I liked this story: when to repay your mortgage from writer Terri Cullen, who goes through the nuts and bolts of her family's plan to pay off their mortgage early in order to finance her young son's college education.
She does a great job of walking the reader through an important financial and personal situation, with real numbers and heart.
Gerry and I will be that much closer to paying off our 20-year fixed-rate mortgage, a process we're hastening by making additional principal payments of $195 a month. (Why the odd figure? I'll get to that later; the short story is that it is part of $395 a month in spare cash we debated over where to invest. ) Our goal is to have the loan paid off before our seven-year-old son Gerald enters college in 2017, leaving us with income available to meet any potential shortfall in our college savings. --WSJ
Want hot custom-made clothes for less? Go to Asia! That's the word from this piece called "Jetrosexual" about tailor-made bargains in China and Hong Kong. It's a cute piece and a fun read.
Business travelers have long frequented tailors in Hong Kong for conservative attire like suits and French-cuff shirts. But as a new crowd of young jet-setters flocks to Asia's growing tourism hubs, like Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City, they're discovering their own tailoring bargains. Carrying pictures ripped from fashion magazines and originals bought at home, they're requesting customized knockoffs of everything from Marc Jacobs cords to "Project Runway" dresses -- and treating Asia's tailor shops as a personalized version of H&M, the Swedish discount chain that has made high-fashion designs accessible to the masses. -WSJ
I also enjoyed the weekly Tastings column. This week, the libations menu includes finding (relatively) affordable, mixed cases of wine. Great info with links to online wine vendors.
______________
The Frugal Duchess Boutique
_____________
