Financial perspectives from others living in the real world:

Madame X makes me laugh as she tries to buy no new supplies as moving day approaches:

"...the annoying thing is that I am very close to running out of some things. I grabbed a whole handful of sugar packets at the deli this morning because I am almost out of sugar at home. The only time I use sugar is in my morning coffee on the weekends, so it's not a big deal, but still, that morning coffee is important and it would have really started my Saturday off wrong if I'd had no sugar! I'm also running low on olive oil, which I use quite frequently. I keep eyeballing the level in the bottle, wondering if I'll make it. I don't want to have to buy a new bottle and then have to move it somewhere!"

2 Retire at 50 finds that a fixed-fee MLS Listing may be the way to go in selling his house:

"If this works then we will save around $4000 in fees to a selling agent and that is some serious money to us."

bluebird reads a Boston Globe money makeover article and questions not the debt-ridden subject but the mortgage company that lent to her:

"The makeover subject is clearly in a world of hurt, financially, but what would you say about a mortgage lender who's ready to step up and lend this woman an amount equal to nearly five times her annual income when she's already got a negative net worth? Demented? Deranged? On commission?"