Comments on: Start Cutting Immediately to Save a Sinking Ship

By: Cindy M

Cindy M — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:13:40 +0000

Hard for me to express anything but disgust and sarcasm here. I’m most definitely not sympathetic for anybody but the kids. What irresponsible, dishonest, lazy parents these two are. You don’t keep spending money you don’t have. They aren’t teaching the kids anything smart and useful but gee, how can they when they aren’t too bright themselves? Are these two college grads? If so, what a hoot.

By: Gail

Gail — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:16:33 +0000

What are they planning on telling the children when they end up on the street without even a car because they have lost everything? I can’t believe someone would just keep on spending when they have lost their jobs. Unbelievable!!!

By: Stacy Adcock

Stacy Adcock — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:02:16 +0000

Agree completely Texas Girl. I’m amazed that people still think and act this way but honestly I see it every day. My husband and I cut out everything when we decided to pay off our debt 3 years ago and now that it’s paid, we continue our cut back lifestyle; we didn’t add anything back except a dinner out here and there. As any fan of this blog site knows, life can be very fun without spending a lot of money. I hope they don’t file bandruptcy.

By: Texas Girl

Texas Girl — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Oh my GOSH! I’m horrified. I know I’m cheap, but we haven’t lost ANY income, but started feeling uneasy back in the fall during election time and cut out EVERYTHING at that time. We have no cable tv, don’t eat out, and don’t go on vacation or buy ANYTHING. Our friends think we’re weird but I don’t think I could survive your friend’s situation. What sickens me the most is that obviously they had a substantial income before…imagine how much they could have saved and been PREPARED for this disaster (had they not bought a vacation home for instance)….and now the taxpayers will have to bail them out because of their materialism and stupidity.

By: Monroe on a Budget » Reality check: layoff means cut back on expenses!

Monroe on a Budget » Reality check: layoff means cut back on expenses! — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:29:37 +0000

[...] Jennifer Derrick has a story at the Personal Finance Advice blog about a family who is dealing with unemployment. [...]

By: Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:02:26 +0000

You would think one of the parents would at least get a temporary job delivering pizzas or something, just to get some income coming in. Way too much pride I guess.

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:54:30 +0000

This is a sad story… not only the loss of jobs, but the inability to deal with reality.

I’d be willing to bet that their credit cards were not at $0 in December, and this downward spiral started BEFORE the job loss.

I hope they can turn it around to save their home, but it sounds like they are unwilling to make the obviously necessary moves to do that.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:40:00 +0000

It would seem they would sell 1 car and the second house. That way it would at lease free up two expenses.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:16:55 +0000

It’s situations like these, ones that are largely avoidable, that make me mad when someone declares bankruptcy. They couldn’t do anything about being laid off, but to keep spending and not take logical steps to reduce their debt load are just so maddening.

That said, I hope that they get their finances going in the right direction. I hate for anyone to get in desperate straits even if it is mostly their fault. I just hope they don’t take a shortterm view of their debt and think that it’s better to declare bankruptcy than spend a couple or four years paying things off.

By: Joan

Joan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:06:41 +0000

So, if their credit cards were at $0 in December when all this started, that would mean they were charging an average of $6,666 a month…plus not paying their mortgage? Hooo-weee. The kids may not be stupid, but the adults?