Anybody Suffering From The Economy Yet?

Lounge By cakesbydesiree Updated 10 Oct 2008 , 2:20pm by loriemoms

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Deb_ Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 1:28am
post #121 of 137

sugaredup........It's obvious from the tone of your post that you are very distressed about your current financial situation, and I'm sorry for your hard times. I wish you had stayed with your original plan and refinanced 2 yrs later to get out of that mortgage. I suppose the circumstances were different after the 2 yrs went by and that is unfortunate.

I am definitely not "living in a bubble". I have a good friend with horrible credit, many many maxed out credit cards, that qualified for a "no money down, sub-prime, interest only mortgage". This is someone that couldn't get a car loan, yet she could "afford" a $240,000 house icon_confused.gif . 2 yrs later.......she just foreclosed.......AND to top it off, her credit cards were included in the mortgage so that she would qualify. She has recently admitted to us that it's the first time in her life that she is "debt free", she thinks this is a positive life experience. She's a lot older than you, she's 54 yrs. old. She knew she shouldn't have gotten that mortgage, she admitted that she couldn't believe she qualified for it. She had no savings, and no back up plan.

I'm sorry for the innocent victims in this mess.......forgive me if I'm harsh, but, I cannot feel sorry for people like my friend....and now we pay for not only her mortgage, but all her other debt too. She has learned nothing from this experience........as soon as she can she'll have another credit card and be right back where she started. That's alright with you?

Also, please don't accuse me of thinking I'm better than you because I am not losing my house, because that is not how I feel at all. I'm a LOT older than you, I've had more years to toughen me up I guess.

My husband and I work our butts off to pay our bills, save and send our 2 kids to college (@30k each). Hell, when we were first out of College and had tons of student loans and a mortgage and 2 babies, some weeks we had oatmeal and canned peaches left in the cubboard. I knew exactly how it was to live paycheck to paycheck. I was too proud to ask my parents or in-laws for money. Nobody has ever given me a dime and I don't expect them to.

You don't know me and I don't know you......and yes, I watch T.V. and know exactly what's going on with the economy. That's the reason I'm so disgusted right now, because I watch T.V. and listen to these baffoons. It's only going to get worse before it gets better and we all need to be prepared for that.

I am very sorry for you and any innocent person that is losing their home, but unfortunately the innocents account for only a small percentage of the problem I elude to......the biggest problem is.....the people that should not have EVER qualified for a mortgage, like my friend.

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SugaredUp Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 3:56am
post #122 of 137

2 years ago I couldn't get a refinance. My house that I just bought for $165,000 was worth $145,000. I didn't have $20,000 on me to throw in out of pocket. It may as well have been a million dollars!

It doesn't matter now. The damage is done and now we're all screwed!

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playingwithsugar Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 4:00am
post #123 of 137

dkelly27 wrote:

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES PAPER SHORTAGE DUE TO THE PRINTING OF $700 BILLION DOLLARS TO COVER THE ECONOMIC BAILOUT PLAN!!!!

Well, at least we won't have to worry about running out of toilet paper. At the rate they're going, we'll be able to get it from the ATM. If they keep playing with our money like they are, that's all we'll be able to do with it, anyway.icon_lol.gif

Theresa icon_smile.gif

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chrissypie Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 4:16am
post #124 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by loriemoms

Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

Quote:
Originally Posted by chrissypie

But if a good friend of mine was getting married and wanted me to do a cake and pay me for it, I don't see how that is wrong.


Unless you're licensed and legal, it's wrong because it's illegal.



My point exactly. One of my biggest fears is that a lot of these illegal bakeries don't know the laws in our state, and will get an entire wedding party sick off of a mousse gone bad, or putting fresh strawberries in a cake. These kinds of things always spur investigation and all the LEGAL bakeries in our area get super duper looked over and have to pay higher licensing fees "to protect the public". It has happened before. And do these illegal bakeries have to do it? Nope. They just happily fly under the raider, making cakes for their "friends"...(I guess everyone on goes on Craig's list is their "friend") My only hope is that one day they get caught and they have to pay the THOUSANDS of dollars in fines.

I just hope that brides educate themselves and if they do approach a home bakery, they look for the licensing document that should be hanging on the wall (It is required in my town..pay 125 dollars a YEAR for that little piece of paper) and ask questions.

I have been on Cake Central for a long time. I started here when I first started my bakery, and learned A LOT..about decorating, about business, about just dealing with the stress of trying to get everything done. It used to be a place where people could post how they felt and they weren't called names, or were accused of being mean or nasty. They were allowed to post how they felt. The last year or so, CC has drawn a few members, and it always seems to be the same member, who enjoy name calling, wearing their emoctions on their sleeves and just being nasty for nasty sake. It is very sad. In my post, I never named anyone in particular, I was just stating my opinion, yet the post that followed by several people were mean and nasty to me, one even making fun of my username. (which has a long adoring history behind it) I am sorry to highjack this thread like this, but I just had to say it.

I also feel that this forem is for PROFESSIONALS. Just like the Adult Cake section, if you aren't here to talk about owning a business, and thinking of owning a business and the trials, please don't post here. Let those of us who are trying to etch a living and deal with the "joys" of buisness ownership post in piece.

I was a stay at home mom for 12 years before I went back into the work force, and never, not one time, did I bake cakes illegally. To me baking a cake illegally is not only a disservice to those of us who are doing it legally, but it is just WRONG. Would you grow pot in your back yard? Rob a Bank? Steal from your neighbor? Then why do you think baking a cake without an inspection, without a license and without the education of what is involved is OK???? It is not any different.

If you guys want to have fights and be mean and nasty to each other, then please, take it somewhere else. I am honestly very tired of it.




Bravo, well done. Said that already, but you people keep bringing it up. Gee, Lorie, thought I was just venting too, but I guess I am not allowed too. And I am sick of being labeled as a person who is illegally selling cakes. All I have done is make my cakes for my Wilton Class. Get over yourself. I was wrong, this site is for elitists. Whatever.

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loriemoms Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 6:57am
post #125 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by SugaredUp

2 years ago I couldn't get a refinance. My house that I just bought for $165,000 was worth $145,000. I didn't have $20,000 on me to throw in out of pocket. It may as well have been a million dollars!

It doesn't matter now. The damage is done and now we're all screwed!




We have only been in our house a little over a year (we custom built the house so I could have a bakery off the back) We sold our other house for a pretty good price and put a large down payment on this house (the builder required it because it was custom) Our house is part of our "retirement" where we hope to sell it one day and downsize. What gets me is that our tax accessment was more then what we paid for it, so we are paying taxes based on it. But we could never sell our house, or even get a second based on that amount...

I just hope we all can hold on to our homes till this crisis is over...(hopefully it won't last too long!)

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indydebi Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 11:25am
post #126 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by loriemoms

What gets me is that our tax accessment was more then what we paid for it, so we are paying taxes based on it.




Hubby and I were talking about this just this morning over coffee! Our house value has stagnated ... unless you talk to the tax guy and then suddenly it's worth WAY more than we paid for it. icon_confused.gif

Gas prices has affected our vehicles, too. Hubby bought a brand new pickup a couple of years ago. A year ago, it had a book value that was $7000 more than what he owed. Now, he's upside down because the trade-in values have fallen thru the basement. We didnt' do anything different ... we make all the payments ..... but some finance guy looking at our balance sheet would "assume" we bought a bad deal and got a truck "we couldn't afford". Can't afford to keep it ... can't afford to sell it.

Hubby was also in banking for 25 years. In his opinion, the problems started in the mid-80's with deregulation. Before that, there were things banks couldn't do as a safeguard against another depression. Bankers were BANKERS. Then deregulation ... bankers then became just another saleman out to get your money, in any way possible.

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playingwithsugar Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 11:37am
post #127 of 137

My house had assessed for 20,000 more than we had paid for it. It is now down to what we owe on it. If it goes down any more, I am going to request a re-assessment.

According to the analysts, this is not over. AIG just asked for another almost-$40 Billion dollars in government loans, after sending their highest salespeople on a $400,000 junket last weekend, with another one scheduled for next week! Our hard-earned tax dollars at work. The House or Senate Finance Committee has launched and investigation, and one of the candidates in the debate the other night mentioned that he thinks the Treasury should demand that money back, and the company executives who allowed it to happen should be fired.

If anyone is wondering, I have been glued to CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and C-Span 1&2 lately, trying to find a journalist who can explain all this in plain language. If any of you tune in, maybe we can figure it out together.

My curiosity piqued sharply when a 110-page bailout bill turned into a 450-page novel, which, for the nightmare it is turning out to be, should have been written by Stephen King.

This mess is going to throw us back into the ways people survived during Prohibition and after the Great Depression, and if the government doesn't take more-strict action soon, crime is going to increase exponentially.

Theresa icon_smile.gif

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indydebi Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 11:56am
post #128 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by playingwithsugar

This mess is going to throw us back into the ways people survived during Prohibition and after the Great Depression....


Get creative! I'm bartering a wedding cake for a van this month! (My 16 year old is SO excited .... NOT! ..... that her first car will be a cargo van! icon_lol.gif )

Quote:
Originally Posted by playingwithsugar

....and if the government doesn't take more-strict action soon, crime is going to increase exponentially.



"The 10 Most Dangerous Words in the world are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.' " ..... Ronald Reagan icon_biggrin.gif

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playingwithsugar Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 12:07pm
post #129 of 137

You're right, Debi, if you're legal, you can get creative. I'm not legal. I'm trying to get re-zoned so I can teach cake deco, but it's turning into a long, expensive process, which will probably never be approved. The city I live in is very unfriendly to small business. And as far as doing cakes, they absolutely do not allow that from home here, and I will probably never be able to afford a space for commercial use. They're asking almost $3 per square foot here in my neighborhood, which is a high-crime area. Can you imagine what they'd ask in a better part of town?

Theresa icon_smile.gif

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loriemoms Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 12:11pm
post #130 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

Quote:
Originally Posted by playingwithsugar

This mess is going to throw us back into the ways people survived during Prohibition and after the Great Depression....

Get creative! I'm bartering a wedding cake for a van this month! (My 16 year old is SO excited .... NOT! ..... that her first car will be a cargo van! icon_lol.gif )

Quote:
Originally Posted by playingwithsugar

....and if the government doesn't take more-strict action soon, crime is going to increase exponentially.


"The 10 Most Dangerous Words in the world are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.' " ..... Ronald Reagan icon_biggrin.gif




Bartering! What a great idea...did you advertise you would barter or just fall into it? I have a groom right now that is into marketing, and I was tempted to exchange some advertising for a grooms cake...

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indydebi Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 12:16pm
post #131 of 137

Lorie, it's a unique deal. HUbby's sister is paying for the wedding cake for a friend. She has a van she wants to get rid of and we're interested in buying. She wanted $750 for the van ..... and I'm getting it for a $300 cake and $250 cash. (I guess she's not too good at math!)

If anyone knows a sign company in my area who is willing to trade a catering for a sign on my store, send 'em my way! icon_biggrin.gif

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playingwithsugar Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 12:19pm
post #132 of 137

Debi -

Obviously, your cakes are worth more than you are charging.

Theresa icon_smile.gif

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Deb_ Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 12:27pm
post #133 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by playingwithsugar

dkelly27 wrote:

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES PAPER SHORTAGE DUE TO THE PRINTING OF $700 BILLION DOLLARS TO COVER THE ECONOMIC BAILOUT PLAN!!!!

Well, at least we won't have to worry about running out of toilet paper. At the rate they're going, we'll be able to get it from the ATM. If they keep playing with our money like they are, that's all we'll be able to do with it, anyway.icon_lol.gifTheresa icon_smile.gif





Exactly Theresa, you hit the nail on the head. That's why I'm so disgusted right now............Why don't we get a say in this matter? Why don't they put this on the ballot in November? Let us vote on this issue, since it's OUR hard earned money they are playing with. But, that will never happen because they know that the educated voters that pay attention to their antics would never vote for the bailout.

Indydebi, your hubby is right about this going way back to the mid 80's. My husband works for Bank of America, although not in the lending division, he is a Finance/DBA guy. He agrees with the deregulation problem. The government back then thought it would be a good idea to lift the regulations so that more lower income families could pursue the "American Dream" of home owner ship.

The lenders were told to "lower their requirements" if you will, and this is the back lash of that. It's a problem that has now become ALL of our problem and it should have never happened. Not everyone CAN afford to own a home on their salaries. The woman I spoke of in my prior post made $25k and qualified for her mortgage that was almost $270k by the time they rolled in all of her credit card debt. icon_confused.gif

So, was it "only" her fault? No not really because she wasn't informed enough about the rate. But, it WAS her responsibility to do her homework and ASK the question........."What is the highest that my monthly payment COULD go up to? Maybe she didn't ask, because she knew she wouldn't get the answer she liked.

I pray these knuckleheads in Washington know what the heck they're doing............for all of our sakes.

Off to work ladies, try and have a nice day!
Debbie

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playingwithsugar Posted 9 Oct 2008 , 12:55pm
post #134 of 137

Here in eastern PA, it wasn't just the predatory lenders who caused these problems. Ever since I-78 opened all the way to NYC, developers have been buying up farms and building townhouses and luxury homes, and charging exorbitant prices for them. We're talking 1990 here, not just over the past few years. Huge houses, which went up in a matter of a few weeks. Wood-framed, with brick facades. A match and a strong wind and the whole neighborhood goes up, you know? And back then, they were asking $275,000 to $450,000 for them, hoping to attract New Yorkers, offering them twice the square foot space at the same price their current house was worth. The lenders saw the opportunity here, and jumped on it like a lioness after a limping gazelle. (Nothing against New Yorkers - I'm a transplant from there, myself).

Even older homes were mortgaged to people who could not afford them. My niece, a single parent with 4 children, and really lousy credit, was pre-approved last year for a $95,000 mortgage, even though she was only making $13 an hour. When I asked her what her interest rate was going to be, she said "I don't know." I looked at the paperwork, and the lender she had applied with didn't even put the interest rate on the pre-approval, so she could shop around. When I bought my first home, which was only $45,000, I had to jump through flaming hoops before the mortgage company would approve me. I had pristine credit and was earning $16.00 an hour, 13 years ago, when home prices and interest rates were low.

Yeah, I know I'm writing books about this, and thanks for reading them. It's nice to know we can share our frustrations with each other here, even when it does get a little edgy at times.

Theresa icon_smile.gif

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GI Posted 10 Oct 2008 , 1:54am
post #135 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by southernbelle

My feet hurt so bad tonight I can't even tell you icon_cry.gif Even my Nike Shocks didn't help me today




Try a pair of Z-Coil shoes. You'll never go back to your old shoes again! They are so comfortable! thumbs_up.gif

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OhMyGanache Posted 10 Oct 2008 , 2:43am
post #136 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by loriemoms

Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

Quote:
Originally Posted by playingwithsugar

This mess is going to throw us back into the ways people survived during Prohibition and after the Great Depression....

Get creative! I'm bartering a wedding cake for a van this month! (My 16 year old is SO excited .... NOT! ..... that her first car will be a cargo van! icon_lol.gif )

Quote:
Originally Posted by playingwithsugar

....and if the government doesn't take more-strict action soon, crime is going to increase exponentially.


"The 10 Most Dangerous Words in the world are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.' " ..... Ronald Reagan icon_biggrin.gif



Bartering! What a great idea...did you advertise you would barter or just fall into it? I have a groom right now that is into marketing, and I was tempted to exchange some advertising for a grooms cake...




I just bartered for some medical services. I needed a procedure done that was going to cost me $150 - but I e-mailed the owner of the practice and offered him $50 cash and $100 worth of baked goods. He's having a "Grand Re-Opening" next week and his daughter's birthday is in November, so he jumped on it. In fact, he said he was thrilled that I asked him! I was embarrassed to ask, but figured the worst he could do was say no.

They also have a section on Craigslist where you can barter.

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loriemoms Posted 10 Oct 2008 , 2:20pm
post #137 of 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by PoleKitten


They also have a section on Craigslist where you can barter.




Hey Cool! I will have to check that out!!!!

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