Never Again...

[brad dryden]

I work with a guy whos house was forclosed on becouse when the place he worked shut down he came to where I work and took a pay cut.

Well he played it good and I felt bad for the guy so I put a offer in on the house and got the loan we havent actually got a accepted offer from the bank yet though.

Well his payment was $900 somthing a month and the other day he told me what his wife braught home. She was making $1500 a month and he was making about $1400 or so.

So I aked how come he wasent able to make the house payments and he said I dont know I had the check to my wife and she pays all the bills. Well he has a $70 house phone payment a $80 satalite mayment and cell phones and a Van payment. To me from what he said he should have no issue paying for it.

Also if it was a issue he should have downgraded on the house phone payment and removed the satalite and cell phones.

Well also he found out his wife has missed several payments on the Van but she is paying on it to catch it up. They havent had a house payment in a year and havent saved a dime and he has no clue where the money is going.

After he told me all of this stuff I decided he was going to have to find a new home I guess becouse I am not going to go through with this now.

It ticked me off that they couldent even down grade their material things to make it.

Sorry all the typing is a mess im frustrated with all of this.

[Rhino]

You just learned a valuable lesson about some people's inability to live within their means and have no concept what a budget is. They're in for a rude awakening! You don't need to put your family at financial risk to help them out. They appear to have the means to help themselves but lack the desire.

[Hoosierbuck]

On-line gambling. QVC. A drug habit. There are a million ways for a fool and his money to be seperated. Don't even spend your time wondering where some other dudes' money goes. Just try to keep an eye on your own. Be a good steward of your gifts and you will come out OK.

HB

[TBow]

For the majority of my working career, I made what I thought was a fairly descent salary. Yet by comparison to a lot of my fellow workers and other friends that I had (that I knew made less than what I made), my standard of living was significantly less. For a long time I thought perhaps that I was just frivilous with my money and wasted it. I didn't live in a new $500K house with an inground swimming pool in the backyard and two new vehicles in the garage. Heck I don't even have a garage and my two vehicles are now 12 and 13 years old, but they're all mine. Paid for to the last nut and bolt. For years I walked the woods while buddies bragged about being able to tour the bush on their 700 cc twin 4wheelers. My holidays consisted of sitting in the backyard with an ice cold beer and perhaps one $500 hunting trip each fall, while friends hit the Carolinas on golf trips then the Carribean each winter.

What was I doing wrong? Why was I not living the good life?

Well somethings just have a habbit of coming home to rest I guess. I was able to retire in my mid 50s, have no mortage on my modest home, no car loans, no credit card debt, own a building lot where I hope to build my moderately modest dream home (with a garage) in a couple years, have a few modest investments and have taken a trip to the Carribean each winter now for the past couple years without going back into debt as well as well as still maintaining my annual $500 hunting trips. I've gone the short term pain for the long term gain route in life I guess. Life is starting to get good!

My buddies? Well most are still working. Have mortgages that may have to be passed onto their kids. Are interest broke by making those mortgage and credit card and loan payments each and every month.

I'm rich by no means, but I don't have to stay awake nights wondering when the repo-man will come a knocking, or worrying if the utilities are going to be shut off or if the next credit card swipe will be approved or not.

I've seen how some people seem to believe that credit limits are money owing them and live them to their maximum amout, not understanding the eventuallity that they will all have to be paid off, interest and all. And what amazes me is that people who have difficulty in getting approved for low interest credit cards, are the first to be approved for cards that charge 29.5% interest. Isn't that loan sharking rates?

TBow (not TBroke)