Abberly Place Blog

Have you ever heard the expression “People hear what they want to hear?” For some reason, most people seem to immediately believe their friends and family when they are told that they should “stop throwing their money away on rent and buy a home”.

First of all, the majority of money that you pay towards a mortgage is mortgage interest (especially in the first few years of a mortgage) and all of this money goes directly to the bank (not to the principal). On most 30 year mortgage loans, it is not until year 19 or 20 that you are paying more towards the principal than to mortgage interest. I am a home owner and have yet to hear anyone tell me that I “should stop throwing all of my money away to the bank”.

Secondly, there is a lot more money “thrown away” on closing costs, maintenance costs, insurance, property taxes, landscaping, and decorating. For those that are continuing to choose to rent an apartment home at Abberly Place Garner Apartment Homes don’t be so quick to believe those well-meaning friends who tell you to stop throwing your money away. Most of you are throwing away much less money than those home owners and have a maintenance-free life!

But don’t take our word for it, do your own research. We’ll be right here with open arms. Facebookand Twitterare also great ways of connecting with us.

So let me guess… It’s been a couple of weeks now since you’ve started beekeeping and you realized that you didn’t know as much about keeping bees as you thought you did? Well the good news is that Kim Flottum, Editor of Bee Culture Magazine, and Shane Gebauer, from Brushy Mountain Bee Supply in North Carolina will help you. On Tuesday June 1st, 2010 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm there will be a free webinar entitled 6 weeks as a beekeeper…Now What?

Join Kim and Shane as they discuss what’s going on in your hives, now that you’ve had them up and running for a few weeks. This information will be real sweet, pun intended, Lol. You will learn things about your queen that you may not have known. Is your queen doing what you expect for her to do and what is best for the colony? If not, then find out what you need to do now and next.

What pests to look out for and when you shouldn’t even worry about pests. In this webinar Kim and Shane will go over things such as what varroa mites are and how to deal with them. Also, when is the perfect time of the year to start beekeeping.

It’s always good to see pictures people doing what you want to do or are currently doing. These are a few inspiring beekeeping pictures, a little more encouraging than the man covered in bee’s in this picture. Here also is the link to sign up for the free beekeeping webinar.

Many of us receive coupons in the mail to our favorite store which gives us a 15% or 20% discount on purchases in a given time period. While it may be very tempting to run right out to the store to get a “deal” on the latest style, gadget, etc., there are a few questions that you should ask yourself.

1. How much do I want this item?
2. Do I have cash to pay for the item(s) and
3. If I put this on my credit card, how much will I pay in interest to get this “deal”.

For example, a new laptop retails at XYZ store for $1250. You purchase this laptop at XYZ store using your 20% coupon and charge the purchase on your credit card. The discounted price is $1000 and you are feeling pretty wonderful about the deal on your laptop. If you just make the minimum payment on your credit card with an interest rate of 18%, you will end up paying $923.12 in interest over 113 months (9.4 years). In this example, the total to purchase this laptop was actually $1923.12 which is definitely NOT a “deal”!

Knowledge is power and it is so important that you make informed decisions when making a purchase, especially when purchasing with a credit card. Check out this online credit card interest calculator!

By Jennifer Moran

Are you looking to save some money, but still want to go out and have a good time? I found this amazing website that will help you do just that. Groupon.com offers a daily deal such as half-off tickets to the theater, discounts off restaurants and unique,cheap packages to your favorite florist, photographer, etc.

It’s simple to sign-up and completely free. All you have to do is go to the site or wait for your daily email to start saving some dough!

My favorite deal offered was a $25 gift certificate to Cameron Bar & Grill for ony $12! That’s a savings of more than 50%. I plan to use it next week with my husband. That place is great!

I love that there is no obligation to buy at Groupon.com. You can even buy multiple deals to give to friends.

Has anyone at Abberly Place used Groupon.com?

Now that Spring is here, my favorite holiday is just around the corner. Easter is in 11 days! Time for chocolate bunnies, baskets, jelly beans and more!

The Garner, NC annual Egg Hunt & Kite Fly at Lake Benson Park is this upcoming weekend. This huge community event will start  at 10:00 a.m.

There will be tons of activities for kids and an Easter Bunny for photos! Children 8 & under will be divided into three age groups (2 & under, 3-5, 6-8) to hunt for candy eggs and prizes.

The egg hunt will begin at 12 noon. Don’t forget to bring your own basket!

Are any of our residents planning to attend? Bring your camera and send us your pics. We’d love to post some of your photos to our blog!