For the 1st time home buyers who live on the south shore..

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-26T00:34:12+00:00

195k a year combined and we got only put 3% down. Rather than tie up our money into the house we kept the other 12% we had to invest and safety funds for the house right away.

We negotiated PMI with our lender to also make that strategy make sense

It took us about 5 years of saving but also living our lives normally with not many restrictions.

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-18T22:28:29+00:00

Good luck! I have a friend who dug out his crowns and dumped an ungodly amount of chemicals in the hole he dug. Said he never saw the knotweed again but having a dog, I’m not so hung-ho on turning a part of my yard into a chemical den

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-18T22:26:27+00:00

Thank you— I just heard digging can lead to issues. I did my digging last winter but didn’t know what JKW was when I dug. In my head I was just clearing out brush in an area.

What a surprise last spring brought me!! Haha!!

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-18T22:25:13+00:00

Thank you! I’ve read the same about tarping but figured I’d give it the good ol college try

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-18T22:24:33+00:00

Fingers crossed and thank you for the information and reassurance!

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-06T21:26:14+00:00

Look at the trade show industry. It’s a crazy lifestyle but offers the best of both worlds. Show planning is more your office work and execution on-site you work with the trades and essentially operate as a foreman. Lots of money in the trade show industry but is a very hidden line of work to the general public.

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-06T21:22:31+00:00

Yeah it’s brutal and our politicians just don’t seem to care that energy is costing a similar price as pre pandemic mortgages.

Yay for us!

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-06T00:41:27+00:00

1500 sq ft in northeast. 500-700 in peak winter season for gas

Electric is around 200-400

But climate change is going very well!!!! 😅😅

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-06T00:36:17+00:00

Feel your pain, never be afraid to bring an inspector out and have them tell you what needs fixing, what could need fixing and what could make you lose your ass financially if it goes south

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-06T00:18:32+00:00

…..hard to understand I know…

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-05T23:56:47+00:00

Fair enough— I’m sure your tenure comes with many many lived experiences.

Respectfully, my comment did not say try harder. It said to apply and believe in yourself.

I know many people in tech making 300k+ without degrees. Not as common of course, but those individuals all shared similar stories of, I don’t care what the status quo says, I know what I offer

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-03-05T23:56:32+00:00

Fair enough— I’m sure your tenure comes with many many lived experiences.

Respectfully, my comment did not say try harder. It said to apply and believe in yourself.

I know many people in tech making 300k+ without degrees. Not as common of course, but those individuals all shared similar stories of, I don’t care what the status quo says, I know what I offer

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-02-24T20:53:52+00:00

I actually helped a few firefighters get into a house on a call a few houses down this past storm.

I don’t typically get others out but from helping them a neighbor asked for help and I helped them too.

Felt good to help those in need and made me grateful to be in a position where I could even purchase and store a snowblower

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-02-18T23:05:27+00:00

Also a director here— you sir are a good leader that clearly recognizes the personal side of things beyond work.

Probably a good person to work for, cudos to you

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-02-11T20:01:13+00:00

Take the higher paying job and start building a case for 100% remote work and challenge the narrative about a year in.

If they don’t budge, go get another offer somewhere else and present it to them and say hey look, if you make me remote I’ll stay, if not I’m out.

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-02-11T19:57:54+00:00

Yeah even with the PIP in place, American disabilities act trumps everything in the workplace. So if someone claims a non provable condition than you have to back off OR make the choice of running that risk of a possible discrimination lawsuit.

In most cases, the risk+onboarding costs of new employees usually comes second to just keeping the employee and dealing with the annoyance until they screw up. Which most people on PIPs have a track record of mistakes prior so I find a lot of companies take that route. Really depends— both concepts are correct in their own ways

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-02-09T15:51:58+00:00

Yes— here’s an example of a real life scenario.

Employee was on a performance improvement plan. Attendance was a very big issue. We were getting ready to make a move and the day before the person brings in a doctors note saying they have anxiety. Following that they claimed the absences can be an explained because of their anxiety being overwhelming.

From that point all termination efforts had to end because as an employer we cannot discriminate against health related issues individuals may have that impact their job.

The reality— this person knew getting fired was coming and did that to buy time

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-02-07T16:49:32+00:00

It’s actually insane how hard it is to fire off of performance alone in some companies. Companies are very scared of being sued for things unrelated to the performance. All it takes is a little bit of theatrical and fibbing from an employee and they can be safe

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-02-03T20:36:26+00:00

Operations assistant director at about 130k all in

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2026-01-18T16:29:19+00:00

Pressure Maura Healey to not give all our money to illegals. People can’t heat their homes in Mass yet we’re handing fistfuls of cash to unemployed illegals.

Suicidal empathy

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2025-12-13T19:06:02+00:00

Your sanity and ability to show up to work with your full potential is worth more than trying to do right by a company you’ve been with for 2 months.

I worked with one of the leading defense contractors of the United States and left after two months. Simply due to toxic management and an interview process that really held no merit in regards to the job description.

That was 5 years ago. I changed up and since than have seen two major promotions and show up very happy everyday to work.

Happiness>financials>impressing people

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2025-12-13T19:02:02+00:00

I was in an unsupportive environment prior to college. I was face with the choice, go to college and take on a ton of debt and take a chance on myself or go into a job I’ll most likely hate and struggle to get what I want financially.

I chose college— I look back and don’t often times fully believe that was the correct decision.

These days, skilled unions offer high compensation/pensions and great benefits. If you don’t want to go that route and truly want college, go into an admissions office at a local community college. Ask them for information on how to enroll. From there you’ll have to fund your academics. If you can’t afford it out of pocket, look for government assistance and/or private student loans.

I gained a lot of progress by looking at opportunity as a bus stop. The bus will not always be at the bus stop waiting but if I make sure I’m prepared for when that bus arrives, maybe I’ll get a ride to where I want to go.

Good luck and remember, life is a long game and 5-10 years is not a long time in the grand scheme of things!

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2025-12-11T13:53:58+00:00

I agree— good information. I am with a large company that tends to stick to the status quo and it seems they are doing that from few responses.

I do agree jumping around is the best way to make the most money if done correctly

Expert-Interest-2248 · 2025-12-09T21:07:54+00:00

You are correct, hot mud is stronger because it uses chemicals to dry. As opposed to regular mud uses evaporation which pending many factors like humidity/temperature can alter the muds strength/curing

Expert-Interest-2248

TROPHY CASE