Living in the City

What does it take to save enough money for something? After years of frugal living, you believe that you finally have what it takes to buy your much coveted home. You now have some savings. You are about to take the home acquisition plunge. The prospect of owning your first home is within reach. But what kind of a home would you want and where shall it be located? Decisions, decisions. Additionally, other significant items must be studied like affordability, is it of fair market value, what methods of acquisition are available, would it be cash or cash plus mortgage payments, what are the down payment options, interest rates, property taxes, etc. Is this what the Brits need to evaluate at this point? If you have saved enough and find yourself much like the rest of UK residents, who according to a study spent a “combined £1.9 billion” for luxury items instead of going into the housing market, then what gives? Unconfirmed apprehensions draw people away from their o...

My high school classmate was back recently from the United States . She invited me for chit chat the other week. We were so pleased to see each other, both saying that not much really changed except for some grey hair and additional pounds on her end and less on mine. She's been a U.S. resident for almost 10 years now. Between sip s of our favorite coffee drinks, she announced that she and the husband was planning to move back to the country. She's been displaying the symptoms of a hypertensive and would not want to exacerbate the condition. One reason she says, is her home mortgage. The possibility of a foreclosure seems inevitable. At this point, her initial happy aura slowly turned to gloom. Two to three years ago she was on a roll. She was heavy into investments, buying a new car even when the old ones were still usable, buying a new home, travels, signing up with 2-3 credit card companies. Only because her co-teachers in a California middle school were doing it. Sudde...