens to you.

1)Call the place that the contractor uses to get their supplies. If they had supplies delivered to your site and did not pay for them. The company can place a lean on your property. These leans must be paid before a property can be sold.

2)If anything was stolen, make a police report. This is the one thing that does not cost money.

3)File a small claims suit if less than $5000. That is most you can get back. So, if your loss is higher, you may at least get back $5000. It will cost you court cost and fees, for serving the contractor. This will only move forward if they can find the contractor to serve them paper that they are being sued. So, could be wasted money, or could be a return of some of your hard earned money. Court cost are between $28-50 to file the case. Cost to serve the papers could be from $25-30 paid to the county. Most law firms will not take the case if not a large loss (to them) it has to be high enough to support the cost for taking to court.

4)Contact the BBB, they will try to contact the contractor. If the contractor does not respond there is nothing else. You are able to file the compliant online, so others may not be taken by this contractor.

5)Contact your states attorney general(look up the one for your state). If there are enough complaints they will investigate. They do try to contact the contractor also but unfortunately, if they do not get in contact the case is closed.

Before signing a contract, before writing a check for any amount research the company. When you think you have researched them, look further. Remember, to read their social media pages, look at BBB, call their references (ask if they are being paid to say good things.). Do not pay anything in advance.

These are hard lessons learned by many. Hours spent researching will save your money and possibly save from having a lean on your property. Do you have any hints or tricks that you have learned, please share your stories below.

SALE, FREE, DISCOUNT

Finding the best sales, freebies, and discounts. My four favorites.

Hey everyone, have you been just waiting to get out there and go shopping? Do you love sales? This week I plan to give some tips on saving money.

A friend of mine is remodeling her bathroom. We were discussing how expensive even the supplies can be. Even when it’s a DIY project, there are a lot of cost. So we got to talking about different stores and different sales. She said that her husband shops at Lowe’s so he can get his veteran discount. He get a 10% discount through Lowe’s. Home depot offers this discount also. This began the talk of discounts. In our area there is a Lowe’s, Home depot, and Menards. There are also a few smaller home improvement stores.

Lowe’s and Home depot both give a veterans discount of 10%. Menards, runs several sales that give you an 11% rebate. Home depot and Lowe’s also at different times run the 11% rebate. Both of the stores you can use your veterans discount at the time of purchase, and send your receipt for your 11% rebate. Depending on when you are needing to go shopping for your supplies, and what stores you have close. It’s worth checking out what sales are going on at what times. Obviously, if you’re not a veteran it just matters which store is offering 11% off at the time. Doing some research could save you both 10% at the store, and 11% in rebate. All three stores the 11% offer rebate, comes back to you in a gift card to use at that store. I don’t know about you but we always have some project, that we can use that money on.

We are not specific store shoppers. We are not affiliated with any of the above stores either. We have remodeled a home, therefore, found the best prices and discounts.

Another thing we have found, over the years is Menard’s crazy day sales. If you look at their sale ads. They will have items that might cost you upfront, but you will get a full rebate in the mail. We have a supply of paint brushes, windshield wipers blades, paint trays, liquid nail and silicone. We probably have many more items, than listed, I just can’t think of them right now. While I may not need these items right now, I will use them.

I watch for good Christmas gifts. Throughout, the year I watch sale ads. When they have things that would make a great Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers, I pick them up. Sometimes, I get them for free or at a very discounted price. When Christmas comes, it is as easy as wrapping the gifts.

Christmas gifts, Stocking stuffers. — Buying gifts when they are on sale!

Another store that offers some of these items, Harbor freight. Throughout, the year they will run sales. If you buy an item, you get a another item for free. The free items could be flashlights, small tarps, small packing blankets, screwdrivers, or other small items. These are great stocking stuffers.

I have a special way of organizing these gifts so that, as I buy them throughout the year I know who each gift belongs. Fortunately, that’s not something I’m going to divulge in this blog. I don’t want them to know where to look when they come to my house.

So this week I challenge you to look at those sale ads. Don’t just throw them away . You just might find there’s a great item that you could use that’s free. If you have a store sale or rebate you’d like to share comment below. If you would like to get an email with new post announcements sign up for our email list.

Reaching that Goal!

Lets talk goals and work on them.

How have you been doing reaching your goals? We started with standing during commercials. Then moved onto Standing during the TV show. To walking around the room. We have talked about many different things that you can do while in your home.

If you are still working on the previous post that is OK!! But if you are ready to move on, lets get going. The weather is getting nicer so let’s head outside. I know that during covid we are to stay home. So home it is, in your own yard. See that mailbox, walk to it(if it is in your yard and/or you can maintain social distancing walking to it). Walk it, two or three times a day if you can.

In case you prefer to stay indoors, or you are still going to work. I have looked for some links to chair exercises . While this says for seniors, anyone can start here and use them. I also found some chair exercises for your office. When you are feeling that mid day slump. Any movement, exercise can help you to gain strength and endurance. This is a blog post with great information about exercises you can do at your desk.

network, rectangle, rings — All you short term goals = success to your long term goal. Keep working.

Goal setting is key to better health. The larger goal can be set at any time frame that’s obtainable for you. Then set smaller goals within that time frame. This helps you see progress while you are working toward your larger goal. Celebrate small victories to keep you excited. Think back three weeks ago, where were you, and where are you now. If you’ve set a goal and if you’re meeting your goals. You on your way!! Soon you will meet that larger goal!

shoes, legs, boys — Stand up for your health!

Challenge for this time is that you stand up for your goals. Reach your small goals so that you can achieve your larger goal. The weather is nice, by all means go outside and do your walking if you can. Stand up for YOU!!

Lets head to Canada

Come to Canada with us! Travel from home during our stay at home covid 19.

We often make a vacation out of conferences, that I attend for work. We look ahead and see where the national conferences are going to be held. If that’s somewhere we want to visit, we plan a trip. So, when it headed to Toronto, so did we. This is the second country we had visited. This trip was planned around the national physician assistant conference. My husband’s mom went with us on this trip. She loves to travel, but not alone.

We flew to Toronto; I saw NY city out the plane windows. I had always wanted to know what New York was like. All the hype and all. I have not been back, not that I would not like to see it on the ground, but just that we have not traveled that way. We landed in Toronto and there was a hotel shuttle to take us to our hotel. We normally stay with Marriott and this time was at Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel. My husband worked for Marriott for a while, but they are just a good company that cares for their associates. Our hotel was 3 blocks from the conference center, where I would spend the next 5 days.

Each day was new and exciting. I have never lived in a place, that you would walk to work. The busy streets, cars honking at each other all the time. They yield to pedestrians all the time. Very different, at times, from the US. We did not rent a car while there, we walked and took the double decker bus around town.

The first few days, we got up, my hubby walked with me to my conference and then he returned at lunch, and then the end of the day. It was fun, new, exciting time for both of us. His mom would not walk over as much. We found that there was a theatre and you could get free tickets at 11am. So, a friend who attended the conference also and I walked over to get tickets. The theatre show for that evening could sell out if we did not get there in time. It was to be the four of us to attend. We were able to get 4 tickets, but not next to each other. It was to be a fun evening. My hubby did not feel well and walked back to the hotel. I did not realize he went back and thought he had gone into the theatre. So, needless to say that was a little distracting but the play was great! Hubby, was good when we returned to our hotel.

We bought a 3-day pass for the double Decker bus, for the last 4 days that we were there. The bus had 21 stops throughout the city and you could get on and off as you wished. We were able to stay on as long as were would like. We chose to ride the entire routes a couple times to get somewhat acquainted to the city. Then we would get off and venture out.

We attended a fun festival at the city Centre park, walked around shops, and saw homes and factories. As we were walking in the park, we noted they were giving away a car. We could not sign up, because we did not have a Canadian address. We were however, able to enjoy the rest of the Italian festival. We tried gelato for the first time. Booths with businesses, crafts, and music. It was a fun afternoon.

We took a bus tour from Toronto to Niagara Falls. This is a vacation destination for both, the US and Canada. We were I think lucky to have been on the Canadian side. I have not seen it from the US side, but it appears that it may not be as great of a view. There is a bridge that takes you from the Canadian side to the US side. We did not walk the bridge as it was a long bridge and we were limited on time. So, all my story is from the Canadian side. Our bus took us from our Hotel to Niagara Falls. We stopped in Niagara, Canada. This is a town on the edge of the falls. We walked around and stopped to eat lunch. We tried poutine for the first time. I loved it, my hubby, not so much. There were great little shops, the roads while straight, were up and down hills. These were not just small inclines; they were HILLS and steep ones.

Next was the park at Niagara Falls. We got off the bus to the mist coming from the falls. Glad we had ponchos. We took a tour on a boat called maid of the mist; we were able to get up close to the falls. It was massive. So much water, such a force. Back to dry (well misty) land and the gift shops and viewpoints. This is a trip I would recommend, it is hard to imagine, even with pictures.

Back on the bus to the vineyards, we stopped to have a tasting of frozen grape wine. Did you know that when grapes freeze there is only a two-week window to harvest them? Each grape only gives a couple drops of juice, to make into wine. Imagine the number of grapes, in the bottle of wine. I am not an alcohol drinker, but I did taste one. Not for me, my hubby and his mom did like the dry ones, but not so much the sweet ones.

We then headed back to the hotel and up early to catch our flight back home. Hope you enjoyed this trip to Toronto. Our lives are still not the same with the stay at home, still in many places. If you enjoyed this trip please share! Sign up for our email list if you would like to have updates on new post.