Hello all, this will be an introductory post for my blog here which I am very excited to get started! Think of it as sort of an icebreaker into the blog world for me LOL! Well any way if you already checked out my about me page you know a thing or two about me and if not hello, My name is Bill. I started my career in IT support about 5 years ago when I graduated Stevens University with my IT degree (Go Ducks!). I have been fortunate enough to be living in a home fully paid off for inherited through my dear uncle who was extremely close to me growing up. Live here with my girlfriend of 3 years and our fur-baby (retriever husky mix).

Now living in a fully paid off house at my age is an absolute dream, don't get me wrong but there are a lot of things that come along with it that will surprise you if your not prepared. Even without a mortgage, there are still property taxes, HOA fees, and endless DIY repairs that pop up when you least expect them. But where I was fighting on unfamiliar territory was when it came to having to hire a laborer to do jobs that were out of my ability.

Take the plumber, for example. I noticed a slow drip coming from the water heater and panicked, thinking the whole thing was on its last leg. When I called a plumber, he showed up, glanced at it for maybe five minutes, and told me the entire heater needed to be replaced ASAP with the cost being well over $5,000. Keep in mind, average price for a water heater here in Jersey is a little over $3,000. Despite my frantic state I was sober minded enough to get a second opinion from another plumber. This time I used a technique to find him ( more on that in a later blog 😉 ) and after he took some time to inspect it he diagnosed that the problem was just a faulty pressure relief valve, and swapped it out on the spot for less than $100.

That was an example of blatant price gouging, now something to note before we move on there is a difference between price gouging and premium work with a premium price. As you can tell I am very excited to get into the nitty gritty, but I cant spoil too much of the later content in the next blogs. Just had to make that distinction before we moved on

Then there was the basement drywall job. I wanted to turn the basement into usable space, so I started searching online and came across a handful of contractors advertising “cheap drywall finishing” on Google. I came across an ad promising “affordable basement finishing” which really caught my eye. The guy I hired came in, quoted me way less than the others, and promised he could knock it out in just a couple of days. At the time, it felt like I had found a bargain.

Sure enough, he finished the job in less than two days, collected the check, and was out the door. At first glance, the walls looked decent. But once the joint compound dried and the sunlight hit the surface, the truth came out. The seams were uneven, the mudding was sloppy, and sections of tape were even bubbling up under the surface. When I called him back, hoping he’d make it right he rambled on about how older homes tend to do that and BTW, that's bull-crap

You would think, "wow such luck" you know, stroke of bad luck for me but no, this happened a many more times. And worse, in sharing my stories with neighbors, parents, and friends alike; many such stories have popped up making this an all too common occurrence. Henceforth why this blog has been created. so join me in this journey and helping me make an impact on these people who look to undermine you, me and family members alike!