Sounds to me that he is only looking out for his wallet and cares nothing about yours.

A smidge of gardening at the transition to winter; a call to a repair company for a refrigerator leak; and a trip to the hardware store for furnace filters.I listen to real estate and financial podcasts, instead of listening to music.

We salvaged the upper solid wood cabinets, cleaned them up, painted and changed out the hardware.

Every once in a while, this helps me find a receipt I forgot to key in, which is usually either lurking in my wallet or still in the bag from the store.Something to ask your accountant or tax person about: when you get cash back on the credit card for a business purchase, do you need to credit that cash back to your business? 

Now, if the cabinets are decent, I paint them white, put new hardware on them and put new laminate countertops that look modern. 

Laminate floors downstairs instead of carpet, new paint scheme, updated door and cabinet hardware, replaced several kitchen counters with formica tops from HD. 

If it were any other year, I would have spent a little money on some things to bling it up a little (hardware, kitchen/bath flooring, etc.).

One other quick way to update the look of a room is change out the hardware on cabinets.

And I could always change the sign to be slightly political in nature like "Vote with your wallet, sell me your house, etc." and play the 1st amendment card.

I have installed and reworked the installation of water heaters before.I don't know, but I am told that the typical 6, 9, and 12 year models at the hardware store either 1) don't differ mechanically at all- they're just building an extended warranty into the price or 2) differ only in the anode rod, which keeps the tank from corroding - the longer-warranty models have a thicker or longer anode rod.If you never ran out of hot water with the one that's there now, then get one the same gallon size.