Usually, our day involves doing a lot of chores. Recycling Center. Whole Foods Market. Target. Home Depot. A couple of weeks ago I even had the honor of driving them up to Woodbury Commons, an outlet mall in Upstate New York. It was a grueling drive, during which my wife made me remember all the horrible things I’d done over the last 20 years. I tried hard to tune her out, but my son kept smacking me in the head with a plastic golf club saying “Not nice daddy.”

Well, last Sunday was shaping up to be another chore filled day. We were headed down Springfield Avenue towards Route 22 when I took a hard left into Echo Lake Park.

“Where are you going? This isn’t the way to Loehmann’s.”

“Yeah. I know. Let’s go to the park.”

She didn’t say anything, just went back to reading Perez Hilton on my Blackberry.

As I got about half way through the park, I noticed a bunch of small boats in the lake. I pulled the car over and the rest is history.

We went down to a small boat house where we rented a pedal boat for $10.

My son was thrilled. My wife was…….happy. Happy that my son said……..

“Thanks Mommy.”

What a nice break from the norm. Nothing like an hour of serenity.

I highly recommend a visit to the pedal boats in Echo Lake Park. They’re in service from April 1st to October 31. Hours are — Weekdays from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. and Weekends 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. The cost is $10 an hour.

Here’s some more info.

Not doing anything this weekend. Here’s where you can find me.

On May 12th at 11:00 PM I will definitely be chilling in my crib watching the newest installment of Bravo’s Real Housewives. This time of New Jersey.

Sure, I watch the show. Why not? I’m tired of sitting at home every evening reading Nietzsche. I need some entertainment. Something light and fluffy.

I have really high hopes for this latest incarnation of the Real Houswives. Should be very interesting. Very Interesting. Did I say very interesting?

Check this out.

Keeping it in the family, there are two sisters Dina and Caroline Manzo. There’s Jacqueline Laurita the wife of Dina and Caroline’s brother Chris and two others — Teresa Giudice and Danielle Staub.

Confused yet?

Oh, and get this. According to TVWatch, Danielle Staub claims to be one of the first female American Express Black Card holders in New Jersey, an achievement for which she is very proud.

I’m not counting on this version of The Real Housewives to make home prices in New Jersey go back up – but it should be a lot of fun.

One more thing. According to one online forum, the show has been spending a lot of time in Franklin Lakes. I wonder if that’s where the gals live. If so, here’s what’s happening with the real estate market in that area.

Don’t even think about touching that last cookie. It’s mine.

If you’re clueless about Gordon Gekko click this link.

There are a lot of great values in the current real estate market, but it’s still possible to pay too much for a home. Here are a few simple things you can do to avoid making bad decisions.

1. Focus on the numbers. When making an offer, ask your agent to show you every like kind home that has closed recently in the area near the subject property. You’ll then come up with a target price. When making your offer, start off well below your target number and adjust accordingly. Never go above your target price.

2. DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN A MULTIPLE OFFER SITUATION. You’ll get sucked into the drama of the whole thing. If you lose you’ll be pissed. If you win, you’ll feel like you paid too much — and you probably did. If you absolutely must put in an offer — never go above your target price. Stay strong.

3. If someone tells you that “A house is worth as much as you are willing to pay for it.” Walk the other way. This is the biggest line of BS that I have ever heard. There are a lot of families who are upside down right now because they let their emotions get involved in the bidding process. My feeling is that a house is worth as much as the next buyer is willing to pay.

4. Do not try to keep up with the Joneses. You can afford what you can afford. Get into the market — don’t let the market get you.

5. Think with the end in mind. Look for a property that you will be able to resell easily. If the only thing you like about a property is the price, you may want to reconsider.

*6. Special Bonus. Ignore the beautiful furniture and artwork. Focus on the bones of the house. Homes that are staged well tend to sell for more. Sometimes a lot more — so be careful.

Happy house hunting.

I guess I’ll have to wait another twenty years.

Closed for the Winter!!!!! You try telling that to my three year old son who keeps asking me for chocolate ice cream with gummy bears.

Come on, this isn’t the Jersey shore.

If you live in the Essex County area, there are lots of great places to go sledding. Here’s a photo me flying down some very treacherous terrain near Millburn, New Jersey. As you can see, I’m an awesome sledder.

Please note that the report is general in nature. Real Estate doesn’t work that way — it’s local — so please remember that it is really important to work with a professional knows the local micro markets in your area.

I hope you find this of value.

Search For a Home Now

If one person ever finds this post helpful, I’ll be happy.

So, I’ve been running around all day trying to find the correct brand of beer to give my English client who will be closing on his house tomorrow. Over the last couple of months, I’ve learned that one of his favorite pastimes is going to the pub and having a nice pint of WARM English beer.

My first stop was a very famous liquor store in Essex County. I needed some advice, and hopefully a case of warm brew. I told the so called beer expert what I wanted, but he just stared right through me.

“I drink my beer cold.”

I went to another store. Same deal. This time, however, as I was speaking with the cashier he began to grip a baseball bat that was leaning up against the cash register.

I guess they don’t get a lot of warm beer requests.

Not knowing what to do, I went out to my car pulled out my Blackberry. Shot off a little email to my client. A white lie. I told him that a friend of mine was coming into town from the UK and I wanted to buy him some excellent English beer to be served warm.

Minutes later I received this response.

“That would depend on which part of the UK they are from (Scottish, Welsh, English etc) but you can’t go wrong with some Spitfire, Speckled Hen, London Pride, or anything from Greene King. Just remember not to serve it cold like the colonials do.”

“Colonials”. I like that.

So I bought him a case of London Pride. Simple as that. I’m sure he’ll enjoy sipping the warm Ale in front of the fireplace in his new home.

Like many Americans, my wife and I have been looking for ways to save a few dollars during this scary chapter in our nation’s history. Neither of us are very frugal, but I’ve been told it only takes twenty one days to create a habit. Why not give it a try.

The first thing we did was look at our fixed expenses. Our monthly utilities and whatnot. Within minutes we were able to bring down our High Speed Internet bill and scale back on some unneeded Auto Insurance. In addition, both of us agreed to keep an eye on the thermostat. No need to keep the temperature in the house at 75 degrees when we’re not there.

Well, what about our dogs? Won’t they get cold?

Next we busted out the MasterCard bill. Not fun. This usually goes right into the shredder. Today, however, it was center stage on our dining room table. As I went down the long three page list, I put black dots next every item that could have been avoided. This was a serious wake up call. Nearly 75% of our expenses were needless or could be seriously scaled back. The number one culprit – EATING OUT. $800. Need I say more?

Now, with an agreement in place that we would only eat out once a week – we moved on to groceries. This is our toughest subject – and largest expense. Both of us agreed that we would continue to purchase only organic or range free meats coupled with organic or locally grown fruits and veggies. This was non negotiable. Everything else – fair game.

So how could we save money on groceries????

Use coupons?

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease. Not Moi. I’d rather do an open house on a vacant lot.

The next day, while yapping it up in the office (I can be a real yenta sometimes), I struck up a conversation with a coworker. Wearing a deep smile on my face, I told her of my metamorphosis from an extreme money waster into an incredibly cheap bastard. Well, maybe bastard is a little strong. Perhaps “financially prudent individual” works better. As she pounded on her keyboard politely pretending to listen to me, I explained to her that our only unresolved issue was groceries. I needed a real strategy to bring down the price of our groceries.

“Coupons.”

“Here we go again.”

“No really. I save so much money using coupons.”

She then began telling me of how she was saving nearly fifty percent off of her grocery tab by clipping coupons.

“No way!”

In fact, on a recent visit to the supermarket, at the checkout stand, she pulled out a massive pile of coupons. Seeing this, the overly hair dyed woman standing behind her let out a huge sigh. How dare she make her late for Saturday Botox. But when the price adjusted from $175 to $83.50, the woman let out another sigh, paid $30 for her overpriced tap water and eagerly followed her out the door.

“How did you do that?”

“Coupons.”

Ok. That peaked my interest. She was saving some serious duckets. Serious Cash. I needed to find out how she did this. Not only that — I needed to pass along her amazing strategy to all of my loyal readers.

It wasn’t easy, but after groveling at her desk for a half hour, this is what she sent me today. I’m posting it “As Is” — so enjoy.

My Best Coupon Tips — I save between $50 – $100 every week using coupons paired with store sales & using my store club card.

I clip & save coupons. Most are good for several months, some never expire. I keep a pocketed coupon organizer, organized by product type or grocery store section (personal care, pet foods, baby products, refrigerated…etc). I check for expired coupons once a month. Every Sunday I clip coupons while having my morning coffee and peruse the store flyers to plan my purchases. If ketchup is on sale for $1.00 and you have a .50 cent coupon for it, it will get doubled, and voila – Free Ketchup.