Parrot on a PorchA Journey Toward the Little Mansion Dream

My toddler son is now at the stage when he’s constantly looking for a thing or an activity to engage himself with. He easily gets bored so when he has nothing to do, he approaches me in the middle of my work and insist that I play or join him in whatever he’s doing. This is the reason why I initiated lately to look for some art and crafty things that he can put his full concentration upon for a longer period. I think this is the perfect time to bring out the play doh set that he was gifted last Christmas. I had to set it aside momentarily because he was too young for that last year. This is also a nice activity to develop his artistic and creative mind at such an early age. I do not expect him to create museum portfolio like masterpieces but even a simple imaginary clay figure will do. Who knows this will be his stepping stone towards pottery and he’ll become expert with wheel throwing and other techniques to make artistic ceramic pots and ornaments someday.

Speaking of pottery, I think I have to scour more often the website of Amaco to learn more about this skill as well as research ideas about craft activities I can teach my son. It is not only a one stop shop of pottery making and ceramic clay supplies and tools like a ware cart and slab rollers. But also, it houses good tutorials and reads about kiddie and DIY crafts.

Owning a home is something that many people strive for. Not only does a home give you a feeling of wealth, it also provides a sense of ownership. However, most people can’t afford to pay for a home outright so they take out a home mortgage to make owning a home a reality. When you are ready to purchase a home, you will need to pay close attention to the interest rates home mortgages are currently carrying.

The first thing that you should know about interest rates on home mortgage is that they can be fixed or variable. A fixed interest rate means that the interest rate will stay the same through the life of the loan. Therefore, if you lock into a low initial interest rate, you will be set up nicely to pay much less in interest while you hold the loan. On the flip side, a variable interest rate means that your home mortgage interest rate can fluctuate while you hold the loan.

There are advocates for both types of interest rates so your situation will determine which type is the best for you. If you like knowing that your interest rate will remain the same then a fixed rate might be the best for you. However, if you are comfortable with your interest rate fluctuating and possibly going lower than your initial rate at some point during the life of the loan, then you might want to choose a variable rate.

Interest rates are basically unavoidable when taking out a home mortgage but you can keep your rate low by comparing rates from different lenders before locking into a loan. You can also minimize the amount of interest you pay by making additional payments each year to shorten the length of your mortgage.