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I'm not sure if this is the right forum but am I the only one that's sick of the sob stories of the poor people losing their homes, cars, etc.?
In particular I am speaking of a story I saw on the news this morning. They were talking about this family that oh, boo hoo, had to give up their Mercedes on leasetrader.com. A family with 5 kids, a huge house and two other cars... and they were so economically strapped they had to give up their Mercedes! oh no!
What about those of us that can't AFFORD a car? what about those of us that might not have any way to get to work because a majority of the public transit systems in the country are in dire financial straits? What about those of us that get by with what little we have and do it without crying about how we can't afford a Mercedes?
No, instead we're hearing about the folks that screwed up, buying huge houses and extra cars that they didn't necessarily need. Oh, wah, you can't have a Mercedes anymore and you only have two cars now, boo hoo! Oh, you can't go buy your starbucks every day or buy those $200 designer jeans. I'm so sad for you, really!
I commiserate entirely. Those of us who made a point of living within our means now and before have little sympathy for those who thought they were entitled to a rock star lifestyle on a fry cook's salary.
I commiserate entirely. Those of us who made a point of living within our means now and before have little sympathy for those who thought they were entitled to a rock star lifestyle on a fry cook's salary.
You got it .... although I am willing to take criticism for my latest pair of Wrangler designer jeans ............... at $15.50 in Walmart.
I hear you - those of us that have ALWAYS had to watch our money and ALWAYS relied on coupons, sales, etc. while grocery shopping find it hard to dig up sympathy for folks that complain because they can't live "in the style to which they'd like to become accustomed".
We have a '98 Neon and a '97 Ranger - before the Neon we had an '85 Corolla.
I've managed rentals for more than 25 years and several of my best families that I previously rented to have lost their homes this year.
They were solid families with kids doing well in school and never a problem as tenants.
All of them emigrated from outside the US and got caught-up in the American dream of home ownership... They were told and believed that Real Estate will only cost more in the future and all had loans with low teaser rates that they couldn't handle when they reset.
I have two of the families back... each was paying between 3 and 4k every month for their mortgage, taxes and insurance. My rent for comparable housing in the same neighborhood is between $1350 and $1800... less than half.
The problem today is that there are to many assumptions that everyone who is loosing their homes,etc,, have been irresponsible. For the most part,that is true. Many people (especially young families) went into mortgages they shouldn't have,risky arm's ,etc...
There are a few exceptions though and it isn't really fair to put everyone into one big group.
There are those that lost their jobs,now having to take jobs for much less money,hence,not being able to keep up with their bills.
I guess everyone is taking a risk then by buying ANY house,regardless.
EVERYONE is in risk of loosing their job,especially today. (well okay-maybe not those UAW workers who seem to still be getting the better end of the deal!)
It is easy to sit and judge without knowing the true facts.
What about all those elderly people that are loosing their homes now because their retirement benefits have been thrown away,causing them to now spend hundreds ,thousands of dollars on health care benefits that they didn't have to pay for before?
Yes,many people shouldn't have gotten themselves into the situations they are in,but there are also other stories out there,genuine people who worked hard all of their lives ,who are now having to start over.
yeah - there are those who got greedy and decided to risk and trade up their mortgages to a bigger and better house every 3 years or so... BUT like the above poster said... the majority of foreclosures now are actually a second wave of people who lost their jobs and cannot find an equivalent salary position to pay the bills. Say the guy makes $50,000 per year - and now the only job he can find is bagging groceries. I have been seeing that here a lot. Guys with masters degrees... it is pathetic how our govt. let this happen. It is NOT only greedy folks that are in trouble.
Even if you have a low fixed rate mortgage that is almost paid off. This could happen if you could not find employment. Or you have a medical crisis.
The problem today is that there are to many assumptions that everyone who is loosing their homes,etc,, have been irresponsible. For the most part,that is true. Many people (especially young families) went into mortgages they shouldn't have,risky arm's ,etc...
There are a few exceptions though and it isn't really fair to put everyone into one big group.
There are those that lost their jobs,now having to take jobs for much less money,hence,not being able to keep up with their bills.
I guess everyone is taking a risk then by buying ANY house,regardless.
EVERYONE is in risk of loosing their job,especially today. (well okay-maybe not those UAW workers who seem to still be getting the better end of the deal!)
It is easy to sit and judge without knowing the true facts.
What about all those elderly people that are loosing their homes now because their retirement benefits have been thrown away,causing them to now spend hundreds ,thousands of dollars on health care benefits that they didn't have to pay for before?
Yes,many people shouldn't have gotten themselves into the situations they are in,but there are also other stories out there,genuine people who worked hard all of their lives ,who are now having to start over.
I agree with supernerdgirl on a lot of points. I've been poor a lot more years than I've been financially secure, and the people who have been there for a while know that you always need to save for a rainy day.
For years I've been watching people who make less than I do buy big houses, fill them full of furniture with "no interest for 3 years" deals, spend $10 a day on their lunches, go out to $50 dinners three times a week, and buy nicer cars than I could ever fit into a reasonable budget.
I still pack my lunch, drive my old beater who's sole virtue is being paid off, rarely go out to an expensive dinner, and never bought into the idea that I had to buy a McMansion when I needed a starter house. I can't reasonably afford a new Mercedes, and don't feel a whit of sympathy for the idiots who felt entitled to one on a $15/hr salary.
I do feel sympathy for people who did everything right and ran into bad luck, but then again you run into the concept of saving for a rainy day. To somebody who has never bought a new car or vacationed in the tropics, its hard to feel much sympathy for the people who made you feel like a leper for being responsible instead of keeping up with the Joneses.
I'm not much of a judgmental person, but I can't help but to believe that the people who wanted to be judged on their success also deserve to be judged on their failure.
Guys, my biggest point with this post is that somehow the news media thinks I should feel sorry for someone that had to give up a MERCEDES when they have two other cars. Just. Can't. Do. It.
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