People are fighting back, refusing to leave homes that have been foreclosed.
Kansas is broke.
California is broke.
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I mentioned Kansas being broke to Mr. Barefoot last night. He just couldn't believe that something like that could happen. After all, these are the folks we pay to make sure that the money we pay in taxes (and fines, etc) go where they need to go. How could they run out of money?! Huh. Same way you and I do, folks. Just on a much larger scale.
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I watched CNBCs "House of Cards" for the second time last night. It was fascinating, and I finally feel that I understand how the whole housing bubble came to be and collapsed. I just couldn't figure it out before. I guess I am lucky that I was raised in a very conservative lifestyle. I was wishing and hoping for a house during the time when the ARM loans came out. I suppose I could have been approved for one, since I had a pulse (according to one of the lenders on the show). But I never considered it. I couldn't bring myself to believe that I would be able to afford a higher house payment when the interest rate adjusted. I couldn't guarantee that I would be able to refinance the loan before it got too expensive. So I didn't get one.
I did panic, and feel hopeless, when I saw the skyrocketing prices for homes. I remember looking at homes that were major fixer-uppers, seeing the prices, and thinking that there was no way I would be able to afford a decent home for my family. But I never believed that the house prices would continue to rise the way they were. Even in my lack of knowledge about how the economy and housing market work, I knew that the house prices would have to at least stop growing (if not fall significantly) at some point, and my hope was that, eventually, my wage would catch up.
Now I am so grateful that I didn't fall into that housing trap. I still worry that house prices will continue to fall, and that we will be burned with our recent purchase of Barefoot Manor. I still worry that, with the nasty economy right now, something will happen to either Mr. Barefoot's or my income. But I think we will be okay. I just worry because that is what I do best.
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I am on a cleaning kick again here at Barefoot Manor. I wanna declutter and get things all organised and tidy. The mess has finally driven me nuts to the point that I am gonna do something about it.
It is so funny that I go through these cycles of not having the energy to keep up with things and then being able to stay up for days to clean and organise. I keep hoping that one of these times the cleaning kick will stick, and I will have the neat and tidy house of my dreams with a place for everything and everything in it's place.
Ha.
Well, I am off to switch laundry and other joyous household tasks.....
8 comments:
I am afraid that we have not seen the worst yet. My sister is in a bad situation, but her home is paid for. She can not keep her job because she gets so sick. No insurance medical or home owners,no job,lost her car. She sleeps all day and is up all night. Sometimes for days in a row. We have all tried to help her, but to no avail. I think she might be bi-polar, the less severe form.
I was just wondering if bi-polar might be what you are experiencing. Something to think about while you are cleaning my house. That is what you will do with all that extra energy, when you finish yours, right?!?
Pam-
Yeah, I figure the worst is yet to come. Shhh...don't tell my hubby, though. He starts looking around for the guys in the funny white coats whenever I mention it.
Sorry to hear about your sister...bi-polar issues can be really aweful, especially if not treated.
Lisa-
I will clean your house as long as you don't make me wear one of those funky maid uniforms. I have nice legs, but those shoes KILL. *giggle*
I have thought about the bi-polar possibility, but the head shrinker says I am classic depression with anxiety. Well, maybe classic anxiety with depression....I can never remember. Throw in a little bit of a control issue, and you have your garden variety fruit cake. I figure that as long as I can function semi-ok, I will take her word for it. Step-Sprout is bi-polar, and I would much prefer my own brand of insanity, thank you very much. I may be a little off my rocker, but that girl is nuts! LOL
We've been trying to declutter, too. After seeing the mess at my mom's place, seeing how much stuff she had, we are talking about a MAJOR yard sale here as soon as it warms up.
My house is a mess because we have been bringing my mom's stuff in and I have to clear out the apartment for my mom, so all our stuff is getting moved to the basement so there are boxes everywhere. I can't do it all at once because the husband works and the 4 kids need me at one time or another.. so I do a box here, a box there.
We didn't get the ARM either and I'm so glad we didn't. A friend of mine did and she is royally screwed over it. She wants out but her roommate can't afford the payments without her, so she's stuck there.
Fingers crossed that something good happens soon!
Kansas broke, California broke, the UK economy is teetering on the brink as the world goes into recession and for once in my life I so do wish that I had not been right over the last 20 years.
So why are bankers being paid with OUR money for failing, car makers being given OUR money for products people do not want while home owners, who are the real victims of this sickning mess, are pushed out into the streets?
Jenny-
Good luck with the decluttering. I can't imagine trying to accomplish anything with 4 kids. I have enough trouble distracting ONE long enough to get anything done!
Peter-
I, too, am puzzled over why gov has decided to dump so much $$ into the banks and car industries when there are folks ending up homeless over this.
I don't understand....well, so much of this. I don't understand how people can expect any economy to be based on constant massive consumption and growth with no production. I don't understand how it makes sense to borrow money (lots and LOTS of money) to bail out a system that doesn't work. I don't understand why so many folks are still pinning their hopes on everything returning to "normal" when "normal" was so unnatural.
I just don't get it.
I don't *get it* either...
Welcome to the party, noisy! Pull up a chair, pour yourself somethin' to drink, and enjoy the conversation for a bit....
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