Steady, Mainers (Bangor, Calais, Eddington: 2009, foreclosed, mortgages)

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

Also, with oil prices now plummeting, are you seeing a decrease at the pump? Down here, we went down to $2.99/gal yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to see that "2" for a change in a LONG time! It would really be nice if heating oil starts to decrease significantly during this time.

I DO expect to see that "3" disappear any day now... I have been regularly seeing 3.19 for a couple of days, down from 3.29 (of course not ALL stations are with the program) but yesterday when we went IN to Dover-Foxcroft we saw the 3.19 and when we came back out on 2 hours later the same station was showing 3.14.

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by starwalker

I DO expect to see that "3" disappear any day now... I have been regularly seeing 3.19 for a couple of days, down from 3.29 (of course not ALL stations are with the program) but yesterday when we went IN to Dover-Foxcroft we saw the 3.19 and when we came back out on 2 hours later the same station was showing 3.14.

Prices always seem fall more slowly than they rise. Speculation sure has a funny way of acting more quickly than demand destruction that we're now seeing.

[Maine Writer]

$2.99.9 in Newport yesterday.

[AlisonL]

$2.84 in Albuquerque, am sure it will drop soon in Maine.

[Elcarim]

Just got back from the after school run, and saw that we're now down to 2.92 from 2.99 yesterday. Nice trend!

[AlisonL]

Lets hope it lasts!!

[MaineMathTCHER]

I am thanking God each and every day that we made it out of Austin before this hit! I now have a house we can afford (on 1 salary if need be and enough land to grow food if need be) and neighbors that have seen it all (on two sides I have people who have seen the Great Depression and survived). I know things may get really tough, but Maine is the place to weather this storm. I 'd be scared in a large city right now.

[7th generation]

During the depression, there were many males of influence, who could not deal with failure and ultimately committed suicide.
Times are not that rough yet, but if our government and those who control interest rates and the market, don't get off their behinds, we could see it.
The final dance will be a run on our financial institutions and woe be the man who isn't prepared.
Donald Trump has always been a person of interest to me and seems to come out smelling like a rose when others have deemed him irrelevant.
FOXNews.com - Donald Trump Sees Silver Lining in Failure of Bailout Bill - Neil Cavuto | Your World

[Elcarim]

Are you thinking we need to keep our money in the mattress? Someone said the other day it may not be safe now to trust the banks with our savings. My grandma used to keep all her real money in money pouches all over their house, and in one handy mason jar in the back of her pantry. Is that where we're headed?

[Elcarim]

Originally Posted by MaineMathTCHER

I am thanking God each and every day that we made it out of Austin before this hit! I now have a house we can afford (on 1 salary if need be and enough land to grow food if need be) and neighbors that have seen it all (on two sides I have people who have seen the Great Depression and survived). I know things may get really tough, but Maine is the place to weather this storm. I 'd be scared in a large city right now.

That's very similar to what we discussed last night. My mother commented the other day that she was concerned about us being up there if we end up in a full blown recession. Her big fear....heating costs and having given up ownership of our current home when lending is getting tighter and tighter.

My thought on that subject is simply that I'd rather NOT be so heavily indebted to lenders if we go into recession. I told her with all the wilderness, I'm quite sure we can find enough wood to keep us warm. We can find a spot of land to produce food on. We can fish if need be. And honestly, we're finding homes there for rent that are about half what we're paying for the home we're in now. Our van will be paid off in 22 months - YAY!! The less we owe the banks, the better.

One of the primary reasons we fell in love with Maine to begin with was the state's preservation of the way life used to be. Some folks call that behind the times......I call it getting back to the basics. All this "progress" everyone screams for has the entire nation screwed up, because it all costs more than it will ever be worth! Give me a cabin in the woods, a lantern, some firewood and teach me to garden and hunt, and I'll live a rich and fulfilling life!!