MissMeliss: Escribition

I used to call my bullet posts “sticky notes” because they reminded me of all the little things I scribble on, well, sticky notes (Post-It being a specific BRAND of same) to write about later, except that I rarely, actually do.

This post is actually about the sticky notes themselves. You see, when I was purging my desk of the remnants of my life in loans, I also threw out big stacks of sticky notes. Why? Because these were the free ones, given as marketing toys by various title companies and mortgage lenders, and with the current state of the mortgage industry, keeping them around was too depressing.

I look at the company names and think, “I wonder if Amy/Rachel/Tina/Nicole/Joe/Mike is still employed. I wonder if they’re still in the industry.”

The thing about the real estate industry, whether it’s the part where you sell houses, or the part where you finance them, is that, like a sticky note stuck to the bottom of your shoe, it stays with you. You may think you’ve left, but then three years later, you’ll find yourself telling a friend, “Let me look at your Good Faith Estimate before you sign it, and just make sure you’re not being overcharged, or underquoted,” and someone overhears you, and, and, and…

Or two years later, in the midst of a mortgage industry crisis a recruiter calls you, and asks if you want to give up your self-employment as a writer and come back to work, and it’s all you can do not to rudely laugh in their face, when you ask. “Are there actually companies still running?”

The thing is, a lot of what’s happening is NOT the fault of individual lenders, or a problem that originated in the industry. It’s cascade failure. It’s a last-straw scenario. It’s, “fuel is getting more expensive, but we need fuel to deliver goods, so to offset it we’re cutting jobs,” followed by “honey, I’m looking but no one in my field is hiring,” followed by having to choose between paying for your house or buying food, and, while it’s true that there ARE predatory lenders, and always have been, most of these companies are completely above-board, and if their customers didn’t read the part of the contract where it says in really big, black letters, “THIS IS AN ADJUSTABLE. IT WILL GO UP IN 2 YEARS, AND WILL FLUCTUATE THEREAFTER,” it really isn’t their fault.

For that matter, not all adjustables are bad. There’s a reason they exist, and there are times when they’re extremely advantageous.

But it’s more than I can explain on a sticky note.

I made a phone payment on one of our accounts the other day because I’d lost the statement so didn’t have an address to set it up for online banking, and was surprised because I needed my actual checkbook to complete the transaction.

Please understand. I know my entire checking account number by heart. I know the routing number too. I write one paper check a month, and that’s to pay my lawn guy. I’m so used to companies not needing check numbers, or being able to make up check numbers, when doing electronic funds transfers of this sort, that I literally was struck dumb for a few seconds when I was asked to provide one.

I realized after the call just how spoiled I am. While I like to have cash on hand for emergencies, with the exception of sticking a dollar in the tip jar at Starbucks every so often, I almost never need it. Even our pizza, which I ordered online this afternoon because it was cold and gray, we were both in the middle of work, and we had nothing but peanut butter in the house because we haven’t been to a grocery store in forever (too busy), was paid for electronically, though they did ask to see the credit card (debit card) I used for the transaction, when they delivered it.

So, here’s the question of the day:
Do you still write paper checks on a regular basis? If so, is it a choice, or a necessity?

We have all, at some point in our lives, been a little strapped for cash, even while gainfully employed. Maybe it’s because we overspent, or maybe it’s because your bank is holding a three thousand dollar reimbursement check for ten days because they can, the point is, it happens, even to the best of us.

Rather than kiting checks, or paying the guilt-interest at the Bank of Mom, one solution to temporary cash flow issues is to get an instant payday loan. Those are the loans where you get cash almost immediately, and they expect you to pay it back on your next payday. They have high fees, but in an emergency - when you don’t want a credit check, or want your employer to know, they’re amazingly useful.

But how do you tell the reputable companies from the disreputable ones? And what exactly are you getting into when you apply for this kind of cash advance?

CashAdvance1500.com can help you with that. They don’t offer money directly. Instead they offer a wealth of information - how loans work, what information you need, etc, so that you can make an informed decision. As well, they have referrals depending on your cash needs, with special deals for women, or those who need total confidentiality. Of course, you can do it all from the comfort of your living room as well.

Most sites flash “borrow money now!!!” at you.
CashAdvance1500.com does not.

I think that says a lot about them.

Working in the mortgage industry, I got to see a lot of credit reports, and I got into the habit of noting which of our clients had which cards. Discover, for example, was usually carried only by older clients, or people who had lived in the Midwest, where Sears was still a major store.

Small Business Credit Card holders were generally the dot-com crowd, the folks who worked for Adobe and Yahoo and Google before they had capital letters or huge amounts of VC.

I never asked how they made their choice of which cards to use - assuming that like most homeowners they had been inundated by offers shortly after moving into their new homes.

It wasn’t until much later that I learned about CreditCardSearchEngine.com, a company that helps you identify and apply for credit cards that fit your needs. Aside from cards specifically designed for small business owners, they also have lists of credit cards for students, or people with dented credit. As well, they’ve been online for a long time, so they have sticking power, which is always good when dealing with an internet company.

Their information on each card includes the apr, any fees, and any specific terms that you should be aware of before applying, and the online response times are generally pretty fast.

I have no need of any more credit cards, but if I did, I’d check out CreditCardSearchEngine.com to see what options were suggested for me.

My head hurts, and I can’t breathe because I completely messed up our bank account. Thought I’d written a bunch of checks from one account, when I’d really written them from the other, and ended up going negative, in a pay period that was already tight because of the mortgage, and having to pay Fuzzy’s work AmEx and not having the reimbursement that covers our cable bill yet, and, and, and….

Sometimes the best think I can think of to do is to find a really good rock and beat my brains to a bloody pulp and then start over, and I just had to ask my mother if she could loan us money for groceries (she hasn’t yet responded).

What I wanted to do is write all weekend, and maybe take little breaks to surf places that sell digital cameras, because I love the one I have but want something small and sexy that I can slip into a purse.

Yeah that rock thing is getting more attractive every second.

Even though Fuzzy’s been told we’re not going to have to relocate to Florida in the immediate future, every so often I look at Florida real estate, to try and gauge what kind of money we’re looking at, and how far from the water we’d have to live to make Fuzzy happy and keep the dogs safe.

The thing is, I’m spoiled because California real estate listings had a public version of mls that was a lot more current and accurate than sites like realtor.com, and even the local mls here in Texas was available (sort of) through a couple of realtor sites (I’m not sure if they were supposed to make as much info available as they did, but it was helpful.

Most mls though, especially things like this Miami flat fee mls service that I’ve looked at, are geared for sellers. These services are great, and if I weren’t a proponent of using realtors, I’d totally find the Texas equivalent of this, because it allows you to a FSBO (for sale by owner) relatively inexpensively, and use it. But, I don’t have patience for negotiating, and I would never deny my realtor-friends their crack at a commission.

Still, if you live in Florida, and are planning to sell your home, this is definitely worth checking out. It’s pretty intuitive, and a much smarter choice than trying to do a FSBO without an mls listing.

Every month or so
On a trip, Fuzzy must go
He’s got the packing down to just one little bag

When he returns to me
My very first spousal duty:
About his expense reports, I must nag.

The accounting people are slow
Though they use payroll software, I know
So I worry when our bank balance starts to sag.

“Are you sure you sent it in?”
“I did,” he’ll say with a grin.
“Before you even told me,” he will brag.

“Good, cause the cable bill’s due.
And it’s an expensive one, too.”
I say this, and try not to sound like a hag.

“I hate when you go away.
I much prefer homecoming day,
Though I kind of wish you’d manage to bring me more swag.”

He laughs and gives me a kiss.
And for a few moments there’s bliss.
But then to my head comes this Reimbursement Rag.

And yes, I realize this isn’t a rag so much as a blues riff.
Also, he does bring me flowers whenever he goes to the grocery store.