Hi Linda, It's a shame there are so many left-wing loons living in CA. They ruin it for level headed folk like you. I don't know how much good it would do, but you can always write your congressman about the lunacy - but then again you got people like Nancy Pelosi!!! now Speaker of the House and she's from CA. How she ever got to where she is is beyond me! I like the idea of a Garden Junk Commission. We would be the most anti-PC people ever hired! LOL Insisting that there be no limit as to artsitic expression, ect; freedom would RULE! And I could use an extra 115K a year! How do I sign up? LOL In Melbourne the dams are something like 30% lower than they were in 2000 and we have tight water restrictions placed on us. The greenwashed loons have lobbied hard against new dams being built and the state has agreed! Yet the population has risen by almost the same percentage and we're expecting a further population growth. How the state govt expect to 'water' all these people has yet to be seen. They're so busy 'thinking ahead' combating 'man-made' climate change they're missing the point. There won't be any water left down here and the poor future kiddies will be dead from lack of water long before CO2 will kill them. So I understand about the greenwashed getting their way when it comes to progress. The greenwashed just don't want anyone living comfortably - except for themselves. Luna, what a great idea. Rid CA of the illegals and then see how much that state could save on EVERYTHING! Cait

Cynthia A, Yeah - but why not just do it on your own? You have something else between your ears but cheese, don't you? If you pay down your mortgage principal by the $3,500. that those guys want for their software and to hold your hand (and they got theirs up front, so if you malinger, suffer layoff, get waylaid by robbers, ... whatever - no skin off of their nose) you'll reduce the number of years that your mortgage will run somewhat. It seems to me also that they want to redirect a good bit of your formerly discretionary spending into paying down your mortgage. More or less along the line of - you pay all of your paycheque into the mortgage monthly, then pull money on the HELOC to live on. And they'll probably want you to justify what you're spending on much more than you're doing now, when you indulge yourself somewhat, every now and again ... ... well, maybe fairly often. Seems to me that these guys aren't the tooth fairy - one way or the other, you'll be paying off your mortgage. They sure as heck won't be. A smart financial advisor or any accountant will show you how to work your own program - for probably about $200. , maybe less. Then - it'll be up to you to produce the self-discipline to make it work. If you don't, look yourself in the eye in the bathroom mirror, take out your lipstick and write, "S-T-U-P-I-D" across the image of your face. That shouldn't be too hard. Self-indulgence has a price. These guys don't have any magic bullet. Good wishes for finding a way to get this financial job done, and done well, relying on your own resources and skills, learning a few extra as necessary. ole joyful

In 2005, after my FiL moved in with us after the death of my MiL, we decided that we could afford to move. We really needed a second bathroom with an advanced elder living with us. What we learned is that we fuel each other in the "gotta see everything" frenzy. It was our first house-hunting as a couple, since I was already a homeowner when we met. It wasn't so much "Falling in Love" with a home that got us in trouble, it was the feeling of needing to read the listing for all the homes that met our objectives, to see the ones that we had an interest in, and to not miss out on a chance to bid on any of them if we wanted to do so. It became obsessive. Him upstairs on his desktop computer, me downstairs on my laptop, hollering back and forth about the listings. I expected him to be a moderating force for me, but he really made me worse. We found a nice home with a finished basement for him and an in-ground pool for me and wrote an offer. There was a second offer, and after a weekend of thinking that we had prevailed, we learned that the seller's agent had misunderstood and that the seller had signed the other offer. It turns out that this was a good thing for us for a couple of reasons. Then we wrote an offer on a house that had good and bad points. Next morning I was on the phone to the city to see if my realtor was right that I could put up a privacy fence, or if I had read the ordinance correctly and I could not put up a privacy fence. I was right. Called realtor, and was able to stop her before she tendered our offer. When we saw the back yard of the house we live in now,(before going in to tour) we got excited. Wow, perfect yard for our dogs, very private with the hedges. Once inside, loved the size of the MBR, the Eat-in Kitchen. It was almost Love, definitely was "Make An Offer!" I am with BumbleBeez about the hunt and the kill. I get into an intense focus where finding the home is all I want to do. Once I find it, gotta have it. No bargaining for me, I have to offer pretty much the asking price or I am afraid I will lose it. Same thing happened a few months ago when we decided it was time to replace my 10 year-old car. Looked every day until we found what we wanted. Researched price, found it competitive, offered asking price (but did insist on one repair). We are not good shoppers. I do not know if we could walk away from a big purchase if we needed to do so because of a problem.

I am online almost constantly and they aren't a part of my online world at all. I don't understand how *they* could possibly be mainlining their lives into the public's veins WITHOUT permission. I'll read an article once in a while but I have to CLICK on it to do so - no one and nothing compels me to do so. I also don't watch Good Morning America or The Today show, and I don't read entertainment magazines. As a frequent visitor to Paris, this story is of interest to me. A lot of people like them, hence their popularity and financial successes. Don't read anything about them! Change the channel! It's all in your control. As for 'flaunting wealth', that can be said about a lot of things every day Americans own - houses, vehicles, smartphones, etc. As a celebrity, I'd have a certain expectation of safety and security at an exclusive residence in Paris and, of all things, would feel that wearing expensive jewelry to designer shows during Fashion Week would be just fine and expected of me.