My 2 cents worth

I can't keep quiet any longer about the financial crisis going on in our world, especially in the USA. I was watching to Dr Phil while cross stitching and they were discussing how to survive the financial crisis.

Blah blah blah...don't spend more than you make,cut back to the essentials (IE no name brands) pay down your credit cards immediately, re-negotiate with your other creditors for extended pay back time etc. That's all sound advice no matter what the world financial situation.

What got me stirred up was a 90 second blurb with a woman who isn't doing well who said she's lost $175K in real estate value because the prices have bottomed out. Is it just me? You've only lost that money if you bought at the over inflated price, have a mortgage that shows that and now you have a very bad situation.

Since being in our home, which we didn't even pay $100K, we have seen the prices sky rocket to over $369K for the same house, same age and approximately the same renovations done. Does that mean we 'lost $269K? Of course not! That was never ours to begin with, because we didn't sell. Was it an opportunity lost? That remains to be seen. We know a lot of folks who sold high and bought even higher...bigger...better. Yes they have a newer house with all the pretty things that come with it but they also have a huge mortgage that needs to be repaid.

I sleep well at night, knowing we aren't going to be in danger of losing our house, that if interest rates go up, and they will...we are going to be Okay! I hope you are enjoying the same peace of mind in these uncertain days.