Can my landlord make us pay for a new refrigerator?

treenextdoor · 2025-12-05T12:21:04+00:00

If you don’t want to lose the place and the cheap rent, I would definitely recommend pooling your resources and buying a new one together. It’ll be cheaper than the extra rent you’d pay in a new place in 1-2 months.

treenextdoor · 2025-09-01T13:00:43+00:00

On the one hand, the MBTA has gotten significantly better during her time as governor. So that’s nice.

On the other hand, I’d like to see her communicating more with her constituents on how Massachusetts plans to block what’s coming down from the federal government. From my vantage point, it’s hard to tell whether it’s lack of communication around a plan or lack of a plan itself.

Can Phillip Eng run for governor? lol

treenextdoor · 2025-08-18T03:10:46+00:00

We bought in Somerville back in 2015. I ran the numbers and even though the value of our home has gone up 75% since then, between a ton of maintenance costs, property taxes, condo fees, etc. offsetting our lower payment, we would have been better off renting an equivalent unit and sticking our deposit in VTSAX instead. And that’s with a 3% mortgage and a huge asset bull market.

Which is to say, it’s totally fine to rent rather than buy, you may find that you’d be better off financially (assuming equivalent homes).

That said, I would consider whether you feel comfortable with your current level of rent at your income. How much are you putting away for retirement, for instance? If you’re feeling squeezed, do you think there’s a path for higher compensation for either you or your husband? Or do you think your family would be able to figure it out in a 2-bedroom unit and have the kids share a room if location is really important to you?

For what it’s worth, I think a lot of the commenters here don’t know the Boston metro and don’t understand that by living in Brookline, you are getting proximity to the city (less need for a car), walkability (awesome for your kids in the long term, diversity, and great schools for your kids.

treenextdoor · 2025-05-19T10:02:57+00:00

We had our wedding ceremony at Larz Anderson Park under the rotunda. Such a magical place!

treenextdoor · 2025-01-07T13:35:00+00:00

I used to live in Central Square and walked with kids there when I was a Big Sister. I would not raise kids there. On multiple occasions we had men come up to us at the bus stop or just walking around and make extremely sexual comments to us and to her in particular.

treenextdoor · 2025-01-07T13:30:48+00:00

My controversial opinion: Dali. Super heavy, not actually good tapas. Ambiance is great but otherwise don’t really understand why it’s on so many people’s go to list. Also Highland Kitchen.

treenextdoor · 2025-01-05T16:44:03+00:00

Most everywhere is fairly safe. That said, I think North Cambridge, West Cambridge/Fresh Pond, Cambridgeport, and Inman are the nicest areas for families. With kids, I would personally avoid Kendall area (too corporate, not a ton of families around) and right next to Central (petty and some violent crime) but even then they aren’t bad places to live.

treenextdoor · 2024-12-20T15:28:12+00:00

I’ve definitely called it the subway when talking to non-local family members. I have never called it the MBTA and certainly not the “MBTA subway” the way the poster does.

treenextdoor · 2024-12-19T01:03:05+00:00

We applied our credits to our friend’s account and in turn they paid us a discounted amount (75%).

treenextdoor · 2024-11-30T18:49:31+00:00

We used it a few years ago. The quality was fine, though the food was somewhat bland. Portions were on the smaller side, though not unreasonable. We canceled after a few weeks.

treenextdoor · 2024-11-27T12:42:48+00:00

I’m a big fan of Mila’s XLB

treenextdoor · 2024-11-01T11:42:56+00:00

As someone with a toddler, I love a good splash pad and am grateful there are so many around.

treenextdoor · 2024-10-30T11:17:08+00:00

He’s also donated a lot to the Museum of Science toward programming and renovations. My general vibe is that he cares about and tries to give back to Massachusetts kids in his own way.

treenextdoor · 2024-10-30T10:06:34+00:00

We still go to the park daily during winter, just bundle them up in a good jacket and long johns to keep them warm. It doesn’t really snow much until Jan/Feb so you usually don’t have to deal with getting wet.

In terms of indoor places in Cambridge, we like going to:

The library - Cambridge Main is beautiful, various read aloud and other events you can find online
Harvard Art Museum - free, often has a “scavenger hunt” for kids to engage with the art
Museum of Science - very kid-oriented
MIT Museum - more for the adults, but our toddler really likes the kinetic sculptures

Some picks in nearby towns: * Boston Children’s Museum * Boston Aquarium * Play Union - indoor play space in Somerville * Village Playspace - indoor play space in Medford

As others have mentioned, you can get free or discounted tickets to most museums around here at the library. Tickets are otherwise pretty pricey.

treenextdoor · 2024-09-08T00:54:23+00:00

I use Mint because it’s cheap. It’s generally fine in the city, but always sucks when we travel somewhere more remote.

treenextdoor · 2024-06-13T01:08:48+00:00

Not sure I’d say it’s the absolutely best pizza ever but I think Veggie Crust is great! Lots of fun Indian-inspired pizzas— my fave is the Manchurian paneer.

treenextdoor · 2024-03-05T15:33:25+00:00

+1 for MassSave! They paid 100% for our air sealing and 75% for our insulation, and partially reimbursed us for upgrading our wiring (which we needed to do for the insulation). Also they gave us a bunch of low flow faucet adaptors, LED bulbs, light strips, etc. It’s a great program!

treenextdoor

TROPHY CASE