Of "sightings" and spending...

It's odd, we are definitely in a recession and spending has dropped off considerably... wait a minute, is that true? Yes, I know statistics show that, but all I can say is that it's not what I SEE out there! We went to the Dawsonville outlets the weekend after Christmas (Brooks Brothers gift cards were PERFECT gifts for me this year : ) and the place was PACKED. We burned an Ann Taylor card for Susie at Lenox and the mall was very busy too. Likewise, we celebrated our 9-year old's birthday at "American Girl" at North Point Mall last weekend and THAT place was packed--and if you have daughters in that age group, you know how expensive those dolls are! Ditto for Costco and Sam's, where I've had to pick up supplies for the home or office; still busy. So people are spending, at least in ATL metro!

On top of that, living in Atlanta, we are somewhat jaded by monster homes and exotic cars. In the past few weeks, here's a small list of 'toys' I've seen around (DRIVEN, not garage queens): Rolls Royce Phantom ($325K+), Porsche 911 Turbo (S190K?), Bentley Flying Spur ($200+?), Bentley coupe (ditto), Ferrari F430 ($200+), Maybach 57S (if you have to ask ; ) Likewise, there are tons of other precious metals cruising around. While they may be mortgaged to the hilt, I still say BRAVO to them, as they have done SOMETHING to earn those toys. God Bless America, the land of the free, home of the brave and all that... I hope that we can hold on through Spring (hopefully the Feds' recently released minutes are correct that we will be out of the woods by that time). All I can say is if you have good credit and your home's value is still pretty good, REFI NOW as rates are UNDER 5% today! When you do refi, you know where to close it : )