The winter months mean cold weather for all. I am not a huge fan of this time of year myself. Shoveling snow, scraping windows and turning up the thermostat so you don’t freeze your butt off are all signals of winter. Every time you turn up the temperature your wallet gets a little lighter. This guide will shine some light on how you can save money on your energy bills this winter.

Cold Drafts. Every home and apartment has little cracks and crevices that let air in. These airways are called drafts. Drafts can waste up to 30% of your home’s energy! That’s a lot of dollar bills being wasted. Luckily, there are some easy and inexpensive ways to stop cold air drafts from driving up your bills. For cracks between a door and the frame, use a rolled up towel or sock filled with sand to lie at the foot of the door. This will block cold air from getting inside. If you have very old windows, you may want to consider caulking around the frame to ensure no cold air gets in.

Set your fan in reverse. Fans normally spin counter clockwise. By reversing your ceiling fans to clockwise it pushes heated air downward helping to warm your room.

Wear more clothes. This is as simple as it sounds. By wearing more layers you can stay a few degrees warmer so your thermostat doesn’t have to.

By following these three simple methods you will stay warm in the winter without having to empty your pocket. Each winter there are over half a million fires in America due to heating related causes. In total, these fires cost over $3 billion in property losses. Protect yourself and your financial well being with a renters insurance policy. Get free renters insurance quotes to see how inexpensive it is to insure your property.

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About Matt Shealy: Matt is a frugal living advocate who dabbles in the real estate/rental space. You will find him writing on leading finance sites focused on providing everyday people with tips to live within their means.

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Despite Iowa’s general reputation as a very rural state with a surplus of farming land, many who have lived there will tell you that it actually has very nice urban residential areas. If you haven’t been to Iowa before, you probably just imagine its as one big expansive cornfield, but there are actually multiple cities in which you can live with a true taste of an urban, or at least somewhat urban lifestyle. Let’s take a look at Iowa’s largest city and home to the state capital, Des Moines.

Of course, Des Moines shouldn’t be compared to New York City or Los Angeles. Living here, you will not find a vast skyline full of skyscrapers, or an endless web of taxis. However, Des Moines does offer numerous high-rises and low-rises in the downtown Des Moines core. Des Moines offers some of the more charming aspects of an urban downtown area, with plenty of nice condos, walking distance neighborhoods, and an appealing selection of restaurants. Of course, if you are considering moving to Des Moines, you will also have to consider other, less appealing aspects of an urban downtown life, one of which is generally higher crime rates that one would fine in an urban area. Along with this concern, you may want to consider looking into an ADT Security system for the protection of your downtown home.

While there is no reason to be frightened or overly cautious, here is a statistic that should help you to take crime seriously in a downtown area: according to cityrating.com, as of 2009, “the violent crime rate in Des Moines was higher than the violent crime rate in Iowa by 94.22%.” Keep in mind this stat compares the largest city in Iowa to a mostly rural state, so of course there is more crime in a larger metro area than a small rural town. The fact is, while many urban areas offer certain charms, it is also very important to be more careful about safety when you live in an urban area.

An advanced home security system such as those offered by companies like ADT can help you to all but eliminate the concerns of crimes against your home and your family. Of course, you will still need to be careful when you are out and about; however, your home should be about as secure as possible. Whether you simply wish to install a basic home alarm system, or whether you want the works (motion detectors, security cameras, laser trip wires, etc.), a professional security company should be able to help. In the end, despite the many perks of city living, the most important part of any domestic situation is the safety of the people involved… there is no sense in overlooking products that can improve your security.

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Tags: Photography | Sculpture

Hotel Update: Construction on floors 4 through 8 are progressing well and it appears that the hotel is scheduled to open this winter.  The current unoccupied floors of the Liberty Building, floors four through eight, would become the new home to Hyatt Place Hotel. This would create the first condotel in Iowa where a building is part hotel-part condominiums. Personally, having lived in Florida, condotels were quite common and always some of the most desirable places to live. The residents were extremely happy with the news.

With just under 100 new hotel rooms for the downtown market, this would be Hyatt’s first entrance into the downtown Des Moines market and a first for Hyatt Place in Iowa. The hotel would feature a separate entrance than the current resident’s entrance, a first floor lobby, with small bar and food area. Condo residents would enjoy most of the amenities a hotel brings such as morning newspaper delivery, 24-hour concierge service and even a brand new swimming pool in the basement of the building.

Nelson Development would remain the owner of the building and hotel. Nelson currently owns other hotels, residential and commercial buildings both here in Iowa and other cities in the mid-west.

Here are some pictures of what a typical Hyatt Place looks like.

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Tags: Hotels | Liberty Condos

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine has named Des Moines among its top 10 cities. Here are some quotes from the article:

The city is working to lure back young Iowans and attracting global talent by developing its downtown and promoting the jobs available in the many industries that flourish there. Other big draws: low-cost housing, plus the city’s long-touted reputation for family-friendliness and a “19-minute commute.”

Full text of the article can be found here: http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/best-cities-2010-des-moines-iowa.html

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Tags: Recognition

Thousands of Dollars Could Slip Through Your Fingers!
The heat is on for those who are out shopping for homes right now – as the Homebuyers Tax Credit is about to come to an end. Last November, the government expanded and extended the new Homebuyers Tax Credit. According to the program, first-time homebuyers are eligible for a tax credit of up to 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum credit of $8,000. And current homeowners are eligible for up to $6,500.

Although military personnel may qualify for a special extension, the vast majority of homeowners must have contracts in effect no later than April 30, 2010 and must close no later than June 30, 2010 to qualify for the credit. This means that homebuyers now have less than one week to get their paperwork going to qualify for this credit, before it goes away!

Here are some important details about this tax credit.
Dollar-for-Dollar Benefit: The benefit of a tax credit is that it’s a dollar-for-dollar benefit, rather than a “tax deduction” or reduction in tax liability that would only reduce $1,000 to $1,500 when all was said and done. So, if a first-time homebuyer who qualified for the entire benefit were to owe $8,000 in income taxes and would qualify for a tax credit of $8,000, she would owe nothing.
Even Better… It’s Refundable!
Remember, because it’s a tax credit, it’s refundable! That means a homebuyer can receive a check for the credit if he or she has little or no income tax liability. For example, if a first-time homebuyer is eligible for a tax credit of $8,000 but is liable for $4,000 in income tax, she can still receive a check for the remaining $4,000!
What are the Income Caps?
Single tax filers with incomes up to $125,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, single filers with incomes of $145,000 and above are ineligible. Joint filers with incomes up to $225,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, joint filers with incomes of $245,000 and above are ineligible.
What’s the Maximum Purchase Price?
Qualifying buyers may purchase a property with a maximum sales price of $800,000

(Taken from “Weekly Mortgage Market Update….Tyler Osby Team)

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These were done by volunteers earlier today on Court Avenue.

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Tags: Art

For 12 years, Forbes has been ranking the Best Places for Business and Careers and, at the top of this year’s list, was Des Moines , Iowa . “ Des Moines favorable regulatory environment and well-educated workforce makes it an attractive destination for high-value-added, well-paying industries,” stated Sunayana Mehra, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com.

With a metro area comprised of 562,000 people, Des Moines business and living costs are more than 10% below the national average. In addition, 33 percent of adults are college educated, while 92 percent possess high school diplomas. The economic and housing outlook for Des Moines also looks bright. Employment rates are expected to increase 2.7 percent over the next three years and household incomes are projected to rise 2.9 percent.

Forbes gathered a variety of statistical data from over 200 cities, ranking them based on items such as business and living costs, past and projected job growth, educational attainment, projected economic growth and quality of life. For more information, please read the complete article published on Wednesday, April 14, 2010.

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Tags: Recognition

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Tags: Architecture

Editor’s Note: This was originally ran as an April Fools Joke, but what a great concept.

Des Moines is becoming the Art Capital of the Mid-West! This week it was announced that a new school for the arts would be created and moved into the Ruan Center with classes starting Fall of 2011. With Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield moving into their new headquarters this summer/fall, the 2nd tallest building in the city would have had a tremendous amount of office space come open on the market. Problem solved! A newly chartered school for the arts is taking over the space.

Organizers stated that the new school, to be called, the Des Moines School of Art & Design, will be headquartered in downtown Des Moines. The Ruan Center will become the new home for up approximately 1,000 students, with campus housing for 730 of them in the Ruan Center. Previous office space will be converted to dormitories for the students and the remaining floors will become educational classes.

The school will over Bachelors of Arts and Masters of Fine Arts in photography, graphic media, paint, film/video, visual arts, architecture and design. With tuition starting at $30,000 a year for off-campus students and $42,000 a year to

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