I went to the Millionaire Mind intensive a few years back and did not get past the first day. But since then I’ve been on the mailing list. This week I got yet another plea for volunteers for an upcoming Millionaire Mind event.

Why do they need volunteers? It is a for-profit business, after all. I realize that the events are “free” but they make oodles off of the sales of books, CDs, t-shirts, and training programs. Read more

Actually, the answer to the above may be: none. But let’s take a quick look at them, shall we?

McCain wants to continue the disastrous policies of G.W. Bush - mainly, cutting taxes while keeping us at war indefinitely. Well, we all know where that path leads - financial ruin.

Huckabee has this crazy idea to get rid of the IRS. I like that in theory but I’m not sure it will fly practically. But at least he wants to change things and is bold enough to take a stand.

Clinton wants to stimulate the economy by encouraging the development of green tech jobs. She also wants to reduce tax breaks to corporations who take jobs outside the US. Unfortunately, her mortgage relief plan is probably not going to help nor is it a good idea to bail out people who were speculating.

Obama - who the heck knows what his plan is about other than the fact that he’s promising an awful lot to a lot of people? I saw him speaking at a community college on TV, promising to make community college affordable. How is he going to do that on a federal level? Community college is called community college because it’s by and for the community. Not the nation.

I personally believe that none of the current presidential candidates really have a good plan to get the U.S. out of its current financial mess. Out of all of them, I think Clinton probably has her head on the straightest. “Fiscal responsibility” is what she said in a speech. So as long as she would be willing to keep spending in line, and raise taxes only on the rich and corporations (who have been given too many tax breaks), she might be able to get us somewhere.

I’m not confident, however, that we’ll elect a president who will actually help the economy or stop the federal deficit. If Obama or McCain are elected, I have a bad feeling things will get a lot worse before they get better.

What kind of person would walk into someone’s home and ransack it, just to get revenge on a bank? Well, one Florida realtor did, when the condo she was renting out went into foreclosure. (Even though she had been collecting rent payments on the condo, she had not been paying the mortgage in full.)

Showing complete and absolute disrespect for her tenant, she removed the fridge (that was in use), spilling eggs and jelly all over the floor. She removed lighting fixtures, ripped out a toilet, and even took her tenant’s coffee pot.

Alas, she is not alone. A lot of people going into foreclosure seem to want to take it out on the house and the bank. In the worst scenarios, some have left half-starved angry dogs for the bank to deal with.

All this just goes to show how insane some people get over money and property. It’s a good reminder to not identify yourself with your bank account or possessions. Those who overly do so run the risk of losing their minds once they lose it all.

Did you know that one of the major causes of the mortgage meltdown has been home buyers “fudging” their income on their loan docs, with the help of certain mortgage brokers? There has been such an epidemic that a new term has been coined: the liar loan. Lying on your home loan isn’t the same thing as lying on your online dating profile: It is a federal offense with a potential fine of up to $1 million or 30 years in prison.

Banks are now tightening up their lending standards; don’t expect to be able to get a liar’s loan anytime soon now.

“Spaghetti Days” is a term that refers (sometimes wistfully) back to the days before a person becomes successful. For example, “back in my spaghetti days, I used to eat a lot of ramen noodles.” The term, of course, refers to the relatively cheap nature of making pasta at home. (A handful of spaghetti and a bit of Ragu and you’ve got dinner!)

I thought it might be nice to have a “Spaghetti Days” section on this blog, as a place to share spaghetti days survival tips. For example, these tips might include ideas on saving money and what to do when you’ve reached the end of the week and the money won’t be coming in until next week.

Just for fun, I may also share some recipes for “poor people food.” Hey, some of it is not as bad as you think.

If there’s one refrain heard over and over again from homeowners struggling to fight foreclosure in the sub-prime mortgage crisis, it’s this:

“If I had any idea that the loan would turn out like this, I would have never signed it.”

Unfortunately, it is your responsibility to read the fine print on your own loans. If you don’t understand something, don’t sign it! Take some time to learn about money before committing to a big loan that you might not be able to pay back later. Otherwise, you open yourself up to be taken advantage of. Read more

Countrywide recently announced it is suspending HELOCs (home equity line of credit) for many customers. While some customers are upset over losing a “safety net,” maybe cutting some people off from what may ultimately be a debt trap isn’t such a bad thing. Consider the following quote from an article on CNN Money:

“If you’re doing it to pay off expensive credit card debt, or for needed home improvement or to pay for education, there’s nothing wrong with that. But many people are using it for day-to-day expenses. For them, the danger is they’ve been given a new tool - for digging themselves a deeper hole.”

I’m sorry to be posting more bad news here but we need to be aware and vigilant. I’m not an economist, but I don’t think anyone needs to be to see that something looks terribly wrong on the graphs on this page:

US Banking System Teetering on the Brink of Collapse