Earlier this year I arranged separate barters with three different owners of vermicompost bins. None of them had enough to spare to give me a pound, but they all had some extra. So I got my batch of worms much more cheaply than if I'd had to buy them online and pay for shipping. Plus, no errors or namecalling! In fact, it was an opportunity to build community with other like minded people. Of course, I had to give up the instant gratification we expect as "consumers." But then your story only goes to show that the gratification ain't always so instant with a credit card either.
I understand that since California has passed a budget, refund checks are no longer being withheld. Maybe that's wrong, but that's what accountants here are telling folks.
Does the book include information on building a home web server? I'd imagine that'd be a fairly popular thing to do with old computers, and fits right in with the theme.
Even if it doesn't, I'll still try to win a copy...
I like your multiple ways of making income. I especially like freelance opportunities online that you that you mentioned. I have never heard of ReviewMe, PayPerPost and Blogitive before. I will check out all three of them very soon. Thank you, for taking your time and energy in posting this.
I'm no expert, but I haven't seen any libel lawsuits filed against bloggers because blogs are purveyors of opinion. Besides - when I read this I think to myself that oh ... this is Carrie's opinion. I'm not turning to Carrie for the meaning of life (although I do love your blogging, dear) and I'm not mistaking her for CNN.
Having said that, I don't care if Carrie was slinging expletives at this small business, the idea that a merchant would send her an email calling her a beeatch is just ... wow. Bad business. Seriously - how would you expect anyone to ever patronize your business again when you treat them with such disrespect? Whatever happened to the adage: "The customer is always right."
I work in the service industry and if I ever said anything that disrespectful, I'd be joining many others in the unemployment line.
The Earth is "round" (I do believe it's wider around the equator than it as the poles)because science has shown us it is, not because most people think it is. Though, as we can learn from ancient misconceptions about a flat earth (or modern misconceptions on the same subject...)
Knowledge != Fact
And of course, if A = B, and B != C, then A != C...
Xin wrote: Several commenters expressed the ideas of empathy and helping those in need, but the sad fact is that a lot of renters have lost their jobs as well, and they are not being helped by this at all.
Many renters will be helped because they will not be evicted when the owner goes into foreclosure.
I think this is a great plan. Yes, in some sense it does reward some people who made poor choices. But it should help stabilize the market and stop the wave of foreclosures, which hurts all of us (really it does!). And it does not provide incentives for people to just stop making their mortgage payment, as many had feared.
I know... there are some great benefits and some things to look forward to, but I really just hate it. And then when I get it done, it's such an amazing feeling. AND THEN when I actually get a return, that's exciting too.
This year I won't get too much of one, as I pay myself from my business without setting much aside for taxes.
You are making some HUGE assumptions about people who are in a bind right now, I hope you will consider reading the comment I left on this blog. For now I will only reply briefly, but think twice before you judge people, it could happen to you, too. Catastrophic illness came to visit my family, paying COBRA health insurance is a nightmare, and no, we didn't over spend. I drive a Chevy Trailblazer in great shape with a salvage title, it was a 1 year old rebuild for 10,000 which most people wouldn't even consider. I did it so I could pay cash for it. I thought I was making all the right decisions, then illness happened to all of us. Before you sit there thinking you "own" me, try to ask yourself if you'd like to trade places with people who have gone through a type of hell that you can't even reach in your worst nightmares.
I can't believe the pity party I just read in this "blog", how you have obtained the readers you have is beyond me. I came across it by accident, how? By looking up what type of help there is available for someone like me. I don't recall anyone contacting me and offering me any part of the 700 billion dollars that is being handed to corporations and CEOs.
Do you actually think most people just decided on a whim to stop paying their mortgage? I would like to think not. Do you think you are going to get "help" from the government just because you stop? Hell no, that's not what help is for. I didn't just wake up one day and decide to not pay my mortgage.
I became a single mother after 18 years and made it through nursing school to have a great income. I then met and married a wonderful man who helped me raise my teenagers. I moved up from a smaller home at a time that I thought would be my last to "invest" in real estate to try to protect my future, but kept it within my means and put a large down payment down from my previous home. There is no way I can get that down payment out of it now. And what else happened since the move? My daughter had brain surgery from a bleed after a life time of migraines, my husband is fighting his second brain tumor, and I have Multiple Sclerosis and some other mysterious autoimmune disease that they can't figure out which is destroying my tendons (spontaneous ruptures, the chronic pain is nearly unbearable). I have been off work now a year and up until a few months ago I was still doing everything in my power to pay my mortgage and maintain the excellent credit I worked hard for.
I didn't just decide to stop paying. I called my mortgage company in August and told them what was going on and asked if there was any help for me. Their reply was, "You are current on your loan, we can only offer help to you if you are 3 months behind in your payments". I thought I was being a great client by calling them ahead of time and telling them I may have trouble paying, I've always paid my bills, and felt like throwing up at the thought of getting behind. The stress was killing me.
I didn't know the market was going to change so much, I was in an area that was growing rapidly and it was considered a safe investment at the time. I didn't know I was going to get sick, I didn't know my husband was going to get a brain tumor, I didn't know my daughter would need brain surgery. I'm not talking colds and flu here I'm talking total disability. Should I have had mortgage protection insurance? Sure, I should have, but I didn't get it. Even if I had it some lame cold-hearted idiot would accuse me of being the reason for increasing insurance premiums and state that they are "paying for my house", there's always someone who doesn't care enough about fellow human beings to spout off in such a callous way. Look in the mirror. If you are ABLE to pay your mortgage, it does not give you an excuse to just quit! People like you probably whine about disabled people getting better parking or getting to cut the line at Disneyland, too.
You think that you waking up one day and saying "Wahhh, I can't pay my mortgage" would make you feel better? I'd give anything to be in your position and be able to still pay my mortgage. You don't know what it's like to lose your independence and watch your dreams crumble before your eyes and be scared every day for your life, for your ability to fight back to even being able to stand on two legs literally let alone financially. Have you even stopped to consider the price of COBRA health insurance when someone is in the limbo of the disability red tape? It is 1200 for just my husband and I, and that's without dental or vision!
There are a huge number of people out there like me. I guess I should be thankful that if I had to get sick it's happening at a time when so many other people are needing help so that I can tag along. But that doesn't make me feel better about my circumstances and I'm one of the lucky ones because I still have people who care about me.
IMHO I feel so much luckier than any of you who think you are footing the bill for everyone else. I know that if I lose everything I worked for, I'll be okay, somehow, because hopefully I'll still have the people I love around me. Every day none of us are in the hospital is a good day, can you even relate to that at all? You started out saying that you were thinking things over while recovering from surgery...why not think "Wow, what if I couldn't recover from this?" and try putting yourself in someone else's shoes who are worse off instead of whining about "poor meeee, I'm paying for your loss". Sheesh, if I had it to burn I'd be more than happy to help out my fellow citizens. In fact if the "haves" gave more to the "have-nots" it would all balance out without anything from the government stepping in.
Next time you feel like sounding smart in a discussion and say 'Ya , I should stop paying my mortgage, too" try thinking about my family and ask yourself if you'd like to trade places or trade problems and shut up. I still wouldn't trade with your pathetic life even if I lose all my material items. I've been a good mom, I raised two wonderful children, one of whom is in the Army protecting your freedom to have your stupid blog. I showed them both that education is important as they watched me finish nursing school with an IV in my arm, I wanted them to know that hurdles shouldn't bring things to a stop and that it's possible to succeed if you fight for it. And I will show them that in this time of turmoil and/or financial ruin I will rise above it and be okay again, without any support from you or any of the other people whining about their taxes going up.
@ The Economist - You are exactly right that we should not rejoice at overpaying the government and essentially giving them an interest free loan. (Hence my comment about being excited about underpaying by $7 one year.) Perhaps a future post will be about how to properly calcuate your IRS withholdings so as to prevent an interest free loan to the government.
@ Celeste - I'm glad you saw that this article was intdended to be a bit funny. As Myscha pointed out it's my first Wise Bread article, and I hope people realize that personal finance is a very serious subject, it also reveals a lot of insight into our society.
I wrote the company to express my dismay over their language. I didn't get called a (*****) but let's just say... they aren't a class act and clearly aren't interested in trying to restore their reputation.
Great post on resources on web.. will surely dig deep into it..Thanks a ton.!!
How much fish oil you're taking and where you get the xylitol mints? (Do you have to order them online?)
This is something I need to know, and have put off learning about. Now it is all in one easy place!
Can't find $200 gift cards for 3 dollar any more. Either the website took them down or the dealers got cold feet.
yes I think California refunds are supposed to be sent out starting last week.
Earlier this year I arranged separate barters with three different owners of vermicompost bins. None of them had enough to spare to give me a pound, but they all had some extra. So I got my batch of worms much more cheaply than if I'd had to buy them online and pay for shipping. Plus, no errors or namecalling! In fact, it was an opportunity to build community with other like minded people. Of course, I had to give up the instant gratification we expect as "consumers." But then your story only goes to show that the gratification ain't always so instant with a credit card either.
this book sounds interesting, i love learning more about computers & how things work...the win would be great!
I understand that since California has passed a budget, refund checks are no longer being withheld. Maybe that's wrong, but that's what accountants here are telling folks.
Does the book include information on building a home web server? I'd imagine that'd be a fairly popular thing to do with old computers, and fits right in with the theme.
Even if it doesn't, I'll still try to win a copy...
I like your multiple ways of making income. I especially like freelance opportunities online that you that you mentioned. I have never heard of ReviewMe, PayPerPost and Blogitive before. I will check out all three of them very soon. Thank you, for taking your time and energy in posting this.
I'm no expert, but I haven't seen any libel lawsuits filed against bloggers because blogs are purveyors of opinion. Besides - when I read this I think to myself that oh ... this is Carrie's opinion. I'm not turning to Carrie for the meaning of life (although I do love your blogging, dear) and I'm not mistaking her for CNN.
Having said that, I don't care if Carrie was slinging expletives at this small business, the idea that a merchant would send her an email calling her a beeatch is just ... wow. Bad business. Seriously - how would you expect anyone to ever patronize your business again when you treat them with such disrespect? Whatever happened to the adage: "The customer is always right."
I work in the service industry and if I ever said anything that disrespectful, I'd be joining many others in the unemployment line.
@Frankee
Your logic isn't exactly solid there... at all.
The Earth is "round" (I do believe it's wider around the equator than it as the poles)because science has shown us it is, not because most people think it is. Though, as we can learn from ancient misconceptions about a flat earth (or modern misconceptions on the same subject...)
Knowledge != Fact
And of course, if A = B, and B != C, then A != C...
J., the renters will be evicted if they can't pay their rent because they lost their jobs. I mean this plan doesn't help these renters.
that'll be useful once I move out of the house.. hopefully by this summer.. this college grad wants to fly!
Xin wrote:
Several commenters expressed the ideas of empathy and helping those in need, but the sad fact is that a lot of renters have lost their jobs as well, and they are not being helped by this at all.
Many renters will be helped because they will not be evicted when the owner goes into foreclosure.
I think this is a great plan. Yes, in some sense it does reward some people who made poor choices. But it should help stabilize the market and stop the wave of foreclosures, which hurts all of us (really it does!). And it does not provide incentives for people to just stop making their mortgage payment, as many had feared.
Ah, Home Networking for Dummies. Something we've all needed for some time now.
I know... there are some great benefits and some things to look forward to, but I really just hate it. And then when I get it done, it's such an amazing feeling. AND THEN when I actually get a return, that's exciting too.
This year I won't get too much of one, as I pay myself from my business without setting much aside for taxes.
Hi Andrea, I'm not promoting sexism. I'm just stating a fact that some people argue that the current tax system is sexist.
My brother has a home network. I thought we could not afford one but you sound like you are saying we can! I would love to get this book!!
You are making some HUGE assumptions about people who are in a bind right now, I hope you will consider reading the comment I left on this blog. For now I will only reply briefly, but think twice before you judge people, it could happen to you, too. Catastrophic illness came to visit my family, paying COBRA health insurance is a nightmare, and no, we didn't over spend. I drive a Chevy Trailblazer in great shape with a salvage title, it was a 1 year old rebuild for 10,000 which most people wouldn't even consider. I did it so I could pay cash for it. I thought I was making all the right decisions, then illness happened to all of us. Before you sit there thinking you "own" me, try to ask yourself if you'd like to trade places with people who have gone through a type of hell that you can't even reach in your worst nightmares.
thanks for the post. I'm packaging layoffs for a design project and this helps a lot. =)
I can't believe the pity party I just read in this "blog", how you have obtained the readers you have is beyond me. I came across it by accident, how? By looking up what type of help there is available for someone like me. I don't recall anyone contacting me and offering me any part of the 700 billion dollars that is being handed to corporations and CEOs.
Do you actually think most people just decided on a whim to stop paying their mortgage? I would like to think not. Do you think you are going to get "help" from the government just because you stop? Hell no, that's not what help is for. I didn't just wake up one day and decide to not pay my mortgage.
I became a single mother after 18 years and made it through nursing school to have a great income. I then met and married a wonderful man who helped me raise my teenagers. I moved up from a smaller home at a time that I thought would be my last to "invest" in real estate to try to protect my future, but kept it within my means and put a large down payment down from my previous home. There is no way I can get that down payment out of it now. And what else happened since the move? My daughter had brain surgery from a bleed after a life time of migraines, my husband is fighting his second brain tumor, and I have Multiple Sclerosis and some other mysterious autoimmune disease that they can't figure out which is destroying my tendons (spontaneous ruptures, the chronic pain is nearly unbearable). I have been off work now a year and up until a few months ago I was still doing everything in my power to pay my mortgage and maintain the excellent credit I worked hard for.
I didn't just decide to stop paying. I called my mortgage company in August and told them what was going on and asked if there was any help for me. Their reply was, "You are current on your loan, we can only offer help to you if you are 3 months behind in your payments". I thought I was being a great client by calling them ahead of time and telling them I may have trouble paying, I've always paid my bills, and felt like throwing up at the thought of getting behind. The stress was killing me.
I didn't know the market was going to change so much, I was in an area that was growing rapidly and it was considered a safe investment at the time. I didn't know I was going to get sick, I didn't know my husband was going to get a brain tumor, I didn't know my daughter would need brain surgery. I'm not talking colds and flu here I'm talking total disability. Should I have had mortgage protection insurance? Sure, I should have, but I didn't get it. Even if I had it some lame cold-hearted idiot would accuse me of being the reason for increasing insurance premiums and state that they are "paying for my house", there's always someone who doesn't care enough about fellow human beings to spout off in such a callous way. Look in the mirror. If you are ABLE to pay your mortgage, it does not give you an excuse to just quit! People like you probably whine about disabled people getting better parking or getting to cut the line at Disneyland, too.
You think that you waking up one day and saying "Wahhh, I can't pay my mortgage" would make you feel better? I'd give anything to be in your position and be able to still pay my mortgage. You don't know what it's like to lose your independence and watch your dreams crumble before your eyes and be scared every day for your life, for your ability to fight back to even being able to stand on two legs literally let alone financially. Have you even stopped to consider the price of COBRA health insurance when someone is in the limbo of the disability red tape? It is 1200 for just my husband and I, and that's without dental or vision!
There are a huge number of people out there like me. I guess I should be thankful that if I had to get sick it's happening at a time when so many other people are needing help so that I can tag along. But that doesn't make me feel better about my circumstances and I'm one of the lucky ones because I still have people who care about me.
IMHO I feel so much luckier than any of you who think you are footing the bill for everyone else. I know that if I lose everything I worked for, I'll be okay, somehow, because hopefully I'll still have the people I love around me. Every day none of us are in the hospital is a good day, can you even relate to that at all? You started out saying that you were thinking things over while recovering from surgery...why not think "Wow, what if I couldn't recover from this?" and try putting yourself in someone else's shoes who are worse off instead of whining about "poor meeee, I'm paying for your loss". Sheesh, if I had it to burn I'd be more than happy to help out my fellow citizens. In fact if the "haves" gave more to the "have-nots" it would all balance out without anything from the government stepping in.
Next time you feel like sounding smart in a discussion and say 'Ya , I should stop paying my mortgage, too" try thinking about my family and ask yourself if you'd like to trade places or trade problems and shut up. I still wouldn't trade with your pathetic life even if I lose all my material items. I've been a good mom, I raised two wonderful children, one of whom is in the Army protecting your freedom to have your stupid blog. I showed them both that education is important as they watched me finish nursing school with an IV in my arm, I wanted them to know that hurdles shouldn't bring things to a stop and that it's possible to succeed if you fight for it. And I will show them that in this time of turmoil and/or financial ruin I will rise above it and be okay again, without any support from you or any of the other people whining about their taxes going up.
What a great book - as a recent purchaser of a router myself, I could really use a book like this. Thanks for the post!
@ The Economist - You are exactly right that we should not rejoice at overpaying the government and essentially giving them an interest free loan. (Hence my comment about being excited about underpaying by $7 one year.) Perhaps a future post will be about how to properly calcuate your IRS withholdings so as to prevent an interest free loan to the government.
@ Celeste - I'm glad you saw that this article was intdended to be a bit funny. As Myscha pointed out it's my first Wise Bread article, and I hope people realize that personal finance is a very serious subject, it also reveals a lot of insight into our society.
I wrote the company to express my dismay over their language. I didn't get called a (*****) but let's just say... they aren't a class act and clearly aren't interested in trying to restore their reputation.