I'm prepared to quit my job if a pandemic hits. I'm in an occupation where I have a high risk of catching things from my clients. Bugs tend to hit me hard. I have an 18 month emergency fund and I'm prepared to use it rather than working through a pandemic.
Your battle is an interesting example of something I've recently been blogging about myself. It sounds like you've been battling a mild case of hyperopia - which literally means - excessive farsightedness. For some, this means you're worrying about your savings and your future, while not really living in the present. Being frugal for these people is more like justifying not buying that new mattress while you sleep on an uncomfortable one every night, just because you can save some money.
For you, you need that new PC, and possibly you've been pining for it for awhile. The way to get rid of the 'guilt' associated with it is to ask yourself - am I doing this for the right reasons, that is, necessity or a simple desire to have the latest and greatest?
Take action to remedy regret! I've talked about this a lot more on my own site as I really find it fascinating.
with a debit card you are at the mercy of the bank as to whether or not you reported the unauthorized transaction in a "timely manner"
Legal protections with debit cards are very poor - you can be out $500 if you failed to report in a "timely manner" an unauthorized charge within 2 business days (or forfeit the entire balance in the account if you wait over 60 days)
Any other protections the debit card issuer advertises are strictly voluntary.
We just, and I do mean just, finished a refi on our townhome. We received the final, stamped, approved, notarized, filed papers on Thursday (4/23)--and we didn't have to miss a payment to do it. We're in the SF Bay Area.
We've been working with a mortgage agent to refi an adjustable loan to a fixed loan since September 2008. She was very persistent with the banks and had begun the refi process just as the banking sector of the economy went into meltdown. Our mortgage had been through a company held by Washington Mutual which then changed hands to Chase Manhattan. So the mortgage agent had to start over from scratch.
We managed to get to the completion stage two times, only to have the bank throw some other requirement at us. I was a bit surprised the bank didn't ask us to rub our tummies and pat our heads at the same time before approving the loan. (Okay, the additional requirements weren't that absurd, but still, they weren't disclosed requirements when we started the process.)
Third time was the charm, and now we're refinanced. It's not the same deal that the "in trouble" homeowners are getting, but it is a good enough deal to keep us from becoming "in trouble".
We've also managed to scrape together enough moeny to pay off our second loan on the mortgage (2 loans, 1 mortgage). Even though we'll have to struggle to rebuild our liquid assets, it's a good thing for the long run.
Interesting to note, the mortgage agent advised us to wait until the refi was a done deal before paying off the second loan. If we had paid it off before hand, the banks would have seen the additional equity in the home and decided we weren't really in need of refinancing the home.
in this downturn many homowners are so far underwater (house value is less than 1/2 the current mortgage) that modification with the lender is a practical impossibility.
The best financial option for many is to stop paying immediately and hoard cash against the inevitable eviction.
I followed the instructions to turn into free region and worked with regular DVD's
In the other hand, I noticed this DVD is unable to read several formats: I have a chinese Cyberhome CH-DVD-300 also, and it can read burned dvd's easily; but if I try to watch the same burned dvd in the sony it says it can`t.
I assume this is not a problem of region, but video standards.
This is a different solution than Mint in that it seeks to provide some level of financial guidance. Mint is by far the best budgeting and account aggregation site, while Thrive is attempting to go beyond this and offer a little more in the financial planning arena.
Directionally, Mint is working hard on the budgeting end and using the transaction data they gather to analyze consumer spending. I suspect that Mint will make as much from their data from institutions buying information than from consumers clicking through to open accounts or do their taxes.
As for Thrive, their focus on providing some level of financial planning sets them apart from much of the competition. I believe this is a good first step, but they're still relatively early in the development process.
Patience with these web applications will be required while the industry grows and matures, but I think Thrive, Mint, Wesabe, Geezeo, etc. are all part of a new and permanent trend towards comprehensive online money management that's not put together by your financial institution.
It is my personal hope that these technologies will evolve and be adopted by the masses, as they offer something that is of great value to consumers--vision and control over the entire financial landscape.
Whole life has so many living benefits. Anyone who has one should contact an agent to have an illustration done for them. Policies that are over twenty years old are just coming into their prime and getting ready to explode in terms of compound interest.
Instead of buying a new car and financing it through the dealership, or worst yet leasing a car, loan yourself the money by borrowing it from your whole life insurance policy. Then make the same payments that you would have made to the finance company back to yourself.
You effectively become your own bank!
I suggest my clients consider a mix of term and whole life, using the whole life as their own personal bank.
I'm in the middle of a startup right now and we're in our seed round of funding. We found a $25,000 grant from the state to get us started last year. The competition was relatively tough, but we had a good idea and a decent enough pitch.
Since then, we are nearly finished building the web application and we're going back to the state for more money. They have a matching funds program as well as a convertible note to offer. We're not sure exactly which way we'll go, but in total we'll get anywhere from $50k to $75k from the state. However, NONE of these funds are allowed to be used to pay salaries and they are tightly tracked--this is a good thing. At any rate, grants do exist and you do have to look for them, but free money is very, very nice compared to the alternatives.
Carrie, you did the right thing-- time with your husband and kids was more important than this post being up yesterday.
My view of this stuff is that it is all just a marketer's dream . . . much like bottled water. The markups are phenomenal (according to a NY Times article, Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisle, Apr. 18, 2008, "Organic food is typically 20 percent to 100 percent more expensive than a conventional counterpart . . ."). Who is really benefiting from organic food?
My feeling is parents abuse kids in other ways too-- like not saying "No" to them enough-- that is a real diservice to the child and other families . . .
I'd also note that there are many free shipping offers for that require a minimum purchase, so if you're looking at a free shipping deal be sure to note if there is a minimum purchase to qualify or you may just end up spending more than you thought.
we r so excited we had to post how we did it, we read trough all of these comments, and saw the videos, and here we go.
tried toothpaste.... that DID NOT work, it made it worse.
then...
we took an old school cd cleaner, hand crank people, not a skip dr or anything like that (those suck) and applied clear coat car polish (we used something u wont b able to buy, but its called zymol cleaner wax, original formula) to the cd thin coat, cranked it around for about 10 mins but not to fast so it doesnt harden on the cd to where the wax does not becomes hard as if it were out in the sun on a car.... then remove wax with rubbing alcohol and clean the pad on the cd cleaner thouroughly with alcohol as well.... then apply alcohol every 5 mins or sooner while cranking the knob.... do that for about 15 mins... if it does not work then repeat steps. we fixed a four layer DVD, command and counquer first decade, it would not install at all. now it works like a charm. YAY!
Hi. Recently found out and used the code to change my dvd from region 4 to region 9 allowing me to play several dvds sent by family from overseas for the first time. However, now I find I am unable to play any region 4 (new or old) whether on region 9 and I can't change the code back to 4. I have been following the instructions to the letter. A friend said I may have to change the dvd player back to factory defaults and start again, however, samsung cannot help me with this. Can anyone suggest anything?
Don't want to have to replave the dvd player and start over again.
Cheers.
I had tried numerous times to call countrywide to let them know of my situation, only to sit on hold way to long. I work 8-5 and the loss department is only open until 5pm.
I got a call asking where my payment was. They gave me the number to the loss department and told me they were open until 8pm. Wrong info, but i tried calling the refinance department to see if they could help me track down where i call and the agent let me know that until May 1st, there is nothing any lender can do if you have PMI on your loan like I do.
My ex and I bought this house in 2006, and it then appraised for 220k. It is now worth 80k, and he decided that walking away from his is the best option. And because we are not married and legal strangers, this leaves me in a jam. I do not qualify for the home affordable because I am not divorced. I should have known the risk when I bought the house. I could not just let the bank foreclose because of the lose of equity, because, well, I felt we made our bed we need to lie in it. He did not, and walked.
My loss of his income will cause me to lose this house, because i cannot swing my fixed rate payment on my own. When we bought the house, we both had rather well paying jobs, in mortgages. I got laid off in january and went from making $22/hr to $14. We bought what we could afford when both had great paying jobs, our DTI at the time was 19%, so it was affordable - now.. i may have to leave my home if the bank will not help me out, and there is NO way i can put my house on the market and sell it for what i owe. There is a house listed down the street at 49,9k that is bigger and has a pool. I am sure the bank will not accept a $30k sale when i still owe 190K on it.
I picked up a lot of interesting tips here, and I wholeheartedly agree with those who advocate gardening for the nonmaterial benefits. I especially like the last suggestion of focusing on more expensive crops. And the one thing I always want is fresh tomatoes cause I can never get enough.
I am a big advocate of finding ways to be frugal that you also enjoy. And that's why I'm scared to get started with a garden -- Even though I love the idea of knowing where my food is coming from and getting it fresh from the vine, I'm afraid I'll hate it and lose my investment through neglect. Already my best intentions of vermicomposting starting in fall and starting seedlings indoors in late winter have gone by the wayside.
But here's a ray of hope: The single strawberry plant we put in last year made it through the winter, and is growing nicely. I never expected it to overwinter! And I did put in a couple tiny blueberry bushes last year that are greening up. So let's hope we at least get some sweat-free berries this year to urge us along for a better garden next year!
Refinancing
Many homeowners pay their mortgages on time but are not able to refinance to take advantage of today’s lower mortgage rates perhaps due to a decrease in the value of their home.
Modification
Many homeowners are struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments perhaps because their interest rate has increased or they have less income.
For people really struggling and in jeopardy of foreclosure then the modification is probably the better option. With the refinance all they can do is refinance your house at normal 5% rate to 30 fixed. But with the Modification they can drop your percent down to 2% and do other things to help you hang on to the home.
I've seen a lot of talk about rule changes, but so far I haven't seen much in the way of actual changes.
It used to be that banks had a department dedicated to loan workouts. If you couldn't make your mortgage payments, someone from the bank would look at the best way to minimize the bank's loss: Typically foreclosure, but possibly a loan renegotiation (especially if real estate values had dropped, such that selling the house would fall well short of making the bank whole).
The main change that I've seen is that there isn't any workout department for the bundled and securitized loans. The Federal government has been trying to make it worth the while of the loan servicers to do some loan workout, but without notable success so far.
After the election (during the holidays and while everyone was waiting for the Obama administration's plan to reduce foreclosures) a number of big banks announced that they were suspending foreclosure proceedings until the plan came out--but those foreclosures are back in progress now.
Speaking as someone who didn't buy a house a few years ago--because they all cost more than I wanted to pay--I agree with you that letting house prices drop is the right policy. (In broad terms, the average house has to be affordable for the average household that's buying a house--who else is going to buy it?) It looks to me like that's exactly what's happening.
I would just like to point out that you could financially "do everything right" and still end up in a foreclosure situation. You could have an 8-month emergency fund saved up (which is a lot more than many people have), but what if you get laid off and can't find a full-time job in that amount of time?
There are certainly people who got houses they couldn't afford, but there are also those that planned ahead and made smart choices that still may be facing foreclosure. It's unfair to call them all "losers."
Intentionally skipping a payment seems like a reasonable strategy to get mortgage modification underway. That way, you wouldn't have to burn through your entire emergency fund (and possibly incur lots of CC debt)before the mortgage servicer got the picture.
The Foxfire series of books are pretty fascinating reads on this kind of subject.
I'm prepared to quit my job if a pandemic hits. I'm in an occupation where I have a high risk of catching things from my clients. Bugs tend to hit me hard. I have an 18 month emergency fund and I'm prepared to use it rather than working through a pandemic.
Your battle is an interesting example of something I've recently been blogging about myself. It sounds like you've been battling a mild case of hyperopia - which literally means - excessive farsightedness. For some, this means you're worrying about your savings and your future, while not really living in the present. Being frugal for these people is more like justifying not buying that new mattress while you sleep on an uncomfortable one every night, just because you can save some money.
For you, you need that new PC, and possibly you've been pining for it for awhile. The way to get rid of the 'guilt' associated with it is to ask yourself - am I doing this for the right reasons, that is, necessity or a simple desire to have the latest and greatest?
Take action to remedy regret! I've talked about this a lot more on my own site as I really find it fascinating.
Regards,
Tristan.
with a debit card you are at the mercy of the bank as to whether or not you reported the unauthorized transaction in a "timely manner"
Legal protections with debit cards are very poor - you can be out $500 if you failed to report in a "timely manner" an unauthorized charge within 2 business days (or forfeit the entire balance in the account if you wait over 60 days)
Any other protections the debit card issuer advertises are strictly voluntary.
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs32-paperplastic.htm
In any event, with a debit card you are waiting for your account to be reimbursed (other debits may be retured NSF in the meantime)
With a credit card, however, you are out a maximum of $50 in all circumstances.
I'm a former (reformed?) banker, and don't carry or use debit cards.
We just, and I do mean just, finished a refi on our townhome. We received the final, stamped, approved, notarized, filed papers on Thursday (4/23)--and we didn't have to miss a payment to do it. We're in the SF Bay Area.
We've been working with a mortgage agent to refi an adjustable loan to a fixed loan since September 2008. She was very persistent with the banks and had begun the refi process just as the banking sector of the economy went into meltdown. Our mortgage had been through a company held by Washington Mutual which then changed hands to Chase Manhattan. So the mortgage agent had to start over from scratch.
We managed to get to the completion stage two times, only to have the bank throw some other requirement at us. I was a bit surprised the bank didn't ask us to rub our tummies and pat our heads at the same time before approving the loan. (Okay, the additional requirements weren't that absurd, but still, they weren't disclosed requirements when we started the process.)
Third time was the charm, and now we're refinanced. It's not the same deal that the "in trouble" homeowners are getting, but it is a good enough deal to keep us from becoming "in trouble".
We've also managed to scrape together enough moeny to pay off our second loan on the mortgage (2 loans, 1 mortgage). Even though we'll have to struggle to rebuild our liquid assets, it's a good thing for the long run.
Interesting to note, the mortgage agent advised us to wait until the refi was a done deal before paying off the second loan. If we had paid it off before hand, the banks would have seen the additional equity in the home and decided we weren't really in need of refinancing the home.
in this downturn many homowners are so far underwater (house value is less than 1/2 the current mortgage) that modification with the lender is a practical impossibility.
The best financial option for many is to stop paying immediately and hoard cash against the inevitable eviction.
I followed the instructions to turn into free region and worked with regular DVD's
In the other hand, I noticed this DVD is unable to read several formats: I have a chinese Cyberhome CH-DVD-300 also, and it can read burned dvd's easily; but if I try to watch the same burned dvd in the sony it says it can`t.
I assume this is not a problem of region, but video standards.
This is a different solution than Mint in that it seeks to provide some level of financial guidance. Mint is by far the best budgeting and account aggregation site, while Thrive is attempting to go beyond this and offer a little more in the financial planning arena.
Directionally, Mint is working hard on the budgeting end and using the transaction data they gather to analyze consumer spending. I suspect that Mint will make as much from their data from institutions buying information than from consumers clicking through to open accounts or do their taxes.
As for Thrive, their focus on providing some level of financial planning sets them apart from much of the competition. I believe this is a good first step, but they're still relatively early in the development process.
Patience with these web applications will be required while the industry grows and matures, but I think Thrive, Mint, Wesabe, Geezeo, etc. are all part of a new and permanent trend towards comprehensive online money management that's not put together by your financial institution.
It is my personal hope that these technologies will evolve and be adopted by the masses, as they offer something that is of great value to consumers--vision and control over the entire financial landscape.
Whole life has so many living benefits. Anyone who has one should contact an agent to have an illustration done for them. Policies that are over twenty years old are just coming into their prime and getting ready to explode in terms of compound interest.
Instead of buying a new car and financing it through the dealership, or worst yet leasing a car, loan yourself the money by borrowing it from your whole life insurance policy. Then make the same payments that you would have made to the finance company back to yourself.
You effectively become your own bank!
I suggest my clients consider a mix of term and whole life, using the whole life as their own personal bank.
I'm in the middle of a startup right now and we're in our seed round of funding. We found a $25,000 grant from the state to get us started last year. The competition was relatively tough, but we had a good idea and a decent enough pitch.
Since then, we are nearly finished building the web application and we're going back to the state for more money. They have a matching funds program as well as a convertible note to offer. We're not sure exactly which way we'll go, but in total we'll get anywhere from $50k to $75k from the state. However, NONE of these funds are allowed to be used to pay salaries and they are tightly tracked--this is a good thing. At any rate, grants do exist and you do have to look for them, but free money is very, very nice compared to the alternatives.
Great list of resources-- thank you!
Carrie, you did the right thing-- time with your husband and kids was more important than this post being up yesterday.
My view of this stuff is that it is all just a marketer's dream . . . much like bottled water. The markups are phenomenal (according to a NY Times article, Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisle, Apr. 18, 2008, "Organic food is typically 20 percent to 100 percent more expensive than a conventional counterpart . . ."). Who is really benefiting from organic food?
Here are more of my thoughts on this one with a link to the NY Times article:
The Great Organic Food Swindle http://divorceddadfrugaldad.com/2009/04/21/the-great-organic-food-swindl...
Let's see . . .
Bad economy . . . check!
Motivated sellers . . . check!
Rock bottom prices . . . check!
Looks and smells like opportunity to me.
Great list! Tanks.
I don't know-- missing a payment on purpose seems counter-intuitive . . .
But hey-- that's just me!
This is eye opening . . .
My feeling is parents abuse kids in other ways too-- like not saying "No" to them enough-- that is a real diservice to the child and other families . . .
I'd also note that there are many free shipping offers for that require a minimum purchase, so if you're looking at a free shipping deal be sure to note if there is a minimum purchase to qualify or you may just end up spending more than you thought.
Thanks for linking to me. I'm thrilled you included me in such good company!
we r so excited we had to post how we did it, we read trough all of these comments, and saw the videos, and here we go.
tried toothpaste.... that DID NOT work, it made it worse.
then...
we took an old school cd cleaner, hand crank people, not a skip dr or anything like that (those suck) and applied clear coat car polish (we used something u wont b able to buy, but its called zymol cleaner wax, original formula) to the cd thin coat, cranked it around for about 10 mins but not to fast so it doesnt harden on the cd to where the wax does not becomes hard as if it were out in the sun on a car.... then remove wax with rubbing alcohol and clean the pad on the cd cleaner thouroughly with alcohol as well.... then apply alcohol every 5 mins or sooner while cranking the knob.... do that for about 15 mins... if it does not work then repeat steps. we fixed a four layer DVD, command and counquer first decade, it would not install at all. now it works like a charm. YAY!
Hi. Recently found out and used the code to change my dvd from region 4 to region 9 allowing me to play several dvds sent by family from overseas for the first time. However, now I find I am unable to play any region 4 (new or old) whether on region 9 and I can't change the code back to 4. I have been following the instructions to the letter. A friend said I may have to change the dvd player back to factory defaults and start again, however, samsung cannot help me with this. Can anyone suggest anything?
Don't want to have to replave the dvd player and start over again.
Cheers.
I had tried numerous times to call countrywide to let them know of my situation, only to sit on hold way to long. I work 8-5 and the loss department is only open until 5pm.
I got a call asking where my payment was. They gave me the number to the loss department and told me they were open until 8pm. Wrong info, but i tried calling the refinance department to see if they could help me track down where i call and the agent let me know that until May 1st, there is nothing any lender can do if you have PMI on your loan like I do.
My ex and I bought this house in 2006, and it then appraised for 220k. It is now worth 80k, and he decided that walking away from his is the best option. And because we are not married and legal strangers, this leaves me in a jam. I do not qualify for the home affordable because I am not divorced. I should have known the risk when I bought the house. I could not just let the bank foreclose because of the lose of equity, because, well, I felt we made our bed we need to lie in it. He did not, and walked.
My loss of his income will cause me to lose this house, because i cannot swing my fixed rate payment on my own. When we bought the house, we both had rather well paying jobs, in mortgages. I got laid off in january and went from making $22/hr to $14. We bought what we could afford when both had great paying jobs, our DTI at the time was 19%, so it was affordable - now.. i may have to leave my home if the bank will not help me out, and there is NO way i can put my house on the market and sell it for what i owe. There is a house listed down the street at 49,9k that is bigger and has a pool. I am sure the bank will not accept a $30k sale when i still owe 190K on it.
I picked up a lot of interesting tips here, and I wholeheartedly agree with those who advocate gardening for the nonmaterial benefits. I especially like the last suggestion of focusing on more expensive crops. And the one thing I always want is fresh tomatoes cause I can never get enough.
I am a big advocate of finding ways to be frugal that you also enjoy. And that's why I'm scared to get started with a garden -- Even though I love the idea of knowing where my food is coming from and getting it fresh from the vine, I'm afraid I'll hate it and lose my investment through neglect. Already my best intentions of vermicomposting starting in fall and starting seedlings indoors in late winter have gone by the wayside.
But here's a ray of hope: The single strawberry plant we put in last year made it through the winter, and is growing nicely. I never expected it to overwinter! And I did put in a couple tiny blueberry bushes last year that are greening up. So let's hope we at least get some sweat-free berries this year to urge us along for a better garden next year!
I blog at www.shopliftingwithpermission.com.
The government system has two options Refinance or Modification.
For more on the programs:
http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/index.html
Refinancing
Many homeowners pay their mortgages on time but are not able to refinance to take advantage of today’s lower mortgage rates perhaps due to a decrease in the value of their home.
Modification
Many homeowners are struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments perhaps because their interest rate has increased or they have less income.
For people really struggling and in jeopardy of foreclosure then the modification is probably the better option. With the refinance all they can do is refinance your house at normal 5% rate to 30 fixed. But with the Modification they can drop your percent down to 2% and do other things to help you hang on to the home.
@ Kelja:
I've seen a lot of talk about rule changes, but so far I haven't seen much in the way of actual changes.
It used to be that banks had a department dedicated to loan workouts. If you couldn't make your mortgage payments, someone from the bank would look at the best way to minimize the bank's loss: Typically foreclosure, but possibly a loan renegotiation (especially if real estate values had dropped, such that selling the house would fall well short of making the bank whole).
The main change that I've seen is that there isn't any workout department for the bundled and securitized loans. The Federal government has been trying to make it worth the while of the loan servicers to do some loan workout, but without notable success so far.
After the election (during the holidays and while everyone was waiting for the Obama administration's plan to reduce foreclosures) a number of big banks announced that they were suspending foreclosure proceedings until the plan came out--but those foreclosures are back in progress now.
Speaking as someone who didn't buy a house a few years ago--because they all cost more than I wanted to pay--I agree with you that letting house prices drop is the right policy. (In broad terms, the average house has to be affordable for the average household that's buying a house--who else is going to buy it?) It looks to me like that's exactly what's happening.
I would just like to point out that you could financially "do everything right" and still end up in a foreclosure situation. You could have an 8-month emergency fund saved up (which is a lot more than many people have), but what if you get laid off and can't find a full-time job in that amount of time?
There are certainly people who got houses they couldn't afford, but there are also those that planned ahead and made smart choices that still may be facing foreclosure. It's unfair to call them all "losers."
Intentionally skipping a payment seems like a reasonable strategy to get mortgage modification underway. That way, you wouldn't have to burn through your entire emergency fund (and possibly incur lots of CC debt)before the mortgage servicer got the picture.