Greece Faces D Day - Again

Today Euro of Greek bonds mature, next Friday 16th November a further Euro4BN mature.

Greece has issued, as it often does, a warning that if it dopes not receive bailout money by then it may default on those bonds.

However, Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, is not so easily cowed by these threats; he told reporters yesterday that a decision on Greece next week "would be too soon".

Thus, as ever, the Eurozone crisis drags on as the politicians and bureaucrats dither over whether to continue to fund Greece or expel it.

Rehn Writes Greece Off

Olli Rehn, the European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, has written Greece off by stating that Greece's debt (expected to reach at least 189% of GDP in 2013) is unsustainable whilst at the same time ruling out the possibility of an official sector debt restructuring.

Rehn negelected to state that the level of unemployment in Greece is also unsustainable. Youth unemployment now stands at a staggering 58% in August vs 45% in August 2011.

The only option remaining for Greece is to leave the Euro.

EU Budget Qualified Again

The European Court of Auditors found that controls over 86% of the EU budget are only "partially effective", this makes the 18th year running that the budget has been qualified.

To add to this annual disgrace, it transpires that the frequency rate for "material error" rose by 8% in 2011 from 36% to 44%, with £4BN in EU payments directly affected by irregularities.

The EU's response?

They intend to increase their expenditure by £95BN over the next eight years.

Who pays for this?

The hapless citizens of the EU, who are themselves being told by their EU overlords to endure years of austerity!

Black/Gray Painted Interior Doors

Happy Monday y'all!  How awesome was that extra hour of sleep yesterday?!  I was a busy bee this weekend and got lots of stuff accomplished around the house.  You might have already seen our new door if you follow me on Instagram (@honeywerehome).  I can't keep away from that app!  Thanks Cassie- grrrr!! :)

I've been seriously smitten with black doors since seeing them at Emily's house (A Well Dressed Home) and around Pinterest.  Aren't they gorgeous?!  She added decorative molding to her doors and painted all of them!

We have a half bath downstairs that is just off of the living room.  I've been eyeing that door for awhile now, wondering what it would look like if I painted it black.  I was buying paint for another project this weekend, and on impulse decided to buy some paint for the door too.   

I saw that Emily used Benjamin Morre’s Dragon’s Breath, which she describes as more of a dark grayish-brown, but my Sherwin Williams (it's the closest paint store to my house) didn't have that color.  I knew I didn't want a cold, stark black, but something a little warmer, and so I went with Sherwin Williams Black Fox, which I thought was similar to what Emily used.

I realized the door would be easier to paint if it was laid flat on the floor.  

After three coats, I ended up with a very dark gray door.  Even though it wasn't what I originally had in mind, I like it!  I still need to apply another thin coat on the inside panels because when the light hits it in certain spots, you can see streaks.  

I like it so much that I want to paint all the upstairs doors in our hallway too- but that would mean painting 9 more doors!  I would probably go with the same color, but add a little more black to it.  And for those who asked, we did have this table near the banquette previously.

Have you painted any doors in your house?

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RBS Take PPI Hit

Yesterday I wrote about Lloyds upping its PPI claims provision, today it's the turn of RBS.

Royal Bank of Scotland this morning reported a £1.38BN Q3 loss after taking a £400M provision against the cost of payment protection insurance compensation costs, for good measure it also booked a £1BN charge against the value of its own bonds.

The Telegraph reports that the total amount of money put aside by the bank to pay claims now stands at £1.7BN, having paid out £1BN thusfar.

RBS said that it was possible the cost of PPI compensation could grow further still.

Lloyds PPI Chickens Coming Home To Roost

The old saying "what goes around, comes around" springs to mind when reading that Lloyds has been forced to make an additional PPI provision in Q3 of £1BN.

The total amount set aside by Lloyds for the PPI mis-selling scandal is £5.3BN, giving rise to a Q3 loss of £144M.

Lloyds has paid out £3.7BN in compensation thus far. However, it may have to make further additional provisions next year.

The Telegraph reports that Lloyds is less than pleased to be on the receiving end of fraudulent claims for compensation, driven in part by the plethora of claims management companies that are pushing people to make claims. Lloyds has written to the Financial Ombudsman Service asking for claims management companies to be forced to meet the cost of spurious requests for compensation.

Halloween Fun

I hope y'all had a great Halloween!  Ours was pretty low key, just visiting with our neighbors and taking the adorable kids trick-or-treating.  James decided he wanted to be "construction" instead of his pre-planned "circus ringmaster" at the last minute, so we improvised.  

I really adore these kids and they had so much fun going to each door and yelling, "Trick or Treat!" 

I can't believe it's November already!

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