And Wall Street falls

Granny’s advice is serious today.

How does the old song go- “somebody told me Wall Street fell but I was so poor I couldn’t tell”. I have been able to be oddly calm in the face of the frenzied chaos that has been occurring in the financial world. We have just a little money in the bank and it’s been a long time since we had any stocks and bonds to worry about. It does affect my Dad- he had some money in managed pension accounts – but he owns his house and one other house and he and Mom can live on their Social Security without any great strain.

What a shame it is that retirees will bear so much of the burden of this disaster. They don’t have time to wait for a market recovery. I bet they wish the money was in a mattress instead of the stock market or at least a bank. We all learned from this.

While Steve and I survive on very little, we do survive. I guess that’s one time having a Social Security disability check is actually a benefit to the lifestyle. Who would have thought it? I have been hoping to get another book contract to ease our budget a bit and that might be slow in coming because of the financial mess but we can say we are better off than we were a year ago. Life is strange. I am so glad that the disability claim was settled when it was- if we were going through it now the news of the economy might have really put us over the edge.

I know what it feels like to go to bed scared that soon you won’t have a home. I have used food stamps and commodity foods. I feel for the people who are scared to death right now but it will get better. People are going to have to re-adjust their thinking about what a good living is all about.

We were all living on future earnings- there was a time when we did that too. Then Steve got sick. Everything changed rapidly. Never count on what you assume will be there someday. Live on what you have today.

Stop talking about a handout for those who were “taken advantage of” by big credit crooks offering adjustable rate mortgages – usually the handout promoter says mortgages made after 2002. Lots of people were smart enough to buy a home they could afford, with a conventional mortgage and they too are having problems making mortgage payments. They may have bought the house 20 years ago. But if you lost your job and can’t find a new one you are in as much trouble as the dreamer, who believed he was entitled to the house he wanted today and would find a way to pay for it tomorrow. Help everybody who is struggling.

Drop all interest rates to 4 % and give amnesty to all overdue mortgages. Put the unpaid months on the end of the loan. Adjust the loan principal to more correctly reflect the homes current value. If they can’t afford the new lower payment, then let the mortgage holder give the bank the title to the home and walk away without damage to their credit.

One thing not to invest in should be stocks for cell phones and cable TV corporations. People need to take those out of their budgets right away. Put up a TV antenna, watch local channels for free. Carry your cell for 911 calls only- they will work for that after you cancel the contract. The amount you save on those two things might give you enough to pay the mortgage.