Wow! I new to all this and very impress with the information laid out here. My one comment, being from the food industry, would be not to store food in plastic bins from Home Depot unless they are food grade plastic. There is a reason that food processors have to use food grade plastic. Leaving in large plastic containers that are not made for food for long periods of time is not a good idea.
You're absolutely right. Never sacrifice your retirement for your child's education. However, most people overestimate how much financial aid their children will receive.
But you can do both. Max out your 401 (k) (at least up to your employers match), start regular contributions to an IRA and then start a 529 for your children.
I cannot beleive I just read this. This morning I received the EXACT response/email from this guy. I am speechless. I cannot beleive this is so easy to do. I am desperate to find a house for me and my family and this guy gave me such false hope. I will do everything in my power to stop this and make sure people are aware of this.
Thanks for this post. It's a great reminder that nothing in life is absolute. On certain occasions that I have failed to remember this, I've become complacent and have found myself in a deeper mess...usually emotionally. So, again, thanks for this article!
Child's education or retirement. Which one comes first? We can't rely on social security when we retire, but our children can apply for financial aid/scholarship, right?
The 2005 changes to the bankruptcy law add some obstacles, especially for people who make an above-average income. But, if your debts are such that you'll never be able to pay them back, bankruptcy is still there as a last resort.
I do not read "bailout" in any of the options. Certainly Options 1 and 2 are ways to honor the original contract with the lender. I particularly like Option 2. Not a bad idea even if you're not in trouble. Options 3, 4, and the more communicative version of 5 are (re)negotiations that can occur with the lender. ie. you are already in a relationship, it's not going so well, both parties can (re)negotiate to minimize the damage that each experience. I didn't know that Option 6 was still a viable option after the new legislation. In any case, "bailout" is not directly mentioned here. I suppose the lenders can aggregate all their losses and go begging for money, but they're pretty good a cooking their own books to a self-serving end regardless of how we interact with them. That part is more of a political problem and, from what I read, beyond the scope of the discussion.
I quote: "It's not my fault that it's worth less than the mortgage."
If you had put more money down, you wouldn't be under water. If you had refused to buy a home during a bubble, you wouldn't be under water. If you had bent the ear of all of your govt. representatives, you may have gotten them to do something to stop the insanity that created the bubble.
It sounds to me like you are at least partially to blame for your situation.
"The snowflake does not take blame for the avalanche"
Wow! You're on the ball with this one. Education, both yours and especially your children's is critically important. Start saving today through state sponsored Keogh plans. you should be paying into an education plan the month of your child's birth. I would estimate for $50,000 /yr for college in 18 years from now.
I generally think about this every time I go to the store. But like some others have mentioned, I don't eat very much processed food. Of the list of 20 things that you can buy to get the deal, I maybe only eat two. And I don't feel like buying 20 of them. For example, in your picture, I saw gogurt. Now, I bought this recently (put in the freezer and my son gets "ice cream"). But then I saw the HFCS and food coloring.
Of course, sometimes I do the math, and find that even with the sale, cash back, and coupons, it's still more expensive than Costco.
I do make myself sit down every couple of weeks and recalculate. I've been doing that a bit with the drugstore/CVS thing also. (Thing is, I really don't buy enough shampoo/toothpaste/makeup/toilet paper to make those useful either!!)
I would buy Cheerios, broth, canned tomatoes, and the occasional cake mix though.
I see your point, but the whole thing just sucks. My house is worth less than the mortgage. It's not my fault that it's worth less than the mortgage. I bought a house that I could afford. I just had really bad timing, buying in a spike because a whole bunch of OTHER people bought houses they COULDN'T afford.
But how am I supposed to time these things? Really? If I had a crystal ball, I would have bought in 1997 or 1998 and squeaked out the payments.
I would never consider "walking away" or such if I can still afford to make the payments. But we bought the house figuring worst case - we have to move to a different city to find work - that we could still sell the house. Now? Not so much.
I have lived in both big cities and small towns but since having a family I chose to come back home to small town life. I think whatever area appeals to your gut and your heart is where you should set up camp. Listen to your gut in the end but there is no harm in trying both lifestyles in order to see how you feel. I am also a firm believer in finding a job you love doing. when I was still on the job hunt, I did apply for jobs in NYC but in my heart I didn't think I would want to move to the city again.
Now that I am working at home and can literally have the choice of where I want to live, I think I want to stick to the small town life. I like people at the bank knowing my name and my neighbors looking out for my child. It feels right to be in a small town and we have the advantage of living within driving distance of some great big cities.
Speaking as a renter who was looking for a place to buy--and not finding one--during the period when the housing bubble was peaking, I'm with you 100% on the unfairness of bailing out people who bought houses they could not afford (thereby contributing to the bubble that made it impossible for me to find a house that I could afford).
Having said that, though, I have quite a bit of sympathy for people who are simply trapped by circumstances--owning a house that they can't sell, unable to get on with their lives because it's all of a piece: the expensive mortgage requiring the high-paying job, the location of their house tying them to local employers, the whole thing making it difficult or impossible to change careers, go back to school, or just move on.
My article wasn't intended to advocate for a bailout, but rather to offer practical advice for people who have gotten themselves into such a predicament.
Some people just want to be too safe with a day job. They don't want to take risks and step out of their comfort zones. Life is all about taking risks and making decisions. You fail if you choose to fail.
Not sure what state this happened, but in MY state, UNETHICAL would be the first word that comes to mind. That listing agent didn't represent his client's best interest, which by the way, IS HIS JOB PER THE CONTRACT HE SIGNED WITH THE PEOPLE SELLING THE HOSUE. His number one priority is to get the seller's the most for their house, NOT HOW MUCH COMMISSION HE'S GOING TO MAKE.
Second of all, he told you there was a higher offer pending, yeah, okay, another unethical agent could have told you there were 2 other offers pending...
REALTOR's have their jobs. A listing agent represents the seller's. A buyer's agent represents the buyer's PERIOD.
Those two little words you like to throw around...Dual Agency, well, in a true dual agency agreement, the agent doesn't represent ANYONE in the transaction, not the buyer or the seller.
You were taking for a fool and you want to make it look like you got a great deal and did all by yourself! Congratulations, FOOL, you could have probably gotten that house for about 4-9 thousand dollars less than you did!!
Intelligent people do their research and let the professionals do their jobs. In a lawsuit, uou wouldn't use the same attorney hired to represent the other party in the lawsuit, why use the same agent in the purchase of a house!!
GOOD LUCK RESALING YOUR HOUSE! Maybe you can do it yourself!
Ok iTunes is popular that's right.
But there are so many other sites where you can go "shopping" with these fraud credit cards - I can't really believe it.
I forgot to say that I bought some of these codes, (until now nothing happened with it)
The seller send me 2 codes. The 2nd was invalid. But he told me that it's invalid before i tested it.
Interesting was, that the invalid code had 10 numbers at the end.
That's why I think the codes are really generated...
You're reight the most people want US Codes, but can you imagine the people who want a code for their own country ? They would pay much more money - I asked the seller, but he said there is no possibility.
I noticed at the bottom of the pages it has links for "Money Laundering Techniques", "Money Laundering Training" (huh?) and "Ways to Launder Money", but you can only access that information after you first pay your $1,245.
My question is, if they have a lot of paid subscribers, what are they doing with all that money? I have a feeling they might have a pretty good idea of where to put it all.
Philip Brewer, I've gotta say that for a fluffy cat, you're incredibly smart and you write really well on a variety of subjects. I read the advice on this site regularly. I'll steer clear of your sharp claws though!
Excellent post! I haven't checked the value of my house in a long time, but I am sure it is less than my mortgage. I am still able to make the payments for now, but it's good to know that there are still options out there.
Let's let those who made bad decisions to buy a house, just lose that house. Let's let those who have been priced out of the market because of a 'false housing spike', be able to now buy those houses.
All this wringing of the communal hands! The two things lost in all the discussion of how to bail out the housing market are: the unfairness factor and the taking away the moral hazard. To bail out someone because they made a bad decision and are now sitting underwater is patently unfair to the neighbor who didn't do the same thing and now probably will end up paying for the mistakes of his unwise neighbor. To offer a bailout at all takes away any 'moral hazard' of making mistakes and will allow it to happen all over again.
Let the freaking market work. It simply amazing me that folks think that those who caused the problem, now can solve the problem. It amazes me further that anyone has faith in Big Government. Read your History.
It's always best to be behind the technological curve a bit.
And in terms of memory cards for cameras, 2 GB is my sweet spot, because memory cards DO fail, and I don't want all my shots from an important event or trip on one card. I shoot RAW format with an 8 megapixel DSLR, and the RAW files are 13 MB each. I get 146 photos per 2 GB card, which is as many as I'm comfortable with being on one card before swapping out.
Wow! I new to all this and very impress with the information laid out here. My one comment, being from the food industry, would be not to store food in plastic bins from Home Depot unless they are food grade plastic. There is a reason that food processors have to use food grade plastic. Leaving in large plastic containers that are not made for food for long periods of time is not a good idea.
This is a very well done article. Nothing more to say other than well done. I'm going to link to this on my site!
Gordon:
You're absolutely right. Never sacrifice your retirement for your child's education. However, most people overestimate how much financial aid their children will receive.
But you can do both. Max out your 401 (k) (at least up to your employers match), start regular contributions to an IRA and then start a 529 for your children.
I cannot beleive I just read this. This morning I received the EXACT response/email from this guy. I am speechless. I cannot beleive this is so easy to do. I am desperate to find a house for me and my family and this guy gave me such false hope. I will do everything in my power to stop this and make sure people are aware of this.
I will post my email from him as well.
Thank You.
Thanks for this post. It's a great reminder that nothing in life is absolute. On certain occasions that I have failed to remember this, I've become complacent and have found myself in a deeper mess...usually emotionally. So, again, thanks for this article!
Child's education or retirement. Which one comes first? We can't rely on social security when we retire, but our children can apply for financial aid/scholarship, right?
The 2005 changes to the bankruptcy law add some obstacles, especially for people who make an above-average income. But, if your debts are such that you'll never be able to pay them back, bankruptcy is still there as a last resort.
I do not read "bailout" in any of the options. Certainly Options 1 and 2 are ways to honor the original contract with the lender. I particularly like Option 2. Not a bad idea even if you're not in trouble. Options 3, 4, and the more communicative version of 5 are (re)negotiations that can occur with the lender. ie. you are already in a relationship, it's not going so well, both parties can (re)negotiate to minimize the damage that each experience. I didn't know that Option 6 was still a viable option after the new legislation. In any case, "bailout" is not directly mentioned here. I suppose the lenders can aggregate all their losses and go begging for money, but they're pretty good a cooking their own books to a self-serving end regardless of how we interact with them. That part is more of a political problem and, from what I read, beyond the scope of the discussion.
thanks for the tip! i used no name brand furniture polish and it worked! thanks very much
You don't want to know how much money I lost in the stock market. You simply do not want to hear.
I could say, Not My Fault.
Where's my Bailout?
@Marcia-
I quote: "It's not my fault that it's worth less than the mortgage."
If you had put more money down, you wouldn't be under water. If you had refused to buy a home during a bubble, you wouldn't be under water. If you had bent the ear of all of your govt. representatives, you may have gotten them to do something to stop the insanity that created the bubble.
It sounds to me like you are at least partially to blame for your situation.
"The snowflake does not take blame for the avalanche"
Wow! You're on the ball with this one. Education, both yours and especially your children's is critically important. Start saving today through state sponsored Keogh plans. you should be paying into an education plan the month of your child's birth. I would estimate for $50,000 /yr for college in 18 years from now.
It's nice to get a "fresh" set of tips. Keep up the good work.
I generally think about this every time I go to the store. But like some others have mentioned, I don't eat very much processed food. Of the list of 20 things that you can buy to get the deal, I maybe only eat two. And I don't feel like buying 20 of them. For example, in your picture, I saw gogurt. Now, I bought this recently (put in the freezer and my son gets "ice cream"). But then I saw the HFCS and food coloring.
Of course, sometimes I do the math, and find that even with the sale, cash back, and coupons, it's still more expensive than Costco.
I do make myself sit down every couple of weeks and recalculate. I've been doing that a bit with the drugstore/CVS thing also. (Thing is, I really don't buy enough shampoo/toothpaste/makeup/toilet paper to make those useful either!!)
I would buy Cheerios, broth, canned tomatoes, and the occasional cake mix though.
@Kelja,
I see your point, but the whole thing just sucks. My house is worth less than the mortgage. It's not my fault that it's worth less than the mortgage. I bought a house that I could afford. I just had really bad timing, buying in a spike because a whole bunch of OTHER people bought houses they COULDN'T afford.
But how am I supposed to time these things? Really? If I had a crystal ball, I would have bought in 1997 or 1998 and squeaked out the payments.
I would never consider "walking away" or such if I can still afford to make the payments. But we bought the house figuring worst case - we have to move to a different city to find work - that we could still sell the house. Now? Not so much.
I have lived in both big cities and small towns but since having a family I chose to come back home to small town life. I think whatever area appeals to your gut and your heart is where you should set up camp. Listen to your gut in the end but there is no harm in trying both lifestyles in order to see how you feel. I am also a firm believer in finding a job you love doing. when I was still on the job hunt, I did apply for jobs in NYC but in my heart I didn't think I would want to move to the city again.
Now that I am working at home and can literally have the choice of where I want to live, I think I want to stick to the small town life. I like people at the bank knowing my name and my neighbors looking out for my child. It feels right to be in a small town and we have the advantage of living within driving distance of some great big cities.
Thought provoking!
@ Kelja:
Speaking as a renter who was looking for a place to buy--and not finding one--during the period when the housing bubble was peaking, I'm with you 100% on the unfairness of bailing out people who bought houses they could not afford (thereby contributing to the bubble that made it impossible for me to find a house that I could afford).
Having said that, though, I have quite a bit of sympathy for people who are simply trapped by circumstances--owning a house that they can't sell, unable to get on with their lives because it's all of a piece: the expensive mortgage requiring the high-paying job, the location of their house tying them to local employers, the whole thing making it difficult or impossible to change careers, go back to school, or just move on.
My article wasn't intended to advocate for a bailout, but rather to offer practical advice for people who have gotten themselves into such a predicament.
Some people just want to be too safe with a day job. They don't want to take risks and step out of their comfort zones. Life is all about taking risks and making decisions. You fail if you choose to fail.
Two thumbs up and a pat at the back, Philip.
Kevin
Not sure what state this happened, but in MY state, UNETHICAL would be the first word that comes to mind. That listing agent didn't represent his client's best interest, which by the way, IS HIS JOB PER THE CONTRACT HE SIGNED WITH THE PEOPLE SELLING THE HOSUE. His number one priority is to get the seller's the most for their house, NOT HOW MUCH COMMISSION HE'S GOING TO MAKE.
Second of all, he told you there was a higher offer pending, yeah, okay, another unethical agent could have told you there were 2 other offers pending...
REALTOR's have their jobs. A listing agent represents the seller's. A buyer's agent represents the buyer's PERIOD.
Those two little words you like to throw around...Dual Agency, well, in a true dual agency agreement, the agent doesn't represent ANYONE in the transaction, not the buyer or the seller.
You were taking for a fool and you want to make it look like you got a great deal and did all by yourself! Congratulations, FOOL, you could have probably gotten that house for about 4-9 thousand dollars less than you did!!
Intelligent people do their research and let the professionals do their jobs. In a lawsuit, uou wouldn't use the same attorney hired to represent the other party in the lawsuit, why use the same agent in the purchase of a house!!
GOOD LUCK RESALING YOUR HOUSE! Maybe you can do it yourself!
Hi !
Ok iTunes is popular that's right.
But there are so many other sites where you can go "shopping" with these fraud credit cards - I can't really believe it.
I forgot to say that I bought some of these codes, (until now nothing happened with it)
The seller send me 2 codes. The 2nd was invalid. But he told me that it's invalid before i tested it.
Interesting was, that the invalid code had 10 numbers at the end.
That's why I think the codes are really generated...
You're reight the most people want US Codes, but can you imagine the people who want a code for their own country ? They would pay much more money - I asked the seller, but he said there is no possibility.
I checked the website MoneyLaundering.com and it says "Subscribe today for only $1,245.00":
http://www.moneylaundering.com/products/mlpinfo.aspx
$1,245??? Sorry, "ONLY" $1,245...
This site is a front for money laundering, right?
I noticed at the bottom of the pages it has links for "Money Laundering Techniques", "Money Laundering Training" (huh?) and "Ways to Launder Money", but you can only access that information after you first pay your $1,245.
My question is, if they have a lot of paid subscribers, what are they doing with all that money? I have a feeling they might have a pretty good idea of where to put it all.
Philip Brewer, I've gotta say that for a fluffy cat, you're incredibly smart and you write really well on a variety of subjects. I read the advice on this site regularly. I'll steer clear of your sharp claws though!
Excellent post! I haven't checked the value of my house in a long time, but I am sure it is less than my mortgage. I am still able to make the payments for now, but it's good to know that there are still options out there.
Let's let those who made bad decisions to buy a house, just lose that house. Let's let those who have been priced out of the market because of a 'false housing spike', be able to now buy those houses.
All this wringing of the communal hands! The two things lost in all the discussion of how to bail out the housing market are: the unfairness factor and the taking away the moral hazard. To bail out someone because they made a bad decision and are now sitting underwater is patently unfair to the neighbor who didn't do the same thing and now probably will end up paying for the mistakes of his unwise neighbor. To offer a bailout at all takes away any 'moral hazard' of making mistakes and will allow it to happen all over again.
Let the freaking market work. It simply amazing me that folks think that those who caused the problem, now can solve the problem. It amazes me further that anyone has faith in Big Government. Read your History.
It's always best to be behind the technological curve a bit.
And in terms of memory cards for cameras, 2 GB is my sweet spot, because memory cards DO fail, and I don't want all my shots from an important event or trip on one card. I shoot RAW format with an 8 megapixel DSLR, and the RAW files are 13 MB each. I get 146 photos per 2 GB card, which is as many as I'm comfortable with being on one card before swapping out.