Just when the U.S. economy is getting back on its feet, so are subprime mortgages. As reported in today’s Times (“In Home Loans, Subprime Fades as a Dirty Word”) these once-sketchy loans are being offered to those who might not otherwise qualify for a traditional mortgage.

My husband and I took out a subprime mortgage in 2005. It resulted in the loss of our home. So, buyer beware. (Read My Story for a glimpse. Better yet, wait for my book, Bankruptcy: A Love Story, in rewrite.)

If you don’t know what a subprime mortgage is, the Times definition is helpful:

Traditionally, any loan to someone with a credit score below about 640 (the highest possible score is 850) has been considered subprime. During the housing bubble, when lenders were hungry for loans to package into securities for resale, the subprime label expanded to describe all manner of schemes, including loans with low or no down payments, “liar loans” with no proof of income and loans with a monthly payment so low that the principal actually increased over time.

I’m blogging about this today because knowledge is king (or queen). If you’re shopping for a mortgage, know what you’re signing onto. These new subprimes, which only represent a tiny portion of the market today, extract interest rates that top double digits.

Talk, share, know. We’re responsible for our own money lives.

“Gratitude is a tool,” I heard someone say the other night when we were talking about money.

Hearing that gave me pause.  I’ve been so used to hearing the platitudes about gratitude—how important it is to be grateful as a means of appreciation and positive energy that I hadn’t really thought about gratitude as having a purpose.

But gratitude does have a purpose. Gratitude has saved me. For example, whenever I start to feel sorry for myself—for whatever reason—loss, not getting what I want, disappointment, a down day, I have a tool: I can write a gratitude list:

• A roof over my head
• Delicious, nutritious food
• A good job
• My health
• Delightful, kind children
• Loving family
• A sense of humor

When I look at my list, I feel wealthy.  And it makes me just want to say thank you.

My gratitude list helps me put my needs in perspective and has the side effect of strengthening my connection with my Higher Power and other people. I feel more loving and compassionate when I am grateful

I believe you can be grateful for just about everything. So often the thing we are dreading or think we’re going to hate becomes a blessing in disguise. To see the breadth of things to be thankful for, read the wonderful poem, Thanks, by W. S. Merwin, one of my favorite poets.

Yes, gratitude is an attitude but it is also a tool. So let’s put it to work.

Please share your thoughts about gratitude. We’ll all be grateful.

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