I'm obviously posting on a much lighter schedule this week, thanks mostly to a busy work week and what Alice would call the "stabby stabbiness" of trying to plan and execute a house purchase and move. Every time I think I have a handle on the idea of spending more money than we seemingly will ever have or hope to have in our whole lives, I get word of some new fun in the process. Like one lender who requires me to have been self-employed for two full years before considering any of my income. Like another lender who enjoys charging seemingly random ginormous charges for photocopying and mysterious interest. Who can say where this money will go? One thing is clear: It will not stay with me.
I am the kind of person who will track a merchant down to dispute a $2.50 charge. I have gone back into stores to demand discounts that didn't ring up right or prices that were higher than posted. The Albertson's checkers do not look forward to me and my coupons and my eagle eye on the price scanner. In one memorable shopping trip, my sainted cousin Amy had to wait with me for what seemed like seven hours in a Seattle Motherhood Maternity shop while the salesperson had to re-ring the merchandise to take into account my Montana sales tax exemption.
Nice people might say that I'm thrifty, but the truth is I'm pretty cheap. I don't like getting a list of charges that seem to make no sense and have the express purpose of removing cash from my pocket. I know there are all kinds of hidden costs with this process, but couldn't someone find a way to simplify things? Where's my Saturn of mortgages?