I Should Be Sleeping

(Happy Picture Needed Because Not a Happy Post)

As the old Leonard Cohen song goes, "It's two in the morning, I'm writing to say that I'm better..."

Well, it is 2:39 am to be exact and I am having a bit of insomnia. My mind is working overtime due to many issues I have on the table at the moment. The main one was a recent shock when I had the little house I've owned for 15 years appraised for a refi. I knew things were bad and the house had decreased in value, but I had a vague idea what it was worth based on the taxes. When I received the bottom line, it seems my house has plunged 50% in value over the years I've owned it. The saddest part? The major plunge has been between 2009 and now.

What this means is I am approved for all practical purposes to swap out a high interest mortgage on said home for more than I owe (based on credit worthyness and my net worth apparently), but I do not have the value in the home for what I need. I am about 7K short of what the bank will loan me.

Now, it seems I owe exactly what the house is worth. Good news, I suppose, as I am not "upside down"...yet. However, because I no longer live in this house and it has become an "investment property" (yea, some investment...the rent my tenant pays barely covers the current mortgage payment and nevermind the INCREASING taxes and insurance) due to be unable to sell it, the bank tells me they will only give me 75% of the value of the home. I spent about $400 (appraisal and credit check costs) to find all of this out.

I called the current mortgage holder and explained to them my situation. I have a balloon loan on this property (bought when I was a Very. Stupid. Girl in my early twenties) that is about to come due. I have been a good payer (on time) over all these years and never refinanced from the original mid-nineties interest rate (i.e. criminally high). They said they would take the 75% as a payoff with no damage to my credit. "Yay!" I thought foolishly.

So I called back the other bank (one, I might add, I have another mortgage with, have had loans that are now paid in full with, savings, checking, relatives that work for them, relatives that bank with them, a bank that started in the small town I live in now) and told them what my current mortgage holder has said. No, says my bank, if you don't pay exactly what you owe it looks bad to us and we won't loan you the money. Um, OK.

Of course, I am not happy on many accounts, but what really pissed me off was the loan officer's patronizing speech after I told him about the other banks offer to me. He says, "What if you borrowed $50, 000 from your friend Bob. However, two years later, the value falls on the house and you go to him and offer him $48,000 to pay it off. Wouldn't this just be wrong? How do you think your friend would feel?" He then went on to say the houses losing value was all our faults because the banks had lost money in the stock markets. Make sense? (Please elaborate if it does to you...:(

Well, let me see, in my case I owe $25K and have paid "Bob" faithfully for 15 years at a high interest rate. My friend "Bob" has already received his original investment plus some from me. A profit!! And, I am offering to pay back 75% of what is now owed on a house he is just going to get back and will have to sell at a loss if I can't finance it (in the scenario) and it is his decision to take the offer. Hmm, his 25% loss now is really, really small.

After my little scolding, the banker then went on to say something about how "short sales" are only hurting investors and that those who do it are basically stealing from the banks. I hadn't even considered the other bank's offer to be a short sale. Just an offer for less (win win for them).

Anyway, I am thinking about moving my other mortgage (great interest rates now anyway) and all my accounts out of the patronizing bank. I am asking to borrow less than a car from them. I am asking to borrow exactly what is owed and apparently what the house is worth by the appraiser they hired. I have an excellent history of repayment. My credit is good by whatever weird and complicated formulas they use.

Meanwhile, I am paying all extra money on the little house in preparation of the upcoming balloon due date (June 2012). I hope to have it paid down to 75% of what the worth is (today), but who's to say it won't get worse. And, trying to live in two cities with today's recession has become a money-tight affair these days. We all have net worth less than we did five years ago. Fucking hindsight, I should have paid this damn thing off years ago (I always held out in foolish hope that it would sell).

O, and the negative value, it was not the house per say; it was the comp values of other homes selling in the neighborhood for pennies. Kind of out of my control if people are taking way less than their houses are worth these days. We are all just trying to survive.

Hello Catch-up

(Ok, not sure what the connection is, but I like the images from The Graphics Fairy!)

I think most of the folks that read here do so on Monday Thrift Share days, but for those who read other posts I thought I would do a little catch-up of all the little ends I leave here. first, I got my lab tests back and I was not crazy on feeling how I have for the past few months (fatigued, dizzy, nausea, anxiety, tingling of the arms/legs...)...hmm, I have felt this way twice before (Hint: S8 and L4).

Um, no, this is not the case this time (BIG sigh). It seems I have depleted a very good portion of my B12. Typical lower limits of normal are 200 pg/ml. My levels are below 100. The weirdest part of all of this is I was a vegetarian for more than 13 years and never had this problem. I eat tons of eggs because I have a rather large flock of chickens and they are laying like crazy. Around lent, I did decide to lower my meat consumption and have only been eating meat a couple of days a week (if at all). I suspected I might be anemic (bruises and dizziness), but I would have never guessed B12 deficiency! I started muscle injections (because I am way below normal) and have to take two children's vitamins a day (I get horribly ill after taking adult vitamins). I feel so much relief that I truly was not going crazy (besides being apart from my children, there is an actual physiological reason for my anxiety).

I have also cut myself off from thrifting. Yes, you heard right. I am spending too much money and an expected, yet unexpected debt has come due and we need to get it paid. I am not happy about it, but that is life. I am accumulating too much crap anyway. I am not a ReSeller because I don't have the time. I would love to have a booth at one of these great flea markets in KY, but not in the near future (I really need to get family moved first, LOL!)

So, I am giving myself a 2nd quarter New Year goal: Use up what you have, read your thrifted books, and create instead of accumulate. In other words, I have stacks of books and magazines, I have tons of fabric and crafty items and I need to find ways of displaying my lovely treasures. I also need to purge or store (If I can't part with it right now).

I will still share on Mondays or other linky days because I like to be part of those parties. It's just that my finds will be past finds (I could share for the next three years without setting foot into another thrift store or flea market!)

If I find myself jones-ing for some thrift, well, I'll set myself a limit, take out cash and have at it. It will be a challenge to spend only what green I have on hand (and not be tempted to take out a debit card). I have never had a shopping issue, but I go through stages where I think I "self-medicate" my stress by thrifting. I think right now Flintstone Vitamins may be the better way to go.

Husband is on his way down to KY as I type. We are going out to eat (Bardstown Road area if you are ever in town for the Derby or whatnot is an interesting Indie-ish part of town with local restaurants, pubs and shops) tonight and tomorrow night (if it is not rained out) we will be at the Decemberists concert.

Oh, here comes the rain again...

House Hunting and No Shopping Update

(Don't you love this fireplace and, look, pocket doors! All doors and hardware are original. Windows have been replaced.)

First, I made an appointment with a realtor today. We have talked and talked about housing in KY since I moved down here. I've looked through freebie real estate 'zines and made 100's of mental notes on houses I see for sale around here. My mind keeps going back to one we looked at back in October. When a house feels right, it feels right.

The above picture is one of the five fireplaces in the home. There is also a wood burning stove in the dining room/kitchen. It's a big house, an old house and is need of demolition some major TLC. I have the L in that particular equation!

The house comes with 2 acres of land. Certainly, a step back from the 10+ acres we manage now. I really don't think I would be horribly unhappy (I can still have my chickens and garden); however, I would like to negotiate for an extra acre or more as the property is surrounded by rolling pasture. The owner has not portioned off the homestead from the rest of the farm, yet, so there may be a chance I could get the extra land. Sadly, there are no outbuildings, not even a shed! This could be an issue. I like my storage and this house also lacks a basement. It does have storage under the stairs. (like Harry Potter's bedroom!)

(Don't you just love that stairwell color? I would completely do the entire bottom of the house again in that gorgeous color! The banister, stairs and railing are in perfect condition except for the need for serious refinishing. None are loose!)
From what I saw in October (when I found the key under a pot by the front porch, LOL!), the house has fairly good bones. The back stairs (yes, from a master bedroom upstairs!!!) has a painted mural, however, time has not been too good to it (I'll take pictures on Sunday). It has a new roof and new gas furnace (although, with a wood stove heating cost should be assisted, I would think; wood is everywhere cheap in KY).

The best part about this house (not counting cost of repairs needed), our mortgage payment would be half (with insurance/taxes) what we are paying for the current property! Oh, and did I mention I am in love with this house? I have never been in love with a house. It may be the "one"!

Keep your fingers crossed for me...especially for the hope that my kids don't squeal about our October trespassing!

OK, next up: Shopping. Well, that would be "no shopping". Overall, I did fairly well. I did end up in four retail shops this week and two of those were Goodwills. I went to Target to price something I was thinking of ordering online (future purchase) and bought three bags of frozen vegetables (on sale for 89c), gallon of water and a bulk package of sugarfree gum. I use the gum to curb sweets cravings since I am back on the SB (and doing rather well for now!!) I spent $6 (total rounded to next dollar). I also stopped at KMart on my way home to price same item (like the Target one much better) and found Xmas stuff on 75% off. I bought two hot chocolate tins (2/2.98), a large Frosty tin with popcorn (2.00), two bags of M & Ms ($1.64), a gingerbread kit ($2.00/I skimped out on the boys this year, so we'll do it here this weekend) and a package of 12 coffees in a holiday sampler ($6). I spent $21 at the K. I actually may go back and grab a couple more of the gingerbread kits for later projects and possibly buy a couple of items for future gifts (maybe). The kids never eat the houses, but they have so much fun putting them together and $2 is worth the time to me (I used to make the dough, cut the pieces and put it all together). Everything I bought from new retail was food or food-ish.

I did much, much worse at the thrift stores. I am too embarrassed to put my totals (baaad), but I did end up with a lot of clothes, books and a gorgeous picture frame for a print I have (ended up being too small, but I have another one that will fit instead. I am back to the drawing board of spray painting the boring black plastic poster frame it is currently housed inside). I'll just put a few items up each week for Thrift Share Monday.

As hard as it is going to be, I need to either sell some things (yes, stop being chicken about it all) or stay out of the thrifts for right now (or both would even be better). I really, really want the house above referenced and this means getting projects done at the current 'stead and the start of saving towards down payment, repairs and closing costs on the new one (provided it is not falling into the ground or the septic/well are bad. Big NO if anything is beyond reasonable cost or considerable repair. Cosmetic I can handle or hire out; mechanical or structural issues are another story).

So, I need to print out a photo of the house and tape it to the debit card. I have a "No Spending" goal. I want to be in this house by summer! I also need to carry cash when I go into ANY store (including grocery...Oh, yeah, I also spent $20 at the grocery tonight for chicken breast on sale-stocked up. I did give blood though in the bus parked in the parking lot-so be nice to me! Or at least that is what the sticker says...!)

A Year of No Shopping

Van over at Thrift Core has challenged her readers to go without retail shopping for a year. It's been a few years since I tried this type of challenge. I have read recent books and blogs chronicling other people's various level of success of being a non-consumer and, although I have a few gripes on some of the books, I love reading the success stories. It is a challenge I really need to try again with my recent economy worries and the fact I need to save money/pay off some debts.

So, I accept her challenge and will begin producing a weekly report on my progress.

My exceptions to the 2011 Buy Nothing New challenge are as follows (but even these have an exception to the exception; I will try to substitute, find cheap or free or make my own whenever possible):

*Food and/or medical needs

*Cleaning supplies

*Vehicle needs (e.g. window wipers, etc.)

*Hygiene products (I'll include underwear here, but we are really set right now)

*Household items needed to get house on market (see exception to the exception)

*Gifts (again, see exception to the exception, but I will have more on this on a later post)

*Limit our eating out and bar patronage (I will try to be thrifty with coupons and "Kids Eat Free" nights)

I will try to be better at the curb-side shopping or using Craig's List. I plan to be more exceptional at using coupons for food/pet food/household items. I do not want to give up thrift shopping, but I am going to limit is to two days a month (at most and I will make up "passes" for myself to use. If I happen to use them all in months 1-4 then I am done for the year). I will carry my thrift wish list and try to stick with it. Last, if I slip and buy new, I will try to get it from smaller shops (this is part of my gift exception).

I am looking forward to the challenge and will begin my posts on the topic starting next Wednesday!

Thrifty Monday: Blue Christmas Rendition

(Complete and unused bridge set)

Sigh. It is 9:18 already and I feel like I have done nothing at all today. OK, so I went to work today, finished last minutes gift-buying at the Liquor Barn (can't go wrong with Kentucky bourbon), and spent way too much money at the Goodwill across from the L-Barn, but, really, where does the time go?

This time of year is so hard for me. I can't stand the race of Christmas and the darkness gets to me. It is one of the reasons I celebrate Winter Solstice is that I so welcome the return of the light and feeling like my day has some length to it. Yes, the hours are the same (and in fact we "Fall back" right?), but the darkness makes me yearn for my (thrifted) gnome pajama bottoms and a warm bed starting at 5:30 pm!

And, back to the holiday race, why do we not gift all year long? I can't sit on gifts and it is why I am never organized enough to space my Xmas shopping out all year long. It is always on the resolution list, but never happens. I was stressing because three stores were out of something that goes with a gift for my mother, but then I thought how ridiculous my panic was considering the piece is not a "sale" item and will be available in the weeks following the holiday.

Both my husband and I received work bonuses this year (something that has not happened in three years). We indulged partly because we had this unbudgeted money and partly because I feel so much guilt at being away from my boys during the week (I will be so happy when we are together this again...hopefully this spring/early summer). I miss my kids so much. It was stupid, I know, but the sad thing is I feel we got so much less than when we used a smaller budget (is it me or is everything more expensive this year???)

So, with the New Year goal list making season almost on top of us (suffocating us, no doubt), I plan to tighten the belt, be more organized and get my family moved down to KY as soon as humanly possible. I'll post the list next week with the specifics. Sadly, one of the items will be less thrifting for me (with a side goal of selling off lots of my "junk") at least until some of the bills are paid off. It will be good to purge since we plan to rent a smaller place while we try to sell the Northern house and land. We will buy a new house only when the bills are tidy and manageable.

OK, enough with the downer talk. Seems a lot of us out there are thinking about new years and new goals. Here is some thrifty fluff from tonight's scores:

(Cheese plate and dome)

(Set of 8 7 Tab glasses...dropped one in parking lot)

(Ok, so the Spotted Dick Pudding wasn't a thrifty find [container under it was], but I had to snatch it up for a friend last week at a Irish gift shop. It's a long story, but suffice to say it will have meaning to my dear friend...hopefully shared with a sense of humor! ;)