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If you’re getting ready to pack up your car and drive to a travel destination this weekend, check out The Wall Street Journal’s “Some Tips to Avoid Labor Day Traffic Blues” before you depart. With road construction at a record-high level, planning ahead is key.

Wall Street Journal, “Some Tips to Avoid Labor Day Traffic Blues”

If you’re getting ready to pack up your car and drive to a travel destination this weekend, check out The Wall Street Journal’s “Some Tips to Avoid Labor Day Traffic Blues” before you depart. With road construction at a record-high level, planning ahead is key.

Wall Street Journal, “Some Tips to Avoid Labor Day Traffic Blues”

From January through June of this year, 26% of homeowners who refinanced opted for a 15-year mortgage, up from 18.5 % in 2009. The significant spike may be the result of historically low interest rates, but Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac, believes that people are  starting to think differently about debt (Amy Hoak, “Paying Off the House in 15 years,” WSJ). “For the average person, debt is a drag on their psyche as well as their overall budget,” says Cutts.

Paying off a home mortgage in 30 vs. 15  years requires more money up front but puts more equity in the pocket at the end of the loan term. If you plan on keeping your home for an extended period, you have substantial savings, and your debt-to-income ratio is less than 35%, a 15-year term may be a good option. However, borrowers who don’t meet the criteria may be better off choosing the 30-year term and paying extra payments toward principal throughout that period.

From January through June of this year, 26% of homeowners who refinanced opted for a 15-year mortgage, up from 18.5 % in 2009. The significant spike may be the result of historically low interest rates, but Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac, believes that people are  starting to think differently about debt (Amy Hoak, “Paying Off the House in 15 years,” WSJ). “For the average person, debt is a drag on their psyche as well as their overall budget,” says Cutts.

Paying off a home mortgage in 30 vs. 15  years requires more money up front but puts more equity in the pocket at the end of the loan term. If you plan on keeping your home for an extended period, you have substantial savings, and your debt-to-income ratio is less than 35%, a 15-year term may be a good option. However, borrowers who don’t meet the criteria may be better off choosing the 30-year term and paying extra payments toward principal throughout that period.

Can trash be recycled into bathroom sinks? One Santa Monica design firm has found an innovative way to transform rubbish into something very useful. Minarc is getting ready to market their green sink, created entirely out of discarded tires.

Old rubber tires are melted down and stretched thin over a desired frame. The result is a bathroom sink that looks ultra-modern.

According to Calfinder Nationwide Remodelers, the top of the rubber sink weighs less than 1 pound and is an eighth of an inch thick. The lightweight material is a terrific option for vanities that cannot hold a granite or porcelain sink.

When it’s made available to the public, the rubber sink could become the new trend of bathrooms everywhere.

Can trash be recycled into bathroom sinks? One Santa Monica design firm has found an innovative way to transform rubbish into something very useful. Minarc is getting ready to market their green sink, created entirely out of discarded tires.

Old rubber tires are melted down and stretched thin over a desired frame. The result is a bathroom sink that looks ultra-modern.

According to Calfinder Nationwide Remodelers, the top of the rubber sink weighs less than 1 pound and is an eighth of an inch thick. The lightweight material is a terrific option for vanities that cannot hold a granite or porcelain sink.

When it’s made available to the public, the rubber sink could become the new trend of bathrooms everywhere.

If You Can Not View This Video Click Here or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSprGZi8nIQ&feature=player_embedded

If You Can Not View This Video Click Here or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSprGZi8nIQ&feature=player_embedded

Technology is touted as a gift of the 21st century. NPR’s Fresh Air interview (”Digital Overload: Your Brain On Gadgets”) with Matt Richtel, Technology Reporter for The New York Times, encourages us to think about technology and information in a more balanced way.

The average person today consumes about 3 times the amount of information as somebody living in 1960. Based on his study of technology’s effect on people’s minds, Richtel suggests that the more the brain has to multitask on computers and digital gadgets, the more distractible one becomes. When you check your information (email, phone, etc), you feel a buzz or “dopamine squirt.” The net effect is that an individual becomes wired to seek that stimulation, thereby compromising his or her ability to focus.

Richtel says, “After 20 years of glorifying technology as if all computers were good and all use of it was good, science is beginning to embrace the idea that some technology is Twinkies and some technology is Brussels sprouts.”

Now that’s food for thought. Listen to the interview in its entirety at npr.org.