I’ve been fascinated by the housing bubble for several years now. As a result, I’ve read many articles about people who used their home equity lines as credit cards, bought all sorts of goodies, trips, cruises, etc. and are now faced with foreclosure because their home values plummeted and they owe way more than their homes are worth. Reading all that stuff can make you feel pretty jaded.
And then I read this foreclosure story. A couple was making lots of money and had all the goodies. But their marriage was falling apart. Then she had a cancer scare and surgery. He had a heart attack. As a result, they burned through their savings. When the economy went south, they lost their house.
Where do you think they are now? You’ll have to read the story to find out. God’s hand is all over it. I’m pleasantly surprised that a secular newspaper published this story the way it’s written, because God gets credit for once. A good reminder that, in the midst of all this economic turmoil, He’s still in charge.
I was pretty fortunate. I fell in love with my son from the time I learned he had been conceived, and when I found out (eighteen hours after his birth) that he had Down syndrome, I loved him even more. But it doesn’t work that way for everyone.
One mom I knew felt she couldn’t cope with raising a child with Ds, and wanted to give her new baby up for adoption. But her husband refused, saying there was no way he was giving up his first son (there were already two daughters). That family has thrived since then, more than ten years ago….Mom just had a case of fear of the unknown, I think.
But then there is this gal, who blames a lack of support from her family and friends for her reluctance to raise her baby with Down syndrome. But as I’ve written before, God looks out for his precious ones. In this case, He sent an angel named Alex Bell.
I think it’s sad that today has become a retail event. It’s just one more reminder of the commercialization of Christmas.
While flipping through the sale flyers stuffed in this week’s newspapers, I was struck by how many furniture stores are having sales. I guess the idea is to impress your holiday guests when they come over by having new, up-to-date furniture.
I’m not one to update furniture much. I’m emotionally attached to most of our furniture (ok, not the sofa or loveseat, but pretty much everything else). Also, I just can’t see paying good money to buy furniture made in China when I already have good furniture made in America.
But I understand that change is good. Even I, sentimental and cheap, like a change of decorating sometimes. But my husband freaks out at the idea of change, especially if it costs a lot of money.
Some years back I discovered a book that satisfied the urge for change without replacing the furniture. It’s called Use What You Have Decorating by Lauri Ward.
I found the book long before real estate staging came into vogue, but both use the same room design principles. I was not familiar with those principles until I found this book. It taught me that the “push all the furniture up against the walls” decorating method I was raised with is definitely not the way to do things. Instead, Ward suggests better ways to rearrange your furniture and accent pieces.
This book taught me basic room design principles, and gave me the courage to use them. Of course, my husband doesn’t like it, because it advocates change. But I think it’s a great book!
I avidly collect recipes, far more than I’ll ever use. But it’s an addiction, and every time I make something new that my family loves, my addiction is reinforced.
Some of my very best recipes have come from the Internet, specifically from Lucianne.com. Lucianne doesn’t allow recipe sharing very often, because her site is intended for the discussion of politics and culture. But every rare once in a while, she permits a weekend recipe thread, and people share some fantastic recipes.
The thread runs only for today and tomorrow, and I imagine it will probably stay up for just a few days afterward. So don’t wait….pop in there soon and check back, as people will probably add to it all through the weekend 🙂
The bad news about the economic instability of our economy as well as those of other countries continues. Scary stuff, and it can make you feel pretty helpless. But there are things you can do.
First off, stop spending money on things you don’t absolutely need and try to save money wherever you can. I know many people believe that in times like these, you should spend today’s dollars because they’ll be worth less tomorrow. Beans! There’s nothing like the feeling of having money set aside for a rainy day.
Here are a few ways to save right now:
Pay for necessities with cash and put the change in a jar.
Take the amount you save by using coupons and put that in a jar.
Brown-bag it and put the money you would have spent for drive-up fast food in a jar.
Skip the Starbucks and put that money in a jar.
Pretty soon you should have a nice, full jar. Now, start with a new jar. In the past, I would have suggested you take that full jar to the bank and deposit it. But I’m thinking it’s a good idea to have some cash on hand at home. There are some shaky banks out there (check yours here), and it sure wouldn’t hurt to keep some of your money nearby….like in your house.
Today at the grocery I made a major killing. I spent $25 and my receipt showed I saved $28. Of course, that’s money saved off of full price, which I almost never pay. But it’s still savings. Shopping the sales combined with using coupons is always wise.
Buying in quantity when on sale is another no-brainer. I now have three 32-oz. jars of Miracle Whip Light in the house. At 99 cents each, they were a great deal. They’ll keep for a while, so I don’t mind having a few extra. I use them for homemade potato, tuna or egg salads, which are far cheaper homemade than what they cost at the grocery store deli counter.
Homemade….that’s another thing you can do in these unstable times. Make your own meals! You pay so much more for take-out, and plenty just for prepared foods and mixes. Case in point: the guy ahead of me in line at the grocery was buying a dinky container of seafood salad (surimi and pasta with dressing). The little one-pound container had a deli label on it that said $5.94. Good grief! You can easily make a huge batch of that stuff for less than $5, especially when you’ve got the items waiting for you in your pantry and fridge since you bought them on sale. A box of pasta for 69 cents, some ranch dressing mixed with mayo (maybe $1 worth) and a package of Crab Delights on sale for $1.50 (and even cheaper if you buy the store brand), plus a little diced celery….what does that total, maybe $3.50? And you’ll have enough to feed eight people.
Yet another thing you can do to save money: Don’t put anything on your credit card unless you can absolutely, definitely pay it off at the end of the month (credit card interest is a tax on spendthrifts!) Why even bother buying things on sale if you’re going to put that 14-25% tax on it? Ditto for buying furniture on time….no payments until 2010! Big deal…that’s how they rope you in, and later on you learn the interest has been piling up all that time, waiting for that first payment two years down the road. Don’t do it! If you must have furniture, if it’s a real need (not a want!), buy it used. Better yet, put out the word among family and friends that you need a new table or sofa, and maybe you’ll get a freebie. This is no time to be dropping hundreds or thousands of dollars on new stuff.
If you’re like me and you live a no debt/cash only lifestyle, be patient. Before long, overextended people will put their plasma tv’s and leather sofas on Craig’s List for next to nothing, because it’s going to be the only way they can raise cash. Their credit is tapped out and they need some money. The signs are already there. I’ve been looking at fifth wheel RV’s and there are some great deals out there!
Those are just a few areas where you can save money. There are many more. Go to the library and find yourself some books on saving money. If nothing else, use interlibrary loan to snag some of the classics written during the recession of the early 1980s, or one of Amy Dacyczyn’s books of the 90s (they all have “Tightwad Gazette” in their titles.)*
The more techniques you learn for saving money, the more empowered you’ll be, and the bad financial news we’re hearing on a daily basis these days won’t be quite so scary. This is not the time to sit in the corner and whimper. It’s time to take action!
* In case your library can’t get them for you, here’s Amy’s wonderful book plus some more that will help you:
