Light Your Car on Fire and 4 More Weird Ways to Save a Home From Foreclosure

Image via qwrrty/FlickrHome foreclosure rates are finally dipping a bit -- the first year-to-year decline in half a decade -- but the crisis is far from over.

With all this bleak news, who knew there could a bright side?

Call it taking lemons and making lemonade. Call it pure American ingenuity.

More from The Stir: My Spouse Refuses to Save!

Or just call it sticking it to the man. We love these ways Americans have come out to save their homes.

1. Baking Cornbread. Georgia resident Beverly Davis has dubbed herself the Cornbread Millionaire, and she's peddling her recipes to keep her home after losing her full-time job as a city clerk.

2. Calling Superman. The Man of Steel himself came bounding out of a box of old comic books when the Fischler family could use some Kryptonite. A rare Superman comic, the hero sold for $250,000.

3. Ask Simon Cowell. Former American Idol and single mom Fantasia Barrino won't go homeless thanks to the generosity of the curmudgeonly critic.

More from The Stir: Pregnant? No Mortgage for You!

4. Making Cakes. An apple cake (or 200) a day saved a Teaneck, New Jersey, woman from going under with a mega bake sale. These days she makes "mortgage cakes" for a living.

5. Offer to Light Your Car on Fire. John Maxim took online donations to pay off his house -- with an agreement to light his car on fire live on the Internet for donors to watch. It worked.

Written by Jeanne Sager for CafeMom's blog, The Stir.

More from The Stir:

Tips for Having an Open House

Should Kids Contribute to Family Finances in Tough Times?

6 Fixes for Marital Money Problems