From $70K to food bank, one family's struggle....

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Pablo

Pablo

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Stories like Guerrero's are becoming more common as middle-class Americans feel the pinch of an economic downturn, rising gas prices and a housing crunch, especially in a state like California that has been rocked by foreclosures...


And why might this be? Evil lenders? Nasty Money Grubers?

Quote:
Guerrero is estranged from her husband and raising her two young children. She's already burned through her savings to help make ends meet, and is drawing unemployment checks. She has had to take extreme measures to pay for her interest-only mortgage of $2,500 a month.


From my favorite: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/03/27/foodbank.family/index.html
 
Well, I hope the government hurries up and does something. Although I am struggling to make ends meet and keep my $950 a month payment current, I am giddy with anticipation of my taxes going through the roof so I can do my part in helping her and others keep their modest mortgages paid. I'm all for help, but dang!
 
Quote:
And why might this be? Evil lenders? Nasty Money Grubers?



..development of expanding markets in foreign lands that have had the dual punch effect of moving more people on the unemployment side of the equation, while putting tremendous demands on global energy supplies raising all costs.

Less money - higher costs. More failures in an economy that insists on running on the very fringe limits of questionably viable economics to assure maximum possible yield NOW.
21.gif


It's NOW the tomorrow of the last NOW.


btw-she needs to see if Lane Bryant needs a model. That may provide some relief. Lovely woman.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
And why might this be? Evil lenders? Nasty Money Grubers?


Pablo, I'm glad something like this can't happen to you -- and if it were to happen, you surely would man up and accept responsibility.

PS: Plenty people have gone from being millionaires to the living in the gutter. The more you have, the more you can lose.
 
I'm with you, Pablo.

$30,000 on rent (worse than rent, an interest only mortgage) when you're only making $70,000/yr?

Somethings got to give...

Here's hoping the kids father steps up.

It's a sad story but I don't think the answer should or will come from government.

Thank [censored] for the food bank and those who support it!

Gary - you're right... she's beautiful! Maybe a modeling job would be an excellent idea.
 
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My guess is that this woman is going to survive. She's made some bad financial decisions and maybe some personal ones as well, but she seems the fighter.

When she lands on her feet, I hope the follow up story isn't lost in the sauce.
 
Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
My guess is that this woman is going to survive. She's made some bad financial decisions and maybe some personal ones as well, but she seems the fighter.

When she lands on her feet, I hope the follow up story isn't lost in the sauce.


Well said. Contrary to what some people here may think - I have a heart and did not post this to drop the bomb on this lady. Yes she is a fool, but I would not want her or her kids to go hungry, she's just the usual pawn. My point here is the press......a couple of you get it.
 
I read the story, prepared to find she'd been a feckless spendthrift and had bred irresponsibly -- i.e., had at least one kid since her job went away. But the story doesn't indicate that. (Though they'd have been much better off not having kids at all!)

Her problems were (a) ditching the husband -- something like 90% of all divorces are initiated by the wife -- and (b) buying, probably, more house than even the two of them could afford, and on an interest-only mortgage, too.
 
Originally Posted By: drivewaytech
Well, I hope the government hurries up and does something. Although I am struggling to make ends meet and keep my $950 a month payment current, I am giddy with anticipation of my taxes going through the roof so I can do my part in helping her and others keep their modest mortgages paid. I'm all for help, but dang!
You need to pay higher taxes with a smile because the U.S.A. likes to rebuild Iraq Give money to Ireland, Palastine,Afganistan, etc and most third world dictators .So work hard cause your politicians need the tax $$$ rolling in.
 
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
I read the story, prepared to find she'd been a feckless spendthrift and had bred irresponsibly -- i.e., had at least one kid since her job went away. But the story doesn't indicate that. (Though they'd have been much better off not having kids at all!)

Her problems were (a) ditching the husband -- something like 90% of all divorces are initiated by the wife -- and (b) buying, probably, more house than even the two of them could afford, and on an interest-only mortgage, too.


The numbers I've seen are 2/3rds of divorces are filed by women, and I've researched it a great deal.

If he is estranged because she got rid of him for a new man, it's really difficult for this formerly betrayed husband to have sympathy.

It burns my toast when I feels someone playing the single mom sympathy card, when I know that most single moms VOLUNTEER for the job. They are NOT victims in most cases, they CHOOSE to do this. Either they have sex when they are not married, or they ditch their husbands when they find out they can't change him into their dream man.

(My theory is that they watch too much HGTV, too many home renovations and then think their husband is also a "fixer-upper.")

To be fair, there are some really bad men our there. But in reality character is not a gender trait, so bad character is likely represented equally between men and women. So for every man with bad character, there is likely a matching woman with bad character.

But knowing what I know about marriage, divorce, affairs and walk-away wives, the odds are 2:1 that she dumped him, and not necessarily because he was fooling around. It is equally likely that if there was any infidelity, that she was the unfaithful partner.

So I'm simply asking folks not to jump to conclusions about the estranged husband. Odds are even up regarding who is the one behaving badly in this relationship.
 
Quote; It burns my toast when I feels someone playing the single mom sympathy card, when I know that most single moms VOLUNTEER for the job. They are NOT victims in most cases, they CHOOSE to do this. Either they have sex when they are not married, or they ditch their husbands when they find out they can't change him into their dream man.

Agree!
 
Sell, the house, move in with parents. This was a reasonable way to do things years ago..."it takes a village", right?

Yeah, one might feel a loss of "self-esteem", but we're talking about one's kids, right?

Similarly, I don't feel the need to support their mortgage with my tax money.

Additionally, some individuals only learn from their mistakes through expense rather than looking to other individuals experiences. She'll learn more by loosing the house, moving in with family, etc. Too bad, but at some point, there needs to be a securement of individual responsibility.

A low interest loan is not a right. Negotiation and timing is part of experience and a little luck.
 
this is going to get much worse in the months to come. the govt. CANT fix this. bailing out the lenders or consumers WONT fix this. capitalism is not an idea, its an unknown ideal. free markets free men, in TIME things will rebalance.
 
This story sounds eerily similar to one of our family friends. Recently divorced, now a single mom, lots of unpaid debts from bad mortgage/consumption decisions and a FICO score that has crash and burned so she has no lines of credit. The main difference is she still has a job.

My wife wants us to co-sign for her so that she can establish some lines of credit and I said no freakin way because she has not shown any history of responsible financial management. We would essentially be subprime lenders, in a sense. Arming a sub 600 FICO score holder with a credit card is like giving a 13 year old boy a loaded gun. But I have agreed to be a lender of last resort for her so that if she loses her job, she can count on us to help her make ends meet in the short run. We are not going to let her kids starve.

It's really unfortunate because before all this happened, her philosophy was "consume now, enjoy life because life is too short." Now the chickens have come home to roost and I don't think she would have changed her outlook had this not happened. Sometimes all the advice in the world won't work and only experience will cause someone to change their perspective.
 
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