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Do It Yourself

From The Mail Buoy: Hawaii Investment Rental Properties

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  A reader writes: Hello Doug. I really enjoyed your interviews and what you have to say about how you got to where you are now. I am looking into financial independence as well. I had a late start, so I feel it’s going to take a while for me to get there, and it may not even be early retirement by then. The reason I am contacting you is … [Read more...] about From The Mail Buoy: Hawaii Investment Rental Properties

Extreme home improvement: DIY photovoltaic array

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[Note:  Hover your cursor over the images for the metatext.] Last week's post on photovoltaic systems presented the finances without much engineering. We had a guest post this week on more photovoltaic "rent vs own" decisions, but this post will focus on the construction. When I describe the system that we built, our choices were mostly … [Read more...] about Extreme home improvement: DIY photovoltaic array

The Bright Side of Solar Power Purchase Agreements

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I recently signed a Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and had Ten Photovoltaic (PV) panels installed on the roof of the GubMints Home. I have been 'kicking the tires' of rooftop solar for about 2 years now, soliciting bids once every 6-10 months. Until recently, most of the bids involved an outlay of anywhere from $3,000 to $13,000 and a … [Read more...] about The Bright Side of Solar Power Purchase Agreements

Extreme Home Improvement: The Finances of Your Residential Photovoltaic Array

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A reader writes: I remember reading somewhere that you had installed solar panels onto your house yourself. You mentioned that you were able to do it in cheap enough that the initial outlay of cash was completely covered by tax rebates. My husband and I just moved to California. Out here it is really popular to "rent" solar panels. We would … [Read more...] about Extreme Home Improvement: The Finances of Your Residential Photovoltaic Array

Save Money by Fixing Your Own Plumbing

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Everybody wants to save money to reach financial independence, but it's even more challenging to avoid unnecessary expenses. Sometimes "spending avoidance" requires sweat equity, training, and experience. Other times you can avoid expenses with a little knowledge and good habits. The trick is to find the balance where "do it yourself" is not slave … [Read more...] about Save Money by Fixing Your Own Plumbing

DIY home improvement

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It's Monday and many of you are probably at work wishing you were out surfing.  If you're stuck in a quiet air-conditioned office, then let me put up an eye-candy post that'll make you glad to be sitting there.  Sorry, no surfing scenes-- this will be noisy & sweaty demolition and construction. This post started out as "frugal budget home … [Read more...] about DIY home improvement

DIY home maintenance

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      I was ready to wax our old toilet. But before I explain that teaser, let me talk about a critical aspect of financial independence: DIY-- doing it yourself. When you're working 60 hours a week (or deployed for a 168-hour workweek) then you probably don't look forward to doing your own home maintenance. You'd … [Read more...] about DIY home maintenance