I'm not an attorney, but my husband is, and I used to work as a paralegal years ago... Since clchang lives in California, I'll paste in Section 1954 of the California Civil Code: (a) A landlord may enter the dwelling unit only in the following cases: (1) In case of emergency. (2) To make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors or to make an inspection pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 1950.5. (3) When the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises. (4) Pursuant to court order. (b) Except in cases of emergency or when the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises, entry may not be made during other than normal business hours unless the tenant consents to an entry during other than normal business hours at the time of entry. (c) The landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant. (d) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (e), or as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), the landlord shall give the tenant reasonable notice in writing of his or her intent to enter and enter only during normal business hours. The notice shall include the date, approximate time, and purpose of the entry. The notice may be personally delivered to the tenant, left with someone of a suitable age and discretion at the premises, or, left on, near, or under the usual entry door of the premises in a manner in which a reasonable person would discover the notice. Twenty-four hours shall be presumed to be reasonable notice in absence of evidence to the contrary. The notice may be mailed to the tenant. Mailing of the notice at least six days prior to an intended entry is presumed reasonable notice in the absence of evidence to the contrary. (2) If the purpose of the entry is to exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, the notice may be given orally, in person or by telephone, if the landlord or his or her agent has notified the tenant in writing within 120 days of the oral notice that the property is for sale and that the landlord or agent may contact the tenant orally for the purpose described above. Twenty-four hours is presumed reasonable notice in the absence of evidence to the contrary. The notice shall include the date, approximate time, and purpose of the entry. At the time of entry, the landlord or agent shall leave written evidence of the entry inside the unit. (3) The tenant and the landlord may agree orally to an entry to make agreed repairs or supply agreed services. The agreement shall include the date and approximate time of the entry, which shall be within one week of the agreement. In this case, the landlord is not required to provide the tenant a written notice. (e) No notice of entry is required under this section: (1) To respond to an emergency. (2) If the tenant is present and consents to the entry at the time of entry. (3) After the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit. The above language refers to Civil Code Section 1950.5(f), which is regarding the landlord's right to enter the premises for purposes of inspection after the tenant has given notice that they will be vacating. The last thing you want to do as a tenant -- that is, if you like where you live and you don't want to have to find another place and move -- is to tick off your landlord. So, don't be making threats. You could let your landlord know that you're concerned that perhaps a former tenant still has a key, so you have installed a hidden security camera to capture anyone entering the apartment. If the landlord just thinks you have one, that may be enough to keep him/her out. If the landlord says, "oh, that's not possible because we change the locks between tenants," you could respond with, "well, I know it's not you coming into my place, because I know you wouldn't violate California Civil Code Section 1954, so I'm really concerned about this. And I've already gotten the camera hooked up." The string/paper,whatever in the doorjam works really well, too (been there, done that). You could also print out the language of California Civil Code Section 1954, and tape it to the inside of your front door. The landlord would have to see it on the way out if he/she is, indeed, entering when you're not there. That will certainly let the person know that you are aware of your rights...

Oh, there are lots of resources on the Internet if you care to search for them. And what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. That said, however, there are a few rules that seem to work for everyone: - Pay yourself first. If you want to save money, take it out of your paycheck first. Many financial institutions will transfer funds periodically into a savings account. Do it. It will be a lot harder to spend money you don't have in your savings account. And if you have to budget around that payment first, it will be easier to make it a habit. - Get into the habit of paying for things as you buy them, not paying for them on credit, even if you know you have the money. Or translate a purchase into work effort: if you're making $10/hr, buying that new CD will cost you about two hours of work effort (actually more than that if you are grossing$10/hr, not netting $10/hr. Is it worth two hours of labor for that CD? You can decide. Knowing the true cost of things is a good way to decide if you want to complicate your life with them. - Pay your bills on time. If you can take advantage of electronic bill-paying services (without them charging you a bundle), use them. That way you don't have to worry about when to send the payment and if you have stamps, etc. What I do is put all my (non-electronic) bills in one place and go through that pile every Sunday night. I pay the bills that are due in the next 7-10 days and that's how I keep up with them. That can work for you if you get into the habit of checking at a set time every week. - If money is really tight, think about a roommate (one that doesn't necessarily share your bed). While that person can increase utility costs some, there aren't that many of them in most apartments, and cutting your rent in half has got to be an appealing idea. Good luck!

Well, DD just got off work and she OK'd the bronze bin pulls above, so I've just ordered them. And, she wants the aqua runner instead of the coral, so I've ordered that, too. We can decide next on antiquing or adding Rub-N-Buff to the paint. She won't let me make that decision on my own, which is ok.

Hi, In either case you've got a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. You'll need at least a concept plan to get a reasonably accurate estimate of construction costs. You'll need to invest some amount of money to develop the plans--whether by an independent architect or design/build firm. The good news is that you don't need a fully detailed, fully-engineered "biddable" set of plans for that. Absent a set of concept plans, you could use cost data published in Remodeling Magazine's Cost-Vs. Value Report to infer the likely cost for your project http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2017/ In our market we've found the cost data to be pretty good for budget purposes. If you go the architect-first route, get your remodeler on board as soon as possible so the design can be informed by real-world cost information. Architects don't typically build stuff, don't write checks for materials and labor, and don't get a heads-up from suppliers about pending price increases. The cost information they'll have is for completed projects. With dimensional lumber prices up as much as 30% in the last year, using even 12 month old cost data is like driving by looking in the rear view mirror. Best wishes for a successful project.