Empty houses aren't covered by home owner's insurance!

Are you aware that if your house is vacant for more than 30 days you have no insurance? Two people I know just had major vandalism done to their empty rental houses and none of it is covered by insurance.

We're brainstorming ideas for this situation...what about becoming a house sitter instead of renting and move from house to house? If you're single this could be easy.

More ideas as we come up with them will be posted here. But meanwhile, if you have an empty house think about how you can get someone to live in it so your insurance doesn't lapse!

Need a graphic design or logo?

I've found the greatest website - you post what you want created, a logo, etc. You tell them what's important or not important to you in the design, set a price that you're willing to pay, how quickly you need it, and then a "contest" is created.

Designers then post their designs for you to comment on. I asked for a new company logo last night, gave them 3 days and will pay the winner $300. I had over 30 ideas this morning!

Check it out at:

http://99designs.com

Credit is getting tighter, not just with mortgages

I received a letter yesterday from a Platinum credit card that I was a Charter Member of and have had for 17 years. Never been late with a payment, my FICO score is great and hasn't changed (I have it watched monthly) yet they are reducing my credit line by $1,240.00! Are they kidding? Then I did the math and realized that is approximately the amount of credit I have remaining on the line. So I'm sure it would have been even more had I not had most of my credit line used.

This is similar to what many banks have been doing with Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC). They are freezing them at what you already have out on them, or "rescinding" the entire line of credit if it is open without a balance.

This economy and credit crunch just keep getting worse. Do you have any stories?