Fist Shake to the Creditors!

I like checking the mail, even though it is usually filled with bills and junk.  I guess I hope for a surprise sum of money to appear magically inside that little black box...or delivered by the mailman.  Either one.  Much to my delight the other day, I discovered a gratifying envelope had been delivered with a mysterious return address and perforated edges.  You know, the edges you get to tear off because there is a check inside?  I thought to myself, fun!  My postal dreams were coming true.

I eagerly tore off those pliable edges and saw a letter sent from Lamont, Hanley & Associates, Inc.  I thought, wow, how nice of Mr. Lamont and Mrs. Hanley to send us some money, we don't even know them!  $218.40!  That's awesome!  But then I began reading:

"The above captioned claim has been placed with this office for collection in full."

I'd been duped!  Apparently the car insurance we had dropped is still trying to collect money from us for the policy we no longer have.  

These creditors are getting tricky.  Now they were not only annoying my husband with a barrage of phone calls, but they began psychological warfare using postage as their ammunition.  They picked up my hopes and then dashed them to the ground!  I'd been juked to the max.

It's my move now in this giant game of money-Chess, and now that collection letter is sitting in my basement collecting dust, because we can't pay it yet.  So, take that Lamont and Hanley!

Has this ever happened to you?

Losing the Farm

As of right now, our journey to bankruptcy has been halted due to some friends challenging us regarding the spiritual and moral implications involved (yep, you read that right).  Saving that post for another day.

However...our two bedroom/two bath condo went up on the market this past Friday as a short sale.  Starting price is $83,000.  We paid $145,000, back in 2006, buying it from our family estate as it used to belong to my Nana, until she passed away.  We were 22 when we bought it.  Buying a home that young is like asking a six-year old to babysit...it might last for a little bit, but all in all, naivete will get the best of 'em.  (Okay, maybe that was a bit drastic of a comparison.  Maybe some people are mature enough at that age, but we were not ready and should have waited).  Here are some pics of what it looked like when we lived there...

Mercy's room

Our room, completely IKEA

I don't miss the glass coffee table.

I do miss these colored walls.

Thumbs up for the condo!

So many firsts there.  We brought Mercy home from the hospital there.  We celebrated our one-year anniversary there.  We also watched the Bears vs. Colts Superbowl there.  We were there until Mercy was about 15 months old, and then rented it out to this sweet single lady who took care of the place.  We had her move out when we couldn't afford the mortgage any longer and were being threatened with foreclosure.

Now it is just an empty shell of a condo, absent of life but for spiders. Poetic, really.

I guess our dream was to have the place paid off and be able to rent it out at a low price to people who were needy, but right now, that is not going to happen.

We are renting our 4 bed/2 bath house right now, and it looks like we will be renters for a while, and we are okay with that.