Maybe not so coincidently, we are doing yet another refi on our house and are in a terrific position right now.
Our credit rating is "excellent" because of all the past pay-offs and current balances we owe-$23k in debt with no late payments=CR of 702. Go figure.
Interest rates drop daily so we are, as of today, hovering at about 6%, maybe will hit 5.75%, down from the 7.525% ARm we are currently paying. And that ARM would have risen to 9.525% on Jan.1. My father had told me that, had we defaulted by not paying for 3 months straight, we could have negotiated a LOWER rate...we're being punished for being punctual!
Our one retirement account went UP in value because we've got some Revlon stock, which was at a high 10-15 years ago of over $50, dropped to penny stock and now is up to $7.33, while everyone else is dropping. Again, go figure...
Because our current HC provider, Aetna, raised its rates by 45%
, spouse's employer is changing carriers, so we'll see a drop, albeit a small one, in our coverage payout.
And gas here is down to $1.54.
That's the good news....
The bad news....
Spouse is in a skilled labor industry and contracts are not coming in very quickly. Where there were 10 under him there is now 1.
I am in a personal retail service industry-portrait photography. We don't compete with Walmart and can't. Where last Christmas season, we were swamped with appointments, this year we've got more empty pages in the datebook than full. Ironically, we are spending more money on mass mailings, etc., so that we can drum up more business. And those that are coming in that used to be our really big spenders are now getting bare minimum like our in-house holiday cards instead of the really nice stuff that costs 2-3 times more.
Houses are not selling, which is not good for a refi as that drops the appraised value. Two years ago our home, wreck that it is, was appraised at $360k; now I'd be thrilled at $300K. But, houses not selling is a good bargaining chip for anyone who finds themselves in a mortgage quagmire because whoever is holding the mortgage doesn't want the burden of taking the house. Banks are hurting according to the news and they'd have to take over the taxes as well. Anyone contemplating bankruptcy would do well to rethink it and make a few phone calls instead. It's a pretty sure bet they'd be able to keep their home and afford it.
A recession is a time-out. It makes everyone take notice of what's been happening and fires up the brains to try and resolve things. But, this country needs to get back to being one of productivity if it wants to be an economic powerhouse. For way too long, those that make business decisions made them in a "me first" mentality. Now they're reaping what they've sown, dried up the well [add more cliches here] and crying that they need help.
I firmly believe that other countries are hurting because we stopped being productive-we had nothing more to offer, nothing more to sell; a dollar is truly worthless if there's nothing behind it, no workers, no product, no incentive. Going off to China, et al for production and sitting back taking in the profits has come back to bite everyone in the collective ass.