I'd say that's all great advice--IF you plan to venture out that day.
Personally, I'll do it all from the comfort of my own home.
Friday, I'll scour the internet for any great deals I can find and scoop them up--if there's nothing enticing that day--I'll simply hold out till Cyber Monday to take advantage of the savings.
You couldn't pay me a million dollars to go out in that insanity on Friday.
But great advice for those that do--and I wish you all luck.
I wrote a long note and it just went "poof" to wherever notes go at times.
I just can't replace that note (probably hiding somewhere here). I was wondering about buying insurance for about $160/one time/two years/$1,000.
I found a refurbished HP laptop, beautiful thing with lots of speed and that needful keypad. It cost a bit over $850 (worth over $2,000). I can pay the 2 years and save the rest IF I need repairs out there one day (hope not at all).
I checked the HP insurance, and it's too expensive and doesn't cover the most common problems one expects although you just never know what will happen. My old Dell has been great for over a decade and now it's the base for my home LAN that I just set up.
I don't travel with this laptop so it's just here on my desk in a safe place. I just feel very fortunate to have found such a beautiful machine for about 70% off. It appears all new, and it might have been (if it was in overstock like so many dealers do) OR they just do this awesome work to restore to like new. I get digital cameras the same way...usually off eBay. I do 95% of buying online and I save a LOT of money. (I was born during the Great Depression so that tells it all.)
Also, on the notes regarding Blue I did not want to go to the Blue place to buy for some reason. Ditto Circuit City. I knew I'd regret it.
Finally a post that actually gets pretty close to the mark. Christmas isn't about giving already spoiled people more crap they don't need. It's about giving from the heart to those you love and to those who are in need. And it doesn't have to cost you anything more then time.
Finally a post that actually gets pretty close to the mark. Christmas isn't about giving already spoiled people more crap they don't need. It's about giving from the heart to those you love and to those who are in need. And it doesn't have to cost you anything more then time.
Let's see if another poor person gets kicked to death for 30% off a GPS or a TV. Christmas and the "holidays" are about people, and cherishing your relationship with them, and God. Stop worshiping crap imported from China.
Above all: Have mercy (i.e. be NICE!) on the folks who have to WORK in the stores all weekend. Not one of them is going to be able to truly enjoy Thanksgiving day because they will be dreading what is come. Smile and say thank you for giving up what you take for granted. A little will go a long way.
I don't know if you all would understand when I say that I have a horrible story that right now I don't care to repeat or bother typing it all out. I paid twice the amount originally owned anyways and they failed to provide me any proofs or statements that I paid off. I contacted the original creditor, since I found out that the account was not sold, and they told me that the collection agency has not given them any paperwork saying I paid or payments that I have made. I know I should have made them given me a statement in writing but you don't know the verbal abuse and mental abuse I've gone through. Even if I can sue, I have no evidence to prove it. What do I do? Any advice will be appreciated.
Real estate is not the best investment, but I have to admit I did turn a $80,000 downpayment into $330,000 after fees in 5 years after I sold a piece of property.
I think the older you get, the more you realize the benefits of homeownership.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Or be sensible and DON'T GET A HOUSE/MORTGAGE BEYOND 20-25% of your monthly income. AT best buy smaller than you need to keep from PACKRAT consumerism of **** you don't need piling up in your oversized house closets uneeded floor space and finished basement/garage areas.
I bought a house to match previous rent of a one bdrm apt@ $550/mo or 56k mortgage in 1990, in a transitioning neighborhood, ended up subletting after 4yrs, letting the tenants pay my mortgage, and then remodeling selling it for > $8k profit @ 75k in '98, getting back all of my mortgage, interest and fix/repair investment.
Telling people not to buy a house is leaving property for the wealthy and developers while common civilian populous becomes permanent squatter peasants renting the lord of the manor's land and property to live on with barely an income.
Increasing homeownership, People need to live within their means and become like their parents/grandparents, who had decent comfortable lifestyles in 50-60's in one story ranch style housing or fixer up older 2 story farm colonials, instead of overpriced suburban McMansions on interest only mortgages.
Does anyone know of any company purchases used clothing?
Our firehouse has had clothing drives in the past, but our purchasing source is no longer available.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
The main reason that I want to own someday is to retire. It would be pretty hard to retire and still pay full rent each month, on top of the medical bills and other normal expenses. Once you buy a home outright you can go into retirement feeling more secure. Am I right on this? I have this fear that I'll never be able to retire if I don't own a home.
Good posts. I think many people are getting a cold hard lesson in reality that a home with no equity is simply renting. Never in our history have we allowed so many people to purchase homes with such little, if anything, down. No skin in the game. Take for example the option ARM product. People were able to go 100 percent financed and have a negative equity loan. So as properties fell, their loan balance increased. We have never seen such trends in housing. And even with FHA insured loans, you are only required to put 3.5 percent down. This is too little and we are seeing default rates soar.
Until you have 10 percent equity (at least) you are simply a renter. Even if you sell assuming costs and commissions, you are looking at 3 to 5 percent going to selling your place. So after escrow closes, how much do you clear?
This idea that owning a home makes you somehow immune from economic trends is nonsense. Just look at the 300,000 and more foreclosure filings each month and ask those people how secure owning a home is. A home is a good purchase only if you can swing the payment and don't spend more than a third of your income on your monthly nut. Otherwise, you are basically buying a put option on a rental. As we now know, price appreciation is never guaranteed.
Keep in mind many of those items at rock bottom prices are merely lures to get people into the store. Then it turns out that the store only has 5 of the $500 flat screens but the next "viable" option is the $1,000 item. There will be many deals but I'm curious how well stocked the stores will be? Many may be gun shy because of all the credit contraction in the economy. Why stock up if consumers are not expected to spend as much?
My bet is that many people will shop for the deals but I'm not sure retailers will see loss-leader bumps in their sales this year. Just my own early reaction but the American consumer surprises every year.
Here's a great idea, just accept the fact that what happens is cyclic, we are but a tiny pimple on earth's ass, insignificant, and it's time once again to wipe everything off the face of the earth and start again, and not in a 2012 kind of full of crap kind of way, that's another idiotic notion only second to this one. Well unless of course you believe the universe is only 6000 years old, then this is the first time. :)
Can you imagine how much energy it took to spread this article world wide, the power wasted on servers spewing this crap out, the energy wasted turning on millions of desktops and laptops just to read this stuff. Just imagine the colossal carbon footprint that was created to spread this post, unbelievable.
Hey, does everyone notice we don't do the ozone hole bull crap thing anymore, I guess its closing up all on its own or they just lost interest.
I would post more but I'm peddling as fast as I can and my legs are killing me :)
No don't do crowds full of crazies who will cut you to save $25 but do web sites like http://www.mycheaptech.net and my shopping is almost done for the holidays.
No time looking for parking, dealing with bad salesman and still got good prices like a laptop for $250 and $300 HDTV.
I'm at that mid-point in getting out of debt where I haven't spent money on "fun" in a year and have nothing to show for it but smaller balances on my bills. Our belts are just as tight as they were when we started and it's NO FUN.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
The numbers is this article don't add up. The author quotes the S&P National Home Price Index as saying housing prices go up 5.6% per year. If that is the case, then a house purchased for $200,000 would be worth $344,880 after ten years.
If the owners put 20% down, they would be putting $40,000 down and financing $160,000 (not $140k, as stated). After 10 years, the owners will have paid $106,000 in principal and interest, about $25,000 in taxes and insurance, and about $54,000 in repairs based on 2% of value (which, frankly, seems high to me based solely on personal experience.) That means the owners have paid $225,000 and are selling the house for $344,880.
After the real estate agent takes their 6%, the owners are left with about $99,000 TAX FREE, as they avoid capital gains from having lived there more than two years.
In addition to that, if they are in the 25% tax bracket they have also saved $19,250 in taxes over that time frame, bringing their total to $118,250 on a $225,000 investment.
BUT, that doesn't factor in that the owners would have had to pay rent somewhere. After the $40,000 down, the owners paid an average of $1542 per month on their total housing costs. If a comparable property rents for $1,100 a month (which is about what a $200k property rents for in my area) they would have had $442 per month to invest, plus the $40,000 down payment money.
Factoring in taxes, to match the same $118,250 you would need to average a 5% return in your chosen investment. Is that doable? Probably if you're savvy. But even if you can you wouldn't have been able to enjoy living in your own home for that time. If you can make significantly more than 5% somewhere, maybe that's worth it.
I don't know about you, but I have enough of my retirement money in stocks. Owning a piece of property (whether primary residence or investment) brings an additional layer of diversity to my portfolio.
This is definitely YMMV.
I bought my house 20 years ago for $200K
and it's now "worth" $900K, even after the 18% decline last year in my area.
I will never sell it, if we ever move I will rent it out for income, which in my area is about $2500-2900 per month.
I think it's too hard to generalize, everyone needs to assess their own needs and wants and then crunch the numbers.
"...Besides which you are forgetting the power of LEVERAGE. Yes, homes only appreciate around 4% a year, but you're earning that 4% on the entire value of the house - when you actually only invested 10%-20% of the cost of the home. That puts your real return in the double digits in most cases, not including principal paydowns."
Earning double digit return on investment??? How is this possible? Yes, house may appreciate at 4% per year, but you are paying maybe 5% interest per year on 80% of the purchase price, so maybe you break about even on return for many years, until a the interest payments start going down. OK maybe only paying net 3.75% interest per year after 25% tax bracket deduction. Still I don't see how you get double digit returns. Also any money you "earn" is not liquid cash for spending. You have to sell the house to get it or borrow it back through home equity loan.
Very nice article on the advantages and disadvantages to owning a home.
I mostly agree with your last section. My wife and I really wanted to own a home. For about 5 years, we moved once a year. We did it the smart way, large down payment, fixed interest rate, etc...and it has worked out great so far.
Numbers wise, only time will tell if we will have "invested correctly", but we have enjoyed our home immensely.
I'd say that's all great advice--IF you plan to venture out that day.
Personally, I'll do it all from the comfort of my own home.
Friday, I'll scour the internet for any great deals I can find and scoop them up--if there's nothing enticing that day--I'll simply hold out till Cyber Monday to take advantage of the savings.
You couldn't pay me a million dollars to go out in that insanity on Friday.
But great advice for those that do--and I wish you all luck.
I wrote a long note and it just went "poof" to wherever notes go at times.
I just can't replace that note (probably hiding somewhere here). I was wondering about buying insurance for about $160/one time/two years/$1,000.
I found a refurbished HP laptop, beautiful thing with lots of speed and that needful keypad. It cost a bit over $850 (worth over $2,000). I can pay the 2 years and save the rest IF I need repairs out there one day (hope not at all).
I checked the HP insurance, and it's too expensive and doesn't cover the most common problems one expects although you just never know what will happen. My old Dell has been great for over a decade and now it's the base for my home LAN that I just set up.
I don't travel with this laptop so it's just here on my desk in a safe place. I just feel very fortunate to have found such a beautiful machine for about 70% off. It appears all new, and it might have been (if it was in overstock like so many dealers do) OR they just do this awesome work to restore to like new. I get digital cameras the same way...usually off eBay. I do 95% of buying online and I save a LOT of money. (I was born during the Great Depression so that tells it all.)
Also, on the notes regarding Blue I did not want to go to the Blue place to buy for some reason. Ditto Circuit City. I knew I'd regret it.
Thanks for any suggestions! Neat blog here.
Finally a post that actually gets pretty close to the mark. Christmas isn't about giving already spoiled people more crap they don't need. It's about giving from the heart to those you love and to those who are in need. And it doesn't have to cost you anything more then time.
Great post!
Finally a post that actually gets pretty close to the mark. Christmas isn't about giving already spoiled people more crap they don't need. It's about giving from the heart to those you love and to those who are in need. And it doesn't have to cost you anything more then time.
Great post!
Let's see if another poor person gets kicked to death for 30% off a GPS or a TV. Christmas and the "holidays" are about people, and cherishing your relationship with them, and God. Stop worshiping crap imported from China.
Above all: Have mercy (i.e. be NICE!) on the folks who have to WORK in the stores all weekend. Not one of them is going to be able to truly enjoy Thanksgiving day because they will be dreading what is come. Smile and say thank you for giving up what you take for granted. A little will go a long way.
I don't know if you all would understand when I say that I have a horrible story that right now I don't care to repeat or bother typing it all out. I paid twice the amount originally owned anyways and they failed to provide me any proofs or statements that I paid off. I contacted the original creditor, since I found out that the account was not sold, and they told me that the collection agency has not given them any paperwork saying I paid or payments that I have made. I know I should have made them given me a statement in writing but you don't know the verbal abuse and mental abuse I've gone through. Even if I can sue, I have no evidence to prove it. What do I do? Any advice will be appreciated.
Real estate is not the best investment, but I have to admit I did turn a $80,000 downpayment into $330,000 after fees in 5 years after I sold a piece of property.
I think the older you get, the more you realize the benefits of homeownership.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Owning my home is a priceless feeling that a renter will not understand until they buy. It's an amazing feeling.
I'm glad I have a rental property where someone else is paying my mortgage and giving me some cash flow.
Homeownership is not for everyone. Please have at least 30% of the value of the house in cash, so you can put 20% down and have a 10% cash buffer.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Don't let the retailers take all your money!
Get that "spend more, save more" out of your mentality.
Good luck with the crowds folks!
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Or be sensible and DON'T GET A HOUSE/MORTGAGE BEYOND 20-25% of your monthly income. AT best buy smaller than you need to keep from PACKRAT consumerism of **** you don't need piling up in your oversized house closets uneeded floor space and finished basement/garage areas.
I bought a house to match previous rent of a one bdrm apt@ $550/mo or 56k mortgage in 1990, in a transitioning neighborhood, ended up subletting after 4yrs, letting the tenants pay my mortgage, and then remodeling selling it for > $8k profit @ 75k in '98, getting back all of my mortgage, interest and fix/repair investment.
Telling people not to buy a house is leaving property for the wealthy and developers while common civilian populous becomes permanent squatter peasants renting the lord of the manor's land and property to live on with barely an income.
Increasing homeownership, People need to live within their means and become like their parents/grandparents, who had decent comfortable lifestyles in 50-60's in one story ranch style housing or fixer up older 2 story farm colonials, instead of overpriced suburban McMansions on interest only mortgages.
I also have a circle scratch on my 360 Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, Prototype, and Gears of War 2.
HELP ME OUT HERE!!!
Does anyone know of any company purchases used clothing?
Our firehouse has had clothing drives in the past, but our purchasing source is no longer available.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
The main reason that I want to own someday is to retire. It would be pretty hard to retire and still pay full rent each month, on top of the medical bills and other normal expenses. Once you buy a home outright you can go into retirement feeling more secure. Am I right on this? I have this fear that I'll never be able to retire if I don't own a home.
I like that idea...it keeps your info in one place and keeps you on the target...I'll have to pass that on to my wife....teh Black Friday shopper.
Good posts. I think many people are getting a cold hard lesson in reality that a home with no equity is simply renting. Never in our history have we allowed so many people to purchase homes with such little, if anything, down. No skin in the game. Take for example the option ARM product. People were able to go 100 percent financed and have a negative equity loan. So as properties fell, their loan balance increased. We have never seen such trends in housing. And even with FHA insured loans, you are only required to put 3.5 percent down. This is too little and we are seeing default rates soar.
Until you have 10 percent equity (at least) you are simply a renter. Even if you sell assuming costs and commissions, you are looking at 3 to 5 percent going to selling your place. So after escrow closes, how much do you clear?
This idea that owning a home makes you somehow immune from economic trends is nonsense. Just look at the 300,000 and more foreclosure filings each month and ask those people how secure owning a home is. A home is a good purchase only if you can swing the payment and don't spend more than a third of your income on your monthly nut. Otherwise, you are basically buying a put option on a rental. As we now know, price appreciation is never guaranteed.
Keep in mind many of those items at rock bottom prices are merely lures to get people into the store. Then it turns out that the store only has 5 of the $500 flat screens but the next "viable" option is the $1,000 item. There will be many deals but I'm curious how well stocked the stores will be? Many may be gun shy because of all the credit contraction in the economy. Why stock up if consumers are not expected to spend as much?
My bet is that many people will shop for the deals but I'm not sure retailers will see loss-leader bumps in their sales this year. Just my own early reaction but the American consumer surprises every year.
Here's a great idea, just accept the fact that what happens is cyclic, we are but a tiny pimple on earth's ass, insignificant, and it's time once again to wipe everything off the face of the earth and start again, and not in a 2012 kind of full of crap kind of way, that's another idiotic notion only second to this one. Well unless of course you believe the universe is only 6000 years old, then this is the first time. :)
Can you imagine how much energy it took to spread this article world wide, the power wasted on servers spewing this crap out, the energy wasted turning on millions of desktops and laptops just to read this stuff. Just imagine the colossal carbon footprint that was created to spread this post, unbelievable.
Hey, does everyone notice we don't do the ozone hole bull crap thing anymore, I guess its closing up all on its own or they just lost interest.
I would post more but I'm peddling as fast as I can and my legs are killing me :)
No don't do crowds full of crazies who will cut you to save $25 but do web sites like http://www.mycheaptech.net and my shopping is almost done for the holidays.
No time looking for parking, dealing with bad salesman and still got good prices like a laptop for $250 and $300 HDTV.
I needed this today.
I'm at that mid-point in getting out of debt where I haven't spent money on "fun" in a year and have nothing to show for it but smaller balances on my bills. Our belts are just as tight as they were when we started and it's NO FUN.
Sierra Black - embracing the wild heart of parenting at www.childwild.com
My hair is past my knees. I anm the mother of 4 boys and I need to get rid of my hair. It almost takes as much time as my boys.
The numbers is this article don't add up. The author quotes the S&P National Home Price Index as saying housing prices go up 5.6% per year. If that is the case, then a house purchased for $200,000 would be worth $344,880 after ten years.
If the owners put 20% down, they would be putting $40,000 down and financing $160,000 (not $140k, as stated). After 10 years, the owners will have paid $106,000 in principal and interest, about $25,000 in taxes and insurance, and about $54,000 in repairs based on 2% of value (which, frankly, seems high to me based solely on personal experience.) That means the owners have paid $225,000 and are selling the house for $344,880.
After the real estate agent takes their 6%, the owners are left with about $99,000 TAX FREE, as they avoid capital gains from having lived there more than two years.
In addition to that, if they are in the 25% tax bracket they have also saved $19,250 in taxes over that time frame, bringing their total to $118,250 on a $225,000 investment.
BUT, that doesn't factor in that the owners would have had to pay rent somewhere. After the $40,000 down, the owners paid an average of $1542 per month on their total housing costs. If a comparable property rents for $1,100 a month (which is about what a $200k property rents for in my area) they would have had $442 per month to invest, plus the $40,000 down payment money.
Factoring in taxes, to match the same $118,250 you would need to average a 5% return in your chosen investment. Is that doable? Probably if you're savvy. But even if you can you wouldn't have been able to enjoy living in your own home for that time. If you can make significantly more than 5% somewhere, maybe that's worth it.
I don't know about you, but I have enough of my retirement money in stocks. Owning a piece of property (whether primary residence or investment) brings an additional layer of diversity to my portfolio.
This is definitely YMMV.
I bought my house 20 years ago for $200K
and it's now "worth" $900K, even after the 18% decline last year in my area.
I will never sell it, if we ever move I will rent it out for income, which in my area is about $2500-2900 per month.
I think it's too hard to generalize, everyone needs to assess their own needs and wants and then crunch the numbers.
"...Besides which you are forgetting the power of LEVERAGE. Yes, homes only appreciate around 4% a year, but you're earning that 4% on the entire value of the house - when you actually only invested 10%-20% of the cost of the home. That puts your real return in the double digits in most cases, not including principal paydowns."
Earning double digit return on investment??? How is this possible? Yes, house may appreciate at 4% per year, but you are paying maybe 5% interest per year on 80% of the purchase price, so maybe you break about even on return for many years, until a the interest payments start going down. OK maybe only paying net 3.75% interest per year after 25% tax bracket deduction. Still I don't see how you get double digit returns. Also any money you "earn" is not liquid cash for spending. You have to sell the house to get it or borrow it back through home equity loan.
Brandon,
Very nice article on the advantages and disadvantages to owning a home.
I mostly agree with your last section. My wife and I really wanted to own a home. For about 5 years, we moved once a year. We did it the smart way, large down payment, fixed interest rate, etc...and it has worked out great so far.
Numbers wise, only time will tell if we will have "invested correctly", but we have enjoyed our home immensely.