What do you do if you owe more than your home is worth? You could simply walk away from the mortgage, as one professor suggests. But through a change in the works from the Obama administration, it should be slightly easier to get rid of the home without the stigma or complications of a foreclosure.
Real Estate & Homes
Lessons on How to Save, from China
Why are Chinese households so much better at saving money than their American counterparts?
Is Walking Away from Your Mortgage the Smartest Thing You Can Do?
Forget about shame and guilt. Don’t worry about your credit score. If you owe way more than your home is worth, simply stop paying the mortgage and don’t feel bad about it, suggests a University of Arizona professor.
Banks? Drugstores? Fast Food? Home Sellers? Everyone Wants a Piece of the Black Friday Frenzy
Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, and all the usual suspects down at the mall are hardly the only businesses trying to grab consumers’ attention this weekend.
It’s a Deal: 50% Off One Item at Ace Hardware
This Saturday, November 28, Ace Hardware will give customers 50% off any one item that costs under $30. A coupon is required. Print it here.
Black Friday: Also the Best Day to Buy Cars and Invest in CDs?
The biggest shopping day of the year is not only about snagging discounted toys and plasma HDTVs at the mall. Car dealers and online banks also want in on the action.
What Would Jesus Buy?
The popular “prosperity gospel” preached to the adoring masses is being blamed for putting a lot of believers deeply into debt that they’ll likely never pay off. Guess they just aren’t good enough Christians.
Cash for Caulkers?
The Obama administration is looking very closely into the possibility of a program that would cover a big chunk of the cost to weatherize your home—meaning you’d save money right away on getting an energy audit and on projects like sealing windows and adding insulation, and you’d save down the line because those projects will make it …
Last One to Turn on the Thermostat Wins
The competition is, um … heating up? Around the country, anti-consumer websites and community forums are hosting “no heat” challenges. The winners—who win bragging rights, perhaps a trophy, certainly lower utility bills—are the households that leave their heat in the off position the longest.
Dream a Littler Dream Home
The gargantuan, 3,500-square-foot boom-time McMansion is so 2007. Its replacement? The 2,500-square-foot recession-era McMansion.
Stuff You Won’t Be Buying this Holiday Season
This could be a very, very long list.
It’s a Deal: Laminate Flooring on Sale from 49¢ a Square Foot
Lumber Liquidators is hosting a Supplier Clearance sale from Thursday, November 12, through Monday, November 16. Prices for laminate flooring start as cheap as 49¢ a square foot. More details here.