Construction and Conundrums

Dear Friends,

If you have kids in school, I hope the return has been a smooth one. Our kids are getting settled in with the bus schedule, new teachers, soccer for both and band for Elle. I recently read about an online school called Astra Nova that makes their curriculum open to the public.

The school was set up by a guy who’s only guidance to the faculty was “make it great.” Part of their curriculum is called “conundrums” which we ran into during our (ongoing) office remodel.

This spring I met with a designer to pick out paint, carpet, and tile. The carpet installer she referred gave us a reasonable bid and he came out to remove the existing carpet and would be back to install the new stuff once the painting was done.

Measure twice, cut once! (But don’t forget to order)

Fast forward a few weeks and the painters were done. I was out of town the Monday morning he was to start on the carpet install. Around noon I got a text that said, “the pad is in, where do I pick up the carpet from”? To which I replied, “Wherever you ordered it from.”

He thought the designer placed the order and his bid was only for the removal labor and the installation plus the cost of the pad but not the carpet. Hence, a month delay!

The Conundrum: Who’s responsible for the delay?

A: The designer for not letting me know that it was customary for them to place the order.

B: The installer for not clarifying his bid didn’t include the carpet.

C: My fault for not knowing the installer assumed the designer had placed the order.

Text or email me what your thoughts are and check out the other conundrums online here.

Vanessa: “Are you saying I spend too much money?”

Thornton: “Nah. A lot of people go to Switzerland to get their watch fixed.”

Next month, student loan debts that have been in forbearance will need to start being repaid. There’s currently about 1.7 trillion in student loan debt and the average payment will be $350! That’s on top of the trillion dollars in credit card debt (most of which is in the 20-28% range).

Fortunately, we have a couple of great programs available for our clients that can either pay off student loans using their home equity or consolidate their credit cards and auto loans. We just helped save someone this month save over a $1,000 a month with a consolidation loan.

If you or someone you know has accumulated some credit card debt or has a big student loan payment starting next month, give us a call and see if we can help save you some money!