An Expensive Two Weeks

September 25, 2008 Blog

We left home for Kansas City September 8, flew to Southern California on the 12th, returning home on  the 22nd. The flight was cheap - less than $1,000 round trip for two persons. Our children treated us like royalty (while the grandchildren treated us like their slaves), so we had few expenses. Total expenditures for the two weeks came to around $500 for a total of about $1,500. That is a little more than our monthly Social Security income, but we only do this once a year. 

One day prior to our return trip, I picked up a newspaper and discovered that the US government had ripped us off to the tune of $4,000! That would be our share of the $700 Billion bailout of American financial institutions.

Living Within Our Means

As missionaries, we always tried to live within our means. In four decades of marriage, we never owned a home or had a personal credit card. We lived frugally and saved about 10% of our meager  income in a 401 for our retirement.

We retired in 2003 and decided to purchase a 3-bedroom, single bath rancher. By cashing in most of our 401, we could pay half the purchase price. That is when we were introduced to American financial ethics. The real estate agent told us we would never get a mortgage for the other half because we had NO credit !  We never made debts and in America, you only have credit if you have debts.

Only because we were personal friends of the President and the Chairman of the Board of a local bank were we able to get a home equity loan. The gas, electric and telephone companies all demanded a large caution fee before giving us services. In order to get car insurance, we had to prove that we had money in the bank. We had to pay a higher rate even though I showed the agent a letter from our European car insurer of 35 years stating that we had never had a claim.

The previous owner of our home was paying $2,400 a year for property tax, but our rate jumped immediately to over $3,000. We built a garage for $7,000 and taxes went up another $700 per year. In order to save on heating, we chopped down a few oak trees and installed a fireplace. The tax increase for the fireplace was more than our fuel savings! We now pay over $4,000 and people tell us that is cheap for New Jersey!

We Obviously Did It All Wrong

We should have made a lot of debts and then applied for a mortgage on a huge house at the beach. We wouldn't need to insure the house either. If a hurricane destroys it, the government will declare a disaster area and others will pay for rebuilding. We don't need insurance on the car. Let others pay the uninsured motorist fees. No one would sue us because we have no equity. In a worst case scenario, we could lose our home for not making payments. The government would give a bank money to loan us for another house. Instead of paying $4,000, we would be receiving a much larger handout.

It's the American way of life!