Today’s Home Spun Wisdom

Consumer Credit Jumps by $19.3 Billion in December

(MCT)—For better and for worse, consumers are starting to take on more debt—much more, surprisingly. The Federal Reserve reported Tuesday that consumer credit outstanding surged in December at a 9.3 percent annual rate, thanks mostly to strong car sales and growing demand for student loans.

Do Your Part: Don’t Waste Those Food Scraps

(MCT)—I consider myself a pretty good gardener, a common sense “greenie,” and a person who does her best to reduce, reuse, and recycle. But, there’s something I must admit. For years now, I’ve resisted composting. It just seemed a bit too difficult and bit too time-consuming. That’s all changed.

2012′s Top 10 Romantic Homes

No matter where you go, you can’t miss it. Stores are starting to fill with bright red heart-shaped boxes of candy and greeting card shelves are bursting with Valentine cards. Gals are starting to get dreamy in anticipation over the prospect of receiving great outpourings of love

Q&A: Credit Aside, Abandoning Home Has Consequences

(MCT)—QUESTION: I have been relocated, and my property is underwater. My credit is not important to me, so I am thinking about just walking away from my house as opposed to taking the trouble of doing a short sale.

Tales from the Field: A Homeowner Who Fought Foreclosure and Won

(MCT)—Foreclosure commonly represents the end of a struggle. A borrower can’t pay a mortgage, loses a home and moves on. But Karen Mena, a 38-year-old county worker, never gave up. Mena fought even after her San Bernardino, Calif., home was no longer hers. And she won the three-bedroom house back—at least for now.

Divorce Can Ensnare Home Sales

(MCT)—Months after they agreed to split up, Jaimie and Michael Bolnick continued to live together as they tried to sell their house in Oakland, N.J. “It was really hard,” Jaimie Bolnick recalled. “You’re living in the house and trying to stay out of each other’s way. Mealtimes were awkward—are you sitting together as a family?”

How to Apologize

(MCT)—Apologizing isn’t so much an art as a sport. When approached as a skill to build, governed by a few simple rules, the apology almost always achieves its goal—despite any fumbles during delivery. When it’s over, everyone wins.

The Many Faces of Business Casual

(MCT)—Good news for facial-hair enthusiasts. After six decades of flagrant beardscrimination, Walt Disney Co. has lifted its ban on employee goatees and other face fuzz.

Do Your Part: Top 7 Ways to be Less Trashy

(MCT)—Who really wants to contribute to our growing landfills? There are things we toss away everyday that make up the bulk of our trash and they don’t even belong in our garbage bins. Here are my Top 7 ways to be less trashy so you can get started today.

Hot Property: Quick Purchase for New Clipper

(MCT)—L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too. The All-Star bought and closed on the Bel-Air home of singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne for $8.495 million just a month after coming to Los Angeles.

Integrative Medicine: Vitamin D Can Help Turn Health Around

(MCT)—The winter season is upon us, with a lack of daylight hours, cloudy days and temperamental weather. And so we pack on the winter pounds, get the winter blues, and go into relative metabolic hibernation until spring arrives. But what if we could circumvent some of this seasonal downturn in our health?

PODS Moving and Storage Helps Put Finishing Touches on ‘Up’ House

When Clint Hamblin heard that the famous house in Utah, a replica of the home in the movie ‘Up,’ was for sale, he knew he and his wife had to buy it. Now, the California couple is nestling into their movie themed dream home after enlisting the help of a leader in the moving and storage category, PODS.

An Eye for Modern Living

(MCT)—Megan Schoenbachler is distracted. While giving a tour of her family’s Marmol Radziner-designed house in Venice, Calif., she notices the light and the angle from the second-floor master bathroom, looking over the courtyard hot tub and toward the kitchen on the first floor.

Requesting A Raise? 5 Tips to Remember

(MCT)—Asking for a raise in a weak economy may seem like a long shot. Or maybe even job suicide. But experts say that if you’re valued by your employer and carefully present your request, a pay increase is sometimes possible. Some tips:

Hot Property: Melanie Brown Lists Tarzana Home

(MCT)—Singer Melanie Brown —Scary Spice from her days with the Spice Girls —and her husband, producer Stephen Belafonte, have put their Tarzana, Calif., compound on the market at $3.45 million.

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