photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Source: LA Times

 
While all the buying with the help of foreign investors is gaining popularity, American buyers are having difficulties to qualify for the loans, even thought rules are relaxed and banks are said to be willing.

At the same time “Hope for Homeowners” program is not working as well, as it was supposed to. It attracted only 312 people.

 
“…The three-year program was supposed to help 400,000 borrowers avoid foreclosure. But it has attracted only 312 applications since its October launch because it is too expensive and onerous for lenders and borrowers alike…”
“What most people don’t understand is that this program was designed to the detail by Congress,…and unfortunately it has made this program tough to use.”
The goal of the program, run by the Federal Housing Administration, was to allow borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth to refinance into more affordable 30-year fixed-rate mortgages insured by the government…But part of the problem is that the program’s success hinges on the lenders’ willingness to participate”.

 
…Congress originally allowed the FHA to insure new loans for only 90 percent of a home’s value.” Unfortunately, many homeowners simply don’t have any equity in their homes.
Later, HUD increased the insured amount (by grant of the Congress) and the department decided to guarantee up to 96.5 percent of the value of new loans. So far not much changed. Lenders are still balking.

Source: Washington Post

 

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Some chains are closing all their stores, some – only very unprofitable.
Among those closing: Ann Taylor, Circuit City, J.Jill, Foot Locker, Dillard’s, Levitz, some of Disney’s Stores, some of Gap’s and Macy’s…
The following article from Snopes is a more detailed version, discussing the closures and the accuracy of the information: www.snopes.com. Please, read for a complete list of the stores closing.

 
If you are going to shop online, notice, that many retailers are disclosing their shipping and tax information upfront.

 
Read this short article for more info: news.cnet.com.

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Same thing about telephone calls.  If you get a call regarding your credit card activity, hang up and call your bank’s branch or the number you have on the back of your credit card yourself: this way you know where you are calling and that you initiated the inquiry.  If a caller left a message with a number to call back, please, verify it first. I’ve learned to always keep my bill for at least until next one comes in: this way you may compare the charges and payments, and have a 1-800 phone number handy, if needed. If you make your payments electronically, please access all of your accounts and write down contact phone numbers or print out pages corresponding to each card: you may need it when you don’t have an access to your computer or traveling.

For more info read the article at cNet News.

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The personal information, if provided, may and will end up in wrong hands. Please, do not believe the official looking screen and a request to click on the link. If you still not convinced, call 411, ask for the IRS 800 number, and verify everything once more over the phone.

 
Now that you’ve got your warning, I would like to inform you, that according to the article  published in Times on Line, better educated, well off white color professionals are more susceptible to fraud, then their less fortunate colleagues or neighbors. Also people, who had some family trauma, and especially, bereavement, are extremely vulnerable.

 
Surprised? Don’t be. According to the article, smart and educated people are often so sure of their abilities, that they can’t even fathom a thought of being a victim of dangerous scheme or a fraud. Since many of them are specifically targeted as a group (doctors, architects) and the requests they receive are somewhat believable, this people are less likely to question the fraud right away and ready and more willing to disperse some money to those, less fortunate.

 
At the same time people who are less educated, usually know their possible limits and look at every good thing promised with a grain of salt, doubting every offer and promise, and therefore are quicker to recognize the fraud.

 
Please read this short, but very informative article here.

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People are selling, people are buying. If you are one of the lucky ones, who is buying a property right now, keep in mind, that you may charge some of your expenses to your credit card, or all of it, if you have a certain American Express Card).

 
Same applies to the existing property taxes: charge it (if your city allows it), and then pay it off in full. What’s gained? Your credit card will award you points, which, depending on the card, can be spend on the purchase in the department store or obtaining a couple of tickets to Europe or Las Vegas.

 
Here is an excerpt from the article I read: “When I was getting ready to write out the check, I was just joking around and said, ‘Can I put this on my card?’ They said yes. It worked out to a $1,000 gift certificate at Saks.”
… isn’t the first buyer …to figure out that his new building could get him all sorts of free swag.”

 
Let’s consider an example: you buy a brand new TV for a $1,000. If you charge it to a Nordstromcredit card, you’ll earn a $20 gift certificate. Not much, but enough to buy some cosmetics or part of a blouse. If you pay the balance off in full right away, you’ll save on the interest, which could be as high, as 21%. Even if you get this money from your savings, where you earn 3%, it still makes sense. Then start depositing your imagined installments back to your savings account.

 
Also, many stores have policies, where depending on your level of spending, you may earn a free gift wrapping, sending a gift for free to other states, paying for your parking or a free coffee with something else at the store’s cafe.

 
No matter what you buy, you’ll still pay for it. So, why not to get something out of it. Keep in mind, that the miles, accumulated on some of your credit cards, may expire. Check the timing and use it.

 
Read a short article, which I was inspired by at: Curbed and make sure you read the comments. The information you gain may prove to be invaluable.

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“Ah, what a dumb year it was! Fortune chose the absolutely dumbest of the dumb that the gods of fate and humor delivered into our laps – and yours – this past year.”
Compiled by the Editors of “Fortune”

 
The editors came up with an epigraph for each listing, which reflects the reason the company or an individual is featured on this embarassing list.

 
1.The epigraph on No.1 is: “The bad news is that 2008 is the Year of the Rat.”
It’s like suggesting, that next year will be even worse…
Then, they proceed with listing misfortunes, which happened in the year of the Pig for businesses, connected to China:
* “Pet food makers recall more than 60 million cans of food laced with tainted melamine in wheat gluten from China.”
* Mattel recalling almost 20 million items made in China because of lead paint on toy cars and magnets. Lead problems also in 844,000 Chinese-made Barbie accessories and toys with the Sesame Street brand.
* Nike recalls 235,000 football helmets because the Chinese-made chin cup has a defective strap and has caused at least two concussions and a broken nose.

 
2. “Eli Lilly wins FDA approval to put Prozac into beef-flavored pills to treat separation anxiety in dogs.”

 
3.Leona Helmsley, who upon her death left $12million to her dog.
“Don’t laugh – if she were your master, you’d need a lifetime supply of Prozac too”.

 
4.Merrill Lynch  – “Mission Accomplished”
“In the first quarter of 2007, thanks to its $1.3 billion purchase of First Franklin Financial, Merrill Lynch becomes the world’s top underwriter of subprime-mortgage-backed securities. Nonetheless, with the market in meltdown just a few months later, Merrill CFO Jeffrey Edwards (pictured) tells analysts that the firm’s subprime exposure is “limited, contained, and appropriately marked.” In October, Merrill announces a quarterly loss of $2.24 billion after $7.9 billion in subprime-related write-downs.”

 
5.”Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal squeezes in 20 rounds of golf, including three rounds on three different courses in a single day. In October, O’Neal announces his “retirement,” walking away with a compensation package valued at $161.5 million.”

 
6. “Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince resigns after the company takes an $11 billion write-down.”

 
7. “Japanese manufacturer Toto apologizes to customers and offers free repairs for 180,000 high-tech toilets – thrones that feature heated seats, air purifiers, blow dryers, and water sprayers – after at least three catch fire.”

 
9. “The French daily Le Monde calls Ratatouille, Pixar’s movie about a rat in a kitchen, “one of the greatest gastronomic films in the history of cinema.”

 
17. “After receiving a warning from the FDA, Redux Beverages agrees to stop calling its energy drink Cocaine. It changes the name first to Censored, then to NoName.”

 
21. “Turner Broadcasting’s Cartoon Network places electronic lightboards throughout Boston, triggering a bomb scare that shuts down two bridges, an expressway, a subway station, and a stretch of the Charles River. The devices depict a character from the show saluting passersby with an upraised middle finger.”

 
30. “..CEO James Cayne spends ten of 21 workdays out of the office, playing golf and competing in a bridge tournament in Tennessee…”

 
31. “In March, shortly after No. 2 U.S. subprime lender New Century Financial announces a major earnings restatement as a result of failing loans, Bear Stearns analysts Scott Coren and Michael Nannizzi write a research note on New Century. They argue that despite New Century’s stock having plunged 50%, to $15 per share, its downside risk is no worse than $10 in a “rescue-sale scenario.” Within a month, New Century drops below $1 a share, is suspended by the NYSE, and files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.”

 
32. “Rapper Jay-Z, founder of the Rocawear clothing line, is taken to task by the Humane Society after it finds that the “faux fur” in jackets sold by his company is actually dog fur.”

 
37. “District of Columbia judge Roy Pearson loses a $54 million lawsuit against the owners of a dry-cleaning establishment that he claims misplaced a pair of his pants…Four months later a judicial review committee votes against reappointing him to his post…”

 
38. “Are you a moron? Click here now!
To test Google’s ability to block harmful advertising, Belgian IT security consultant Didier Stevens posts an ad that reads “Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!” It is accepted by Google and displayed 259,723 times; 409 web surfers actually click on the ad.”

 
39. “British artist Damien Hirst, famous for such works as a tiger shark preserved in a tank of formaldehyde, creates the most expensive piece of contemporary art in history: a platinum human skull covered with 8,601 diamonds. Called “For the Love of God,” the piece is reportedly sold to an unnamed investment group for $100 million.”

 
43. Cerendipity 3. “Just one week after unveiling the world’s most expensive dessert – the $25,000 Frrozen Haute Chocolate, 28 cocoas infused with edible 23-karat gold served in a goblet with a diamond bracelet at its base – New York restaurant Serendipity 3 is shut down for failing its second health inspection in a month. Inspectors find a live mouse, multiple piles of mouse droppings, fruit flies, houseflies, and more than 100 live cockroaches.”

 
49. “A worker in a German screw factory smuggles out 2,000 to 7,000 screws per night, ultimately stealing more than a million units. He sells the screws below cost on the Internet, artificially depressing the entire screw market.”

 
50. “Exploiting a flaw in a Defense Department purchasing system, South Carolina parts supplier C&D Distributors rakes in $20.5 million in shipping fees on just $68,000 in sales. The scheme is finally detected when a Pentagon clerk spots a $969,000 bill for shipping two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas.”

 
55. “MIT sues architect Frank Gehry, alleging that flaws in his design of the school’s $300 million Stata Center – which Gehry himself once described as looking “like a party of drunken robots got together to celebrate” – resulted in problems including cracks, leaks, and mold.”

 
56. “Chrysler pulls an online ad in which a dog urinating on its four-wheel-drive Dodge Nitro gets electrocuted and goes up in flames, followed by the tagline “Charged with adrenaline.”

 
64. “Spain’s National Institute of Statistics adds plastic surgery procedures such as breast augmentation and nose jobs to the basket of goods and services it uses to calculate the nation’s consumer price index, while excluding the cost of garment fabric, upholstery, and home-appliance repairs.”

 
67. “McDonald’s launches a “word battle” against the Oxford English Dictionary to amend the definition of McJobs, which the OED currently describes as an “unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects.” The goal, according to a company vice president, is to change the citation to “reflect a job that is stimulating, rewarding, and offers skills that last a lifetime.”

 
68. “Illinois-based RC2 Corp., maker of Thomas the Tank Engine toys, recalls 1.5 million of the wooden trains because of excessive levels of lead in their paint (see Mattel). Consumers who return the tainted toys are then sent free boxcars, some of which are recalled three months later for the same reason.”

 
74. “As thousands of eBay’s biggest sellers gather in Boston for a convention sponsored by the auction site, Google invites them to a party promoting Google Checkout, a payment system that competes with eBay’s PayPal. In response eBay, the single largest buyer of search ads on Google, “tests” a shift of its marketing dollars, pulling all its U.S. ads from the search engine for more than a week. Google cancels its party.”

 
76. “Jessica Simpson stars in commercials for Pizza Hut’s Cheesy Bites pizza, then tells Elle magazine that she’s allergic to wheat … and tomatoes … and cheese.”

 
77. “Two weeks before April 15, the Department of Justice files suit to shut down more than 125 franchised offices of Jackson Hewitt, the nation’s second-largest tax preparer. The DoJ alleges that the franchisee had engaged in a “massive series of tax-fraud schemes” costing the government more than $70 million.
In one instance, a Chicago barber declaring $14,000 in earnings claimed a fuel-tax credit for $50,000 of gasoline, which the DoJ says would “require him to drive 1,370 miles each day, seven days a week … leaving little if any time to cut hair.”

 
80. “After Hugo Chávez calls the former Prime Minister of Spain a “fascist” at a summit in Chile, Spanish King Juan Carlos leaps to his countryman’s defense. His retort to Chavez, “Why don’t you shut up?” becomes one of the nation’s most popular cellphone ringtones, downloaded more than 500,000 times within ten days.”.

 
81. “On July 24, San Francisco data-center operator 365 Main issues a press release touting its 24/7 reliability: “In the unlikely event of a cut to a primary power feed, the state-of-the-art electrical system instantly switches to live backup generators, keeping the data center continuously running.” That day a power outage hits and three of its backup generators fail, taking down high-profile customers including RedEnvelope, Technorati, and Craigslist.”

 
84. “A Southwest Airlines gate agent tells Kyla Ebbert – a 23-year-old college student and Hooters waitress wearing a denim miniskirt, high-heeled sandals, and a sweater over a tank top – that she’s dressed too provocatively to be allowed on a flight from San Diego to Tucson. Though the agent ultimately relents and lets her onboard, an indignant Ebbert goes public, appearing on the Today show. Southwest takes a massive publicity hit; Ebbert is hired by Richard Branson to promote rival low-cost carrier Virgin America and by Playboy to pose for a pictorial.”

 
93. “On a British Airways flight from New Delhi to London, first-class passenger Paul Trinder wakes up from a nap to find the corpse of a woman who had died in the economy cabin being placed in the seat next to him. Upon complaining about the incident, Trinder – a gold-level frequent flier who logs 200,000 miles a year with the airline – says he is told he will not be compensated and should just “get over it.”

 
96. “Soon after the launch of WikiScanner – a website that links the editing of entries on Wikipedia with the computer networks where the changes were made – users uncover some newsworthy revisions: A Washington Post employee is found to have changed a reference to the owner of a rival paper from Philip Anschutz to Charles Manson, while someone at The New York Times added the word “jerk” 12 times to the entry on George W. Bush.”

 
97. “Google’s Blogger software misidentifies a company-written blog as spam and automatically disables it.”

 
99. “”There is a lot of bad news, but this is still the second-or third-strongest year historically over the past 30 to 40 years, and it is still a very strong, vibrant market.” — Bev Thorne, senior vice-president of marketing for Century 21, on the outlook for real estate in 2007.”

 
100. ” Apparently he missed the memo from Bev
“I don’t want to be too sophisticated here, but ’07 is going to suck, all 12 months of the calendar year.” — Donald Tomnitz, CEO of homebuilder D.R. Horton, on the outlook for real estate in 2007.”

 
I showed only some of 101 moments. For the full text and pictures, see original article at: Money.CNN.com

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1. “Go on H2O Diet”.
“When eating out, don’t order soft drinks, ask for plain water”.
I would add to it: “Skip a latte, too, order plain coffee or tea”. If you save $10 a week, that’s $500 a year (take two weeks off for a vacation).

 
2. “Cut back on a few extras”.
Skip one movie a month (with pop corn, soda, etc.), trim back entertainment events such us concerts, sports, go out one time less a month. You should save at least a $100 a month, which is $1,000.00 a year.

 
3. “Save on Groceries”.
Buy store brand cereal, not name brand, the quality is so much improved, that some people prefer store brand. It will cost you at least 30% less, than a name brand. “If you choose the store brand just 10% of the time this year, expect to save $150.”

 
4. “Wait to have your hair done”.
Cut your hair every 5-6 weeks, not 4. You’ll have less appointments and spent less. You should be saving approx. $100 a year.

 
5. “Do your own nails”.
“…you’ll save at least $260 if you usually pay $20 and you have an appointment every 4 weeks. If you can’t face that possibility, cut your appointments in half. Savings: $130″. (This example is based on 52 weeks a year).

 
6. “Adjust your cable package”.
Call cable company, negotiate if you can, or threaten to cancel the service by going to the competitor, cut or trim to save at least $20 a month. It makes it $240 a year.

 
7. “Streamline your cell phone”.
Check your plan for the unnecessary add-ons. If you cut it $20 a month, it’s $240 a year.

 
8. “Shop for insurance plan”.
Shop around on the Internet for the auto and home policies with reputable companies. When you find a better one, call and inform your agent. If he can’t match it, switch the companies. If you save $100 on each policy, it’s $200 a year.
If you car is very old and the resale value is low, consider reducing a collision insurance (for damage), or even drop it. It may save you (very conservative estimate) about $200 a year.
“You can expect a reduction of about 20% when you increase your car insurance deductible from $500 to $1,000.” Saving of another $200.

 
9. “Refinance your car”.
My short version: You’ve got a loan of $30,000 with 12.5 per-cent for 60 months. If your car is less than 5 years and you owe more, than $7,500, you are usually eligible for refinancing. You are paying approx. $675/mo now. “One year later, if you refinance the26,201 balance at 6.9 per cent for 48 months remaining, your payment drops to $626. That’s a savings of $49 a month, or about $600 a year.”

 
10. “Refinance your student loans”.
Shop around. Reduce an interest or extend the time to pay it out.  May save about $200 a year.

 
11. “Lock up your debit card”.
Don’t use your debit card too often, don’t overspend and don’t pay overdraft fees. Use cash more often. You can see and count it. You might save more than $200 a year.

 
12.”Get better interest on checking”.
Shop around for interest rates on checking accounts. “If you keep $2,000 in your checking on average, earn 3.5 per cent on it this year”, your savings is $70.

 
13. “Reduce credit card interest”.
Shop around for the rate reduction, especially if your credit score is over 720 points. Threaten to stop using the card; if that helps, you might get a break on the interest. “What is the difference in interest between 18 and 9 percent? On a $10,000 balance, a reduction of 5 percentage points over one year translates to $900.”

 
14. Cancel what you don’t use.
If you have a paid membership somewhere and don’t use it enough to justify it, cancel it. Make sure, there is no penalty. 

 
The total of all points is still very close to $5,000.

 
You may spend some of it on the vacation, or buy an espresso machine and enjoy great coffee at home. Do your math yourself.

 
If you really think about saving, find 2 hours within next few weeks and: call the banks and insurance agencies, devise your own entertainment plan, whatever you need to get to your goal, and stick to it. If you make it thru first two months, you’ll develop a habit of checking with yourself on your spending, you’ll start noticing many usuful things and details. This action is a beginning of your future prosperity.
Your next year end will be much happier. But then you’ll be much different person, too.

 
Here is a little more from “Women’s Day” Magazine: an article
“Debt proof your holidays” as an early start to the next year of saving. Debt Proof Your Holidays

 
You may read my next paragraph now, or you may bookmark it and read it in two months, when things are not so hectic and you are on your way to a new, happier you.

 
Start new year by presenting yourself with a monthly gift: gift of your own responsibility.
The article published by “Motley Fool” describes how to start making money. (Even if you don’t have as much, as in the example supplied). Begin by investing in your 401K plan or find suitable reputable financial institution to start with smaller amount of money. Make sure you like the broker as a person, too, but don’t get too relaxed: you have a plan to follow. www.fool.com. Investing small

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