The borrower is slave to the lender...
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| Fri, 09-02-2005 - 2:05pm |
This last week I've sure been thinking about this saying. I know that we're in much better shape than we were this time last year, but I tell you, if we would have been hit by Hurricane Katrina, we'd still be in the soup. Our emergency fund is down to about 67 cents (really), and we still have $15,000+ in non-house debt. I think insurance would cover the van, but I'm thinking that the credit card companies might not be so kind, lol.
The devastation down South is incredible, but I know that one of my first thoughts was that all those people who were still upside down in their auto loans or didn't have much if any equity in their home are not only facing a natural disaster crisis, they will be facing a financial crisis as well.
With the gas prices rising, even this far north, I can't help but wonder if other prices will be rising as well. I know that our budget is a zero-based budget, which means that every dollar that comes in has a name already attached to it, and it needs to balance. But, if gas prices go up, as well as other prices, we're going to have to do some fancy shuffling to get everything to balance.
Basically, this has not only scared me, but given me quite the wake up call. We really can't afford to quit any of our jobs yet, and need to redouble our efforts to getting out of debt. I don't think it would be such a big deal if we didn't have any payments to make except living expenses, as our budget could be adjusted. There are days that I don't feel like we're making any headway, but I also know we can't give up.
I know, just hang on! And we will, as we re-build our emergency fund (again)for the 3rd time...
Lisa

No kidding. I've been thinking about flood insurance. Most people don't carry flood insurance on their homes unless the mortgage company requires it. If we lost our home to flood, for instance, we'd be in serious hurt. We'd be hurting for decades from a blow like that.
Dh just sent me an IM that they're bringing a bunch of people from N.O. to Charlotte, to our coliseum. We're going to go help distribute food and goods. We're talking about trying to help somehow with school--these folks are going to be living here for months. The kids will be missing out on schooling.
It's huge what this has done to some people. And a wake-up call for the rest of us to be prepared. Mother Nature can certainly dole out some surprises.
Heather
It would be great if they could just join our schools, and maybe they will. Unfortunately here in Charlotte, the schools are already seriously overcrowded, with kids in temporary buildings and way too many students per teacher, and it's just completely out of hand. I just don't see how they can absorb kids in these kind of numbers without some serious problems.
I'm not sure what can be done about it, but we're going to see if there's any way we can help. :)
I'm in SW Missouri-work at Missouri State University and I'm glad to hear that MO has done that. I know our school has been identified as a potential school closure because we aren't using the space we have so we'll see if they funnel some folks that way (I know some refugees have arrived here I just don't know where they housed them for sure-called about volunteering and was told they have hundreds of volunteers at the moment so I'll try again in a couple of weeks.
Taleyna