Almost two years ago, I wrote about  Co-Abode. This morning I decided to check in with their site and see how they were doing.
The success stories are so heartening! Women are writing to say they feel they are better mothers because they are less stressed. The single mother roommates help each other out, picking up each other’s kids, making meals…
Co-Abode is a database and support group for single mothers. If you’re looking for a roommate, why not start here? Match up with a sympathetic single mom and suddenly your kid has a built-in friend, you have a partner through your …read more

I’m not feeling the love, here. I have a friend who I suspect is pretty homeless, spending his days in the library and who knows where at night. Ran into another friend at the grocery store — he’s a talented musician, a gifted yoga instructor, and a really great guy… but he can’t make ends meet. So if you need a dog walker or pet sitter, he’s your man. I’m going to have to start selling everything I make at the pottery studio to even come close to making ends meet until the ex can do right by his son, …read more

Seems my kid manages to get sick whenever there’s a big event coming up. He was sick right before his birthday this year, and caught the chickenpox one year right before we were scheduled for an overseas trip. This week, he’s sick again, only the big event is mine. My office is holding its big awards ceremony this week, and I’m trying desperately not to catch it. Don’t have time for his his germs.
I’m going to bed now.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about getting a credit card to build up some positive credit.

You’ve got your three credit reports, and now you have to figure out what all the stuff is. I’m going to focus on negative reports first. You need to examine each potentially negative item on your credit report, and identify what the issue is, and then decide how to deal with it.
For example, I had a lien against me for when our son was born. My ex had sworn he had taken care of all the hospital bills related to that, and I believed him (first mistake). Because he was working and I was a stay-at-home mother, I trusted him …read more

There are three major credit reports in the US: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. You are entitled to a free copy of each of the reports every 12 months. Annual Credit Report’s website will help you easily secure all three companies’ reports.
What’s the difference? Why do you need all of them? Apparently, all three gather the same kinds of information, but each has a different reach in different parts of the country, and so will have a slight edge in certain geographic areas over the other two. Additionally, each calculates credit ratings differently.  (MyCreditScoreReview has some useful info and answers some …read more

If you’re dreaming of getting away from it all, here’s a raffle that might help you get away in style. Far, far away.

$100 gives you a shot at two Pearl Business class tickets on Etihad Airlines from New York to anywhere they fly. You’ll be responsible for the taxes, but still. I was reading about the Pearl Business class and let me tell you…  sounds like heaven. Worth just flying somewhere, turning around, and flying back.
With noise-cancelling headphones, I hope, so I can’t hear the King of Everything talk from New York to Australia.  *smile*

I’m freezing. I’m going to have to pack up my stuff and go to the coffee shop, because I can’t afford to turn the heat up in this basement apartment, and it’s probably 55 degrees in here. My nose is cold, I have two big sweaters on, a blanket over my knees, and I’m a Momcicle.
Welcome to the secret lives of the middle class. We’re not rich enough to escape the recession, we’re not poor enough to qualify for help to survive it. We just have to suck it up and try to make it through, or make it to …read more

There’s an area of my apartment that has been a sort of dead zone, and I’ve been pondering what to do about that. Craigslist and eBay, to the rescue!
Currently occupied by a hand-me-down round antique table covered by photographs, a Persian rug, an Ikea Tullsta chair and a beautiful but magic-markered slipper chair, the bay in the front of my living room just isn’t a very inviting space.
The slipper chair is a funny story.
 

I live in an English basement condo, which is fancy talk for ‘basement apartment with lots of windows and a patio’. In the summertime, it was great. I think I turned on the A/C for three days this past summer, mostly because of the humidity. What worries me is that, on those few days I did turn on the A/C, my electric bill shot up.
My nose is cold. And I’m inside. There’s a draft on my neck from my windows that gives me a headache in the morning. I’m whining.
This does not bode well for the winter. If my house …read more

While the writers of the b5media Lifestyles Channel may be scattered about globally, one thing we all have in common is a celebration of fireworks.  Whether it’s the U.S. and our Fourth of July – or a very different kind of holiday in Perth – we all know the unique smell that penetrates the air and the sense of freedom the mere sound of them instill.  There is truly something so divine about a celebration of fireworks – they do create some of the most treasured memories.
Chloe of Tangled Thread shares a few festive fireworks and needlework …read more