Selling when economy turns down ?
joeil
8 years ago
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jnjfarm_gw
8 years agoRelated Discussions
So when did hand me downs become out of favor
Comments (29)We do reuse and recycle many household items here too. My kids are all built differently so we don't hand down many clothes. I donate clothes in decent condition to the school or the thrift stores. People are funny about used things. It can be quite entertaining at times. I've run into people who wouldn't be caught dead shopping at a garage sale or thrift store. Those same people do shop antique stores and estate sales which are glorified garage sales at higher prices. Then there are those people who don't shop thrift stores because that is for poor people. That's laughable. Truly poor people probably couldn't afford the prices at some of the thrift stores. I shop there because I the thrill of the hunt and it is possible to find a bargain on some things, but usually not clothes. I live in one of those areas where people often overprice their garage sale clothes. I can buy new for less. Overall, my best clothes bargains usually come from the mall during the 75-90% off sales. I wouldn't be too offended because someone doesn't want your hand me downs. I've gotten offers before. Honestly, I just didn't want to deal with the extra work. Sometimes when you get clothes ahead, you're storing it for a while even possibly a couple of years. Sometimes less is more when you're trying to organize and manage a household....See MoreWalMart turned down in Toronto
Comments (17)We believe that our bodies/our health are our #1 asset and that our financial situation is in the next high tier. So, in general, we believe that if we eat food loaded with antibiotics (mass produced meats/dairy) and chemicals (foods have somewhere near 15000 man made chemicals in them), then we invite health problems that could otherwise be avoided and we incur extra medical costs. So, we grow what we can and food shop to focus on healthy foods. We seriously walk at least 5 evenings/wk - year round. Knock on wood and thank god, we don't get sick very often, but I do have some medical issues that require regular oversight and which I can't eliminate. We also believe that if we buy quality, we won't be rebuying the items again and again. So, we save up for larger purchases and only get a "new" one when the old one is shot. We often look for used, refurbished items as our "new" when we need to replace. I'm using the coffee pot that my mom &dad were given when they got married in 1954 (and no it doesn't make cappucino/lattes!!), we use a drill that I purchased in 1980 which is all metal. We use a 1950something toaster which we purchased used. We buy garden and other tools at garage sales and we try to avoid buying items with plastic parts. We use cotton and wool blankets, we don't redecorate every 6 months. Because we eat fairly healthy and we exercise, we don't change clothes size - yes, we can go up and down, but we get back to the base size before a size change is in order. Staying the same size is a blessing and a curse. We try and make sure that most of our clothes are all cotton/wool/silk because we have found that synthetic materials wear out and get ratty looking alot faster. We don't buy "trendy" styles and we always look reasonably timeless. We wait for clothes to wear out but because we do, we don't always wear the absolutely most current color or style. And that is ok. My husband grew up in a military family and money was tight. I grew up in a middle class family, but my parents had lived through the great depression - I always heard about how much things cost. Sure, sometimes we don't have a choice but to buy cheaply made items, but we do what we can to avoid it and we shop with local firms. We find that it's pretty easy to avoid Walmart and live within a budget at the same time....See Morehas this bad economy trickled down to you yet?
Comments (27)YEP! I been hit on the head. I'm a retiree living on the income from my IRA and that account has lost a bunch since 2007. That wouldn't be so bad since a recovery will gain back most of the losses, but the intereat rate on CDs have fallen so far that it is cutting into the principal. I had about 5/9 of my IRA in CDs before the crash. I have 3 CDs comming due at various times this year. By the end of this year, the income from the CDs will not provide my monthly withdrawal. That is upsetting. When I retired, I had a choice of lum sum or pension. With the current conditions, the lum sum is not working, and it was supposed to have been equivalent or better than the pension. The reason I took the lum sum was that if something happened to me, my wife inherits the IRA; If I took the pension, it dies with me and she would be destitute. I could have taken the 50% survivorship option for the pension, but the hit was too much. It would have cost $800 per month to get it, and it was my money in the first place - what a rip. Grocery prices are creeping upward. The only thing that is keeping the prices in check in our area is high competition. As an example, soda has increased a bunch. A year ago, we could buy a 6 pack of Pepsi, 24 oz bottles, for $2.50 when on sale. One year later today, the best price is $3.33 and the regular price is well over $4. Gasoline took a flying leap over the past 2 years. It peaked last year and then fell back when the ecomony tanked, but I think that is temporary. During the last week, the price per gallon had risen 26 cents/gal and is expected to go higher as we move into spring. The only break I have is that heatng cost is reducing at this time of the year. If I had the need, I might buy a new Ford. The price on a Focus has hit bottom. The base price has fallen under $10,000. We don't need a car this year, but when we do, I expect the bargains will be gone....See MoreWhen do we sell?
Comments (8)Will you be building far away from your present home? How suitable is the place you will call your temporary home? (Can you live there comfortably for two years? Is it near your work?) Since you already plan to move twice, that's not part of the equation. The thinking about declining values/sales has to do with increasing mortgage rates and more stringent financial requirements for buyers (fewer or no zero-down, 120% mortgages). People who were depending on continuing to re-finance and draw equity out of their houses for daily expenses will no longer have that source of income as their home values decline; they may have to sell. First-time buyers will have more trouble qualifying. Move-up buyers may have trouble selling their present homes. Increasing foreclosures and panic selling may be a drag on the market as people who took those incredible ARMs in 2006 cannot meet upward-adjusted rate payments and must sell or lose homes to foreclosure. Builders are already discounting homes or offering incentives in order to sell their backlog of product. Nationwide there is already a glut of homes on the market. However, all real estate (like politics) is local, so you need local advice. Talk to some realtors and bankers in your area to see where they see your economy headed. If I were in your position, I'd probably list and sell now. If you need the proceeds from your present home to build, you might want to know exactly how much money you have to work with before committing to new build expenditures (which always seem to run over!)....See Morejnjfarm_gw
8 years agoUser
8 years agorandy41_1
8 years agojoeil
8 years agojoeil
8 years agolittle_minnie
8 years agojrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
8 years agojoeil
8 years agojrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
8 years agolittle_minnie
8 years agoRI-Mike
8 years agojrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
8 years ago
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jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)