Saving Your Home
Comments: (0) Written by: Duane LeGate Date: May 5, 2008Last Friday, I offered four more strategies for staying in your home. As a follow-up, here’s some additional food for thought:
If you find yourself in the beginning stages of foreclosure, it may be tempting to try to ignore the problem or instead to focus on getting the cash you need to get back on track. While investing your time in a job search is definitely a good move, you should also invest some serious brain power to your present situation. What is the first thing a potentially distressed homeowner can do? Take a long hard look at your spending and consider the following:
Eliminate Optional Expenses—These so-called optional expenses may include entertainment such as cable, or they may include expenses associated with a hobby or memberships you hold in clubs and/or organizations.
Reduce Your Electrical Bill—In many parts of the country, electrical bills are skyrocketing. You can trim that bill by taking some simple, practical steps such as turning off the light when you leave a room and changing your light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs.
Reduce Other Utilities—Do you need to have long-distance service or can you use your cell phone when it’s free for all your long distance calls? Can you keep your house a bit cooler in the winter and a bit warmer in the summer? Are you paying for your water, and if so, are you conserving it as much as you could?
Keeping your house should be (right behind health care) your number one priority. It may not work, and you may reach the point where you need to consider a short sale, foreclosure or even bankruptcy, but by talking sine simple steps early on, you may just be able to save your home.
