Landlines Are Losing Popularity

I read an article in the newspaper about the slow death of landline phones. According to a CDC study released Wednesday, about 20% of US households use only mobile phones. Our household is one of them. For the first time, the number of US households opting for only mobile phones outnumbers those that just have traditional landlines, 17%, in a high tech shift accelerated by the recession. That ratio has changed starkly in recent years: In the first six months of 2003, just 3% of households were wireless only, while 43% stuck to landlines. Fifteen percent of households have both landlines and mobile phones, but rarely take calls on the landlines. Seems like a big waste of money. Our household hasn't had a landline since 2002. I know two people that don't have a mobile phone. It seems like an outdated way to live, but who am I to judge?

My Tax Dollars at Work

A critical piece of the Obama Administration's Financial Stability Plan is the Making Home Affordable program, a plan to stabilize our housing market and help millions of Americans reduce their monthly mortgage payments to more affordable levels. Having looked at refinancing our mortgage a few months ago, but not finding the right deal, I was interested to see if we could benefit from this program. It’s designed to help homeowners get more favorable loan terms in scenarios where their home has lost value. That is the scenario we're in. A lot of lenders won’t refinance a loan if the value of your home is less than the loan amount, it’s simply a matter of math; this program looks to help alleviate some of that. There are two parts to the program. The first is Home Affordable Refinancing, which helps borrowers refinance a loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. It’s designed for people who are current on their mortgages and are unable to refinance because the value of their home has fallen by too much. The second part of the program is Home Affordable Modification, which assists in the modification of a loan, rather than a refinance. It’s designed for people who are “struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments.” We're eligible for the refinance program. I called my lender a couple of weeks ago and requested an evaluation of my situation. They called me back today, and after spending about an hour on the phone, I had myself a new 30 year fixed rate mortgage that is only about $20 more a month than my current mortgage payment. It's an upgrade from my 5/1 ARM. I'm only in year two of the 5/1 ARM, but I wanted to take advantage of the program and lock in a low interest rate for 30 years. An opportunity like this doesn't come along everyday. I'm usually not happy with the decisions of the government, but I will make an exception this time. Thank you President Obama. I'll give you a man hug next time we hang out.

Car Free - One Year Later

Today is the one year anniversary of living car free. On April 5, 2008 I sold my beautiful Nissan 350Z roadster, a.k.a. "Tawny", and never looked back. I've been commuting on public transit ever since. I leave the house at 7:30am, I walk 3/4 of a mile to the bus stop and catch the 7:45 bus. That bus takes me to the Vienna Metro subway station. I then ride the subway about 20 minutes to the Rosslyn station which is a couple of blocks from my office building. I get to work about 9am everyday. In the year I've been riding public transit, I've only been late to work a few times. My job lets me work from home on Wednesdays, so I'm only commuting four days a week.

Every once in a while I think about Tawny and how much I miss her. I have a picture of her on my desk at work. Before I sold her I was only driving her about 15 miles a week, so I wasn't getting any value out of the relationship. It was for the best. With Shock Jr. on the way and the wife planning on becoming a stay at home mom, the money we save selling my car makes life easier in the long run. Jennifer has Ruby, her Xterra that she drives to work and school. After Shock Jr. is born, she'll be driving to school only.

At the time I sold Tawny, gas was around $4 a gallon. Gas is cheaper now but the recession is in full bloom and the decision to go car free makes me look really smart. It makes as good economic sense now as it did a year ago, even without the family getting bigger.

I'm still a car enthusiast. We talk often about what car I'll get next. But I don't know when that will be. I'd like to think we could live with one car until Shock Jr. starts driving. That's a pipe dream but not impossible. Ask me in 17 years.

More on Super Bowl tickets

Back in October I blogged about my quest to obtain Super Bowl tickets. I entered the NFL Super Bowl ticket random drawing back in May. I just got my response in the form of a blue postcard.

Dear NFL Fan:

Your name was part of the Super Bowl XLIII random drawing that included all written requests received by this office between February 1 and June 1. The National Football League requests to notify you that your entry was not selected. All Super Bowl tickets available from the NFL for public sale have been allocated.

We appreciate your continued interest in Super Bowl games and the NFL.

Sincerely,

The National Football League

Well that's that. But not all hope is lost. The NFL is vowing to cut out ticket middlemen, a.k.a. "scalpers". The league is studying possible methods to attempt to get its lowest-priced Super Bowl tickets directly to fans and not under the control of ticket brokers. "The reality is that Super Bowl tickets are trading at four to five times face value," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. The league is taking it a step further. The NFL is reducing playoff ticket prices by about 10 percent. The league is making the move in response to the national economic crisis. The league also, for the first time, has authorized lower ticket prices for games in the first round of the playoffs than for games in the conference semifinals the following weekend. Tickets usually have been priced the same for those initial two rounds of the playoffs. "We want to be responsive to the economic challenges facing our fans," an NFL spokesman told the Associated Press.

I'm indifferent about this. I love watching football. I love going to games. Football gives me a respite from a hectic week. It gives me solace. During the spring and summer I yearn for it. But while I appreciate the NFL reducing the price of playoff and Super Bowl tickets, the league is pricing out the middle class. No family of four can afford to go to a football game. The price of tickets is ridiculous. But so is the price of movie tickets, automobiles, real estate, food...the list goes on and on.

The Martingale

There is a gambling strategy called "The Martingale". This doubling game offers something for nothing—certain profits, with no risk. Hence its appeal to gamblers. In a general sense the current economic situation was caused by Wall Street using the Martingale strategy. The carefully synthesized financial instruments now seeping toxically from the hulls of multiple investment banks are vastly more complicated than the Martingale. But they suffer the same fundamental flaw: They claim to create returns out of nothing, with no attendant risk. That's not just suspicious. In many cases, it's mathematically impossible. Read the article for the gritty details. It's fascinating.

Bad Times Can Be Good For Your Health

I read an article about how unstable times can be good for health. I find that point of view intriguing. There is scientific evidence to prove it. Sure, unstable times breed worry and stress, but statistics show that as the economy worsens, traffic accidents decrease, as do industrial accidents, obesity, alcohol consumption and smoking. Deaths go down when unemployment goes up. People just can't afford to maintain the same lifestyle they had when they were more prosperous. An empty wallet means less cash for booze and cigarettes, so you'll behave better. It can serve you well. Risky activities, such as driving, increase in good economic times. There are more jobs so a greater potential for accidents and more money to maintain bad habits. I'm not saying recessions are good. For those suffering during poor economic times mental health worsens. But even as people are stressing out, they're smoking, drinking and driving less. Read the full story.