is it time to put our $$ under the mattress??

[SlammyR]

many people have asked this, but i haven't seen an answer.

for those considering walking: what do we do with the mortgage payment we won't make? (for those who won't use it all to pay other bills.)

do we open a separate "rainy day" account , or one in a spouse's or family member's name, or just put cash "under the mattress"?

according to this site, dj's are an enigma. yet, anyone with that possibility in their future should start protecting whatever assets they have now. there has to be something smart and uncomplicated we can do to prepare.

am i being too optimistic?? a jar buried in the back 40 perhaps?

[driacovone]

If you still want to put it in a bank to collect some kind of interest, put it in a trust worthy family members name (without yours attached of course). If you put it under your name, the loaner can do an asset search under your name and find it.

Putting it under a mattress gains nothing; however, you take a risk putting it somewhere as an investment unless you buy commodities like gold where said assets/investments are not traceable.

[Enough Already]

Hi Slammy,

We've been wondering the same thing here. We have a 2nd house (currently a rental) that we plan to move into once the foreclosure is over. I've considered just paying the extra money to the mortgage on the 2nd house, but I also want to have the cash ready in case we can settle with the 2nd mortgage.

Another idea we had was to open a safe deposit box (don't know where or how you do that yet), and put all of our cash in there. Not sure that's a great idea either.

The attorney I spoke with last week said keeping the money in the bank would be fine, you just want to make sure your bank isn't owned by the bank that also holds your mortgage. You should also read over your loan papers to make sure you didn't authorize them to take money out of your accounts if you were go into default.

Please let me know if you come up with any other ideas.

Thank you!

[SlammyR]

i'm also looking into any benefits to reducing my taxable income. but who wants to put more into their dwindling 401k?

my wife is not on the note, but i'm afraid even if she opened up her own checking account, it would not be safe, because who's to say debt collectors can't or won't look at her credit or do an asset search on her? i've got this big brother paranoia starting....

putting cash under the mattress gains no interest, but paying the mortgage gains no equity either. cash is untraceable, so to me it looks better than a bank these days. a safe deposit box may be a great idea. i don't know how those work, but i would think a lot safer than under the mattress. ha! how about a fire-proof safe?

[KT in CA]

We have worked out a new budget based on not having a mortgage payment. We won't have to start paying rent until probably close to summer. We are stashing our extra cash in a firesafe box in our house.

[melanieg]

Hi KT,

I am wondering the same thing...Although for me, I think I may be filing BK in the near future, but I do want to save my cash, however, I'm not sure how to pull it out of my bank? It would be kind of obvious to see a large withdrawal every month, but no bills being paid! I'm thinking I need to stop my direct deposit? Still trying to figure this one out!! Anyone have any ideas for this??

[cactus77727]

i've got this big brother paranoia starting

It is not paranoia, if they really are after you.

Seriously though, I've been trying to convince family members and friends, since last fall to secure some 'rainy day' cash. I didn't tell them to go hog wild, I just suggested they put a little cash aside to get them by for a month or two just in case. I was quickly and overwhelmingly accused of fear mongering, and being paranoid. Oh well, I tried. They mostly still have their jobs and homes and cars and credit cards. I guess I'm no longer in the same social class as them anymore, so they don't listen to me.

Sorry for the rambling.

I had a safe deposit box. It was in a bank. I paid about $35-50 per year for it. I used to keep computer backups, documents, etc. I don't have one anymore. Not sure it's a good idea to keep cash there right now, given the uncertainty about the banks.

I have a fire proof safe, which is fine in case of fire, but what if the whole thing is stolen?

Normally, I'd never recommend keeping larger amounts of cash in your home. But extraordinary times, call for extraordinary measures. The small amount of cash I've been able to scroung up is NOT in a bank.

Why not have some cash on hand? Just enough to get by for a while? Maybe the solution is to have some cash in several places.

Does anyone think a local credit union is more secure than a bank right now?

It's hard to tell which banks are exposed. The FDIC keeps their watch list secret, so how do we know?

Another thing, isn't there Patriot Act paperwork required when moving cash amounts $10,000 and over. Maybe move it around in smaller amounts?

[driacovone]

With what you have in the bank - pay utility bills using checks or online payment processes or other things that you absolutely must purchase. That will start depleting the bank account.

Any income should be converted strictly to cash option - no deposit. Though it becomes dangerous cashing that money and leaving the bank with it. You never know what kind of lurkers thare are at banks these days watching people putting large sums of money in their purses/wallets.

Any bills that you must pay through the mail, use the cash to purchase money orders.

[KT in CA]

My husband's check is larger and he is paid twice a month. My checks are smaller and I'm paid weekly. I deposit his checks to pay our bills. Every other week I cash my check and stash it. Have about $1000 so far. Just started this in January, so it will be interesting to see how much we have at foreclosure. We are getting about a $2500 tax refund this year, so that will go into the bank account and I will cash more of my checks and stash that money. We use a credit union, and I don't know if that makes any difference. We had friends who went into foreclosure middle of last year. By the time they moved out of their house they had about $30k stashed. We won't have that much, but should have a nice little next egg for a rental deposit and a safety net.

[Enough Already]

Today I decided to open a whole new account at my credit union. The reason is that when we applied for our mortgage loans we disclosed all of our bank accounts and savings info. So, the lender has our bank account numbers and that makes me very nervous.

Our attorney told us our money should be safe in the bank if the bank isn't owned by our mortgage lender. But, who's to say they wouldn't help themselves to it anyway?

Either way, I figure if we open a new account our mortgage lender won't have the new account number, so they won't be able to access it, and it should be pretty safe...

[ultimate4799]

Originally Posted by KT in CA

We have worked out a new budget based on not having a mortgage payment. We won't have to start paying rent until probably close to summer. We are stashing our extra cash in a firesafe box in our house.

Hey KT, this is what we are doing as well... pile up cash on a firesafe box at home to make sure in case fire cash is protected I read that safety deposit box is safe but is not FDIC insured... So if banks went on fire, big risk you loose cash.. anyway this is just a thought to everyone.

Cheers! K

[ultimate4799]

Originally Posted by Enough Already

Today I decided to open a whole new account at my credit union. The reason is that when we applied for our mortgage loans we disclosed all of our bank accounts and savings info. So, the lender has our bank account numbers and that makes me very nervous.

Our attorney told us our money should be safe in the bank if the bank isn't owned by our mortgage lender. But, who's to say they wouldn't help themselves to it anyway?

Either way, I figure if we open a new account our mortgage lender won't have the new account number, so they won't be able to access it, and it should be pretty safe...

Hey Enough Already; if you open a whole new account, wouldn't that be traceable if the lenders do an asset search specially if they search thru your ssn? I thought about opening a new account like foreign maybe asia, etc but not certain if they will require you to disclose ssn when you open it... anyone has a thought on this?

[kymburley]

Originally Posted by SlammyR

how about a fire-proof safe?

That is exactly what I did.

[kymburley]

Originally Posted by melanieg

Hi KT,

I am wondering the same thing...Although for me, I think I may be filing BK in the near future, but I do want to save my cash, however, I'm not sure how to pull it out of my bank? It would be kind of obvious to see a large withdrawal every month, but no bills being paid! I'm thinking I need to stop my direct deposit? Still trying to figure this one out!! Anyone have any ideas for this??

We started the Dave Ramsey plan in January. We pay cash for everything except the mortgage. It's not unusual for us to pull out large amounts of cash twice per month.

[Irish Gal]

Does anyone think a local credit union is more secure than a bank right now?

[Irish Gal]

Skip the last post. I got locked me out when I was trying to figure out the quote box procedure. Can someone remind how the quote boxes work? I remember seeing it posted somewhere before, but have no idea now where it was posted. Thanks.


RE Cactus:

Does anyone think a local credit union is more secure than a bank right now?

Yes. Credit Unions have a reputation for being more conservative (stayed away from the toxic loans). I've had an account in one for years and been happy with it. Of course, do your research about any particular credit union. I've always liked them because banks serve shareholders. CU's serve members.

[The Professor]

A potential beneficial source of wealth parking in these difficult times is precious metals (Au/Ag). Purchases and sales in most states can be made without disclosing your identity. Other potential parking places include gift cards.

Daniel

[tryingtostay]

Originally Posted by Professor Shays

A potential beneficial source of wealth parking in these difficult times is precious metals (Au/Ag). Purchases and sales in most states can be made without disclosing your identity. Other potential parking places include gift cards.

Daniel

In the state of CA, gift cards never expire.

So, if you buy gift cards to places you know you will shop anyways (Target, Walmart, the market), you know you can use them in the next few years.

This is what I keep thinking, too, for having the mortgage companies review your bank statements. They have no clue whether you spent $100 at Walmart on walmart products or on gas cards, cash out to store at home, etc. They just see $100 going out of your account.

[cactus77727]

RE: gift cards
I guess Walmart and other mega stores will survive.
But what happens if the store goes belly up and closes??? What recourse do Circuit City, Mervyns, gift card holders have?

[Enough Already]

Hi Ultimate,
My first concern was getting new accounts, so the lender would not have my bank account numbers and routing info. That way they wouldn't be able to just take money from my account on a whim.

The idea of piling up a large amount of cash in my house just freaks me out. I need to meet with an asset protection attorney to decide on the best thing to do with our savings.

When I talk to one I'll be sure to post his advice.

[LeavingAZ]

ugh!!
I'm getting paranoid agaaain...

someone help me - lol

Why would Citi do an asset search on me if I'm not filing BK or my case is non recourse? I have my $ at a local credit union and have been EXTREMELY happy with them for seven years. Should I worry??

[cactus77727]

Why would Citi do an asset search on me if I'm not filing BK or my case is non recourse?

How do you know they are doing an asset search?

[LeavingAZ]

oh no, they're not. I'm just wondering why people are freaking out about banks doing an asset search on them...
is this just for those in recourse states and/or in danger of deficiency judgments? I was just wondering if I should be freaking too about the money in my accounts and such.

[SlammyR]

no offense to anyone in non-recourse states, my intent is not to belittle your situation, but unless you have a recourse 2nd, you don't need much advice on the ramifications of walking. it seems pretty cut & dry to me.

but for those of us in recourse states, or with recourse 2nds, we really need to know what to do or not to do and the best way to go about it. i watch our posts gradually sink to the bottom, and we seem to have few & far between professionals in our states who regularly post advice.

this site is for anyone in any state facing foreclosure, right? it's a heck of a lot scarier for those of us with recourse, so we are more desperate for any advice we can get, if not from "professionals", than from each other.

perhaps we need a recourse forum and a non-recourse forum to lessen the confusion. i don't know.

i think in this economy, we can ALL benefit from putting some cash away, sheltering our assets, and avoid being slaves to credit and debt, and places like wells fargo and citi. the foreclosure crisis has simply brought this to a lot more people's attention.

so, staying on point with this thread, i've decided to get a fireproof safe, and take out extra cash from my debit card transactions to put in there. i've decided i'm no longer going to have all my financial business in one place for anyone to see on some computer somewhere. if i face a future dj, i will deal with it when the time comes and not worry about it until that time, because i've got a life to live. thanks to all posters and their suggestions for the rest of us!

[chefette]

Slammy

I will face my second lein down the road. As far as cash and what to do with it, I think many people are reluctant to say where they are hiding it on this forum for obvious reasons. Personally, seeing what is going on with the government, I am REAL uncomfortable with having the banks have one red cent of my money. People need to be cautious and follow their gut.

All I know is that my second is not in a good position, and what ever they decide to do, it will all come down to the fact that I haven't the money to give them. If they want to make a reasonable settlement, great. If not, take a number and get in the back of the line.