Computers and Kids

Music and iTunes can eat up a lot of your hard drive space.

I know, this isn't our typical subject matter but I had to share my experience of this week with you.

After an orchestra concert for my daughter, I went to upload the pics and video from my camera and received an insufficient disk space message. When we purchased our PC four years ago, I thought 18 GB was way more hard drive space than we would EVER need. That was before iTunes!

After reviewing our hard drive space for files to archive and delete, I realized all those CD's and songs my daughters had saved were taking up 5 GB on my computer! I don't consider myself to be a beginner with computers but nor have I ventured inside the computer's case. Having the tech people at the store install a hard drive was reasonable ($40) but a four business day wait was too long to go without a computer so I decided to be brave and do the IT work myself.

First, let me say that I couldn't believe how inexpensive memory and hard drives are. 1 GB of memory and a 160 GB (160!!!) were each around $80 at General Nanosystems on University in Minneapolis, MUCH cheaper than the big box store prices, plus they gave me great technical advice at the store and on their phone line tech support.

It only took around 30 minutes start-to-finish to remove the computer case, install the hard drive and the memory.

Lessons learned:

- ask for mounting screws for your new hard drive

- ask for instructions to set up your new hard drive within Windows (this one caused me considerable frustration until I was able to find instructions at Seagate's website)

Now we have more-than-enough memory and hard drive space until we need to replace our PC. If I can install these, anyone can!

Treasure at the End of the Rainbow?

You can't miss the news of foreclosures, short sales and bank-owned property. But, are the good deals real? It depends.

Foreclosures are up - 24% of sub-prime mortgages are either delinquent or are in foreclosure and even prime mortgages are feeling a pinch with almost 4% past due or in foreclosure at the end of September.

Some things to look for:

1. Regardless of the type of sale (normal, auction, foreclosure, short sale, ...), do your homework! Figure out what you think the home is worth and from there, determine what your offer should be.

2. If the bank is involved (short sale or foreclosure), find out where the home is in the process - a foreclosure can easily take a year or more from start-to-finish. This will help determine how soon you could move in to your new home.

3. Set a time limit on an acceptance or written response to your offer. Don't let the bank keep you hanging for more than a 3-4 weeks.

Finally, GET AN INSPECTION!!! Always have your new home inspected as part of your offer and make sure you have the ability to back out if you don't like the inspection results.

Yes, there are deals out there, lots of them but only if you avoid the pitfalls to prevent paying too much or inheriting a liability.