Think Your Way to Wealth » Economy

Obama Proposes Changes to Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP)- Will It Help?

RC — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:22:35 +0000

The federal government announced changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) on Monday, hoping to allow more homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages to qualify for the program, and by re-financing and potentially reducing their monthly payments, making it easier for them to make their payments and assisting with possible cash flow problems.

The program, originally started in 2009, was supposed to help upwards of 5 to 10 million homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages refinance and take advantage of lower interest rates that are being offered for mortgages these days. This would allow them to continue paying and stay current on their mortgage while freeing up some desperately needed cash for many homeowners who are struggling in today’s economy.

The changes announced on Monday are supposed to allow some homeowners who are currently ineligible for the existing HARP program to qualify- it includes the reduction of some of the fees associated with the program, as well as an elimination of the loan to value (LTV) restrictions previously in place as part of the HARP program.

What was/will be changed in the HARP program?

A cap which limited those who qualified to those who owed no more than 125% of the value of their home will be lifted.
Some fees for closing, title insurance, and other costs will be eliminated, lowering the amount of fees and expenses those hoping to qualify for the program will have to pay.

How do you know if you qualify for HARP?

Your mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and must have been sold to one of those agencies on or before May 31, 2009.
Loan To Value Ratio (LTV) must be greater than 80%- i.e., your mortgage must be at least 80% of the value of your home, and, as mentioned above, there is no longer an upper limit of 125% LTV.
Mortgages that were refinanced over the last two and a half years aren’t eligible.
Homeowners must also be current on their mortgage. One late payment within six months, or more than one in the last year would mean disqualification.

Will This Help Many Homeowners?

It certainly will let some who currently do not qualify become qualified for the program so it will help, but how many is probably anyone’s guess at this point. Keep in mind, also, that this is a voluntary program for banks & lenders, so there is nothing that forces a bank to allow a homeowner to refinance, even if all of the conditions above are met.

As you can see from the requirement that only one late payment in 6 months is allowed in order to qualify, this program is still geared towards homeowners who are currently able to keep up with their mortgages and continue to make payments, even if they are underwater or “upside down” on their current mortgages.

By refinancing at a lower interest rate, homeowners will be able to reduce their monthly payment which in effect reduces the total amount they will pay over the life of the loan as well. Obviously, for someone underwater on their mortgage, the longer they plan on staying in the house, the better off they are, as over time the house will likely increase in value (although no one knows at this point how fast or slowly that will occur), and as they make payments over the years their remaining mortgage debt amount gets less and less, both of which increase the equity they have in the house vs. what the original purchase price was.

Hopefully, this will allow some of those people who are “hanging on” so to speak a little relief, which is definitely a good thing.

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2012 Social Security Benefits Increase to be 3.6%

RC — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:21:18 +0000

The government announced this morning that social security recipients, who number approximately 55 million Americans, will get a 3.6% cost of living adjustment, or COLA, starting in January 2012. 8 million Americans who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will receive a 3.6% increase as well.

This will be the first COLA since 2009, when the increase was a rather large 5.8%. There were no increases in the COLA for 2009 and 2010, since the measured inflation rate during the weakened economy was too low to bring it above the rate measured in 2008 which was used for the 2009 increase. These were the 1^st two years without an increase since automatic increases based on inflation were adopted in 1975.

Many people, particularly the elderly living on fixed incomes, have complained and struggled over the last two years, that while food, medical, and other costs have risen, their social security payments have not. In addition, it is expected that medicare premiums will increase next year, wiping out some of the SS increase for many.

Monthly social security payments average just under $1100 per month, so a 3.6% increase would mean the average payment would increase about $39 per month, or appx. $468 per year.

For the maximum monthly payment, currently $2366 per month, the increase would amount to approximately $85 per month, or $1020 per year.

On a related and interesting note, the amount of salary or wages subject to the social security tax will rise by the same percentage next year, from the current $106,800 to $110,100, according to the social security administration. For those subject to the increased threshold, this would mean an increase of appx. $225 according to my quick calculations.

Since the social security payroll tax cut for 2011 has yet to be extended for 2012, the increase in the amount subject to the ss tax as well as the potential for paying the 2% that was cut in 2011 could mean decent increase for some.

President Obama originally included an extension of the 2% SS payroll tax cut through 2012 in his jobs bill proposal which was DOA a few weeks back, however; he plans to continue pushing individual parts, including the payroll tax cut extension in 2012 as individual pieces. I’ll be sure to discuss if anything is announced in the near future, so stay tuned.

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How Not To Solve Your Personal Debt Problems….

RC — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:15:09 +0000

Sometimes, you can learn the right way to do something by watching someone else (or a group of people) do it the wrong way. In light of the recent debate, fighting, and arguing over raising the U.S. “debt ceiling“, here are a few ways on how “not” to go about solving your personal debt problems.

Tackle the problem directly…don’t compromise with or try to fool yourself, your spouse,or others…trading cuts in spending in one place or category for increased spending somewhere else….
Don’t wait to start getting out of debt until the last minute..things will come up…they always do…
Don’t plan on getting out of debt by cutting your spending by 15-20% of your total debt….over the next 10 years…..That is not really going to make much of a dent. You need to plan it out to complete, i.e., until all of your debt is gone.
Don’t plan on getting out of debt by cutting spending only…sometimes, you need to increase your income as well…doing both will get you out of debt the fastest.
And finally…don’t try to get out of debt by increasing the amount of money you are borrowing…while it might seem like it makes sense to politicians, it really doesn’t make much sense at all….

You and I, regular people that is, don’t have the same luxury as politicians- we can’t keep deferring debt problems or issues for the future, or future generations. The only way to fix your debt problems is to evaluate them, address them, and take steps to eliminate your debt.

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Starbucks Accepting Mobile Payments via Cell Phone, Are You Ready to Start Paying For Things With Your iPhone or Smart Phone?

RC — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:00:06 +0000

Starbucks, the ubiquitous coffee purveyor, recently starting accepting mobile payments via an iPhone or Blackberry app (no app for Android yet as far as I can tell, which seems strange) , the Starbucks Mobile App, basically allowing their customers to pay for their coffee purchases using their phone.

No longer will you need to have your wallet or purse with you when you go to get a frappuccino (or whatever they call those there). Instead, you’ll simply whip out your cell phone, and have the barista scan a bar code that will show up after you’ve opened the app and gotten it ready to make a payment, as shown below:

Kinda neat, huh?

While you may not be ready to pay for things with your iPhone or smart phone yet, phone makers like Apple as well as credit card companies, such as Visa, have developed the technology and are working to make mobile payments as acceptable as a credit card or debit card to pay for things. It is already being tested in Europe and other parts of the world.

Using near-field communication technology will allow users to simply place their phone within a few inches of a payment kiosk set up to accept them, and allow payments wirelessly through a cell phone. Obviously, they more ways you can pay for something and the easier, the more money credit card companies and merchants think they can make from your spending.

Are You Ready to Pay for things with Your Phone?

Paying for things with your phone does raise some issues regarding security and protection. What if you lose your phone? Personally I’m probably more likely to lose my phone that my wallet. Would a thief or someone who finds a lost phone be able to use your phone to make purchases, or would there be safeguards?

While it may not be too bad of a loss if someone used up your $20 Starbucks card credit, if all of your credit card information was stored on the phone, it could be a lot worse. Also, I think there will be a wave of early adopters who will use it due to the technology involved, but I think a lot of people will be uneasy in adopting mobile payment technology. Certainly older people probably won’t be very likely- as far as I know, my Dad (who is just about 70) still never got a ATM card.

Still, it is kind of neat that the personal payment system is changing after so many years of being asked “cash, credit, or check?” when paying for something.

Are you willing to pay for Starbucks with your phone? How about using your phone to pay for all of your purchases? Or will you continue to use other methods?

Starbucks Accepting Mobile Payments via Cell Phone, Are You Ready to Start Paying For Things With Your iPhone or Smart Phone? is a post from: Think Your Way to Wealth a Personal Finance Blog Copyright 2008-2010

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What Caused the Financial Crisis?- Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report Released and Available for Download

RC — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:16:41 +0000

The recent economic meltdown and financial crisis over the last few years hit the American and global economies hard- the stock market, banks, investment firms, the housing market, and jobs all took a hit.

Words like subprime lending, shadow banking, and CDO’s would be relatively unknown, or at least not common in everyday language were it not for the crisis.

Do you wonder what really caused the financial crisis?

The group formed to investigate the financial crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, just release their report on the economic meltdown that engulfed the country over the last few years.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission was created to “examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States.”

The Commission was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (Public Law 111-21) passed by Congress and signed by the President in May 2009. This independent, 10-member panel was composed of private citizens with experience in areas such as housing, economics, finance, market regulation, banking and consumer protection.The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission was created in May of 2009, and directed to complete the study by December 2010, which was subsequently delayed last November until January of 2011.

If you’re interested in finding out what the commission thinks about the crisis, the report is now available for download.

The report is fairly large, checking in at over 600 pages, and is available here: http://fcic.gov/report

There’s also a pretty interesting page of financial and mortgage graphics onthe site here:

http://fcic.gov/resource/graphics

as well as some additional reports and information here:

http://fcic.gov/resource/reports

I do plan on reading/skimming through the report, although I doubt if I will read the entire report in detail. Looking through the conclusions, they state the financial crisis was avoidable, and was due in part to excessive risks and a lack of regulation and corporate governance.

Will this help prevent future financial meltdowns? I don’t know, but for some reason, whenever the government is involved, I am a little skeptical .

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$5 a Gallon Gas- Is it on the Way and How Soon?

RC — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 03:44:05 +0000

Gas prices increased in 2010, along with the price of a lot of other goods and services. (But don’t worry, the government says there is no inflation….) According to recent data published by the API (American Petroleum Institute), gas prices rose from an average of $2.67 in early Jan 2010 to $3.07 in early Jan 2011, or an increase of approximately $0.40 or 15% in one year.

photo credit: brownpau

I don’t know about you, but to me, 15% in one year is a significant increase.

Things could get worse, however, according to some. The ex-president of Shell Oil recently stated that gas prices could hit the $5.00 per gallon mark as early as 2012. Others are calling this a worst case scenario, according to the article, but it does seem that prices are on the rise, to say the least.

I’m not sure you could really call it a bright spot, but one thing the economic recession did over the last few years was a fairly large drop in the price of a barrel of oil, which resulted in lower gas prices from the highs of over $4 per gallon we saw back in 2008. Since the recession affected spending activity, construction, and economic spending worldwide, the demand lessened, causing a drop in price.

However, it seems as if the pressure of increased economic activity are starting to mount both in the U.S. and worldwide again (which they seem to be), and gas prices are likely to creep back up- hopefully slower than faster!

Irregardless of when it happens (and I hope it doesn’t happen in the next year or so) $5 a gallon gas will happen someday in the not too distant future. Just based on the ever inflating price of goods, and the fact that oil is a limited commodity and the supply depends on how fast and cost effective oil companies can extract it from the ground.

Living on the Gulf Coast, and seeing first hand the effects of the BP oil spill and the restrictions now put on drilling in the US, I’d say were probably going to be increasingly dependent on foreign sources as well-even more so than now.

It’s a good thing to always practice fuel efficient driving, to save money on gas now, and keep those good driving habits as prices go up. Another thing to think about is your transportation situation- if you are planning on replacing a while in the near future, keep future gas prices in mind! How far you live from work and how long your commute is will come into play as well, as will whether you have the option of decent public transportation or other options- such as riding a bike or walking to work.

Do you think gas prices are going to increase a lot very soon, or do you think it is still several years off?

How will you handle $5.00 per gallon gas if it gets that high in the near future?

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Bush Tax Cuts to Be Extended Through 2012, Social Security Payroll Tax Reduced

RC — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 04:59:26 +0000

After negotiations with Republicans, President Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts for another 2 years, through 2012, in exchange for extending unemployment benefits for another 13 months. This follows some contentious debate and rhetoric on mainly on whether the tax cuts should be extended for those making over $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married filing jointly filers, and whether Congress would have to make cuts elsewhere in order to pay for the appx. $60 billion the unemployment benefit is expected to cost. The compromise also addresses several other taxes and credits as follows:

Income Taxes

Income tax rates will stay the same for all taxpayers, with President Obama agreeing not to rescind the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 ($200,000 single filer) as he had previously wanted. The agreement has angered some democrats as well who wanted to let the lower tax rates for those making over $200,000/$250,000 expire while keeping the lower rates in place for those making less.

Estate Tax

The estate tax, which was essentially nonexistent in 2010 due to a lapse in legislation, will be back starting January 1st, 2011 with an exemption of $5 million per person, $10 million per couple, with the amount above that being taxed at 35%. It was scheduled to return with an exemption of $1 million per person with a 55% tax on any amount above that- although most expected it to at least be changed to something similar to 2009 rates, when the amount of the exemption for 2009 was $3.5 million per individual, with a tax rate at 45%.

Payroll Tax Reduction- Social Security Taxes

The social security payroll tax will be decreased 2 percentage points, from 6.2% to 4.2% for 1 year, meaning wage earners will see more money in their paychecks. This is intended to replace the Making Work Pay tax credit from last year and the year before which is expiring. For someone making $50,000, this will be appx. $1,000, while for someone making the max (or above) social security wage base of $106,800, this would mean a savings of $2,136. For self employed workers, who pay both the employee (worker) portion at 6.2% and the employer portion (picked up by most worker’s employer) at an additional 6.2% (for a total of 12.4%) it is unclear what the reduction will be, but it will likely apply only to the employee portion, which would give a total of 10.2% for the year.

American Opportunity Tax Credit

The tax credit is for undergraduate college tuition and expenses, and will be extended for 2 years with a max credit of $2,500 per year. It can be used up to 4 years of post-secondary education, and phase outs start at $80k for single filers (phasing out completely at $90k) and $160k for married filing jointly (phasing out completely at $180k).

Child Tax Credit

The child tax credit will be extended for another 2 years. The credit of $1000 per child starts to phase out at $75k for single filers and $110 for joint filers.

AMT and Capital Gains Tax Rate

There was also a patch to prevent more Americans from getting caught having to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT, as well as keeping the capital gains tax rate at 15% vs. potentially raising it to the rate one’s income is taxed at.

While none of these taxes are a done deal yet for 2011, and some democrats have vowed to fight against them, it seems likely they will pass due to the compromise on unemployment benefits, particularly with the President taking part in the negotiations.

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Obama to Freeze Cost of Living Pay Increases for Federal Workers for Next 2 Years- Fair or Not?

RC — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:21:51 +0000

On Monday, President Obama announced plans to freeze pay for federal workers in 2011 and 2012, in an effort to start reigning in the soaring budget deficit, which has exceeded 1 trillion dollars over the last couple of years.

Federal workers were projected to get a 1.4 percent cost of living pay increase next year, which will be eliminated, as well as eliminating any increase for 2012. The pay freeze would not include active duty military, postal workers, and some others. The pay freeze also does not affect pay increases or raises tied to promotions to higher pay grades (i.e. getting a promotion from one GS level to a higher one).

The move would save $2 billion in the 2011 fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 and $5 billion by the end of two fiscal years. Over 10 years, it would save $60 billion, according to the Office of Management and Budget. While a drop in the bucket compared to the national debt and yearly deficits, $60 billion dollars is certainly not an insignificant amount of savings.

The move will have to be approved by Congress, but with the current political climate I would guess it will more than likely pass. The president’s deficit commission had proposed a 3 year pay freeze, so this is somewhat of a compromise on that issue as well.
On a personal note, I have many friends who are government employees, as the field I work in has a large government facility located nearby, and I went to college with many people who now work there.

I can see both sides of the coin when it comes to this issue. No one wants to be told they won’t be getting a pay raise for the next 2 years- but when times are tough, in the private sector many people would be happy with a pay freeze vs. getting laid off, which is a lot less common in the federal sector.

While many in the private sector have been laid off in the last few years, most government jobs have a degree of job security not found in the private sector. Thousands upon thousands of jobs have been lost in the private sector, many companies froze pay increases a couple of years ago, and some companies have reduced or eliminated 401k matches to there employees. Federal pay also rose 2% in 2010, 3.9% in 2009, and 3.5% in 2008. Those are fairly decent cost of living increases during an economic recession.

While many will argue that they make less money than their private sector counterparts, this article from USA today says government workers make a higher salary in most categories they looked at, and when you include the usually more generous federal government benefit package compared to the private sector, it is even larger. For the field I work in, pay is about the for workers in my area, in the same field, and with the same skill/experience level but that is just one example, and anecdotal at best.

Do you think Obama’s pay freeze on federal workers is a symbolic gesture for political reasons, or a good place to start in actually trying to reign in the massive budget? What are your thoughts?

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New Bank Overdraft Fee Regulations- Will They Have the Desired Effect?

RC — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:40:58 +0000

The Federal Reserve passed new regulations last week requiring banks that issue debit cards to let consumers choose whether they want to pay overdraft fees for debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals and have the charge, purchase, or withdrawal go through even if they don’t have sufficient funds, or have it declined. This effectively makes consumers “opt-in” to pay overdraft fees. This move by the Fed comes at a time when Congress is considering even tighter restrictions on the amount and frequency that banks can charge consumers for overdraft fees. The new rules take effect on July 1, 2010 and will not effect payments made by check or “recurring” debit card charges.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? No one would actually “opt-in” and sign up to allow a bank to charge an outrageous overdraft fee, would they? (Fees banks charge from overdrawn accounts are expected to reach 38 billion dollars this year!) This seems like an easy question, but I have a feeling more people will sign up for overdraft fees in exchange for letting their payment be made, than many, including the Fed and Congress, might think.

Why would someone “opt in” to pay fees if they overdraft their account at all?

Well, I can think of a couple of reasons:

1.) Embarrassment of having one’s debit card declined. I can imagine someone in a long line at Walmart or somewhere with several hundred dollars worth of groceries not wanting to have the cashier announce that their debit card has been declined in front of everyone after all of their groceries were scanned and bagged. And what would they do then? Start removing items one-by-one until they got under the amount they had left in their account? That could really slow things down!

2.) Having to pay certain bills (such as electricity, etc.) that you have to get paid-otherwise you lose power, etc.

Keep in mind, I am sure banks will phrase the opt-in as if they are performing a service for you (for a minor fee of $30 to $40 per overdraft!) if you should make a math mistake or “forget” you didn’t have enough money in your account.

It is kind of a Catch-22, in a way. If you overdraft your account once every 10 years, and it has only happened by some mistake of your own (forgetting to transfer money from another account, for example), you may want to have overdraft protection from your bank and be willing to pay the fee instead of getting something declined and setting off all kinds of other problems. If you do it more often out of a lack of attentiveness to your finances, you might be better off letting your card get declined once in a while.

According to this article, 30 percent of overdrafts stem from checks, so limiting the overdraft on debit card and ATM transactions may not wipe them out completely for some people. Also, Congress is looking in to setting even more stringent requirements for banks charging overdraft fees, so there may be more in the works.

Another big question is this- If banks are losing a large portion of 38 billion dollars in revenue, where are they going to make that up? It has to come from somewhere, and it may be all consumers, not just ones that pay overdraft fees, that make up that lost revenue stream for banks.

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Time for Homebuyer’s Tax Credit Running Out, Will it be Extended?

RC — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:56:29 +0000

The $8000 Homebuyer’s Tax Credit expires November 30th of this year, so for those planning on taking advantage of this by buying a home, time is running short. For those interested in taking advantage of the program, this means a house purchase must be completed by that date in order to receive the credit. Because many loans can take up to 60 days to process, many in the real estate and banking industry worry that the numbers will start tapering off in early October. At some point in the very near future, it is expected that mortgage lenders will stop taking applications on tax-credit loans unless it is extended.

There is movement towards extending the homebuyer’s tax credit through 2010, and increasing it to $15,000. Senator John Isakson of Georgia is leading the charge in Congress, backed by realtors, bankers, and homebuilders, who are also are promoting the tax credit extension with the tagline “Don’t Let America’s Real Estate Recovery Expire.” The American Association of Realtors estimates that appx. 350,000 home sales were directly attributable to the tax credit.

Some wonder if the tax credit is artificially inflating home sales, and possibly inflating home prices as well.

The White House says President Obama’s economic team is evaluating the effect of the tax credit on home sales- to determine their position, I imagine. It may be difficult to get the tax credit through Congress in short order though, with pressing issues such as health care reform looming over Congress and the Obama Administration.

Should the homebuyers tax credit be extended through 2010? Should it be increase to $15,000? Should it be available to anyone who purchases a home?

What are your thoughts?

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Obama Announces Initiative to Increase Retirement Savings Rate

RC — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:45:54 +0000

President Barack Obama announced a new initiative on Saturday, geared towards helping citizens increase their retirement savings and the overall savings rate, which had hovered around zero for several years preceding the recession .

“The fact is, even before this recession hit, the savings rate was essentially zero, while borrowing had risen and credit card debt had increased, half of America’s work force doesn’t have access to a retirement plan at work. And fewer than 10 percent of those without workplace retirement plans have one of their own,” President Obama said Saturday.

Obama’s proposal includes:

Encouraging small businesses to automatically enroll their employees into 401k plans, something many larger companies do already. Research has shown that if workers are automatically enrolled and have to specifically request to not take part in a 401k plan, they are more likely to participate.

Allow citizens to receive their tax refund in the form of a U.S. Savings Bond. This would be available via a box on tax return forms that a person could check if they wished to receive a savings bond as their tax refund.

Make it easier for employees to contribute unused vacation or overtime to their retirement plan. Most employers who pay for unused vacation time (as opposed to those that have a “use it or lose it” system) simple cut a check for the unused vacation time or overtime.

The Treasury department and the IRS will also publish easy to understand instructions regarding the rules regarding retirement plans when a person leaves their job.

These are all administration actions, which will not require approval by Congress, so they should essentially be a done deal.

I like the fact that the government is encouraging companies to auto-enroll workers, and I think the ability to contribute unused vacation to a 401k plan is a pretty good idea as well. Although I am a fan of I bonds in general, (which are currently paying a paltry 0% for this 6 month period), I am not sure if too many people would take advantage of that with their tax refunds.

I think more should be done however. For example, how about allowing people to put a tax refund directly in a 401k account? After all, the government got free use of that money for a better part of a year, so they probably don’t lose much if that money goes untaxed. At any rate, I think focusing on increasing savings is a better idea than all of the government spending of late. What do you think?

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Cash for Refrigerators or Cash for Appliances Rebate Program Coming- Is This a Little Too Much?

RC — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:39:21 +0000

A $300 million dollar rebate program for buying energy efficient appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and washing machines, similar to the highly popular Cash for Clunkers Program, is coming soon, according to an article last Friday on BusinessWeek.

Starting later this fall, the program will offer rebates of $50 to $200 on energy efficient appliances. Participating buyers will not have to turn in their old appliances, as was required in the Cash for Clunkers Program with old cars. Program details will vary by states, and states must turn in their plans by October 15th. Only appliances with the Energy Star Seal will qualify, and approximately 55% of appliances manufactured last year met that criteria.

Apparently, the appliance industry could use the boost, as sales were down 10% during 2008, and 15% through July of this year.

I was not a really big fan of Cash for Clunkers, as I felt the program had some issues. Some used cars that may not have been in very bad condition, and could have been purchased used by someone who could not afford a new car even with the rebate, were destroyed. There were other issues with it as well that didn’t seem like the best use of tax-payer dollars.

Whatever it ends up being called, whether it is Cash for Refrigerators or Cash for Appliances, I imagine that the goal is to increase the number of energy efficient appliances, and to remove older, less efficient appliances from service.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I am not a big fan of these rebate programs with a short deadline-it seems as if the federal government is trying to stir up a “buying frenzy” to get people spending again.

What is your opinion of the Cash for Appliances program? Is the federal government going overboard with all of the rebates they are handing out?

photo credit: AlishaV

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