<$Thursday, April 24, 2008$>
Calculators
| What I need is a backwards mortgage calculator. Not one that tells you how much you can allegedly afford based on your salary, which is all I seem to be finding, but one where I can enter how much I want my total monthly payment to be, including taxes and insurance, and it will tell me how much to borrow based on that. Because what I can comfortably afford to pay in a reality wherein we still having money to, y'know, do stuff occasionally, is a lot different from what these calculators are telling me I can afford. Unless we decide we want a house but no life. Then we're solid! Labels: house-hunt, loans |
<$Monday, March 17, 2008$>
The Mortgage Crisis: It's Not Just Us
| With all of the talk going around both the news media and the personal finance blogosphere about the housing and credit crises and the downward spiral of our economy, it's pretty easy to become discouraged these days. I guess that's one reason I keep sitting on our mortgage application--as housing prices drop, it seems like a great time to buy, but with the Mortgage industry so unstable, it's also pretty scary. I definitely don't want to get into a deal that will just leave us homeless in a few years. I don't know whether to find it comforting or even more depressing to realize that the US isn't the only nation affected by this mess. The UK doesn't seem to be doing much better, or at least that's the gist I get from this article on UK homeowners being treated unfairly. It seems like there are greedy lenders on both sides of the Big Pond who are trying to take advantage of people's desperation and only making it worse for everybody. With stories like this, it makes me want to be sure I shop around, do my research, and be extra-careful about finding a reputable mortgage broker to help us down the path of homeownership. Labels: house-hunt, loans |
<$Thursday, February 14, 2008$>
Review: Creditloan.com
| I'm generally loathe to recommend borrowing money to anybody. There are of course circumstances where getting a loan is usually a necessary part of the process, such as going to college or buying a house. It can also be a really good idea to refinance and/or consolidate existing debts into a new loan with a lower interest rate. On the other hand, taking out a loan just so you can buy stuff, be it a new TV or a Wii for the kids or to satisfy your iPhone lust, is just a bad idea. Somewhere in the fuzzy middle are emergency and payday loans. I don't advocate them, but I'd be lying if I said I've never had to get them. I now know from experience that it's much, much better to use extra money in prosperous times to build up an emergency savings fund to get you through the lean times, rather than relying on credit cards or fast payday loans to cover emergencies and tight spots. Before you think I'm getting holier-than-thou about this, here's a shameful confession: I once used a payday loan to buy comic books. Yes, really. I was young, I was stupid--REALLY stupid when it came to money, and I had an addiction that I have since curbed. I knew the comic shop would only hold my stash for so long before they put it back up for sale, and that "so long" didn't stretch to my next payday. So, yes. I got a payday loan. I was at least smart enough to pay it back in full the day I got paid, though, so it's not a complete black mark on my financial record. It's more of a dark gray smudge. At any rate, I understand that there are LEGITIMATE reasons that people have for needing loans and not feeling like they have any other recourse. If you feel you're in such a situation, creditloan.com is a pretty good educational resource for information on payday loans, bad credit, debt consolidation and/or counseling, auto loans and more. It has a lot of ads from companies looking to sell you a lot of those things, but if you ignore those and read the articles, there's a lot of good information there, and some good resources to educate yourself. Because the best thing you can do before deciding to borrow money for ANYTHING is to study up and know exactly what you're getting yourself into, so that you can plan a strategy for getting yourself out. Labels: credit cards, debt consolidation, debt reduction, disclosure, loans |
<$Friday, February 8, 2008$>
Speaking of mortgages...
| *Sponsored Post* Ameritek has a good mortgage calculator that I've been playing with for the last bunch of minutes. It's a good way to see what we can expect our monthly payments will be based on various loan amounts, tax and interest rates, which is giving me a really good idea of how much house we can realistically and responsibly afford. Thankfully, we live in an area where the housing market hasn't been affected that much, and housing prices were already pretty low to begin with. So we shouldn't have too much trouble finding a nice starter home for relatively little. I can't imagine having to buy a house in California, where houses cost about 6 times what they run here. I've known people who moved here from California who were able to sell the modest home they lived in there and afford to build McMansions on substantial amounts of acreage here with their profits. Of course, if they'd stayed put they probably could have qualified for pretty decent rates on california reverse mortgages. Ameritek specializes in ca reverse mortgages, and they also handle reverse mortgages in Oregon, Washington and Colorado--all states with high property values. We actually do hope to live in California some day. My husband spent his formative years in Long Beach and the OC, and he would love nothing more than to move back there eventually. But that possibility is still a long way off. We need to focus on what we're able to do in the here and now. Labels: disclosure, loans |
Lender searches made easy
| *Sponsored Post* I don't have the discipline to pull this off, but a lot of frugal hackers save a lot of money by making all of their purchases with credit cards that offer reward incentives. Some get to take free trips with frequent flier cards, some get cash back, and some just get a percentage instantly knocked off all of their purchases. Even I use a rewards card that offers 5% cash back to make all of my gasoline purchases--which every few months amounts to a free tank of gas. Of course, to do this and save money you have to be in a situation where you can pay off your entire balance each month. It won't save you any money to carry a balance and rack up interest. For a while there, I tried using a cash back incentive card for all of my purchases, hoping it would save me some money; but once I started falling into my old overspending habits, I had to quit. So this system isn't for everybody. But if you think it's for you, you can get a Credit Card with Centrro--a financial search engine that can quickly and easily match you up with the rewards card that's right for you. You can also get a Loan with Centrro, be it a first time mortgage or a home equity loan. They'll match you up with at least four potential lenders with the best offers. Filling out the quote request form only takes a minute. I didn't get a list of potential lenders, though--instead I got a promise that I'd hear from the top lenders with offers matching my criteria within twenty-four hours, so we'll see how that goes. We've already decided that if for some reason we don't qualify for a fixed interest loan, we'll most likely pass on buying and go back to looking for a place to rent until we DO qualify. Sub-prime and adjustable loans are what got the housing market into the mess it's in, and we're not about to exacerbate the problem if we can help it. Labels: credit cards, disclosure, loans |
<$Wednesday, January 30, 2008$>
Because free money beats borrowed money any day.
| As helpful as Husband's student loan checks are, it would be nice if he could find scholarships that he's eligible for. With his grades (straight As!), I wouldn't think that would be hard. Add in his disability and his bout with cancer, and you'd think there would be organizations out there that would throw free college money at him. We haven't found any so far, though. Even so, I plan to keep looking. Like I said, the loans are a help, but we're only delaying having to pay his tuition by a few years. It would be really nice to get some financial aid that didn't have to be paid back. Labels: disclosure, education, loans |
<$Monday, January 28, 2008$>
Trading debt for debt via student loans
| *Sponsored post* My husband's student loans have turned out to be a big help to us. We knew that things would be tight going to a single income while he finished school, and we budget as if my full-time job is the only income we have. I expected his loans to cover his tuition, books, and other school-related costs, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how much is usually left over once all of those things are paid for. We've been treating his loan checks as windfalls, using them to beef up our savings, put big dents in our credit card debt, and buying things we can't normally afford (like a computer that actually works). We're expecting another loan check next month; as we wait, we're trying to decide the best way to use it to help us get ahead. As helpful as his loans have proven to be, it's tempting to consider obtaining more. Student loan debt tends to be preferable to credit card debt; if we got enough in student loans to pay them off, we would then have until after he graduates to build up a lot of savings before we have to start paying them back. Of course, there are drawbacks to that plan. For one thing, we'd just be trading one debt for another instead of getting rid of debt. I'm not sure I trust the private student loan companies I keep seeing commercials for--I suspect their interest rates are too high to make them a smart option. I don't know whether he can apply for more Federal Direct Loans, or if he's gotten all he can get going that route. My own student loans are currently in forebearance, and I'll have to start paying on them again this summer. So we'll wait and see how far we can make this next loan check stretch, and how well we're making ends meet after we move. Right now, I don't believe more student loans are the answer; but it's comforting to know that the option is there if we need it. Labels: disclosure, loans |
<$Monday, August 27, 2007$>
Are loans unavoidable?
| *This post is brought to you by Marks & Spencer* I guess I've been fairly fortunate in that I've never had to apply for a personal loan (unless you count that one time I tried to consolidate my credit cards through Prosper). I can see potential for the need to arise in the future, though. For one thing, I expect it's more a question of "when" than "if" our Discover card will cancel our 0% introductory rate and hike up our interest, and that will be the time to once again look into our options for consolidation loans. There's also the fact that our car isn't that reliable, and we don't even know if we'll be able to get my husband's truck up and running. If we can't, or if my car decides to give up the ghost, we'll most likely be in the market for a car finance loan. Fortunately, there are all kinds of options for us here in the U.S.A., as well as all kinds of loan payment calculators to choose from. If you're in the U.K., though, and need to calculate pounds instead of dollars, you might want to check out Marks and Spencer's personal loan calculator. By the way, did you even know that Marks & Spencer had a financial department? I sure didn't. Apparently there's a lot more to that company than just a place to get classy and comfortable underwear. Who knew? Labels: disclosure, loans |
<$Wednesday, August 15, 2007$>
Non-news, and news that actually is news: windfalls, computers and out-of-control food spending. Oh my!
| There are things I want to talk about here, things I'm tempted to be very excited about, but I won't let myself yet, on both counts. Sorry to be so enigmatic. There are a couple of things on the horizon, the thought of which have me incredibly jazzed, but they're still only maybes at the moment, and I've learned from harsh experienced that it's not a good idea to go all blog-squee about things that may be. Too often have I had to come back and say "never mind" when it didn't work out. So I'm biting my tongue. But I'm also chomping at the bit. And that ain't easy. In news of things that actually are, Husband got approved for more than enough financial aid to cover his tuition and books both this semester and next, with enough left over (once the university gets around to taking out their share and then cutting him a check) to finally replace our dead computer. Hallelujah and amen! Of course, that won't mean much in terms of getting online from home until we finally move to the city where we can get better-than-dialup access. But considering that I was all gung-ho to take some online web/graphic design courses this year (paid for courtesy of my company's awesome benefits department and their tuition reimbursement program), and had to pass on it this semester because of said lack of home computer, I'm thrilled that at least I'll be able to enroll next semester. Husband starts his classes tomorrow. Yeah, I don't really get starting a term on Thursday, either, but whatever. I'm hoping that his increased activity and workload will translate to us going out less, which will result in spending less and saving more. We really need to get in gear in the "spending less and saving more" department, because we got pretty lazy and complacent about it over the summer. Our biggest downfall, as I've mentioned here before, has been food. With our extremely limited refrigerator space and lack of a stove, we're pretty limited in our options for preparing meals and eating at home, and that makes it hard to have a lot of variety in what we eat. Without variety, we both get to the point where we just can't stand the thought of eating the same stuff one more night, and inevitably we end up either going out to a restaurant or going to get takeout. We spent $60 on deli sushi the other night, which is just inexcusable, and I hated having to account for it (even though it was really yummy sushi). That's about a quarter of our whole grocery budget, for one meal! Clearly, we need to have our asses kicked. That, or I need to poke around this here intertubes and research some more budget-friendly options for preparing a healthy (and, preferably, healthful) variety of foods when you don't have a kitchen. And also, we really, really, REALLY need to stop watching the Food Network and the Travel Channel. Especially that Anthony Bourdain. Labels: extra income, healthy living, loans, money management, spending |
Payday Loan Problems: Who's Responsible?
| Note: the following is a sponsored post. I have a nephew who got himself into a load of trouble--not to mention a load of debt--a few years ago by becoming dependent on advanced check cashing places. I heard a lot at the time from various family members demonizing the entire payday loan industry and painting my nephew as a victim of predators--but let's face it: he wasn't desperately trying to make ends meet. He was using it as a means to finance a lifestyle beyond his means, and doing so completely irresponsibly. I suppose an argument could be made that dumb, irresponsible kids are exactly what this industry relies on, but it could also be argued that my nephew needed a good kick in the pants to learn the lesson that borrowing money comes with consequences and is not something to be done lightly. Mumble-teen years ago, when I was a poor college student, I had a few days to go until payday when I ran out of groceries. Payday loan shops weren't nearly as prevalent then as they are now, but they existed. I found one, signed for a small loan, bought my groceries, and paid back the loan as soon as I got paid a few days later. I paid it back quickly enough to avoid interest (I'm sure the lenders just loved that), and everything worked out just fine. There was nothing in my experience to turn me off of taking out payday loans in the future--although so far, I haven't, because I just haven't had a need for it. Like credit cards, the payday loan industry has a bad reputation and tends to be characterized as predators out to take advantage of the poor; but also like credit cards, payday loans are something that, if used responsibly, can be beneficial to the borrower. My nephew and I represent two opposite extremes. I knew about the high interest rate going in, but I knew I'd be able to pay the loan back quickly enough to keep it from being an issue. My nephew knew about the high interest rate on his loans, too; he just didn't care. I know there is a broad middle ground containing people who don't understand the rates, or who are so desperate for funds that they can't afford to care. I know there are a lot of people out there whose financial lives have been tripped up by payday loans. So where does personal responsibility end and industry responsibility begin? Not too long ago, Lazy Man wrote an article about payday loans in which he looked at them from a lender/investor standpoint and pointed out that with the high loan default rate, these companies really have no choice but to charge really high interest in order to compensate for the money they lose and stay in business. I don't have the statistics, but I do know that my husband used to work for the customer service branch of a major bank, and he was continually astounded at the number of calls he received from customers who requested stop-payment on checks they had written to cover the amount of their payday loans. For all that we hear about people getting taken advantage of by this industry, there are also plenty of people who take criminal advantage of this industry. It's a vicious circle, with their illegal actions driving up the rates and ultimately doing harm to innocents who want to pay back their loans but get trapped by either ignorance or bad choices. It's not a perfect system. Would the world be better off without the payday loan industry? Possibly; but I know I was glad that it was there at a time that I had no other recourse. Labels: disclosure, loans, money management, PPP |