Why so expensive???

Jan 11, 2009
Meredith - Noblesville

 

My fiance and I are planning a wedding for next fall. In the quest to have our wedding be as stellar as possible on a budget it has occured to me that the word "budget" does not exist in many vocabularies. We met with a wedding planner at Trader's Point Creamery and when we expressed that it was out of our budget she assured us she would help us find a great venue. After sending her a few emails and never recieving a response it occured to me that she didn't want to deal with us unless we were prepared to drop some fat cash. Now we've moved past the venue and on to photographers. All I'm asking is for a couple hours of your time on a Saturday afternoon, when it will probably be a shitty day anyway since its in November. I understand that it takes time to edit and what not but come on! The only reason why they charge so much is that its considered an "art". I am a designer and consider my job to be of an art form and I don't make half of what they make. If you have the word "wedding" in an info request form you can be sure that the price you will see will be severely inflated. I can't believe that people actually spend the money that they do for one day. We made the mistake of telling people that we didn't want to go into debt to pay for our wedding...another no no. One would think that we would be praised for conserving on our budget but instead are repeatedly turned away. Last time I checked we were in a recession....word to the wise, don't plan a wedding during a recession.

More: money,

 

You Got a Screw Loose

Feb 3, 2009
Sandy - Broadripple

 

I recently towed my car into the Firestone Auto Repair on N. Keystone because my car wouldn't start. It was the best option because it was the closest to my house, even though I haven't used them before. I was delighted to hear from Derek the next day that all that was wrong was that the bolts that hold the starter together were loose, and not something serious. When I went to pick up my car it was a total of $150. Most of which was labor. Now wait a minute. When a car doesn't start isn't the first thing that you check is the starter? and isn't the first thing you do is loosen up the bolts to check the starter? Why was labor $50 and an engine diagnostic $100 when the first thing you check was what is wrong with the car? They then had the balls to ask if I wanted to have some other minor work done to the car. Come on Firestone. It's so hard to find a trustworthy place to take your car and when a new face rolls in your business you should make them feel like your not ripping them off so they come back. Especially in this economy when everyone is tight, why not give them a break to come back especially when all that is wrong is some loose bolts. A bad economy is not a sign to rip as many people off as you can to make the most money. It's a chance to build relationships with people that are going through the same money problems that you and your business are and to earn their money by keeping their business.

More: services, money,

 

Valentine's Day Massacre? yep, probably

Feb 13, 2009
Sandy - Broadripple

 

I know I shouldn't have waited to get reservations for Valentine's day, but this year isn't like any other, we're in a huge economic crisis and people shouldn't be spending money, right? You couldn't tell that by the 17 hostesses I talked to today. 17 places. None of them had a table for two available. Will my fiance mind the romantic Taco Bell dinner this year? Nawwww, she'll be cool with it..... but I'm not gettin' any.

More: money,

 

Marion County Treasurer is robbing the poor

Oct 29, 2009
Felicia - Indianapolis

 

...and giving to the Landlord, Investor, and Developers

 

All is quiet on the tax front.

 

I stumbled across this trying to find the order of hierarchy as to who the Marion county treasurer answers to. I underestimated them when I said the do-do was gonna hit the fan, after reading my mother's recent bill. All of us who got hit hard think everyone is in the same boat. WRONG.

 

It appears the reason the tax schedule has been so off and disorganized is because the Marion County assessor has systematically been working on a covert strategy to guarantee the displacement of "certain folks" in selected areas, and that takes time.

 

The site's Property Tax Viewer used together with Google (by copy/pasting a selected address into Google's search bar) allows interested developers and investors to shop without leaving the comfort of their home or office; allowing them to plan their next move with ease and efficiency; Ready to snap up property for the price of unpaid taxes.

 

All I have to say is we won the battle getting a black president but the powers that be have pulled knives from the briefcases to stab us in the back. They've been hiding in the shadows plotting. This little obscure website just proves it. They're counting on their chosen targets to lack resources, such as the one I'm using here to expose the site I found. They believed that placating the majority would allow them to pass the cost on to the minority. Indiana is not about to absorb the decreases it promised.

 

I posted a letter to Representative Andre Carson on his site. Here is what I wrote:

 

Dear Representative Carson,

 

I'm writing on behalf of my mother -----. She just received her property tax notice. It has gone from a 2008 assessed value of $65,000 to an assessed value of $108,300. How can this be? She was just denied a reverse mortgage.

 

She submitted an application based on the 2008 assessed value. The lender stated that based on the appraisal of the property, (less than $30,000) and the surrounding properties it would not be possible to grant because of FHA required repairs needed to this property.

 

In a time when homes have lost their value, and owners are struggling with upside down mortgages, how did this property which is visually clear from the curb in need of repair merit a $43,300 increase? My mother is 80 years old with a heart condition. She has taken to her bed worried that she's about lose her home. This assessment is just wrong. Please help, not only my mother, but others in this area who I'm sure are just as afraid.

 

The Indy.gov site is a clarion call if we (even the middle to upper middle class black folks) are going to come out of this alive. It's not just the poor areas. Even in the "better areas" the treasurer's office has been a tornado skipping one or more houses and landing on another seemingly at random. Just look at the Tarkington condominiums compared to the Towers across the street.

 

Study this map well. Click the hand icon to move the page, click the (i)icon then click on the boxes representing the property to pull up information on the owner and the current assessment back to 2007.

 

Concerned Citizen

 

Here is the URL:

 

http://maps.indy.gov/propertyassessmentviewer//

More: local government, money,