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OT - Pay half your mortgage every 2 weeks. You will love the end result. Just make sure they dont put the payment as extra principal during that time. ie: If your mortgage is $3000 a month and its due on the 1st.. $1500 on the 15th and $1500 on the 29th. Make sure the 15th payment is not going all for principal instead it should be applied to the total mortgage you owe for the month. You'll own your house about 10 years sooner.
Really?! We just refinanced down to a 15 yr. Will this still be beneficial? I do want to get us on a bi-weekly plan automatic deduction because even though it's the same, I think I'll just feel more in control. No I can't explain it.
Just so you can all rest easy in CT. This is not a problem just in your state. It is pretty much nationwide epidemic.
I live on the opposite coast and it is the same way in most neighborhoods here. There are always exceptions, even in our friendly neighborhood it sometimes depends on what street you live on. It just isn't the same world we grew up in. Sad but true. Here in CA one of the reasons for lack of contact with neighbors is the so called "garage house". Many of the houses here are basically built around the garage, with the two or three car garages being the focal point of the home. I lived in a neighborhood like this years ago and knew only one neighbor. We all drove into our garages, closed the door, and walked straight into the house. The only time spent outside was in the backyard and everyone had a gardener so there was really no reason to be out front.
Thankfully I live in an older area now where most of the garages are detached, except for the new homes that people have built. I met many of my neighbors just going to and from the car, bringing in groceries, getting my kids into the car, etc. The neighborhood I grew up in was more like this neighborhood. Sadly though this area, older and more established, is very expensive to live in. I have been fortunate enough to stay home with my kids but that is changing now that I have two kids in college and lots of tuition to pay. Don't get me wrong, we have always sacrificed for me to stay home...giving up vacations, eating out, babysitters, etc. But until now we have been able to at least pay our bills. Like CT, Southern California is a costly place to live so I am looking for a job as we speak. Even cutting back doesn't do it anymore.
I just want to re assure the OP that many of us feel the same way she/he feels. It is a the sad state of our society these days. No one in particular is to blame, no place is really immune. Just a sign of the times
Location: El Segundo/All of South Bay up to Palos Verdes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by K2000kid
the only neighbors we hear from are the ones who want to borrow the Toro, or the Lawn Mower. But barely acknowlegde us when we wave or try to be friendly otherwise.
Sadly thats what its become in today's modern world, as one poster commented, its the fact no ones home during the day anymore. And if you are a stay at home person (a stay home mom and/or adult that works from home), you might be the only one amongst your neighborhood.
Where I have seen the good ole days mentality, is probably at my fathers Senior Citizen home community, everyone there is old, mostly retired, (some old folks actually still work, my dads one), and they are all sorta stuck beign home by themselves, so they come out and tend their gardens (the tiny square foot that they have or desert rock style), walk, or walk their pets, etc....other than complexes like that, it sadly just doesn't exist anymore....
The cost of daycare alone is a salary. It helps if you have family for that too. Two kids in my wife's center is $3100 a month. We get a 50% discount, but still.
Thats why she initially stopped working. It felt like she was just working so someone else could raise our kids. Ironically now she works out of home teaching online.
But more on topic I guess it might depend where you live. I talk to most of my neighbors all the time. We dont visit each others homes much but we help each other, watch each others stuff, talk when we bring out the garbage or cut the lawn... or this year shovel snow.
This is so NOT true. I know many friendly neighborhoods in Fairfield County. Jay
I do too, but not necessarily outgoing.
What I found that if you're nice to a Connectican, they'll be twice as friendly. If you do something rotten to them, expect it back 1,000 fold.
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You'll own your house about 10 years sooner.
Two kids in my wife's center is $3100 a month. 
We get a 50% discount, but still.
