The Pond

My husband was telling me that he heard on television that the sales of safes has risen in the past few weeks. I would guess so, with the economy in such bad shape, people are making changes to protect their hard earned money. We all hear people talk about putting their money under their mattress. I would guess that many are taking their money out of the bank and putting it in a safe in their home. I can’t say that I blame them.

It would be a good time to be in the safe manufacturing business. I had no idea there are so many manufacturers of safes. There are the Brown Safe Co., Adesco Safe Mfg. Co., Cincy Safe Co., Lockmasters, Inc. to name just a few. The only one I recognized on the list was the Diebold Safe Company. I went to their website to see if they had any news about sales of safes increasing. I didn’t see any articles but I noticed that their stock has dropped. I wonder if they keep their money in the bank.

I KNEW IT! I have often said that the guys at the corner make big money. We have all seen the panhandlers at the corner, up by the stop sign who hold up their signs. I hate to be the one first at the light because that means they are standing right beside my car. I avert my eyes so I don’t come in eye contact. I mean, I am sure they are making good money doing their panhandling but what if they really are in dire straits? What if they have tried to get a legitimate job and failed? I have no way of knowing so I try not to look them in the eye.

I just read an article on CNN online that lead me to the results of a Spokane research company. The results said that some of those panhandlers are not homeless and can make up to $40 per hour! I was right!

Where is some cardboard and my magic marker? I need to scope out a good stoplight.

There have been a few times when I felt really bad for someone who wanted to purchase something from someone in the US but couldn’t get around the high cost of doing so. I know that when I sold something on ebay, I was shocked at the difficult process of shipping to someone who did not live in the US. Someone finally came up with an idea that will solve that problem. Shipito.com is a mail forwarding service that allows you to offer international shipping when you sell using ebay. It is easy to refer potential bidders to sign up with Shipito.com so they can utilize the service. As an ebay seller, you can sign up for an account through Shipito.com and there is no cost involved. Shipito.com also offers an affiliate program so you can earn some money when you put a link on your website and allow others to find out about this great service.

I am trying to be conservative with my spending this fall. Christmas is sneaking up on me and I have not even begun to buy any gifts. I have been visiting quality fabric stores with my mom and my sister this past week. It is awfully hard not to buy everything I see. Fabric stores that sell quilt quality fabric have the most beautiful colors of fabric. When they have quilts on display, I want to buy everything required to make the ones I see. It would be easy to fall into a spending frenzy but then I would need some credit counseling.

I was introduced to Bills.com not too long ago and found them to be informative on how to manage credit and that they have valuable credit counseling information. There is nothing worse than to begin the holiday season with no expendable cash. I will be having a tough time finding extra money to buy gifts this year. Everything extra has been earmarked to put gas in my car. Bills.com has a whole section of free credit counseling pointers to give me ideas on how to make my money stretch. Visit Bills.com and learn how to take the stress out of spending during the holiday season.

How do you feel about McCain’s choice for his running mate? Sen. John McCain today announced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate. Palin, 44, has been governor of Alaska since 2006. I like the fact that she entered a beauty contest to win a scholarship. No acne problems were going to keep this gal from going to college and moving up in the world. She studied journalism and worked as a sports journalist until deciding to get into politics. She became a city council woman and went on to become mayor of her hometown. Eliminating taxes was her main goal as mayor. She is well versed in the field of oil and gas resources. Palin held the position of chairman of the Alaska’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. I hope that gives her the tools to help our country get out of this oil crisis. Palin is the mother of five, of which the youngest was diagnosed in utero with downs syndrome.

I don’t know about you but with gasoline prices increasing, I have to be careful with how I spend my money. When it costs over $60 to fill my gas tank, I don’t have as much fun money as I used to. I have noticed that the price of everything has been going up. The little things I never paid attention to, suddenly seem to cost more. When I sew, I look at the price of fabric but don’t really look at the price of ribbon, buttons and the other things for my project. I look at the prices now! Holy smokes. Buttons are expensive.

I hate to think of how kids graduating from college are going to manage a household when prices of everything have skyrocketed. Until salaries match the cost of living, they will need to plan budgets and watch their spending until all their school loans are paid. One important tool to managing their finances is to consolidate debt so they don’t pay higher interest rates on many loans. By consolidating their student loans they may pay a lower interest rate. Bills.com gives excellent information on how the process works. They state that it is not possible to consolidate their other loans with the student loans but offer information on how to deal with student loan companies to see if they offer a consolidation program. By consolidating, they may be able to lower their monthly payment which would enable them to use the money saved on other bills like rent and car payments. Bills.com offers information that states how debt consolidation is a good process for those with good to perfect credit. Debt settlement or debt negotiation is a better option for those who have poor credit. That is good to note. The information given at Bills.com is important to those with all types of credit history.

Did you know that debt is one of the major reasons for a high divorce rate here in the United States? Debt causes stress which causes buying which causes stress. It is a vicious circle that can be stopped. NetDebt has the tools to help you become debt free. NetDebt has introduced something that other debt solution companies should have thought about. They offer online enrollment for their services. By utilizing online services you avoid the embarrassment of facing a counselor not to mention the time you save not having to drive to an appointment. You will not have to ask for time off from your job to get the help you need. Check out NetDebt and get on the road to being debt free.

I just read in our local paper that nearly 40 percent of Indiana’s mortgage brokerages lost their licensing because on Wednesday because they have not complied with a “new” law aimed at raising the standards of the industry in a state with one of the nations highest foreclosure rates.

While I am glad they are making changes, I am mad that it took drastic measures to get these changes made. I could see the writing on the wall as far back as a few years ago. I read about the mortgages that people were getting and wondered myself how they were going to make the payment when the interest rate increased. I feel as though they took advantage of people. We trust lending institutions to not loan us money when they feel we are at risk. Isn’t that they way you understand the lending business to be? Are there not check offs they use to see if giving a person a loan is a good idea?

To be sure I was clear on my understanding of what a mortgage broker does, I looked up what Wikipedia gave as the role of a mortgage broker.

A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who sources mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses.

The majority of mortgage brokers are regulated to ensure compliance with banking and or finance laws in the jurisdiction of the consumer; however, the extent of the regulation depends on the jurisdiction. Only one state within the U.S. has no laws that govern mortgage lending.

By the way, the law the brokerage firms are not complying with went into effect in 2007. It requires that each brokerage firm shall name a principal broker with at least three years experience who has passed a state exam and will oversee his company’s business affairs. Maybe no one wants to be in charge.

It is getting to the point where I hate to read the newspaper these days. Our little home town paper has at least four foreclosure listings per day. Some of the names I recognize. These are not reckless people who have spent money frivolously. These are normal people who because of circumstances beyond their control, have found themselves in need of debt help.

One particular couple is our friend’s son and daughter in-law. They have three beautiful, small children all under the age of 5. He has a good job. She has taken in children to babysit to have a little cash to get some debt relief. Having to pay for daycare for 3 children make it futile for her to work outside her home.

They bought a fixer up type of home and settled in to what they hoped would be their home for years to come. Now they are facing
debt consolidation and asking relatives for money to help them make ends meet each month. It is so sad.

If I was not afraid of embarrassing them, I would tell them about BillsIQ. BillsIQ is a wonderful resource to help people learn to manage their money. It is also informative and useful to those who need to improve their financial health.

I am afraid that the situation with people getting in over their heads is going to get worse. I hope more people get advice from a great resource like BillsIQ before they find themselves knee deep in debt.

Do you remember to use your coupon codes when ordering things online? Sometimes I forget and then I chastise myself for it. Today I remembered! I was ordering a gift for a special person but before I did, I did some searching for a coupon code. I have written about a couple of great sites so I had no trouble finding a code. I saved $10.00! When I tried to enter the code online the total didn’t reflect my savings. I called the company and they took my order over the phone and made sure the code worked. Walah! $10.00 for me.