Freezing in NH

I’ve been thinking about an article in the NYTimes: Foreclosure Aid Rising Locally, as Is Dissent.  This is sort of where I was a couple months ago.  I have a house, with an adjustable rate mortgage, purchased a few years ago.  But because I bought a house that I could afford, I’m not going get any help with the mortgage.  And my feeling was that bailouts were a huge misuse of people’s money, time and effort.

“Just can’t agree with using taxpayer dollars to bail out private homeowners, no matter how the mayor tries to justify it,” read a complaint posted on the “Soundoff” section of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Web site.

But after a few months of thinking about it (not solid thinking of course, just occasionally having it pop into my mind) I realized that if the slightly crazy neighbor next to me went into foreclosure and his house were auctioned off, that would be the most recent comp (comparable sale) when I went to sell my house.  And the auction price for a house that hasn’t been spruced up is not that great, especially here in the winter.  So if he goes into foreclosure, the value of my house (and thus my bottom line) sinks.   

The goal of these programs is not just to keep people from losing their homes, but also to limit broader economic fallout, including plummeting property tax revenues and widespread declines in home values. Still, they pit what some government officials say are practical economic solutions for the common good against individual ideals of fairness and personal responsibility.

 So while I hate the idea of bailing out idiots and liars, it still might be in my best interest. 

I’ve been thinking for a while that I should be starting some sort of website (other than a blog) to bring in some outside income.  My employer is happy with my work but they are in a declining industry so it’s time for me to be looking around.  Anyway, I’ve had some thoughts but ran across another site today that seemed interesting. 

It’s a site that sells term papers and such.  Check them out and see what you think. It’s quick and easy to sign up, and then they bill you a fee per month ($29.95) until you cancel. I like the idea of setting up something that will produce a stream of income, and the monthly charge is a pretty good idea. I’m not in school anymore (nor in a business where I need to write any sort of position paper) so the site itself isn’t that useful to me, but it’s a really good idea. I didn’t join so I can’t vouch for the quality of any of the papers.

If you do join, come back and leave a comment about the site so we’ll know it’s worth it.  I wonder if they pay for nicely written papers.

I’ve been thinking about the amount to set aside for an emergency fund lately.  I do have cash set aside, but my house needs some repairs and I need to figure out if I have the money for everything or not.  There are a couple of factors involved in the calculation, but it basically comes down to “how long does the fund need to last” and “how much do I need each month”.  Then some simple math determines what the fund ought to be.  Saving up that much is another topic entirely.

I’m single, and while I’m confident in my ability to find another job, I’m not confident in my ability to find another job HERE.  Since I own a house, that could be trouble.  Actually I could find a job, just not a job that pays all the bills.  I could be employed in retail just above minumum wage in less than a week.  

It’s hard to immediately cut back (if you had a sudden job loss) because everything has a final bill.  Drop cable and you get one more bill.  Drop the land line and, yes, one more bill.  And I put everything on a rewards card and pay it the next month, so that bill too will come after the day I decide to cut back.  So when you plan, you probably need to include one month at your current spending levels before assuming you’d cut back. 

I’ve decided on an amount that works for me.  My current e-fund amount will cover 3 months of living like I do now, plus three more months of bare-bones living.  I’d probably cut back to bare bones after 1 month, so it might stretch to 7 months total.  I do have friends and family I could lean on in a pinch.  Specifically several folks a few hours away near lots of jobs.  I could crash on various couches during the week if I ended up getting a job down there while I was waiting to sell my house.  If I didn’t have that fallback plan, I might want a few more months of bare-bones living in that fund.

Here are some more details after my previous post on Prosper and their tax stuff.  Prosper Taxes at Rate Ladder.

I finally got around to dealing with my local phone service today.  As a small (very tiny) business owner, I have to have a phone number that is public info in NH’s business system.  So I have a local phone even though I use a cell phone for most things.  Anyway, I jumped through all the hoops to set up an online account with them and downgraded some of my services to save money. 

I don’t make that many local calls since most people I know locally only have cell phones (and those are from the nearest “big city” and not a local call).  If I go over 150 minutes a month, I’ll pay a per-minute fee, but I make maybe one call for an appointment and two calls for takeout a month, and that’s it.  And I hate the call waiting, why have I been paying for it for a year?  So my next bill should be 16.93 cheaper, possibly more since some of the “federal” fees/taxes seem to be based on amounts. 

Now for the funny part: when I checked out, I got a message about a reward.  Heck, if I’d known I would get something, I’d have done all this earlier.

***Congratulations you are now eligible for a $20.00 AMEX Rewards Card.*** Upon successful completion of your service order your AMEX Rewards Card will be mailed out to you. Please allow 8 -10 weeks for delivery. Terms and conditions apply.

I wonder if I accidentally signed up for something I didn’t intend?

With all the rate drops, I was thinking about opening a CD at Countrywide.  It looks like their current rate is 4.75%.  Not too shabby, I just have to figure out what the penalty for taking it out early is, because that money will be my emergency fund.  Still not sure if a CD is the way to go, but that rate is nice.

I got the same email as Single Ma, but while I just grumbled to myself, she went and wrote a fab Dear John letter.  Go read it!