The Perfect $46,000 Budget: Learning to Live in California for Under $50,000.
What if I told you that you can live well in California with an income of less than $50,000 a year? A budget of this kind is not some sort of financial bait and switch but a realistic budget that many frugal people use on a daily basis. California has one of the highest costs of living and if you can figure out how to live here making $46,000 a year, you can live anywhere in this country.
Washington Mutual: WaMu and the $239 Billion in Outstanding Loans. $52.9 Billion in Option ARMs. Analysis for the Upcoming Year.
Washington Mutual has been taking a major hit with the current credit and housing crisis. Washington Mutual is down 71% on a year to date basis and with the recent announcement of a $3.3 billion quarterly loss, things will continue to be difficult. Washington Mutual is categorized under a S&L/Savings Bank and even given the current share price, is still ranked amongst the top for market cap in this category.
Nearly 1.5 Million Foreclosure Filings in 2008. California Represents 110,000 of Those Foreclosures.
Everyone by now realizes that not all states are facing the same problems with the current housing market. Foreclosures are now accelerating in states that had the highest appreciation in prices and consequently, are causing the most financial damage that is rippling throughout the economy. Foreclosures are the worst sign in any housing market. They destroy money. Lenders lose money since in rare circumstance are they able to recoup the full face value of the mortgage. Borrower are harmed since they lose their home and any semblance of good credit. Much of the rhetoric in Washington is shrouded around these stories and most people realize that there is very little good that can come from a foreclosure.
Washington Mutual: WaMu Bank Offering Great CD Rates and Encouraging People to Come in Person?
Washington Mutual, the Seattle based S & L is recently facing market stress with their second quarter earnings report showing that the company lost $3.3 billion. Today the nation’s largest thrift sold off again on concerns that they may be losing some of their sources of funding. The challenging aspect of this is that Washington Mutual employs 45,883 employees. Compare this to IndyMac who employed slightly under 9,000 employees when taken over.In addition, IndyMac had $32 billion in assets while Washington Mutual has $320 billion. Take a look at the stock price for the past year and you’ll see that there has been tremendous volatility: