Marvelous Monday Update 11/3/08

Weather
The weather has been unseasonably nice for this time of year. It was the first Halloween I can ever remember where it wasn't cold and rainy for trick-or-treating. This week, forecasters are calling for temps in the mid to upper 70's! Unfortunately, it's not going to last. By week's end, temps are to be in the upper 40's and snow is in the forecast. Crazy stuff!


I'm Rich!
I've always been content with where I'm at financially. I don't roll in the dough like a lot of others, and it doesn't really bother me because It's been documented that for the most part people debts will be proportionate (if not higher) than their income. So whether you make $18K a year or $180K, you're in debt up to your eyeballs (as the TV commercial says). Wow, I'm way off track as to what I really wanted to say... I'm RICH, or at least I'm in the top 4.33% wealthiest in the world. How do I know this? See for yourself:

I'm the 260,000,000 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >>

Interesting!

What's also interesting are these comparisons:
* $8 could buy 15 organic apples OR 25 fruit trees for farmers in Honduras to grow and sell fruit at their local market.
* $30 could buy an ER DVD Boxset OR a First Aid kit for a village in Haiti.
*$73 could buy a new mobile phone OR a new mobile health clinic to care for AIDS orphans in Uganda.
*$2400 could buy a second generation HDTV OR schooling for an entire generation of school children in an Angolan village.

Anyone got $2400 laying around that I could donate to an Angola village?


Freecycle
My goodness the games never end, do they? The local Freecycle “owners” are so passive-aggressive... and I find it quite amusing. I found it odd that suddenly no messages were finding it’s way to my mailbox and thought “Did they remove me from the group, after just last week saying I could remain a member?” So I searched through my Yahoo groups, and yes I was still a member *but* they’d changed my status to “No Mail.” LOL, talk about high-schoolish stuff! So, I changed it back to daily messages and am waiting to see how long it takes before they change it again. I mean, really... What owner/moderator has the time to do that stuff? Hmmm... wonder how long it’ll be before they “remove” me from the group?


Stitchy Stuff
Nora received the Color Exchange I sent her in the CSF group. For October, the color was PINK. I'm glad she liked it. I forgot to take a pic, so this one is hers:

• "Be Nice" chart by Heart in Hand
• Fuzzy Stuff Floss
• Seed Beads
• Sewing Kit
• Silk Floss
• DMC Floss in various shads of pink
• 2 different spools of ribbon
• Flat of pink funky patterned fabric

This week, I've spent some time working on Believe by The Trilogy. Here's what it looks like after 11.25 hours:

Other WIP pics can be seen HERE.

Number Crunching

I'm pretty spoiled in that the rent and utilities I currently pay are relatively inexpensive. In buying a home, I don't want to be getting into a situation where I would be putting all my money into the place I live and not be able to enjoy life. That'd be too stressful!

The "accountant" in me has comes out to play whenever I might be interested in a home to buy. On each of the two houses I've been interested in, I've crunched the numbers to see if I could really afford the payments, taxes, insurance, and utilities.

I was pleased to learn that I not only can afford the bungalow at the asking price (but I'm not going to pay asking price!), I would also have enough money to make improvements over time. How great is that?!

I talked to my bank again today and got re-approved for a loan. The other approval expired the end of last month. The loan officer was very friendly and very helpful. In addition to a "no fee" mortgage, I also am eligible for unemployment/disability insurance that the bank will pay premiums on for the first year. She said the bank will do that because the first year is always stressful for a first time homebuyer. It sure would take a load off my mind! After the first year, it can be cancelled. Also with the mortgage program, I won't have to escrow my taxes and insurance. Most other banks require this and it was a thorn in my side to think the mortgage company would be using my $$ for a year when I could be putting it in a savings account and earning interest on it myself. I also wouldn't have to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance) even though I'm putting down less than 20%. The loan officer also told me the interest rate went down since my last preapproval. Good to hear!! :D

I may just end up making an offer on a house soon!

Class Action Law Suit Won!

Contemplating what bills would arrive today, I made my way up the steep steps to the post office. The same steps I've fallen down, mind you... but we really don't want to go *there*, do we? I make my way toward the PO Boxes. As graceful as I am, I managed to drop all my mail as I was taking it out of the box. Well, all but one. I figured "What the heck!" and threw the last piece on the floor just for the fun of it. LOL Hey, had to bend over anyway! I get a lot of junk mail, so my routine is to walk to the side counter and open all my mail. I throw away anything that doesn't have my name on it, before leaving the PO. I opened an envelope from one of my credit card companies, thinking it was a bill. But no! I had a credit... A credit due to a class action lawsuit. Guess how much they gave me?!? Are you sitting down?

I got a whopping.......... TWO CENTS! LOL, Can you believe they would actually send out a statement showing a credit for two cents?! It cost more in postage and paper, not to mention the labor it took to create that statement. Unbelievable... LOL