Husband was laid off.... again.

[ksacres]

I get a little excited sometimes.

No malicious intent, I swear. Sometimes I just see that soapbox sittin' there so pretty; it takes a bully club and rubber bullets to get me down.

 

[vfem]

I blame this on the banks... credit is the issue that caused this downfall.

 

[beak]

Quote:
Your right about signing the contracts. It's a good thing you read the whole contract. I did the same thing when our lender tried to push an ARM on us. The fact is a lot of people thought their house would continue to appreciate and they could refinance at a better rate in 2 to 3 years. I got the sales pitch too but I figured my situation could change in that time and I wouldn't qualify to refi. Then I would be stuck with a payment I couldn't afford.

It's all good and well to place the blame at these peoples feet. The government is supposed to protect us. They set speed limits, the FDA is supposed to be sure drugs are safe, there are all sorts of safeguards in place. On this issue they didn't protect us. They allowed these banks to practice predatory lending and it has caused the whole industry to crash.

In some parts of the country you can save a 20% down payment before you retire. Try doing that in New England or the west coast. In Denver the lowest cost house you could buy 4 years ago was around 180k and most people wouldn't want to live there. Most people can't save 36k by the time they're 35 much less early twenties. The big boys dropped the ball. Now we have a lot of good honest hard working Americans trying to make ends meet on unemployment.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Somehow I do see some good out of this. Yes, I do. A great many of us, meaning the majority of people in the USA, are going to have a hard time. I think the good part is it will also make us closer and better and thus stronger. Things have gotten too easy.

This poor economy is world wide and while it may be deliberate, it is a correction. I think America will remain strong and a world leader in the long run. We will need to be better people though and think about our neighbors, brothers, sisters, etc and get back to basics.

Gone is my cell phone and satellite TV. I'm trying to rent a room to help with $3 per gallon propane but I am also giving people firewood from my own land to help them. No one wants to lose their job or their home. We'll eventually prevail but it is going to be slim pickings for awhile.

I think we can all agree that it makes no sense to bail out big industries when no one can afford to buy their products. That is a very poor investment in my book. Our government should have given the tax payers the money. People will either spend it to pay off bills or buy beer, cigarettes and a new pick up truck. Either scenario works since it puts real money back into the economy.

Oh well.... Off to try and get my tax return sooner than later.

 

[cluckychick]

Quote:
I disagree....Some ppl just wanted a home to call their own, a single parent with two jobs paying rent, then she/he sees this GREAT oppurtunity to purchase a home. Put yourself in their shoes....

 

[beak]

You are spot on Birch. A lot of people have lost money on their houses but it is a correction. The market was getting out of control. It's ridiculous paying 2500 a month for a 3 bedroom house on a little property. It kind of looks like the 1st 350 Billion just kind of disappeared. I hope they spend the next 350 a little more wisely. I,m hoping they'll rein in the credit card companies too. One of my cards raised my rate from 7.99 to 24.99 starting in January. No late payments, no over limits. Just figured they needed more money. Guess they're doing their little bit to help.

 

[92caddy]

My place of work, we make parts for GMC, parts for the transmission and transfercase. My better half makes motor homes that run from 250,000 to 500,000 each, which of course they are not selling alot of them right now. Been working there for 20 years and is upper management and still got laid off. They have shut alot of their plants down, only have a few left running now. My work is all based on GMC on what and how they are doing. It dont look good. ................

 

[bluey]

Quote:
ks is absolutely right.

It took me the destitution brought on by a divorce ten years ago to show me how much money I was wasting and how much i was living beyond my means. It was a real eye opener.

People with financial troubles are still walking around with cellphones, ipods, internet access, cable, brand new cars, other recreational vehicles, many domestic animals they have to feed, etc, etc etc...

After my divorce, I cut out everything and got a second job. It took a lot of years to climb out but I did. It never ceases to amaze me that folks (I'm not talking about the OP, just talking in general) don't realize how much wasted spending there is in their budgets and furthermore are unwilling to cut. In some ways they are just as bad as politicians in government. God forbid any program gets cut and there's always a need for "something else".

We're never going to get where we want to go personally or as a country until we start cutting out the nonsense.

I lived without TV for 3 years. Did I miss it? Sure I did. My daughters adjusted and renting movies from time to time became a real treat that we appreciated so much more.

I guess what I'm saying is that we can all cut back in places if we look hard enough. I did.

I have incredible empathy for those losing jobs, but we should never assume that our current job will take care of us forever. The world changes and we need to be nimble enough to change with it.

Many of our possessions and choices of lifestyle are a huge drag on that nimbleness.

 

[beak]

True, true, true but the deregulation on the mortgages has sucked everyone down. The gov needs to regulate so people can't buy a house that they can't afford. If all it affected was the people that did it that would be ok. But it's affecting everybody. Yes your right, but the ease of getting credit now feeds the instant gratification mentality. It's very easy to fall in to credit card hell. A lot of people don't have the self control to stay out of it. They give credit cards to teenagers now. Don't even have to have a job. Then they whine when people don't pay.It's insane. I know we should let all the people that use their plastic too much go live in cardboard boxes. It still doesn't change what it's doing to everyone else.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
Hang in there! Hubby has been out of work since August 2006 and I'm on disability-no check since Sept.

You will be ok