Life as I know it!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-24T08:52:00.001-08:00

I have been off the blog for a while. It has been a combination of things, including boredom from always watching the money.. and the fact that we have been away for the better part of the last 30 days, visiting relatives in London and my husband's folks in Rome. It sucked that we weren't able to actually stay for the holidays, but it would have been a big blow to our budget to stay longer. The airlines "Holiday" prices kick into effect on the 17th of December and that's when the fares increase significantly, so to save money, we came back on the 16th. It was nice to get away from all the daily pressures of budgeting and just eat, eat and eat some more!!! I am proud to say that we stuck to below our budget and spent less than 300 dollars the whole time. It helped that we didn't have to pay for lodging, just groceries and the only shopping we did was buy a soccer jersey for a friend.. (Chelsea) and some magnets for friends. The rest of the time was spent window shopping and sightseeing. Being familiar with both places, we took buses in London and my husband drove in Rome.

Happy Holidays to everyone and my wish for the next year is that it be a better one for all!

Wow! and l thought l had my head buried...

2009-11-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

in the sand! I just read this article in the Wall Street Journal about former executives with formerly high paying jobs who are still living in a state of denial! As in the recession never happened. They still send their kids to private school, have weekly manicure/pedicures, employ maids etc... all the while running through their severance pay. Some even turned down several jobs because it didn't pay as much as their old jobs and are still waiting for new jobs that have not come so far. I don't understand this at all. I thought it was a joke, l mean, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if your expenses outweigh your income, you have to cut back a bit and make life adjustments. It's insane. I see Grace has read the same article! My problems are nothing compared to these people. Here's the link.. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125780714976639687.html

.. And she's clear..

2009-10-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Part of the reason my blog has been so sporadic lately is that l have been taking care of one of my older sisters. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago! This totally threw me for a loop. It was quite unexpected. It was even worse because we hadn't been close for such a long time. She had ostracized herself from the whole family and l had no contact with her despite the fact that we live in the same city. I'll tell you though, nothing like the big C to pull everyone together and band up against this nasty disease. She did her rounds of Chemo at Baylor University here in Houston on a new drug trial basis. Unfortunately, the shrink wasn't enough, so she underwent a mastectomy 2 weeks ago. She had her checkup yesterday post operation and thank God, she got a clean bill of health. She is healing nicely and the drainage bags were removed. I am so thankful, l just regret the fact that it took such a horrible thing for us to come together as a family again. My dad died of colon cancer and l've since learned that cancer is prevalent in my family, so l need to have myself checked out. Part of me doesn't want to.. but l do have to, l know.. We're making up for lost time though, and l am amused by the fact that despite her being completely bald right now, her hair will grow back faster than mine! That! totally sucks! :o(

Banks and the new 'local" hold

2009-09-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

I have been reading on several blogs about the banking industries! My last blog had to do with banks and how much they collect on "overdraft fees". It amounted to an excess of 29 billion dollars a year! I feel for the most part that consumers are responsible for their actions and should not spend money they don't have! Sometimes though, they are spending money that they do have. About a month ago, l needed some money in a hurry and my sister who lives in Dallas deposited some money into my account. Now, get this, both accounts are from Bank of America, hers in Dallas, mine in Houston. The money was withdrawn from her account on the same day!!!! yet, l was only allowed to access $100 the first 2 days and had to wait 5 working days to access the rest! I was told the bank now has a "local" hold on checks! I don't even know what that means. I could almost understand it if it was a different bank, but the same? I did the only thing l could, once the check cleared, l withdrew all the money and l am going to stick with my Wells Fargo account for now, unless they start with the same nonsense. I understand the banks are trying to come up with various ways to keep making money until the consumer protection bill comes into play next year, but this is ridiculous. They make interest by floating your money and penalize you for trying to spend your own money. Someone in a truly desperate situation would have had no choice but to write checks, the banks would have been only too glad to cash said checks and then hit you with a 39 dollar overdraft fee for each check honored. Bank of America recently in the last week agreed to limit the daily overdraft checks honored to 6! as opposed to the unlimited amount. They also vowed to make customers "opt out" of the "automatic" overdraft protection. A "courtesy" they had previously extended to all their customers. Thanks indeed!!!! Vultures..the whole lot of them!

Funny Math??

2009-09-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Just a thought about banks and the way things are calculated! In 2007, banks made a profit of 29 BILLION dollars in from overdraft fees alone!!! 29 Billion!!!! Yet, most of these same banks had their hands out for the bailout money.. because boo hoo, they had made really bad loans etc.. Now, the FDIC (the people that insure us little people's bank accounts to a maximum of $250,000 per account) is in dire straights and is now considering asking the banks for a loan to prop up it's balance sheets! It's just crazy... It just goes to show you the bailout money was just sitting there and not really needed, but they figured, if the government was handing it out, why not take it, along with other profits the banks have raked up! Nothing is going to change.. I am so disgusted with the whole thing.

Brand vs Store Brand

2009-09-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

I was just reading Get rich slowly's blog about how much cheaper the store brands were when compared to the brand names. I had been thinking about writing of it for a while, because l had a revelation of sorts when l was grocery shopping last week. Me, along with the rest of the world have been in a money crunch situation and have been watching our pennies. For the longest time, l had refused to give up my Tropicana brand orange juice. I always felt it tasted the best and it was not from concentrate. I just loved it so much and l refused to give it up for the longest time. Then, a few months ago, we went to the local grocery store and l was about to pick one up when l noticed the packaging had changed. The new look was very off putting to me, it looked sort of like the Target brand O.J !!! and not the familiar orange with the straw! and it was smaller, but priced the same. That day, l decided to try the store brand orange juice. I didn't like it as much, but it was much cheaper. Eventually, l got used to the taste and l like the savings. Our finances have recently improved a bit, so last week, while doing the grocery shopping, l automatically assumed l would switch back to Tropicana, especially since the old packaging was back (apparently everyone hated the new look!), but l still got the store brand. I can't figure out if this is the new mature me who is learning that flashy is not necessarily better or it's just going to take a bit of time to revert back to my old ways. I would like to think the former is true. For now, l am going to keep trying to save money. I like that!

Halleluyah!

2009-09-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

We finally closed on the flip house. What a nightmare!!!! After what seemed like 14 years, 7 months and 2 days but in actuality was 4 months and like 10 days, it's finally a done deal. Papers signed and money in hand. Now , we can seriously get into the "shoring up our finances" mode. What a relief. It turned a small profit, and will certainly help towards paying down a major portion of our debt, not all mind you, but a good chunk. I am so overwhelmed right now, l just want to stare at my bank statement and pretend that it's all ours.. I will enjoy it for a few more days, then get down to business!

The 419!

2009-08-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

By now, unless you've been living under a rock, every one knows about the internet scammers, but this article leads me to believe that people are still just as naive and gullible as ever. This is a recent article in the Houston Chronicle. It seems business has only slowed down, not stopped completely in light of the recession. These people are bad for sure, but they count on human greed, of which there seems to be no shortage over here in America. Imagine making 25,000 dollars a month!!!! and that's due to the recession. People...wake up!!! If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is... It's good for a laugh though
The article is at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/6566568.html

On a sadder note, my poor dog died a few days after his Lymphoma diagnosis. I miss him, but l know he is in a better place. Thanks for all your kind words, both here and on Facebook!

My poor dog..

2009-07-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

Lucky, my ever faithful companion was diagnosed with Lymphoma by the vet yesterday and l am devastated. I have had since he was 7 months old. He is now 8 1/2. He has always been a lazy dog who preferred to sleep and eat all day. The past week or so, he lost his appetite and wasn't so eager to go for his walks. We blamed it on the heat, it has been so hot lately and he was panting terribly. We left the AC on 24/7 so as to make him feel better and we brought out the blankets for us. He wasn't getting any better, so on Monday, we took him to the vet first thing, because at this point, he stopped eating completely and couldn't walk anymore. I thought maybe he contacted heartworm, but it's worse. He has just a little bit of time left. We started him on oral steroids and he is just a little bit better today. I don't know how much longer we'll have him, but we plan on enjoying every last second with him.

Vanity Fair.. and the TARP form

2009-07-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

I'd always wondered what was required of the institutions that got the federal bailout money. I now have my answer. My latest edition of Vanity Fair magazine has shed some light on this. I have seen this TARP form, it is get this... 2 pages, count them, 2 pages long and has just 20 questions. I am copying and posting part of the column. I urge you to go check out the form at VF.com under the archives of the August 2009 edition. I love it! You have more questions just to sign up for a telephone line, yet these people received billions, just by answering probing questions like "what is your telephone #?"

"Have you seen the application the banks had to fill out to receive their slice of the multi-billion-dollar tarp pie? It runs just two pages, with a mere 20 questions. Two pages. Twenty questions. If you wanted to open an account with FedEx to send the application back to the Treasury, you’d have to fill out a three-page, 74-question form. Even when you’re giving money to the bank, not the other way around, a checking-account application at Citibank (with minimum required deposit) is six pages long and has 46 questions. The California food-stamps application is five pages long and comprises 38 questions. The Treasury must have some misplaced trust in bankers and other such miscreants, for, unlike on the California food-stamps application, there is no place on the tarp form where someone has to certify “under penalty of perjury” that all the information provided on the application is “true, correct and complete.”

V.F. reporter-researcher Matt Kapp decodes the TARP application form, which makes a food-stamp application look like the Oxford English Dictionary.
One of the more revealing tarp questions is the following: “Describe Any Condition, Including A Representation Or Warranty, Contained In The Investment Agreements And Related Documentation, The Institution Believes it Cannot Comply With By November 14, 2008 And Provide A Timeline For Reaching Compliance.1” The footnote says that the timeline can come as an attachment, as long as it’s “no longer than 1 page.” One page. I promise you, I’m not making this up. If this isn’t the epitome of Bush-era oversight, I don’t know what is. See the complete tarp application for yourself—all two pages of it."

Gotta love it!

Another reason American Express Sucks!!!

2009-07-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had previously written about how American Express had reduced my credit limit on my business card from 25,000 to 4,000 dollars!!! At that point, my balance with them was $3800.00 which l paid off because l was so mad. I have been an Amex customer since 1983!!! and my FICO score was 790 until recently! I stopped using that card. This past friday, l received a letter from them stating that l had not used another card l had with them (Amex Blue) in over 6 months, so that account has been cancelled! The same day, l tried to order an office product from Office Depot online and when l went to pick the order up, l was told there was nothing for me! I came back home and logged on to the Office Depot website and found out that..yep..they cancelled that card too. I guess the other letter must be in the mail. I called Amex to complain and was told that my "credit profile has changed" and l had a high debt utilization ratio. I kindly informed them that l totally believe that, because thanks to them, a combined total of $90,000 available credit that l had with them had suddenly gone away due to the fact that l did not use it (amazing, but true!) and so l suddenly went from 35% debt to limit ratio to like 90%!!!! She had no answer for me obviously. I find it insane that you get penalized for being responsible.. This has greatly diminished my FICO score of course and Bank of America now sees me as a risk and has lowered my credit limit on one of my cards, pushing the score even farther. Amazingly, the one with the $50,000 credit line has not being touched..at least not yet! We'll see how long that lasts.
The point is, l see them cleaning house and now l am so mad.. l want to hit them where it hurts! I don't know how yet..but hopefully, it will come. I know they are doing this to a whole bunch of people, so they'll get theirs. It was easy for them to get several billion dollars from the Feds though, going as far as to morph themselves into a traditional bank to qualify! Personally, l hope they get stiffed! Hopefully, by the customers they deem credit worthy. May they continue to make decisions that become financial disasters. That is my wish for them.

Ways to save a bundle!

2009-06-26T05:31:00.000-07:00

I was reading the Oprah magazine the other day and it had an article on ways to save a bundle. There were some points that were really helpful. This is a short list of my favorite ones. For the full article, go to oprah magazine's website.

Spiritair.com is an airline that offers discount flights. For a membership fee of $39.95 per year, you get notices of fares that range from $3 to 9 dollars per flight. They have flights within the U.S as well as the Caribbean and Mexico. I like that, l have to check it out.

M.A.C will give you a free lipstick if you bring back 6 empty tubes! That's pretty cool.

Gilt.com has online sample sales, for example a Vivienne Tam outfit that was originally $450 is offered for $168! Still too pricy for my blood.. but maybe they have other deals. There is usually a short waiting period to get on the mailing list, about 2 weeks

Bed Bath and Beyond - Your 20% off coupon is now good at BuyBuyBaby since it is now owned by them

Gimp.org offers free tech support and software similar to Photoshop etc..

SteinerEd.com offers $50 massages for $20 when done by students on saturdays and Sundays, also Aveda has discount haircuts ranging from 15 - 25 dollars when done by students

Restaurant.com lists restaurants offering discount certificates, for example a $25 gift certificate for Million Dollar Steakhouse in Wyoming is offered for $10!

Naughtycodes.com has codes to enter at checkout for discounts. Fatwallet.com has coupons and rebates for bargain hunters.

Hey.. anything to help during this recession is a good thing.. There are other helpful things as well, but these are the ones that l like and if you are interested in the whole article, search for "25 ways to save a bundle'

Happy shopping!

Twittering away your safety...

2009-06-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sure everyone on this planet by now is familiar with the social media Twitter. I myself have a twitter account that l rarely use. I keep trying to think of why anyone would be interested in updates on my life. I know for a fact that l couldn't care less about knowing someone else's whereabouts at any particular point in time. It seems l might be one of the minority as twittering has now become a social pastime. The associated Press had an article in today's news about an unfortunate man and his recent home business burglary. He owned a video editing store and used Twitter to update his customers as well as his "followers" as they are known. He and his wife went on a trip to Kansas City and kept his followers updated with bon mons like "preparing to head out of town" "another 10 hours of driving" and that they "made it to Kansas City". Whilst away, their house was burglarized and his video editing equipment stolen. He is pretty sure that his "updates" tipped the burglars off.
The article goes on to say that while the same people wouldn't leave a recording on their answering machine telling callers they were on vacation or let their mail pile up, they think nothing of posting real time updates/photos etc on social networks. I am a bit cautious when it comes to revealing things online, whether it's this blog, or on facebook etc. I feel you just never know, there is a thing as "too much information". We are all lulled into this false sense of security and think we are hiding behind this wall of invisibility, but it's not true.. You have cyber stalkers, and just like real life, a lot of creeps.. so a word to the wise. It is no longer unusual for companies to do facebook and myspace searches on prospective employees. What you assume to be a harmless joke or pic just might come back and bite you in the butt! Of course, sometimes, it's kind of fun and harmless stuff, like the extraordinarymommy blog lady who uploaded a picture of her family's christmas card on her blog and one of her friends on facebook saw the very same picture being used as an ad in the Czech Republic! Lucky for her that it's a nice photo!

Countdown to the iphone..

2009-06-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Apple announced yesterday that the new iphone 3G S will be released on June 19th. I am so excited. As luck would have it, my Verizon contract expires on June 18th and l don't plan on renewing it. I have wanted this iphone for so long. I use a mac at home and have the ipod. The new monthly payment with the iphone will be the same as the deal we have with Verizon currently. The only outlay will be the cost of the phones. We each want the 16 gigabyte version, mine in black, his in white. The retail price will be 199 dollars each. I feel a bit guilty as money is wicked tight right now, but l also know that l have to have it! I don't NEED it, but l WANT it! I haven't bought anything in a long while, not clothes, shoes etc.. just haven't felt the need to, but this one l want. I am not even going to try and justify my wanting it. It is just going to be a very cool gadget for me...the 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, the video capture and editing, the compass, the safari browser etc..etc.. I can't wait. I would have gotten the iphone 2 years ago, but at that point, the company l work for didn't have a employee discount deal with AT&T, only with Verizon (20% of your monthly bill), but now we can get the same thing at the AT&T store, so come the 19th... l will be at the store, going open..open..open..
The countdown has started..

Good Credit? Welcome to the world of foreclosure!

2009-05-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

According to the Associated Press , the mortgage crisis has now spread to the people who were once deemed untouchable. It seems this past quarter, the largest share of foreclosures come from borrowers with good credit. This is probably due to the vast increment in job losses and pay cut all across the board. About 6 percent of the prime borrowers who had fixed interest are now either in foreclosure or were past due, this figure is almost double of last year's. This is only going to get worse as the recession drags on. I feel bad for all these people who worked so hard to be able to achieve the american dream and now see it turn into a nightmare. I see my old state of California in deep financial crisis, and the governor is talking about state employees taking a 5% pay cut, this is already on top of the 2 day furloughs per month which amounts to a 10% pay cut already. Imagine right now, if you were asked to take a 15% pay cut??? Could you manage? I couldn't, so of course l expect the problems to get worse. It makes you long for the old days of June and Ward Cleaver, where the dad worked, the mom kept house, the kids were well behaved and everything was "swell". Some are predicting an end to this recession by the end of the year, I am not sure what figures they are looking at, but l hope they are right. I do definitely think that the worst is behind us. Anything has got to be better than 2008!!! Let's all hang in there because this too shall pass!

Interesting Weekend..

2009-05-25T09:53:00.001-07:00

We got a call from our realtor this weekend, finally!!! About 3 weeks ago, we had gotten an offer on the house that has been on the market for almost 8 months! It was too low by my estimate as well as the realtor's, so we counter offered and they disappeared. We were a bit regretful and thought maybe we should have just accepted it and closed the chapter on that one. I know times are tough in the real estate market, and offers don't happen every day! This past weekend, the house had a showing and the same night, the realtor received an offer that was a bit better than the first one! She said to review the offer and get back to her, l said l would. She sent me an email and the offer looked good and solid, they were already pre-approved. We were just about to sign off, when she forwarded me an email with the subject matter ..another one.. I was a bit confused, but it was just that, she had a second offer!!!! Then, a 3rd one came in, and that was the strongest one of all.. full asking price and all 3 have pre-approval, as long as the house appraises for what we're selling it for. I don't know what happened and why it's happening now, but we are thankful. I hope nothing unexpected happens and we close in 30 days as they requested. We are looking forward to the end of this story. Something strange has been happening in our immediate neighborhood as well, we've had 3 houses sell in the past in the past 30 days after they were languishing on the market for months and months (brand new houses too!) I wonder if it has anything to do with the tax credit for new home buyers. I don't know and l don't care to tell the truth.. :o)

How much is the news worth?

2009-05-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Every morning, l get up, go for my walk and bring in the newspaper. I then make myself a cup of coffee and sit at the table to digest the news of the day. It is probably my favorite routine. Now, l have to decide whether to keep my home delivery or start getting my news online. Much has been written about the financial dire straights of newspapers recently. Most people get their news via the net and the ad revenues have dropped so much that a lot of newspapers corporations are bankrupt. The Houston Chronicle, to save money have recently combined the Business and City and State sections. I have noticed the paper is so much lighter than it was. I had signed up for the home delivery upon moving here to keep up my tradition from Los Angeles. The cost was $102 for a year's worth of delivery, daily and the weekends. When that ran out, the price went up to $202 dollars, l called and complained and was told l would be kept on the special price, which was still $102. I recently got my renewal notice, it seems l was shortchanged! The price was $102, but only for 6 months which ends May 23. I think l will have to stop the subscription to save some much needed money. I feel bad as l know they are struggling, but so am l. I noticed the price of the daily paper is $1, l remember when it was just 25 cents. The internet has been good for a lot of things, but it has also forever changed a lot more things. Remember when MTV first started and "Video killed the Radio Star" ??? Well, l think the internet has killed the newspaper, or at least altered it significantly. Now, you can google anything, but l can't imagine l will have the same thrill l get from actually reading and holding the paper by staring at the computer screen..

Haggling..

2009-05-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Trent at Simple Dollar and Dawn at Fighting Foreclosure both have articles about haggling that l find very interesting (I'm sorry, l haven't figured out how to link stories, so help me out if you know!). I thought l'd put my 2 cents in.
Haggling is a way of life in many parts of the world. I come from a place where "not" haggling is cause for concern. My older sister is banned from some fabric stores in the market because she refuses to haggle. No matter how much they ask her to pay, she just does and gets on with it. The shopkeepers therefore don't trust her and they won't deal with her, so she usually has to send one of my other sisters to purchase from those stores.. lol! It's a social thing, you as the buyer want to get a good price, the seller always starts off high so they can increase their margin and you're supposed to meet somewhere in the middle and both sides are satisfied.
I have friends with fond recollections of my mother's visits to the U.S. She always shopped for fabric to take back home to make one of a kind outfits. Her favorite saying is always "How many fingers am l holding up?" No matter how much something is, she always starts with such a miniscule amount that l'm always surprised no one ever screams at her. I remember on one of her visits, we went to a shop on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles and it was run by an old jewish man about her age (mid seventies!). We were the only customers in the store. He fussed over my mom as she picked out several fabrics while l just sat down and watched the show. When it came time to pay finally, the bill was like 2,075 dollars, not including tax! I whipped out the plastic and was about to pay and dreaded what l knew was going to happen! I was hoping she wouldn't haggle since l was the one paying for it..but noooo... My mom starts with the "how many fingers?" She had 6 fingers up!!! meaning she was only willing to pay 600 dollars! I almost died!!! The guy was so insulted, and he said as much. He didn't throw us out though, which was surprising to me!!! He came back with a little discount, my mom wouldn't budge... Long story short, we ended up having afternoon tea with the man, they spend about 7 hours!! no joke, haggling back and forth and got to know about each other's family. My mom loved to travel and they talked about Jerusalem which she had visited several times, about places they had both been to in Europe...We left with all the fabric and she ended up paying 1156 dollars and no tax! They hugged and kissed each other like old friends when we left and she promised to come back the next time she visited!
To my mom, it is a sport, the woman is loaded! and can easily afford anything she wants. She just enjoys getting a bargain. I haggle a little when it's warranted, usually with contractors and handy men. I don't usually sweat the small stuff.

Is Zillow still Relevant?

2009-05-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

I subscribe to Zillow.com updates on my real estate holdings. We all know that real estate has been on a downward trajectory for quite a while now and my monthly updates have been depressing to say the least, with the appraised value on a downward spiral, so l was braced for more bad news. Instead the headline actually read "the value of .... has increased by 3.2% " Say what???? I was thrilled beyond belief, l am of course taking it with a grain of salt, but it was still nice to see. It gives me a little hope that maybe, just maybe, Los Angeles might start recovering a bit faster than expected.
Reading about the fires in Santa Barbara reminds me of the disasters that are sure to come as the dry weather jump starts the fires that are so common in California. Last year, there was a huge one at Universal Studios that was pretty close to the house and we were worried. Nothing happened, but the whole house was covered with a thick film of white ash from the blowing winds. I pray that the house remains spared. The tenants seem to be settling in and we have a management company to handle the little things.

The anemic uptick..

2009-05-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

Along with the rest of the world, my 401k had taken a major nosedive, enough to make me stop opening the statements. Recently though, l signed on to mint.com. This is a website where you can list all your credit cards and retirement plan balances etc..etc so you have a clear financial picture. It has been helpful in some ways, maybe the glaring truth about the credit card debt will jolt me some more. Anyway, my 401k had gone from 236,000 to 128,000 (which was when l quit looking a few months back), but thanks to mint, l noticed today that the balance is now 167,993. This gives me a slight ray of hope. I never did change my distributions as l felt kind of okay about my elections which were mostly aggressive and international funds. It's not a lot l know, but it's a small sign, like the little ray of sunshine that breaks through storm clouds. I figure l have a few more years before retirement, so l can wait. This too shall pass.
On a side note, we did get a low ball offer on the house for sale, l countered back with what l thought was a fair price (as did my realtor), but we never heard back. In hindsight, l wonder if we should just have taken it and be done with it...l don't know, l do know that l don't want to give the house away. I figure we've struggled with the debt for this long, maybe we'll hang on for a couple more months. If we are still in the same boat, then we go to the fire sale..:o)

SPAM ! My love and hate relationship...

2009-05-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

As l try to get myself out of this funk l'm in, l start to look for diversions. I have always hated spam. I have all the filters in place, yet, l still find plenty of them that come through. I have several email addresses, one for family and friends, one for when l shop online, one for entertainment purposes and one for the nosy websites that insist on "verifying" email addresses. Of course, all these precautions are no match for spammers! Lately though, l have been noticing that my spam mail has grown smaller. I wonder if they are being affected by the recession as well? I am guessing so. I hate to admit it, l do kind of miss the spam. It was reassuring almost, kind of like someone was still after my money..LOL! Now, it feels like they can tell that l have no money and therefore there is nothing to suck out of me, so they've just given up. I wonder if this is happening to others as well. l am curious.
On the brighter side, the tenants will be moving in to the LA house today. I am crossing my fingers that for the next 18 months of their lease, everything will be fine. Now, l have to concentrate on the other rental properties. Serious decisions have to be made. The worst part is that l feel the pain of my tenants and wish to make life a bit easier for them, but l have to also do what is best for me. So far, l have done nothing, but that luxury is up and decisions have to be made, especially unpleasant ones, but l will keep looking for a solution.

David Kellermann's suicide

2009-04-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

The body of David Kellermann was discovered by his wife in their basement this morning, an apparent suicide. His name is not familiar to a lot of us. He was recently appointed to head Freddie Mac, the poster child for bad management. I feel badly for his wife and daughter. I don't know why he would have committed suicide. I do know that he must have been under a lot of pressure trying to deal with the government and the bailout efforts as well as the company rebuilding and family life. I am sad because he was only 41! Too young to die!!!! I am sure there will be a lot of conspiracy theories.. was it suicide or a government plan?? None of it matters, at least not to his family. It's a little suspicious, yes.. l would have thought if it was too much work, he could have resigned, just like his boss did last month. This isn't Japan where one commits harikari (hope l spelled it right) to protect one's honor, plus he was never under suspicion since he was installed after Freddie Mac had already failed miserably. It's hard to know just how strong one is until pushed to the brink. I can't help but wonder how many more deaths are coming??? Puts my little troubles into perspective!

I am bored!

2009-04-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

I am starting to find budgeting and saving and penny pinching to be a real bore. I don't want to open any more bills, l don't want to hear about the economy going south, l don't want to read about how everyone else is being frugal and how that is the new chic. I am finding it very very boring. I think it's probably because l have so much debt and l want to throw in the towel. My plans are not coming along like l planned it and l have to come up with a back up plan! What l really want to do now is plan a nice trip to somewhere in the caribbean, eat coconuts and drink margaritas on the beach without having a care in the world. I do know l can't do that, at least not right now, gotta get that house sold, pay off those bills, and start fresh. I am probably a little miffed because the realtors showing the house have been leaving the lights and a/c on, which has like quadrupled the bill. I also got a call from the realtor saying there was a leak outside the house that needs to be addressed. I have a plumber going to check it out today, and l shudder to think how much they will charge for repairs. This house was done and out of my mind already, now it seems like a big albatross around my neck. I am almost thinking fire sale, but even that is not guaranteed in this day and age!

Say what? Homes for $1000.00!!!

2009-04-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the depressed market, it is now easier than ever to scoop up a house for about $1000.00! According to CNN money, there are over a hundred listings by banks for about that, some as low as $550.00! One realtor has a listing for a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house for 500 dollars. She estimates that it would take about 15-20,000 dollars to bring the house up to date, thanks to vandalism, but considering that the house sold just a couple of years ago for 72,000 dollars, it's still a great bargain. If you're interested, the house is in Detroit. The article is by Les Christie of CNN. Lately, l've been reading about foreigners buying up property here to fix, rent and wait till the market grows stronger to sell them.
In other news, our rehab house has now been on the market for 8 months and despite lots of showing, there has been no firm offers. I didn't think the no garage thing was going to be such a big obstacle. We had discounted the house with that in mind, but still no go! Today, after discussing with the realtor, we are offering 1500 dollars at closing for the buyer to convert the additional bedroom back into a garage. This is in addition to the $500 bonus to the selling agent. I am hoping that this will finally help us close the deal, so we can attack our credit card bills with gusto. It just keeps rising... I want this over and done with..

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

I wish everyone a safe and happy Easter!

What's going on with these random killings?

2009-04-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

The past month has been a busy one for cowardly murderers!

March 22 Oakland, Ca. A man kills a total of 4 police officers before he was killed. His relatives say he'd been frustrated at not finding work and feared a return to jail

March 29, in Santa Rosa, CA, a man kills his two children and 3 other relatives before killing himself

March 29 in North Carolina, a man opens fire in a nursing home, killing a total of 8 people before he was killed

April 3 in New York (Binghamton), a man kills 13 people before killing himself. He had been upset over his job loss and his limited english

April 4, in Washington (Graham), a man shoots his 5 children in their home before turning the gun on himself. He had been upset because his wife was planning on leaving him

April 4, in Pittsburgh, PA, a man kills 3 police officers before being killed. He had been upset about his job loss

April 7, in Priceville, Ala, a man shot to death his estranged wife, their daughter and 2 other relatives before killing himself

Why can't these douchebags vent their frustrations by getting drunk and committing suicide? Do they really have to take every one along? What is causing this casual disregard for human life? Are we going to see more of these unfortunate situations as the recession lingers?

What's going on indeed??? As we speak, Texas is considering allowing students to carry weapons in schools and workers can carry loaded guns to work (must be kept in the car though .. laughable!) Welcome to the wild wild west!

Suzie Orman and the new rules of credit card debt

2009-04-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

As a regular follower of Suzie Orman, l have been trying to pay down credit card debt for a while now. I love her show because it is a kick in the pants to a lot of people. l make a point to read up on a lot of personal finance information, and most of her advise is basic and just plain old common sense stuff, but l enjoy the show all the same, l feel better knowing l'm not alone! . For a long time, she has preached about paying down credit card debt, but in light of the recession and the economic woes of the world, she has changed her mind and now says, instead of rushing to pay off the balance, we should pay just the minimum if we do not have the 8 months worth of emergency fund that she has been advocating.
According to a report by Kim Palmer in the U.S News and World Report, credit card companies have been protecting themselves by raising interest rates and charging higher fees for late payments as well as reducing credit lines, sometimes they are revoked all together. This means you could find yourself in a real pickle if you need access to funds in a pinch. The top priority now in response to the actions of the banks is to fund the emergency kitty. In other words, take care of #1, just like they are doing. That way, when they turn off your credit tap, you have the money to survive for a bit. On a recent show, she even went as far as to recommend that a viewer stop making her credit card payment. This viewer had lost a job and had a huge bill, she turned to the bank for help in reducing her payments and was denied help - because she was current on her payment! Suzie said to stop paying, and after 3 months, the bank would approach her with a settlement. She made a plea with the banks to start listening and helping their customers, but l'm sure it's not going to happen until it becomes catastrophic!
I've been doing that for the past year of course, paying the minimum, but only because that's all l can afford right now! So, you could say l am ahead of the curve, and not in a good way, but this too shall pass!

My nibble turns into a bite!

2009-03-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

My prayers have been answered! As of May 1, the house is now rented! It sure came down to the wire. We had already made the decision to contact the bank and arrange for a short sale. There was just no way to compete with the prices of the foreclosures in the area. We invested some borrowed money to fix up the house and put it up for sale or rent on the 3rd of this month. We had some interest, but no concrete offers which is understandable in this day and age. We also hired a rental management company to deal with the rental side as we realized trying to be absentee landlords just wasn't working. About a week and a half ago, we got 2 interested parties. We signed the lease and we are good to go. My fingers are crossed that this time, things will work out. The lease is for 18 months, so hopefully, by that time, the market would have improved a bit so we can make a decision. Now, l am actually able to get a good night's sleep. Once they we get going, we can finally start tackling the credit card bills.

A break from finance

2009-03-24T09:11:00.001-07:00

It was nice to have a worry free weekend and attend my niece's wedding. She looked so pretty! I was a proud aunty indeed. I wish her and her new husband a wonderful happy married life!

A nibble?

2009-03-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

The house in Los Angeles has been on the market for sale/rent for the last 13 days. A lot of looky loos, but no real firm offers. Everyone wants it for a nickel or something. There were a lot of comments to the realtor at the first open house and they all went along the same line "It needs updating and we don't know where to start! Not really our style, but can we have it for .. insert a ridiculously low price here!) I am tired of the tire kickers who have no money, or have some money, not enough mind you, but hope you are so desperate you'll give the house to them for the price that they have. As far as the rental side, we have 2 interested parties that have seen the house multiple times. One is a couple of studio executives, who want to move in and have put in an application today. The management company is going to run their credit and rental history. I need to have people with spotless records, after having been twice burned. The second set is a little tricky. It is a husband and wife and her dad who is a famous personality. The hubby and wife have now been to the house to see it 5 times! and they love it, but unfortunately, daddy holds the purse, so he has to see it and he is busy traveling around the country! His daughter is sure he would love it, but l can't sit around waiting for them. Supposedly, he'll be in town this weekend and if he sees it and likes it, then it might be a go if they want to move in the beginning of April as opposed to the 2 guys who want to move in the end of April. I just hope it works itself out quickly. I am a little jaded with the show biz type people as the last two that screwed me over were in the business! I will cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Wall Street has it's signs...l have mine!

2009-03-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

As you probably know, the stock market has rallied for the last 4 days straight. It's upward trajectory has had people saying maybe the worst is over and the recession might end soon. I don't know about that. What l do know is that, even though a lot of my friends have been complaining about cutting back, thanks to the economy etc..etc. I have begun to see signs of spending, at least in the foreseeable future. What l have come to realize is that, most of us have consumerism too ingrained in us, we can only be "good" for so long. Everyone has been cutting back for months now, even though to me, it seems like years. To tell the truth, l am sick of it already. I want to go out and spend, even though l don't have the money. I was reading someone's blog today (sorry, memory fails me as to whom) and he was talking about buying a playstation 3 because the price has finally come down to 399 dollars. Some of my friends have started talking about buying the Wii, some are starting to dine out again. They are little signs, but put them all together, and the tsunami is forming. The feeling of entitlement is starting to rear it's ugly head. Soon, we will bring out all the credit cards that have been gathering mothballs in the closet, dust them off and spend like it's 2005! Mark my word. Yeah yeah yeah.. l know that's what got us into this mess, but secretly, l long for those days again. It sure was a lot more fun. I hate being frugal! I hate it with a passion. Please don't fault me for my weakness. Perhaps moderation is the key..

Thrift gone a tad too far!

2009-03-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

I realize the time has come to be frugal, but sometimes, people can overdo it. This is a quote from the Associated Press about a woman in New York.
"Before the economy tanked, she was still wearing maternity clothes from her last pregnancy, clipping coupons and using hand-me-downs to dress her daughters, ages 2 and 3. Now, she's salvaging bagel scraps left on their plates for pizza toppings and cutting lotion bottles in half so she can scrape out the last drops and it's hard for me to imagine that she had no clothes prior to her pregnancy. Perhaps she's got a little OCD!
"I was already cheap," said VanDeventer, a 36-year-old mortgage loan underwriter from Broomfield, Colo. "Now I am neurotic about it."

That is way over the top. Bagel scraps! Is it really that bad? She also, by the way uses vinegar in her laundry instead of fabric softener! Nothing like your clothes smelling like a salad! I have tried to scrape and save pennies etc.. but find the savings to be so miniscule, it's not even worth it. The real savings, for me at least, are the big things, like vacations, and gadgets, not clipping coupons etc. So, to all the frugal, thrifty, cheap (whatever you want to call it) people, l salute you. I have been saving more by eating in more and now, the European trip will most likely be one to Miami, if there is one at all. Everyone has to find their own way.

How low can you go?

2009-03-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

I feel the stock market is basically doing the limbo rock! and no one knows how low the market will go. The news gets more discouraging as we speak. 12% of all mortgages are in default and fast approaching foreclosure. The stocks of once revered banks like Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Chase have declined sharply, with Citi falling to 98 cents before finishing the day at $1.02. It's market worth now sits just over 5 billion, down from 270 billion dollars. Bank of America closed at $3.22 , Wells at $8.23. The contest seems to be a race to the bottom. The governments (around the world) keep throwing money at the problems, but so far, nothing has helped. Consumer spending is way down, as people are collectively saving just like in the old days, which leads to the vicious cycle. We don't spend, therefore the companies don't sell their goods, leading to higher unemployment rate thanks to the layoffs etc.. Most financial experts have never experienced this sort of market before, and it's just a guessing game to them. I don't think anyone can really say where the bottom is, but l have gotten distrustful of big institutions. I feel they have way bigger losses than they say and it's sort of like they are breaking the news gently, instead of just ripping the band-aid in one go, which granted would hurt a lot, but at least we could then move on! The only thing we know for sure is that "this too shall pass!" Truthfully, l wish l was a bottom feeder, meaning if l had money, l would be buying up cheap properties and cheap stocks... and wait for the eventual uptick!

Insert 4 letter word here! "F**k"!!!!

2009-03-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the bad language. I have uttered every single 4 letter word l know in the last hour, and even some l did not know! in several languages including spanish, french, yoruba and for good measure, l asked my husband to throw in some italian words as well! The reason for this potty mouth is that l just talked to my accountant and it seems we will be getting a much smaller refund than we anticipated. Let me assure you, the phantom money was already spent and we needed even more! We were so sure would get even more than last year, and were looking forward to some relief and even knocking down some credit card debt.. but alas, l failed to take one fact into consideration, which was that we paid a lot more in taxes in 2007 than we did in 2008! Our incomes were split between California and Texas. This year? yep!.. it was Texas all the way, so not only was our income lower, but there were no state taxes deducted as Texas does not have that! So, the refund will be $13,000 less than last year. It's still a lot of money l know, but it's like sticking my finger in the dyke! So.. if you'll excuse me, l am going right back to the bitching and moaning while l try and figure out what to do next!

People in glass houses..

2009-03-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

I was reading Grace's blog at Graceful Retirement this morning and she was talking about people who find themselves in unfortunate situations, and not always out of greed. If you read financial blogs on a regular basis, you will see that there are quite a few people who are under water financially and some are considering walking away from the sinking ships. In a lot of cases, it makes financial sense, but there are so many people with holier than thou attitudes who seem to think that people bring the misery upon themselves by buying too much house than they could afford due to greed and wanting to keep up with the neighbors. This is not always true. Most people l know, including me live paycheck to paycheck, and a cog in the wheel is enough to throw your life into chaos. In this day and age, when you can't even count on job security, how can you know when your well laid out plans are going to unravel? I wish people would stop pointing fingers. The curious thing l have noticed is that, most of the comments come from "anonymous" or blog pages that have no direct authors like "james" blog (he left the comment on BJ's blog- 40, overweight and in debt ). Why are they so afraid to come forward? is it because they live in glass houses and know they shouldn't be throwing stones? Nobody could have foreseen the depth of the financial disaster that is now crippling the WORLD! Not the experts like Alan Greenspan, not the guru Warren Buffett, not even the crooks at the various banks that contributed to this mess. Is this still the tip of the iceberg? The government is about to own 100% of AIG after they posted a loss of almost 62 billion dollars in the last quarter! up from 80% ownership. The Eastern European countries want a bailout from the EU, Dubai (the jewel of the Arabia) just got a 20 billion bailout after everything imploded..and on and on.. Your glass house might have hairline cracks you don't know about.. so let's all be careful and count our blessings.

Bonehead idea shot down!

2009-02-26T13:26:00.000-08:00

I read with disgust, an article in the Houston Chronicle 3 days ago! It seems the city has a windfall of money that was allocated to Hurricane Ike damage repairs, which for some reason or the other was not used up. Someone got the idea to use the money to help first time home buyers with spotty credit to purchase a home. This was targeted to people with "near good" credit. The city would pay off $3,000 worth of consumer credit card debt for each family, leading to lower debt to income ratios, which would in turn raise their FICO score and enable them to get a mortgage loan. I can't even believe anyone would come up with such a stupid idea! This is how we ended up in this crisis! There was such outrage over this city plan, that the Mayor made an announcement saying it was being stricken off the agenda. The fact that it even made it on the agenda makes me believe that these people are living in a parallel universe! Houston already has a down payment assistance program (7500 dollars for 1st time home buyers), now we're supposed to pay their visa debt too with our hard earned money! I don't even know why we have this windfall, there is still lots of Ike damage that needs to be fixed. The landscape is filled with homes with blue tarps still on them, months after this disaster, l wonder why they are not using the money for it's rightful purpose!!! Government at work!

Been a while..

2009-02-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

It feels like it's been a lifetime since l posted, but l have been busy with trying to fix up the house in Hollywood for sale. We just got back from Los Angeles last night, and as of today, the house will be on the market. We have done the most we can on the limited budget we have. As we all know, it is a tough time to try and sell real estate, l just hope we will be one of the lucky ones that nets a sale, l would even be happy with a good renter at this point. I am slightly encouraged as the house right across the street is now in escrow just 16 days after being put on sale and it is priced exactly 600,000 dollars more than ours! The only other house for sale on the street is priced 300,000 dollars more and it's of equal size and lot etc. Wish us luck. It's been hard trying to coordinate everything from afar. I have used up 2 weeks of vacation for the year already and it's only February. With any luck, it would have been worth it. We spent a bit of money on furniture to "stage" the house so it doesn't look so empty. We had originally wanted to use professional stagers, but the fees were exorbitant and completely out of our reach. For 1/3 of the lowest bid we got, we got some furniture (mostly beds) and night stands which are being delivered tomorrow. It sucks that we had to put out even more money, but the other alternative would have been paying the stagers 500 monthly for 6 months minimum (even if the house sold before then!) Now the waiting begins and the stock market and banking world doom and gloom is not helping any! This sounds totally selfish, but if Citibank went under, wouldn't it be fantastic if l didn't have to pay back my equity loan? I know the answer to that, but a girl can hope!!!

Should l report my loss to the Insurance company?

2009-02-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

I talked to my accountant yesterday (I'm in the process of doing the taxes for the year) and l mentioned the personal property that had been stolen by the tenant that was evicted from the house. He advises filing the police report as well as filing my loss with the insurance company. My deductible is 1,000 dollars, so l should be able to get reimbursed for my loss. My problem is you hear all these horror stories about the insurance companies dropping your policy after you file a claim. I am hesitant to do this for that very reason, but l'm sure l'll never see my property again. Has anyone ever been through this and what were the consequences? Please let me know if you have any words of wisdom. My renewal with State Farm is due March 4th..so maybe l should pay my premium and then file? or just chuck it up to experience and hope the lawyer would be able to get me money from the deadbeat (I am apparently in a long line of people he owes money to). It is so unfair to be insured for loss, experience said loss, and get penalized for it. What a sad state of affairs!

Brought down to earth!

2009-02-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well.. it seems as if we have no choice but to try and be landlords once again! After getting feedbacks from 2 other realtors, we can't break even if we try and sell now. We would still end up owing the bank some money. It seems the banks have caught on to the idea of just pricing their foreclosed properties on the market at such a ridiculous price thereby sparking a bidding war, and the regular sellers have no choice but to retreat and take a beating. Since we have mostly finished dressing up the house, we will take another stab at renting and then see what happens in 6 months to a year, depending on what kind of luck we have and of course the market conditions. One of the neighbors across the street wants to help us find renters as he proclaimed the previous ones were the worst bunch of people he ever had the misfortune of dealing with. He has been living on the street for some 49 years and was friends with the old owners (We are the second owners of the house). This would be great because it would save us almost $5500.00 in realtor fees as they charge 6% of the year's lease split between both sides, plus it would ensure that they would be good tenants. We intend to invite the neighbor over to see what we've done so far when we go back in a week. It would be nice to put this piece of the puzzle to rest and not have to keep coming up with the mortgage. I also intend to file felony charges against the previous tenant for the items stolen from the house. Anything to stop him from doing this to others.

Back from L.A

2009-02-04T13:59:00.001-08:00

We just got back from Los Angeles to check out the damage that had been done to our property since the douchebag tenant Massengale was evicted. The place was a sight for sore eyes! It had been completely thrashed, it almost made me understand why the realtor had said not to fix anything and just sell as is. There was dog and cat pee and poop on the carpet, as well as on a futon by the pool. There are a couple of big holes in one of my walls and to make things worse, he stole some of my property! It took a while to get the lights turned back on in my name, he owed the Dept. of water and power almost 6,000 dollars, so they had to review the case before deciding that l was not to blame. Some of the items stolen include an antique 25 cent slot machine, a leather Barcalounger chair, a complete set of handmade damask drapes, African masks, an antique foot stool and a pair of pool lounge chaises. I keep trying to remember what else. I had left the place partially furnished, but luckily had included some of the items in the lease, so l can go after him via the lawyer for reimbursement. I had a chance to talk to some old neighbors who had nothing nice to say about him and his clan of banshees. Apparently, the nanny was always drunk and the sub leasee (without my permission of course) was some sort of actress/exhibitionist. One of the neighbors even promised to help me look for prospective tenants. He has been living on the street since 1961 and he said they had to be the worst people he had ever seen, and dirty too! We spent a good bit of time cleaning out junk left behind. A friend told me to file a police report for the items stolen in addition to having the lawyer go after him. I am considering this, in hope of preventing him from doing this to others. We have to go back in a couple of weeks to finish off what we started and at that point, l will get some realtors to look at the property and give me a realistic sales or rental price. It was just too horrible to show as it was, even though one of them did come by, but l haven't heard from him since then.

The Rock upon my chest...

2009-01-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

According to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, "there is a rock upon the chest of the state, and we can not breathe until we get it off' regarding the $42 billion deficit the state faces. He has announced that the state income refunds of individuals will be frozen for 30 days which totally sucks for anyone who needs the money badly to pay for their bills. In some ways, it makes me glad that we made the decision to move away from La La land, but it also sucks because l hold a fondness for the state which l called home for 19 years. I received some bad news from my realtor regarding our house there. She seems to think we have no chance of breaking even if we sell the house. According to her, there is a tremendous amount of work to be done to bring it up to par with the rest of the neighborhood and we seem to have a disagreement about the actual square footage of the house. The guest unit was built without permit in the days of yore (it is covered under the grandfather clause since it was built before permits were required by the city). She says l can not count that, so we have a disparity of about $250,000. She says now, the banks are being overly cautious about everything and no one would be able to get financing. I disagree, she sent me sales comparisons of the neighborhood and there were 2 houses similar to ours where the sales price reflected the square footage not on the city rolls with full disclosure. This is the same realtor we used when we purchased the house and she knew about the grandfather clause, but apparently it's only counting now!!! (what the heck?) Anyway, her advise is to let her negotiate a "short sale" with the lender and leave the place as is. That's not my way of thinking.. l did my own research and think she is selling me short, so the plan is to borrow some money, fix it up, then put it for sale or for rent whichever comes first. I am hoping for sale, as l don't want to repeat previous experiences. I was discouraged to see the house four doors down from us in foreclosure and is now sale pending at a ridiculous price after sitting on the market for months, but also encouraged that the house 3 doors down sold in 11 days for full price (1 acre lot though which is a rarity in the hills! but it's a 2 bedroom house). The house directly across from us just went on the market for a cool $430,000 over what l would like to ask, and it's a similar size but totally done and gorgeous. I hope by me being priced lower and with a pool to boot, l can sell before they do. Anyhow, we go to LA on wednesday for 5 days and l have crammed everything into that time. It's going to be like "Designed to Sell" but with a free "Lisa LaPorta" (Thanks Bill!). If there are any realtors out there with experience with grandfather clauses, your advise would be appreciated.

..more..

2009-01-18T09:36:00.001-08:00

more pics. I don't have any of the guest unit as the ex-nanny is still moving out. I know you're wondering why the red?..LOL! I bought it like that. The previous people had a disco in the basement, and that's what sold me..pinball machine, one arm bandit, a bar and disco ball? what else could you ask for?

The aftermath in pictures..

2009-01-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

My friend emailed me pictures of what the house looks like now. I have to say they were pigs, dirty pigs. I suppose they could have done a lot more damage, as it is, l would have to have the hardwood floors buffed to remove scratches, repair 2 holes in the wall, find out if there is a leak in the pool (the pool man had been unable to get in because they changed the locks like 2 months ago according to him) or if it just needs water. It looks like the house has just been neglected. I am calling my friend's dad who is retired to assemble workmen to paint and clean etc. so we can stay there when we get there at the end of the month. The only thing that seemed to have survived intact is my pool table. All my handmade furniture seems to be battered and the whole house is full of cigar smoke. They seem to have hated plants as well, I can't see any plants or flowers l lovingly planted anywhere.

"Douchebag" Massengale Out!

2009-01-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

I received some good news! I had asked for a friend to go by the L.A rental house to check if my deadbeat tenant has vacated the property. Last weekend, the Sheriff had posted the 5 day notice to vacate the property, but he was still there when my friend went by. He called to let me know he passed by again and it looked like the house had been vacated. I sent my realtor to check it out and she called to let me know that, yes indeed, they had moved a lot of their stuff out and the electricity was cut off. She was unable to open the gate as the idiot had changed the locks. As she was leaving, she heard a noise from the guest unit where the nanny had been staying. She called out and the nanny informed her that she had climbed the tree to get inside of the house through the roof as she had been locked out by the tenants. Apparently, they had borrowed money from her and a friend of hers as well. They did not tell her where they were moving to.. She claims they had told her that they wanted to charge her an eviction fee and she was wondering if that was legal. The realtor told her she should contact an attorney if she hopes to see her money again. I think she is scared, l'm not sure if she is here illegally or not. The realtor gave her till sunday to remove her belongings before the locks would be changed. She was then able to get in to the house as the main house keys had not been changed, she said it looked worn out and major fixes and staging was needed if we hoped to make any money from the sale in light of the times. We will be going to L.A to assess the damages and do the best we can at the end of this month. I am contacting the attorney so he can file a lien against any property etc. that he might own. He owes us roughly $15,000 in rent, plus we have to add the attorney fees as well as any cost for damage done to the house.) I am relieved somewhat that he is gone. We can finally move forward. I hope we can turn it around in the few days that we will have and l hope we are able to sell quickly or at least rent quickly (would much rather sell). We can't really make any long term decisions until we figure out what we can reasonably sell the house for. I have requested sales comparisons from the realtor to get a good idea. It's scary times, but l feel a bit better because the house is in a great location, full of actors, producers etc. and very central to all the movie studios.

IRS to cut taxpayers some slack.

2009-01-12T08:31:00.001-08:00

It was nice to read in the papers today that the IRS said last week that it's agents have been given permission to be lenient with people who are struggling to pay their bills. In light of the economic woes, where a lot of people have lost their jobs and have little hope of replacing them anytime soon with jobs of equal pay, their worries are more urgent. Most people right now care more about job replacement, putting food on the table, making mortgage payments and trying to save for retirement than they care about paying the IRS taxes owed. I think it's great that the IRS is acknowledging this fact and are trying to work with the people instead of playing the "Big Bad" as they are wont to do. Agents have the authority to stop the collection actions against people who are in financial hardship and they can allow taxpayers with installment payment plans to miss a payment. The only thing they ask in return is that the taxpayer files his/her tax return on time (by April 15) and call or walk into an IRS office to discuss payment options and the issues that might prevent payment. It has to be way scary to walk into an IRS office and discuss financial matters, but it's the only way to make sure that the help you need will be there. The whole article can be found at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/buggs/6203479.html if you're interested.

"Writ of Possession"

2009-01-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

I got good news from the lawyer yesterday. They have received the writ of possession from the court and have forwarded it to the Hollywood Sheriff's office. This brings us one step closer to the eviction of my deadbeat tenant. It's been a long and financially expensive road. We have been having to come up with 2 mortgage payments monthly since he hasn't paid for a while. All our money and reserves are completely exhausted, but l hope since the end is near, we can hang on. Once he is out of the house, we have to make the trip to Los Angeles to see what sort of damage, if any he has done to the house. My hope is then to clean it up as best as we can and put it on the market for sale or for rent, whichever happens first. We hope to be able to sell it. We are no longer interested in being a landlord over there, it is too much trouble. We've had terrible luck so far with tenants, even with the background checks and all that through Coldwell Bankers. Divesting ourselves of that property would free up serious money that would let us get rid of the credit card bills faster and of course cut down on the crazy hours of overtime that both my husband and l have had to do to cover the bills. We intend to recover my money back from the tenant and intend to put a mechanic's lien on his bank account or any other properties he has. I am sure ours won't be the only one, but the money is plentiful, so there will be enough for all. The lawyer will take care of this and then get paid from the money recovered. I know we have to wait till his divorce is finalized, but wait, we shall! I also hope to make his life as miserable as l can. He is somewhat in the public eye, and we hope to be able to embarrass him as that is the sure way to get to him. He even called the city to report that our guesthouse was illegally built and the city demanded that we tear the unit down. I sent a reply letter to them saying that it had been built before we bought the house and it was "grandfathered" , which means no permit is required. I have not heard back from the city, probably due to the holidays, but in the meantime, l went through all the papers l had been given by the estate and lo and behold, there was a permit there for the guest unit as well as the terrace. I didn't find one for the basement remodel (which was also cited by the city as illegal), but l'm sure they probably had that permitted as well, so l feel better). The anger that l feel towards him has no boundary, and l just want to make his life as miserable as he has ours. I know it's no good for me, but l don't care. I will not turn the other cheek. He supposedly has rental units in his hometown, l will return the favor and call the city as well on him!

2009 Goals!

2009-01-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Since l am not a big believer in New Year's resolutions. I am going to join the fray and set goals for myself this year. This list will be updated as the year goes by. It will be interesting to see if l can accomplish my goals.

- Reduce my household expenses by 15%.

- Add a fifth day of walking to my weekly routine. Currently, l walk 2 miles a day, 4 days a week before work. Hopefully, this will lead to more weight loss and dare l hope, discontinuation of my hypertension medication.

- Get rid of clutter in the house. This includes maybe a garage sale to get rid of clothes, furniture, jewelry etc. and donate to charity.

- Increase my 401k contribution back to 15%. I am currently at 7% (got scared with the horror of the past year!). I am encouraged by the fact that since the miserable, plunging, free fall low of my balance ($128,000 4 months ago, it has increased to $147,000). It still has a very very long way to go to come back to where it was, but there is now renewed hope.

- Use 50% of my tax refund to pay off some credit card debt and the other 50% to pay off some property taxes. I have to figure out if that's the better way, or put all of it to credit debt reduction. Whichever is the lesser of the two evils, l will do.

- Start some sort of emergency fund. I don't even know if l am capable of doing that, but l will try.

Wish me luck, and if anyone has ideas for me, please, let me have them. Especially on the emergency fund thing, because to me, everything is an emergency! How do you go about not touching it?

So, that's it for now. I am going to track this and report on my progress.

None too soon!

2009-01-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

I for one, don't make resolutions. I see no reason why one has to set aside a specific day to set goals. I strive to live my life in the best possible way. Last year was an exception and l am none too sad to see 2008 end. It was a year of disappointments, both from financial as well as friendship standpoints. What l came to realize (and seemed to have forgotten) at the end of the year was that you can't change people. You can either accept them as they are, or find new ones. No one is perfect, not even yours truly, but friendship takes nurturing. You can not take people for granted. We had some friends that we had over to the house quite often, really wonderful friends, but increasingly, they would show up later and later for the get togethers, with the lamest excuses, a couple of times, they didn't even show up at all, and never bothered to call. The first time, we accepted their apology, but after the second time, we stopped having them over. My husband was pissed, and rightly so. We heard nothing from them for a couple of months, and then they started calling, and asking when we would get together again. We were cordial, friendly even, and went out with them, but refused to extend an invitation to the house. It's been about 7 months now, and l think l have thawed a little bit, but l don't know if l should extend the olive branch, what if it happens again? I don't know.. they asked to get together today, and l am considering it. Maybe we should start 2009 on a good note and be mature. We'll see after l have my coffee.
I wish everyone a wonderful New Year and hope that 2009 brings a "better everything"

Happy Holidays to All..

2008-12-25T14:25:00.000-08:00

Best wishes to everyone. Here is my one of my favorites, Bing Crosby and David Bowie singing "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" Just click on the title.

My Christmas List..

2008-12-23T12:42:00.001-08:00

My husband insisted on getting me something for Christmas. I am very opposed to this as you know, it's just not me.. but he pestered me no end, so l finally gave in, on the condition that whatever l decided on would be it.. nothing more, nothing less. He agreed and so l thought long and hard. What l really wanted and needed was a pair of 4 lb weights. I had been wanting it for quite a while now. He insisted it was too cheap (8 dollars plus tax!), but l wouldn't budge. We went to Academy Sports last week and l picked out 2 cute blue weights. I have been using them every day and l love it, l will get toned arms to go along with my slowly changing body as l've been walking 2.5 miles 4 times a week for the past 9 months. I feel better, and my blood pressure has improved. I wish everyone Happy Holidays and hope that the next year is an even better one for all of us!

A 7 million dollar "prison"??

2008-12-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone has heard of this Wall Street wizard bastard Madoff who bilked investors out of 50 billion dollars in the mother of all Ponzi schemes !!!! The guy confessed the pyramid swindle when the market turned really sour and his investors demanded their money be pulled out and there was nowhere for him to run. He told his sons (who l suspect know more than they are telling as they worked for him) who then turned him in. This is only going to get bigger as time goes on. What l don't understand is why confine this man to house arrest??? why does he get to spend his days in his 7 million dollar penthouse??? The poor baby! he has a curfew, had to surrender his passport and sign over 3 of his homes to cover his 10 million dollar bond. Only in America! This guy should be behind bars.. waiting for his day in court, he should not be allowed to stay in the comfort of his own home. He has perpetrated a fraud even bigger than the Enron scandal and he has made a lot of people suddenly penniless (l know..l know.. there were warning signs, but rich people are just as gullible as the rest of us!) The moral of the story is that if you're going to commit a crime, make sure it's a white collar one and have friends in high places! I wonder how much that guy and his family had socked away in offshore accounts knowing this day was coming...

Federal Reserve cuts key interest rate.. Again!

2008-12-16T14:19:00.000-08:00

It's starting to sound like a broken record! Late this afternoon, the Federal Reserve cut the interest rates to between 0 - .25% . This is basically the interest rate that the banks charge each other to borrow money. This is all well and good. What l need to know is what it means to us regular folks. My expectation is that my credit card interest rates will drop, l can refinance my mortgage to a lower interest rate, and l can breathe a little easier. The trouble so far of course is that the banks are scared just like all of us and are sitting on their cash instead of lending it out so as to stimulate the economy. I am hoping that this final cut will basically say to them, "stop stockpiling! Fear is the mind killer!" Only time will tell if this is going to work. Wall Street seems to like it as the markets jumped quite higher, let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Victory for the little guys..

2008-12-14T07:39:00.000-08:00

The employees of Republic Windows in Chicago recently ended their 6 day old strike against the company and it's nice to know that for once, the little guys won. Their sit in protest had drawn support from various groups and leaders, including our President-Elect. The employees were left holding the bag so to speak and were not being offered any termination wages. They were basically told the plant was closing on a day's notice. 200 of the 240 employees refused to go unless they were given their severance wages. Bank of America, which was the bank for Republic had originally refused to lend the company any money to pay their workers, but under increased scrutiny, they relented, so along with Chase bank, they have given the employees a 1.75 million dollar package which includes vacation pay accrued, as well as health benefits for 2 months. What Republic did was disgusting, they had secretly moved most of their equipment to a non-union facility and were basically looking to screw their workers. They probably just assumed they would get away with it, it would just be another failure, but they hadn't counted on the pluck of their employees. Bank of America and Chase, of course have received billions of dollars thanks to the government bailout plan, which was designed to do the very thing they were denying Republic! start lending!!! Instead of lending though, it seems the banks just want to hold on to the money to replenish their funds. They need to be held accountable. Had the fury of the public not been great, they wouldn't have coughed up that money. Shame on them and good for the workers! I hope it encourages other little guys to fight for their rights!

Incense and cancer!

2008-12-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

It used to be that after a long stressful day, you could go home, light some incense and relax, but according to the latest research, the incense, when burning, releases the same carcinogens as in cigarettes, leading to a higher rate of lung cancer. This seems to happen mostly to people who burn incense on a daily basis, sort of like second hand smoking effect. This really sucks, l don't like incense, but l have a lot of friends who burn them..
So, now you know.. what is the next lurking killer?? bubble baths?

Got a new realtor

2008-12-09T12:56:00.001-08:00

I met with a new realtor today after narrowing down my search to 2. I was immediately impressed with her. She called me to get the address of the house, did her research and called back to let me know l might not want to hire her because her news was not so good! I asked how much she thought the house should be priced at. She quoted $6900 less than we had originally listed it for. I told her we should meet anyway. She explained to me that based on the "comps" in the neighborhood and the new restrictions with lenders, one couldn't afford to price higher than what the market was demanding. She also said we had failed to account for the fact that the garage had been converted, so we needed to subtract from the listing price. Here in Houston, it is also a common practice for the seller to kick in 3% closing costs. I decided to list with her because she was honest and upfront with me. I had decided the old listing price and the other realtor agreed. She of course should have given me the kick in the pants that l needed. :o) . Grace at Gracefulretirement.blogspot.com had shared with me her realtor friend's take on why most houses don't sell. Most people have an overblown idea of how much their property is worth. Thanks, Grace for reminding me. If it sells at this new price, we still stand to make a 20% gain, after the projected 10% off the top, so l can't complain. I nixed the other realtor because upon my further research, he seems to mostly be in the business of buying distressed or foreclosed properties for investors or himself. We sign the papers with her today, we have still some more minor touch ups to do (less than $50.00 worth) and clean the house one more time. We were so lucky that we didn't get any damage from Ike. Every other single property on that street has blue tarp still from roof damage, a fact that she intends to include in the listing! I'm thinking good thoughts. We need good things from now on.

The final 2!

2008-12-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

I have narrowed down my search for a new realtor to 2 people. This is going to be for the Houston house. The listing expired with the old realtor on saturday (it was a long 6 months). I was hugely disappointed with the way she handled the listing. I think it might have had to do with the fact that she was a one woman show and had 17 other listings, leaving her with little time to devote to mine. It was the second time we worked with her. The first time was great, we were one of 4 listings and she was hungry. Anyway, this time, l have decided to go with a big name company. I did my research and looked up the houses that had sold in the subdivision in the last 6 months and made a list of the realtors involved in all transactions. Then l went to each realtor's website and looked up their past sales (the Houston realtors website is outstanding!), it lists whether they represented the buyer or seller and the listing prices. It was worth the work, and l am hoping this time, we can sell the house quickly. I am willing to price it even more aggressively. The one thing that has been hurting us is that it lacks a garage. It was turned into a second master, and most people want the garage. Houston gets mighty hot as you can imagine, but l'm hoping there is someone out there who can do without. This will be a big step towards our debt reduction. In hindsight, l would have used the profits from our last flip to pay down debt instead of sinking it into this house, but in some ways, l'm glad we didn't take out another mortgage loan for this, because for sure, we wouldn't have been able to keep up the payment and would have lost the house by now. We can't look back... The house doesn't look half bad, does it? and l figure since the garage door is still there, it shouldn't be hard to convert it back if the buyer so desires.

My non consumerism.

2008-12-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

I, like the rest of the world, have been a little down in the dumps lately. I worry about the state of affairs. I worry that l won't have enough money for the simple pleasures in life. I look around and realize that l am luckier than most. Sometimes, l forget that. I feel so bad for people who have lost their jobs, especially now with the holidays approaching. I can't even begin to imagine how it must feel. Lately, l've been having small anxiety attacks because l am so worried, not just about me, but about my family and friends, who are also having it rough. It doesn't feel good at all. My husband and l have no children by choice thank God, l would be a wreck!. I am one of 12 children and my husband is one of 3, so there are plenty of nieces, nephews etc. Money has been so tight lately, thanks to the fact that we have to come up with a big second mortgage payment monthly while we work on evicting our tenant in Los Angeles. We have decided to divest ourselves of that house. It is too stressful to come up with that mortgage and we can't afford the risk of getting another bad tenant. Our realtor suggests waiting till the market improves, but we'll be bankrupt by then, so it's not an option. According to the lawyer, all the paperwork with the tenant should be completed by the end of this month. At this time, l will take a vacation week so l can assess the property and fix it up to sell. Luckily, we didn't go crazy with the equity loan, so l think we'll come out okay.
I have a weakness for "cyclone" shopping as l like to call it. I can do a huge mall in like 45 minutes flat! I just swoop in, see something l like, l don't even try it on, just take it to go and hope for the best because l hate trying stuff on. Most of the time of course, it doesn't fit, and if there is one thing that l hate more than shopping, it's returning stuff. My brother, will on some occasions, raid my closet and return clothes and shoes that are still tagged so he can have spending money. He calls my closet "the bank" ;o) . Now, with the money situation, l've been "window" shopping online and the bank vault is empty. I stopped buying crappy things l don't need. We subscribe to netflix, we nest and play pool at home. We stopped going out to eat, l thank God everyday for my husband's cooking, it's like living with an italian chef! The little changes have made a difference. Even if things get better, l hope l can keep it up. In the meantime, whenever l get the attacks, l recognize it for what it is and take deep breaths till it passes. I recommend that for anyone, no use taking pills..

Separately Together

2008-12-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

I was just reading an interesting article in the papers, about how in light of the economic conditions, divorced couples are forced to stay together in the same house. In the old days, after the divorce, the house is sold, the profits divided and each goes on their merry way. Now, with housing sales sluggish and one partner unable to handle the mortgage payment, a lot of couples are choosing to stay together in the same house until the house sells or one can afford to go it alone. It is not a surprise when you think of the costs involved with acquiring a divorce. A judge even stated that some young couples upon estimating the costs are choosing to give their marriages another try. This is a good thing l believe. We live in a society where everything has become disposable, even marriages.. Very few people realize that marriage takes work and has to do with compromises and choose to bail out of it rather than work out differences, so maybe it's a good thing.

They saw crisis coming!!!

2008-12-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

According to an Associated Press article by Matt Apuzzo, the Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no money down, interest only mortgages, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. The jist of the story is that in 2005, there were ominous signs of the collapse to come and 5 major points were brought up by bank regulators which l will list:

-Regulators told bankers that exotic mortgages were often inappropriate for buyers with bad credit.
-Banks would have been required to increase efforts to verify that buyers had jobs and could afford houses.
-Regulators proposed a cap on risky mortgages so a string of defaults wouldn't be crippling.
-Banks that bundled and sold mortgages were told to be sure investors knew exactly what they were buying.
-Regulators urged banks to help buyers make responsible decisions and clearly advise them that interest rates might skyrocket and huge payments might be due sooner than expected.

Spot on eh?

Many of the executives of the banks that fought the proposals remain in high paying jobs even after all their assurances were proven false. Makes you wonder why these bastards are not in prison, doesn't it? there is so much injustice, the rich keep getting richer and there is no accountability.

p.s. in case you didn't know, we are now "officially" in a recession! a..duh.. lunkheads!!!

Savage Charging Rhinos on Black Friday!

2008-11-29T08:09:00.000-08:00

I just heard about the seasonal worker who was trampled to death at a WalMart on black friday. It seemed the crowd had swelled to about 2,000 people with little security. By the time the store was set to open, they had gotten so riled up, they ripped the doors off the hinges and surged the store trampling over the employees in their zeal to get to the useless discount gifts. The poor guy didn't stand a chance and the other 5 employees tried their best to get to him. Even after the paramedics were trying to work on him, most people didn't stop, but continued their charge! the store was shut down for a while, but by 1PM, it was back to business as usual!
Elsewhere, in Palm Desert, California, the local Toys "r" Us was also the scene of 2 deaths, 2 women were arguing over some toys and next thing, shots are being fired (presumably by the respective spouses/partners) resulting in the deaths of both men. It's nice to know that these people didn't die in vain, l mean little Johnny will get his death ray gun or wii or grand theft auto etc..
What kind of lesson are you teaching your kids people??? What is happening to us? Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves! animals.... all of you!

Black Friday with military precision!

2008-11-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

That's how l describe my friends foray into holiday shopping. Every year since l met her, she and her cousin plan their shopping the day after Christmas as if it was a military exercise. They wake up before the crack of dawn and pile into 2 SUV's, a child is paired of with an adult and they target the stores they need to shop in. They drive to the stores and drop off each set at the doors to wait in line. As soon as the doors open, the child waits in line and the adults rushes the store picking out all the gifts, then the driver drives all around picking them up from the various stores. They go back home to drop off those gifts, then make the 1 hour drive to the Premium Outlet, spending the rest of the day shopping for discounts at the various stores. I called her yesterday to wish her a happy thanksgiving and asked if she was going to do the same thing in light of the economic crisis. To my surprise, the answer was yes. According to her, she had to do it for the kids! Did l mention that she was "upside down" on her house, meaning she owed more on the house than what it was worth and is thisclose to foreclosure? not to mention the big equity loan that she is having trouble paying on? It just makes me think that maybe the retail sales this year will be just fine! If people think like her in such a precarious state, they will go out and shop just like she is doing, and the retailers will be happy. I think her mind is already made up that she will go into foreclosure, so why bother paying the mortgage? she can save for the down payment for her next place and l'm sure she will have no problems getting a loan. The house was in her name only and the next house will be in her husband's name only. I guess there are always ways to beat the system, no accountability! Makes you wonder why you continue to be responsible when it seems the cheaters get all the rewards!

Need a new realtor.

2008-11-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

As of Dec 5, my listing with the current realtor will expire, and not a moment too soon. I know times are tough and trying to sell a house in this day and age is nearly impossible, but l am mad at the realtor. The listing agreement is for 6 months, ( l would have noticed and shortened it, but my hubby did not!) and in that time, she's only been to the property once. We found the property and decided to flip it for a profit. Real estate is a hobby of mine. I was the one who saw the property on the mls and called to tell her about it. I went to view the property (she was unavailable), her assistant did the necessary paperwork and even when we signed the papers at the escrow office, she wasn't there. In the whole of the six months, l received an email every couple of months asking if we needed new flyers, which leads me to believe she didn't visit often. Her office is 3 minutes drive away from the house and she still didn't find the time to pay attention to it. So, upon the expiration, l have decided to find a new agent. I realize the house is not a lot of money and times are hard, but to completely abandon the property is just unprofessional. When my husband called to express our concerns, she said she had been busy with her child's upcoming marriage and promised to step it up, but nothing happened. I need to find an aggressive realtor. She had done a good job finding a buyer for our last flip, but l think just got too comfortable with the fact that l would do everything. It would have just been easy money for her.
I hope to find someone eager to sell this house so l can pay off some bills. Wish me luck.

Interesting article on Monopoly and real life lessons!

2008-11-24T08:18:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting article by David Gelles on how the game Monopoly mirrors what happens in real life. Perhaps l should have played it more often. I might not be in as much of a mess..enjoy..

El Coyote in Los Angeles

2008-11-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

I recently read about the massive protest at one of my favorite old hangouts in Hollywood, the El Coyote mexican restaurant. I frequented this establishment for over 15 years, first with friends that worked at the old "Esprit" store, then with other friends and co-workers over the years. I always enjoyed the food and the prices were pretty reasonable . I looked forward to my "scratch" margarita on the rocks, no salt! I never realized the owners were mormon, It was the ultimate hangout for everybody, gay, straight, so l am sad to see that one of the managers donated money to support prop. 8 which bans same sex marriage. There are so many gay waiters and other staff there. I wonder how they are all taking this. It was nice to see Bill on video though, he always got us a table quickly! The link above will show you the video if interested.

Global Crisis spreads to the Caribbean..

2008-11-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

As the economy worsens, the vacation spots are also seeing a massive slowdown in tourism. Most of these islands depend almost completely on foreign money from vacationers, but as of late, nobody is traveling and a lot of destinations are taking a hit. Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic has had massive layoffs due to stopped projects. Hotels that were slated for construction have being halted due to lack of funding. A 250 million dollar loan that was being funded by the now bankrupt Lehman Bros. has halted the continuing development of the resort called Camp Cana. It was to have featured 4 luxury hotels, 3 golf courses and a mega-yacht marina. The story repeats itself in places like Nassau, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. In the past, a slowdown in a particular part of the world wasn't too much of a big deal, but with the crisis being worldwide, it has put a serious crimp on the economies of these countries. The airlines of course, are also feeling the pinch as demand for travel has slowed considerably. Now, after severe hikes in air ticket prices, the prices have come down considerably and are expected to fall even more as the holidays approach in an effort to fill those seats. I don't think it will do much good. I had planned on going home for the holidays this year, but when l searched a couple of months ago, my ticket price was $3951.00 for a round trip ticket. I know it is now down to about $1979, but it is still too high for me. I have so many pressing bills, l can not justify spending that much, just on the ticket. This year, we'll keep it local.

20% of CitiGroup's..

2008-11-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

employees will be out jobs really soon! It was announced yesterday that 53,000 employees would join the recently announced 24,000 other employees also losing their jobs in an effort to rein in costs and emerge as a stronger company. This means it's going to be a lousy christmas for loads of people and unemployment rate is expected to reach 7.5%. All this doom and gloom, even after Citi got a large chunk of change from the bailout. If you recollect in an earlier post of mine, Citi had pledged to work with homeowners to avoid foreclosure. I wonder what is going to happen to that program. It will be interesting. Wall street wasn't so impressed, it shares fell almost a dollar. Curiously, of all the big banks, Citi had the smallest exposure to the risky mortgages. It was also the only big bank that did not make any big acquisitions recently, so unfortunately, it was also the only one that had a bad earnings report. What l am trying to say is that the house of cards still exist. All these companies make acquisitions on a regular basis and so the shareholders are happy because the earning jump up, but ultimately, when they run out companies to buy..the house of cards starts to fall. The growths are through acquisitions and mergers only it seems like, which is a short term fix till the next earnings report..the original company had no growth..isn't that kind of what happened with Enron?
On a milder tone, today is our wedding anniversary. We are throwing caution to the wind and going out for a lobster dinner! This will be our first dinner out in 5 months, and l am looking forward to it, we are also going to see "Quantum of Solace'. I'm putting the worries out of my head and intend on having a blast!

Donation time? It should be more like ...

2008-11-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Education time!
Since the holidays are almost here, the annual drive to get people to give to those less fortunate is here, and every day, the papers tell us a new story about a needy family and how we can help. I feel for people for the most part, but it seems to me the stories are always the same. The Houston Chronicle today has a story of a 19 year old mother, (her kid is 3!) in need of christmas toys and furniture, including a crib etc. for her growing family, she has another child on the way, due around December 23. I seem to be missing something here, no one has anything to say about the fact that this single child will have 2 kids at age 19! Her mom helps some, but she is on social security and money is tight. Nowhere does it say in the article about education. I would gladly donate money to agencies that teach children (boys and girls) about social responsibility. You can not count on the kindness of strangers to help you raise kids. She can not even support herself, never mind 2 more mouths. My blood boils when l read these stories. I've read some of the stories where these girls have 4,5,6,even 7 kids on a part time income. I feel for those kids, they did not ask to be brought into this world. The charities just ask us to help at holiday time, but what about the rest of the year? what happens to these kids? Perhaps we should stop coddling them and start educating them. I swear it seems to me that l had a harder time adopting my rescue dogs than these women had having kids. There is a whole lot wrong with the system. I want to help, but something prevents me from rewarding what l consider bad behavior. I am going to donate to a charity that works to prevent teenage pregnancy. What happened to shame? Am l just old? or old fashioned?

Citigroup to help homeowners avoid foreclosure

2008-11-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

Citigroup today announced a plan to help people avoid foreclosure. According to the Associated Press, they will not initiate foreclosure proceedings against eligible homeowners who stay in their homes, assuming it's a primary residence. You must have reasonable income and work in good faith. They also plan on extending this to people who don't even have loans that originate from them. So far, they say there will be 600 agents available to implement this plan. Citigroup as a whole did not make the risky sub prime loans, but like every other bank, has been severely impacted by all this turmoil. I am happy to see they are stepping up in a big way. I do believe greed got us to where we are today as a society. I can understand why there would be resentment from people who have always paid on time and never over extended themselves. The reality though, is that if something is not done soon, your house would be dragged down, along with the other foreclosures. The banks are in the business to make money, not to own houses..so let's say a neighbor goes into foreclosure, the house sits empty for months, it's unkempt, windows broken, eventually graffiti and unsavory people loiter about. The bank finally sells it a ridiculously low price just to get it off it's books, and voila, your property value goes down. There is a new "comp" for sales in the area and you get dragged down to the same price the house sold for. The time for finger pointing is over, something needs to be done and quickly, let's just see if it helps.

Glum tone for the holidays!

2008-11-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

According to the Associated Press, retailers suffered though the weakest October sales in at least 39 years, despite the heavy price cutting as they desperately try to pull in consumers. These people seem to be forgetting that consumers have so much more to worry about than wearing the latest flash outfit! I think right now, most people are worried about their jobs, their retirement, their homes etc. to think about shopping at Saks. We are just too busy thinking about the basic necessities. It is predicted that the christmas sales will be down sharply. I for one am glad. There is truly nothing l hate more than the christmas rush. I call it a "hallmark holiday". People just lose their minds when it comes to christmas. I have always believed that holidays were a special time to reconnect with family. This may be because l was not born in this country and was never exposed to the commercialism that went with it. Christmas was marvelous and you looked forward to spending 3 days with all your extended family that you hardly saw during the year. Everyone drove to the small village where my parents were born, christmas eve, you go to church and then go from house to house greeting relatives and friends. All the kids slept on the floor, that is, if you slept at all.
Christmas day, the older women start to cook early in the morning and the teenagers supervised the bathing of the younger ones and arranged for their breakfast. By lunch time, relatives near and far start to come by and have lunch, hang out and just relax. In the evening, everyone gathers around and play with fireworks. The local school has a colorful parade that travels throughout the village, playing music, and dancing. The picture above is of the "egungun". You stay up late, and come boxing day (the 26th), you sleep till late. Then comes the goodbyes to your relatives and the drive back to the city. There is no gift giving, and l cherish those days. I see my friend's kids request things like xbox, wie etc for christmas and the parents go crazy trying to come up with the money for these things then spend most of the year trying to pay their debts off, but l digress from the topic, the point is that we have spent so many years with the buy now and pay later mentality, we are now suffering for it. I know l am. Hopefully, we will learn from the past, all of us, including the government.
So to the retailers, l say suck it up. You'll probably be the last sector to recover....

Painful time for all!

2008-11-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

While l lament the beating that my portfolio has taken, l take comfort in the fact that everyone is hurt by this whole financial crisis. Warren Buffet for instance is estimated to be down about 13.6 billion dollars of his Berkshire holdings. Larry Ellison, my own personal favorite vain oracle is down 6.2 billion, but before you feel sorry for them, you should know their holdings now leaves them with 48.1 and 20.1 billion dollars respectively. The CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corporation was also forced to sell 95% of his holdings to satisfy a margin call, and to think l was upset with my margin call from TDAmeritrade!! It's nice to know that even the financial gurus feel a little bit of pain.

I's time that l re-examined my shares of Elan Pharmaceuticals. It just can't seem to get out of the downward spiral. I have been too lazy to read it's financial report. I like the stock and have always liked it, it made me quite a bit of money during the internet boom along with Oracle and l believe that might be clouding my judgement a lot. I'll sleep on it and then decide.

The noose gets tighter, credit terms worsen

2008-11-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

According to the business section of the Houston Chronicle, your credit card interest rates are about to get hiked up. The banks are tightening the reins on consumers. American Express for instance plans on raising interest rates across the board for their card holders of 2-3 % due to increased charge offs or balances written off as not being paid. The Federal Reserve is planning on regulating the credit card companies later this year, one proposed regulation would ban the companies from raising interest rates on existing balances which may be one reason for the companies to stick it to us now! To guard against toughened terms like increased hikes, lower limits or punishment for reasons unrelated to your account, the Chronicle suggests holding more than 1 credit card, so you can transfer balances to a more favorable one, checking your credit score periodically and monitoring for identity theft.

In other news, we finally got rid of the downed tree in the front and had a gardener plant flowers, so now, we're no longer the ugly house in the neighborhood... yeah!!!

American Express to cut 10% of work force!

2008-10-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

It was announced today that Amex is laying off 10% of it's work force in light of the current economic climate. It seems even they are not immune tot he ills of today as l previously noted. Amex has traditionally catered to more affluent people, but unfortunately, most of them are concentrated in California and Florida, 2 states hardest hit by the foreclosure fiasco. They also had a lot of small business loan accounts which people are defaulting on. It's sad, but l feel this is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope things will get better because l genuinely like American Express. No matter which side of the world l found myself in, l could always count on a local Amex branch to cash my check or replace my card. The stock went up a little bit after the news, so maybe it's a good thing.

Virgin Credit Card

2008-10-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

After being unable to sign off my Bank of America homepage without being told how l was pre-approved for a Virgin Airways credit card, and how l would get 20,000 airline points just to sign up, l decided to take them up on the offer. I mostly take Virgin Airways when l travel, and have depleted my miles, so l figured why not?

I received the card last week. It's being offered by American Express. My credit limit was 500 bucks!!! What an insult, that amount doesn't even get me a round trip ticket to London in the off season! but that's not even the worst part, the "yearly card fee" is $90.00! Can you believe that? $90.00!!!! I called them to cancel the card immediately. They wondered why l would cancel the card since it had all these benefits. I told them l couldn't get past the fee! As of today, it still shows up that l have this card, it still shows 90.00 balance, but no payment due. I have no idea why..I emailed BofA, and they said l would have to call and speak to someone on the phone, probably to talk me into keeping the card. Thank God l'm not in dire need of the money.

The Dow is up!!! Again!

2008-10-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

As you may know, the Dow was up almost 900 points today. The best gain in almost 2 weeks. They keep trying to come up with new spins on every session. This time, it's that more people are not selling, and some coming in late in the day to snap up bargains according to Maria Bartoromo. I just find it hard to get excited about any of this news anymore. My portfolio has taking such a beating that l need maybe 2 or 3 weeks straight of this kind of sessions to get me excited again.

As an aside, beer sales are down in Britain, which goes against the conventional wisdom that when times are tough, people drink even more. They had thought pub beer sales might go down, but beer sales in the grocery store would go up, That's not the case. I bet if they do decide to make the traditional "pint" of beer smaller, people wouldn't care too much. Problems everywhere..

Baby Step!

2008-10-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

So, l did the first thing l had been thinking about for a while, which is to consolidate my Citibank balances. I transferred both to my Capital One mastercard which has been zero for a long time. That card has an 8.9% interest rate which is a lot lower than Citibank was giving me. Truthfully, l had not been paying attention, but that's going to change. Now, the plan is to start knocking them down as much as possible. I don't see it happening right away as we still have some big bills to tackle t home. We had a lot of tree and fence damage from the hurricane and need to shell out money for that, plus the rental properties had extensive water damage as well which need to be fixed..carpets replaced etc..I just hope we don't end up with even more on the cards.

Southern California home sales rise !!!!

2008-10-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

According to DQ news, there is an unprecedented 65% increase in home sales in the greater Los Angeles area and half of the sales are of foreclosed properties. This is good news to me!!! It means people are finally getting off the sidelines and are getting back into the market. Granted, the median price is $308,500 down from the high of $505,000 last spring, l'm just glad it's moving. I need the market to go back high so l can get out. DQ by the way is a realtor site, so l'm sure they are only pushing the good stuff, but l don't care. I could use a bit of good news right about now.

Money in the bank....NOT!

2008-10-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Okay! So after some soul searching and encouragement from other bloggers, l have decided to come clean with my debt. Here is the breakdown.

BofA MC is $9938.70

BofA Visa is $18201.97

Citibank MC is 6062.82

CitiDiamond is $6870.37

Home Depot is $6129.76

Grand total is $47,203.62

This does not include mortgages..lines of equity etc..! These loans are the ones that mostly concern me for now.

Wow! I had never added it up before now. It is a lot!

You might be asking yourself how l got into such a big mess, part of it was consumerism, part of it was circumstances beyond my control. Our main reason for moving from Los Angeles to Houston was to have fewer bills, and a more comfortable lifestyle. We decided to lease our home there and give it a year in Houston. If we hated it, we would move back. Unfortunately, l have had really bad renters. The first was a rapper (big time one too!) who apparently only had one big hit album to his name and lived off royalty checks which came around every few months. I had to hire a lawyer to get him out and fix up the place for rent again. Charged it to the BofA since l didn't have the ready cash. My realtor said a family would be much better and so she searched for one. He turns out to be an even bigger deadbeat than the rapper. He was a local sportscaster on an L.A tv station, and she thought he would be a good fit, but long story short, he's in the middle of a nasty divorce and moved in with his new girlfriend. His money is tied up in court..and l get shafted. So..back to the lawyer, back to more fees..and me having to pay the mortgage on the house till l can finally get him to pay. It is so weird, would love to kick him out, but one thing l've found out is that when it's your property, you need to be there..no one can handle things for you! The market is so bad in L.A right now, we both kind of need each other in a sad way! His lease if up on 1/10/09. I will not renew it.

My plan for the big bills?? We listed a recently remodeled house in the Houston area. It was our second foray into flipping. We paid cash for the house luckily, but the market being the way it is, we keep getting praises but no offers on the house. We will keep it on the market for a while longer before considering renting it. With the proceeds from that one day, we can pay all the credit cards off. In the meantime, l started making beaded jewelry for sale and sell it locally. I have just set up a web site and hope to sell a few to keep going. We also log in extra hours at work.

Wow! I actually feel a bit better....

Ashamed to say it out loud!

2008-10-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

I started this site to blog my way out of debt. I am ashamed to say that l have not been successful so far. I have read other people's blogs and my balances are much higher. I can't bring myself to say it out loud, so l dance around it. I got a kick in the pants so to speak by reading ourdebtblog tonight and l think l just might be ready to come clean. I will gather up the bills and let you know exactly what my plans are to knock them down. My bills are with Citibank (2 cards) and Bank of America (2 cards) and they are hefty. Forgive me for dragging my heels, but l promise to come clean on the next post with exact figures. Please try not to laugh!

Delayed Retirement for some!

2008-10-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

The Houston Chronicle had an interesting article today, talking about how the financial crisis has caused some older people to rethink their retirement plans. It makes sense, since l'm sure a lot of them have taken major financial hits. The difference between the older and the younger is that the younger ones can afford the luxury of waiting it out, the older generation however have to scramble. We can not forget that a lot of people took out equity loans on their house to finance the kids education, vacations, extravagant remodels, 2nd homes etc. and so they might be in the same predicament as some younger people.

I can't wait to fully discover how the bailout is going to affect me personally. I would love for someone to say l don't have to pay back my 401k loan, that l could have it penalty free! That would help a lot, it would free up extra money. A lot of people are also apparently stopping their 401k contributions. I'm not so sure that is a good strategy, one can argue that stocks are a great buy right now. As for me, l think l will keep it at the current 10%. I suggest contributing at least as much as your company match..that way your loss is diluted a bit. Oh yeah..that, and a lot of prayer!

Dow falls again! so why am l ...

2008-10-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

The Dow has fallen to it's lowest level since 2003! It closed at 8579, down about 678 points! Nothing seems to be propping up this market! GM's rating is going to be cut! Another 35 million going to AIG! There is a massive amount of fear and paranoia on Wall Street. which makes me wonder why l finally feel better. I have been apprehensive for the longest time, my stocks have plunged, my 401k has shrunk and even American Express has lowered another one of my business card's credit limit despite the fact that l had a zero balance, have never been late with my payments and have been a customer since 1982! Prior to today, l would have been mad, would have called Amex and demanded they raise the limit, but curiously, l understand it and almost feel sorry for them. They had been so free and lax with their credit lines that l am sure they are hurting big time, just like all the other companies. Today, l feel strangely optimistic, like we have hit rock bottom and things will start looking up from here. I am not an expert, and l have no idea if l am right, l just feel like the worst is over! I hope so..for all our sakes.

The Roller Coaster ride

2008-10-07T07:38:00.001-07:00

I feel like this is a perfect time to take the Dramamine! I wonder when this carnage will end. The Dow is on a wild swing. It went down 800 points yesterday before rebounding some as the bargain hunters swooped in. My portfolio of investments through my 401k has dropped quite a bit in the last few weeks..about $37,000 and shows no sign of slowing down. I wonder if now would be a good time to shuffle where the money goes. I had about 40% in the aggressive funds, with the rest scattered among the moderate and my company stock. I can't seem to make the move though, the way l figure it, this too shall pass. I think for now, l will stay calm and leave it as is.

My TDameritrade account has also taken a big hit, l had a $27,000 gain in 2 years which l was quite proud of, then BAM!, Now l am down to a $1600 gain. I think depending on what the market does today, l just might take that money and run.

May the Dow be with me!

2008-10-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

I am filled with such a sense of dread lately. I know why and l know l shouldn't be worried as much as l am, but l can't help it. My 401k holdings went down 14,000 dollars in the last quarter alone, and l can only imagine what horror the next statement will bring! I would be a lot more scared if l was older, but l have a little bit of luxury since retirement is about 20 years away. Yet l feel apprehensive. I have taken steps to make sure we will have good retirement income (rental properties in the Houston area as well as our old house in Hollywood) but we have a deadbeat tenant in Hollywood and it's hard to manage from here. Thanks to Hurricane Ike, we have damages in all rental properties. Water damage and mold... We have to do something and quickly. We are overwhelmed to say the least.

No to Bailout!

2008-09-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

As of now, the bailout plan has been rejected by Congress! The Dow lost over 700 points and the Nasdaq was down as well. It will be very interesting to see what is going to happen next! I know l have a margin call on my TD Ameritrade account! I only had 3 stocks left and all were down..boo hoo! It sounds to me like Bush has cried wolf once too many times and now no one will listen. The Republicans seem to have deserted their president. Let's all hang on for a wild and bumpy ride.

The New Sorority!

2008-09-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

By now everyone knows about the "hazing" young college students go through to join fraternities. Apparently, the girls sororities have their own unique ways of selection as well. I read in the Houston Chronicle how new members are chosen. The first criteria seems to be by zip code, meaning if you are from a "rich" zip code, for instance the famous 90210, you are selected. It's nice to know money still talks! Next comes the usual "important" things like looks, snooty attitude etc...etc..,you know - things that make you a valuable addition to society..(not!). It's incredible to me that in this day and age, there are these inferior morons who still define themselves by the sorority they belong to! I wonder what would happen if you were a nanny's child from Beverly Hills 90210 on full scholarship and were "discovered" once approved to join the sisterhood? Do they take away your pin? are you then a pariah? to be shunned and ridiculed by your peers? Interesting..

WaMu seized and sold!

2008-09-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

I woke up today to the news that Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu) has been seized by the government and sold to Chase bank for 1.9 billion dollars. This makes it the biggest bank failure, even bigger than the IndyMac bank failure of a few weeks ago. I have to say, l am not suprised. I had expected WaMu to be the first to fail. This comes from seeing up close and personal the disregard they had for documentation regarding their mortgage loans.

Back in California, l worked with several people who had loans from WaMu and they all worked with the same mortgage broker. This broker had an "in" with the WaMu loan officers who turned a blind eye to the lack of documentation from my co-workers. I even witnessed someone using "wite-out" to doctor their 401k statement. It was a completely amateurish job and l told him it would be rejected, but nope..it was just passed over and the loan approved! Every 1-2 months without fail, this same broker would help them acquire new equity loans based on highly inflated appraisals. It was like a well-oiled machine. Everyone from the appraiser to the mortage broker to the loan officer to the client got money from these shady deals. It went on and on for at least a couple of years. You tell me how a house could have been bought for 395,000 dollars and appraise for 745,000 a year and half later without someone at the bank questioning what was going on? A lot of the banks did the same thing, but WaMu was especially famous for that. One of my co-workers was lucky enough to unload his house before the meltdown and escaped with a few thousand in his pocket, while the other 2 are now stuck with houses that they owe more on than it's worth. One is trying to wangle a short sale with WaMu. A short sale is when you make arrangements with the bank to sell the house for less than you owe and the bank agrees to to the loss. I am not sure what will happen now in light of today's announcement. This is a very troubling time for everyone and l think we are in for a whole lot of hurt before things start to get better. I am curious to people's thoughts on this. Feel free to comment.

Ike was here!

2008-09-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

It has now been 13 days since hurricane Ike blew into Texas. Life is slowly getting back to normal. My subdivision finally got our lights back on after a week. It was intense to say the least, there were so many downed trees and we were afraid to go out for fear of using too much gas, plus all the stores were closed! We are lucky enough to have gas stoves as opposed to electric and so we were able to cook, good thing we love pasta, we survived on it for lunch and dinner and we just had crackers for breakfast. Sometimes, it felt like we were in a third world country. We had running water but were told to conserve it as it started backing up the sewage system. The smell from the rotten food in the fridge was bad enough! We had 2 trees collapse on a neighbor's yard and one fell in the pool. So far, we have left everything as is, we're just too overwhelmed for now. Since most damage was in the back, we can fix it at leisure when we have extra cash. We just have to make sure we keep an eye on the dogs when they go out as part of our fence blew down.