Pay down a mortgage with a home-equity loan - 2004-02-18
Thanks to a handful of smart readers, I recently sliced my mortgage rate in half, and all it cost was $90.38.

Intrigued? The whole thing started in early December, when I mentioned in a column that I was making big extra-principal payments in an effort to pay off my fixed-rate mortgage, which carried a steep 7.125 percent interest rate.
Read the full story at San Francisco Chronicle

Move up and out - but stay put - 2004-02-18
Remember the Big Pool Idea when anyone with a huge garden paced the lawn, checked out the shrubbery and drew little sketches on the kitchen-table as they looked to put theory into practice.

More important - it also makes the house harder to sell. Surrey mortgage broker Nigel Temple says: "The pleasures of dipping in and out of a heated outdoor pool are obvious, but the investment value dips in the wrong direction."
Read the full story at Independent