As Paul said--yes, this scheme was easy enough to spot, for someone who's a native speaker of English who's got even a little experience with such matters.
But the real warning is to watch out for the more sophisticated versions. If someone in a suit meets you at the house, has a key, shows you around, and has exactly the sort of application paperwork that you're expecting--would you think to check and verify that he really owns the house?
In the old, pre-internet version of this scam, criminals used to rent out houses that they knew would be vacant for a few weeks. The victim would move in, only to have the actual owner show up after a vacation or a business trip. The more things change....
I believe 99% of the Wise Bread readers are intelligent enough to recognize this as a scheme on their own. For the other 1% I encourage them to take the guy up on the house and engage in financial darwinism.
Hello all - thank you for the great comments! I will endeavour to answer the questions as best I can:
@Denise: There are a few formal networks to connect you with work-trade or other free accommodation options. Check out this link for a fairly comprehensive list:
@lesliet: I too, am not a proponent of "winging it" on the road. I travel with full health insurance, and am glad I have: my darling boyfriend has landed in the hospital twice already, once in Thailand for a week with Dengue Fever. Please click the link on "Travel Insurance" in the article above for more information on what to look for in a policy.
It is also worth noting that pretty much everywhere in the world except the States is considerably less financially crippling to get sick in. Either way, having a small savings accumulated to deal with such emergencies on the road is prudent planning.
@Ben: Many countries allow you to trade work for accommodation (as long as money doesn't exchange hands) on a simple tourist visa. I have planted, managed hostels, cleaned, and even painted pretty pictures in trade for my accommodation. More info on that here:
As for other work to pay for the rest of my expenses, I manage to eke out a living through the internet, which also requires nothing more than a tourist visa. My boyfriend uses various bits of expertise he has (from handy-work to bartending to fighting fires) to get working visas, or simply to volunteer his services in trade for goods and services we need. I won't advocate working for cash under the table, but will say that it is not uncommon either.
@April: Although I did indeed have money saved in preparation for leaving on my travels, I have tried not to dip into it, and instead have tried to make my travels financially sustainable with my income. If I were on a trip with a defined start and end date, I may have approached this differently. But since I am perpetually a Professional Hobo, I need to ensure I can stay on the road as long as I like.
As for traveling with a 2yr old, absolutely you can! I have a friend whose child was better traveled than I was before she was 3 years old! It will just involve a little more effort and coordination, and not all work-trade arrangements will be suitable for children. At the same time, I have indeed met other caretakers with children, who love life on the road as a family. It can be done if you want to do it.
I got an email from some website called tagged.com saying "You've been tagged by (insert name of a, less savvy, friend here who somehow got through the process of signing up without realizing it was a scam and then actually managed to share my email with them.)!" and it gave a link to their site where you could sign up and and then "tag" them back or whatever........
At first it seemed like it was just another social networking site - they did a really good job of making it feel like it was legit (although the design sucked), but they just keep pressing you for weird details throughout the sign up process..
Wow, what a nightmare. If we ended up in a rental situation again I would look first to rent something owned by a larger property company even if it meant downgrading to a townhouse.
I had two landlords who were unable to pay for needed repairs to the property one being a failed septic, the other massive code violations. Both situations caused us to have to move and in both situations the problem was known and not disclosed.
These rental scams are really concerning, especially people pretending to rent out a house that is sitting empty for sale. That one would be pretty easy to fall for even if your careful.
I believe if anyone in history embraced the simple life it was Jesus. If we wish to "do what Jesus would do" I think ridding ourselves of worldly burdens and directing our energies by simply the of ourselves to the needs of others. That's where TRUE HAPPINESS lies.
Downsizing is a term I have struggled with for many years. Every part of my life has been hit with the downsizing phenonomen. I believe it is a constant, and ever changing animal. I will start in one place only to finding myself somewhere else. The last thing I downsized was my Christmas paraphenila. 14 boxes down to 6. I could probably go further but my 3 wreathes reside in 2 different wreath boxes. Does it make me happy? YES! Less to pack and unpack next season releases the tension from several neck and shoulder muscles. As my family grows with grandchildren I feverishly work to make my materialistic world smaller. Less stuff offers more time to spend with the ones I love. That's something I will never downsize.
How creative people are getting about these scams, it almost seems hard to believe. When I clicked on the link, I thought this was in reference to people renting houses that are currently in foreclosure which is happening a lot in my area.
Right! Multiple accounts serve many useful purposes:
Protecting your cash from accidents (due to miscommunication or carelessness) and from crimes (like identity theft).
Access to different ranges of investment choices.
Protection against temporary hiccups caused by things like a natural disaster (that might keep workers at the instituion from getting to the oiffice--or keep you from getting to your local bank) or any kind of problem that might shut down their computer or telecommunication systems.
In addition, the different kinds of compartments (like IRAs and 401(k)s) offer some protection if you're sued or forced into bankruptcy.
And that's my whole point. When you manage your money as one big lump, you can make a plan for splitting your money up into multiple accounts based on maximizing these sorts of advantages. That gets a lot harder if you're simultaneously trying to keep the money for your back-to-school wardrobe in one account and the money for the kid's braces in another account.
Can you help me? I bought an RCA converter box also but moved and cannot locate my list of codes that I need to reconnect the TV. Can you share the code list with me? Thanks
When I wrote the article I was assuming most people already have computer and internet. I should have mentioned that, thanks for pointing it out! It probably would be silly to buy a computer and get internet for the sole purpose of watching tv... my thoughts were more along the lines of if you already have all of it (cable tv, internet, computer...) you could save by getting rid of cable.
Overall I enjoyed the story and agree with most of it. The double-counting cash management idea just sounds like trouble waiting to happen to me. As my parents taught me when I was a child, "you can't spend it twice". As other posts mention, with self-discipline this doesn't have to be a big problem. But what about when your spouse has access to the account? You're planning on using that cash for bills, while they're off grocery shopping and happen to find the tomato paste bonanza - not knowing that an opportunity expenditure will cut the checking account low enough to trigger an overdraft charge? I'm not talking about anything malicious. Just not enough communication. It's an easy mistake. And if the emergency fund is lumped in as mentioned there may not be an overdraft fee involved, but I'd be more worried about dipping the emergency cash too low. Especially if it's so readily accessible and being tapped into in such an innocent way. It could erode away faster than I'm comfortable with. Identity theft, debit card # stolen, you name it... I don't want something like that to make my emergency funds evaporate - even if it does come back in a few months after the bank sorts things out.
I guess for me it comes down to "one big lump, except a few specific things".
What the still is going to do is concentrate the alcohol. That will remove some impurities, but it could also concentrate others. If you think there's anything dangerous in your fermentation, don't drink it. If you make it with sugar and water, though, and if you only use food-grade equipment for the fermentation and distilation, there shouldn't be anything that need removing.
Thanks for the interesting article Nora! My fiancée and I are working on getting things in order financially to travel abroad (for at least a year). This article is encouraging when there are naysayers around us saying that it's going to be extremely expensive, etc. etc.
I agree with comments 10-12...especially 12. It's been interesting to watch my circle on DINK friends go from buying every new iPod offering and checking out every new restaurant in town to spending weekend evenings at someone's house watching movies and enjoying potluck dinner. The funny thing is that for us, little has changed. We all make way more money than we need, and so far, only 1 layoff in the whole crowd. But saving money has become "what the cool kids are doing". I promise--your friends that are spending like crazy probably want an excuse to stop--so help them!
I would love to travel all the time for about 6 months. I'm just afraid of letting go and leaving everything behind for that long. It would be fun though.
More suggestions from an adult-onset acne sufferer:
I found that clearing up my acne required a multi-pronged approach. The things that are working for me:
1. visiting a kinesiologist to get a personal evaluation of food intolerances, followed by dietary changes
2. Elemis tri-enzyme resurfacing regimen
3. exercise
Prescriptives oil-control lotion and toner also seem to be working for me, and they are less expensive than Elemis. If you want to try Elemis, look on e-Bay for more reasonable prices.
It took me well over a year of prodding to drag myself to the kinesiologist, but it has been well worth it - this has made the single biggest difference to my skin.
Unsuccessful approaches over the years have included: visits to multiple dermatologists, antibiotics, prescription topical creams/washes, various over-the-counter remedies (from cheap to expensive - I too got excited about Dr. Weil's mushroom stuff, and it ended up in the trash), etc.
Also, I am finding that the Elemis facials are great, and before moving to a different city, I found that microdermabrasion was very good. After the move I tried a different person for microdermabrasion and ended up with the worst acne I have ever had - so be careful which skincare professionals you use.
Thanks for this post. It's been something I've always wanted to do. Can you please talk about the types of jobs you found and whether you needed work visas?
This sounds like fun, but as an older person, I would be concerned about provisions for health care/health insurance while traveling. Winging it is fine, I guess, but if you get some major health issue, like, say, for instance, cancer, then what do you do?
@Kelly:
As Paul said--yes, this scheme was easy enough to spot, for someone who's a native speaker of English who's got even a little experience with such matters.
But the real warning is to watch out for the more sophisticated versions. If someone in a suit meets you at the house, has a key, shows you around, and has exactly the sort of application paperwork that you're expecting--would you think to check and verify that he really owns the house?
In the old, pre-internet version of this scam, criminals used to rent out houses that they knew would be vacant for a few weeks. The victim would move in, only to have the actual owner show up after a vacation or a business trip. The more things change....
Thanks for informing others. I didn't realize this was such a common event that it became a case study in the matter.
I believe 99% of the Wise Bread readers are intelligent enough to recognize this as a scheme on their own. For the other 1% I encourage them to take the guy up on the house and engage in financial darwinism.
Hello all - thank you for the great comments! I will endeavour to answer the questions as best I can:
@Denise: There are a few formal networks to connect you with work-trade or other free accommodation options. Check out this link for a fairly comprehensive list:
http://www.vagabondish.com/8-tools-travel-long-term-live-rent-free/
@lesliet: I too, am not a proponent of "winging it" on the road. I travel with full health insurance, and am glad I have: my darling boyfriend has landed in the hospital twice already, once in Thailand for a week with Dengue Fever. Please click the link on "Travel Insurance" in the article above for more information on what to look for in a policy.
It is also worth noting that pretty much everywhere in the world except the States is considerably less financially crippling to get sick in. Either way, having a small savings accumulated to deal with such emergencies on the road is prudent planning.
@Ben: Many countries allow you to trade work for accommodation (as long as money doesn't exchange hands) on a simple tourist visa. I have planted, managed hostels, cleaned, and even painted pretty pictures in trade for my accommodation. More info on that here:
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/shortterm/articles/caretaking_jobs_abroad.shtml
As for other work to pay for the rest of my expenses, I manage to eke out a living through the internet, which also requires nothing more than a tourist visa. My boyfriend uses various bits of expertise he has (from handy-work to bartending to fighting fires) to get working visas, or simply to volunteer his services in trade for goods and services we need. I won't advocate working for cash under the table, but will say that it is not uncommon either.
@April: Although I did indeed have money saved in preparation for leaving on my travels, I have tried not to dip into it, and instead have tried to make my travels financially sustainable with my income. If I were on a trip with a defined start and end date, I may have approached this differently. But since I am perpetually a Professional Hobo, I need to ensure I can stay on the road as long as I like.
As for traveling with a 2yr old, absolutely you can! I have a friend whose child was better traveled than I was before she was 3 years old! It will just involve a little more effort and coordination, and not all work-trade arrangements will be suitable for children. At the same time, I have indeed met other caretakers with children, who love life on the road as a family. It can be done if you want to do it.
Cheers, all! - Nora Dunn
I got an email from some website called tagged.com saying "You've been tagged by (insert name of a, less savvy, friend here who somehow got through the process of signing up without realizing it was a scam and then actually managed to share my email with them.)!" and it gave a link to their site where you could sign up and and then "tag" them back or whatever........
At first it seemed like it was just another social networking site - they did a really good job of making it feel like it was legit (although the design sucked), but they just keep pressing you for weird details throughout the sign up process..
Here's a link to a site talking about it.....
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/phishing_Tagged_dot_com.php
It's perfectly acceptable to spell it both ways, or that's what The Free Dictionary says. But I changed it, just for you ;-)
Thanks for the blog, but it's "pidgin" English. Just thought you should know.
Hi Nora,
Thank you for the inspiring blog, which was right up my alley. Do you know of many people who travel with their 2 yr olds?
Also, did you have the $20,000 saved upfront, or did you somehow manage to earn income along the way?
Thanks!
Wow, what a nightmare. If we ended up in a rental situation again I would look first to rent something owned by a larger property company even if it meant downgrading to a townhouse.
I had two landlords who were unable to pay for needed repairs to the property one being a failed septic, the other massive code violations. Both situations caused us to have to move and in both situations the problem was known and not disclosed.
These rental scams are really concerning, especially people pretending to rent out a house that is sitting empty for sale. That one would be pretty easy to fall for even if your careful.
I believe if anyone in history embraced the simple life it was Jesus. If we wish to "do what Jesus would do" I think ridding ourselves of worldly burdens and directing our energies by simply the of ourselves to the needs of others. That's where TRUE HAPPINESS lies.
Downsizing is a term I have struggled with for many years. Every part of my life has been hit with the downsizing phenonomen. I believe it is a constant, and ever changing animal. I will start in one place only to finding myself somewhere else. The last thing I downsized was my Christmas paraphenila. 14 boxes down to 6. I could probably go further but my 3 wreathes reside in 2 different wreath boxes. Does it make me happy? YES! Less to pack and unpack next season releases the tension from several neck and shoulder muscles. As my family grows with grandchildren I feverishly work to make my materialistic world smaller. Less stuff offers more time to spend with the ones I love. That's something I will never downsize.
The problem with chocolate is not the food itself but the fact that it contains caffeine, which can aggravate acne for some people.
How creative people are getting about these scams, it almost seems hard to believe. When I clicked on the link, I thought this was in reference to people renting houses that are currently in foreclosure which is happening a lot in my area.
Right! Multiple accounts serve many useful purposes:
In addition, the different kinds of compartments (like IRAs and 401(k)s) offer some protection if you're sued or forced into bankruptcy.
And that's my whole point. When you manage your money as one big lump, you can make a plan for splitting your money up into multiple accounts based on maximizing these sorts of advantages. That gets a lot harder if you're simultaneously trying to keep the money for your back-to-school wardrobe in one account and the money for the kid's braces in another account.
Can you help me? I bought an RCA converter box also but moved and cannot locate my list of codes that I need to reconnect the TV. Can you share the code list with me? Thanks
When I wrote the article I was assuming most people already have computer and internet. I should have mentioned that, thanks for pointing it out! It probably would be silly to buy a computer and get internet for the sole purpose of watching tv... my thoughts were more along the lines of if you already have all of it (cable tv, internet, computer...) you could save by getting rid of cable.
Overall I enjoyed the story and agree with most of it. The double-counting cash management idea just sounds like trouble waiting to happen to me. As my parents taught me when I was a child, "you can't spend it twice". As other posts mention, with self-discipline this doesn't have to be a big problem. But what about when your spouse has access to the account? You're planning on using that cash for bills, while they're off grocery shopping and happen to find the tomato paste bonanza - not knowing that an opportunity expenditure will cut the checking account low enough to trigger an overdraft charge? I'm not talking about anything malicious. Just not enough communication. It's an easy mistake. And if the emergency fund is lumped in as mentioned there may not be an overdraft fee involved, but I'd be more worried about dipping the emergency cash too low. Especially if it's so readily accessible and being tapped into in such an innocent way. It could erode away faster than I'm comfortable with. Identity theft, debit card # stolen, you name it... I don't want something like that to make my emergency funds evaporate - even if it does come back in a few months after the bank sorts things out.
I guess for me it comes down to "one big lump, except a few specific things".
What the still is going to do is concentrate the alcohol. That will remove some impurities, but it could also concentrate others. If you think there's anything dangerous in your fermentation, don't drink it. If you make it with sugar and water, though, and if you only use food-grade equipment for the fermentation and distilation, there shouldn't be anything that need removing.
Thanks for the interesting article Nora! My fiancée and I are working on getting things in order financially to travel abroad (for at least a year). This article is encouraging when there are naysayers around us saying that it's going to be extremely expensive, etc. etc.
Thanks again,
Robert
I never had acne until I turned 24. First my face, then chest and back. Luckily, I found a good dermatologist right away.
It was stress. Stress from my job and from being an overall "people-pleaser".
Not anymore...the word NO is becoming a part of my regular vocabulary and I'm learning not to feel bad about it.
I agree with comments 10-12...especially 12. It's been interesting to watch my circle on DINK friends go from buying every new iPod offering and checking out every new restaurant in town to spending weekend evenings at someone's house watching movies and enjoying potluck dinner. The funny thing is that for us, little has changed. We all make way more money than we need, and so far, only 1 layoff in the whole crowd. But saving money has become "what the cool kids are doing". I promise--your friends that are spending like crazy probably want an excuse to stop--so help them!
I would love to travel all the time for about 6 months. I'm just afraid of letting go and leaving everything behind for that long. It would be fun though.
More suggestions from an adult-onset acne sufferer:
I found that clearing up my acne required a multi-pronged approach. The things that are working for me:
1. visiting a kinesiologist to get a personal evaluation of food intolerances, followed by dietary changes
2. Elemis tri-enzyme resurfacing regimen
3. exercise
Prescriptives oil-control lotion and toner also seem to be working for me, and they are less expensive than Elemis. If you want to try Elemis, look on e-Bay for more reasonable prices.
It took me well over a year of prodding to drag myself to the kinesiologist, but it has been well worth it - this has made the single biggest difference to my skin.
Unsuccessful approaches over the years have included: visits to multiple dermatologists, antibiotics, prescription topical creams/washes, various over-the-counter remedies (from cheap to expensive - I too got excited about Dr. Weil's mushroom stuff, and it ended up in the trash), etc.
Also, I am finding that the Elemis facials are great, and before moving to a different city, I found that microdermabrasion was very good. After the move I tried a different person for microdermabrasion and ended up with the worst acne I have ever had - so be careful which skincare professionals you use.
Good luck.
Hi Nora,
Thanks for this post. It's been something I've always wanted to do. Can you please talk about the types of jobs you found and whether you needed work visas?
Thanks!
This sounds like fun, but as an older person, I would be concerned about provisions for health care/health insurance while traveling. Winging it is fine, I guess, but if you get some major health issue, like, say, for instance, cancer, then what do you do?