I swear to God CNN and all of these other news organizations keep coming up with bad example after bad example of people hit by the "fiscal crisis" going on right now.
When she was laid off in February, Patricia Guerrero was making $70,000 a year. Weeks later, with bills piling up and in need of food for her family, this middle-class mother did something she never thought she would do: She went to a food bank.
It was Good Friday, and a woman helping her offered to pay her utility bill.
"It brought tears to my eyes, and I sat there and I cried. I was like, 'This is really where I'm at?' " she told CNN. "I go 'no way;' [but] this is true. This is reality. This is the stuff you see on TV. It was hard. It was very hard."
Brings tears to your eyes doesn't it? A woman who's struggling to make ends meet has hit bottom and has to ask for help from a local food bank. I know I'd be moved if that was the only facts of this case.
First off, let me explain something. There is nothing wrong with getting food from a food bank. You have to eat and so do your kids. Sure, it hurts the pride a bit, but if your kids eat, then who really cares?
However, Mrs. Guerrero has a few facts about her that CNN and the "30 second generation" have downplayed or overlooked.
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. In fact, her mother moved in with her to help pay the bills.
Guerrero even applied for food stamps, but was denied.
Ok, so where's Mr. Guerrero at? Why is he not paying child support? But more importantly, why does she have an interest only mortgage of $2,500 a month??
This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about here people. Some of my fellow countrymen and women have over extended themselves when it came to buying a home.
To give you an idea, her interest only loan of $2,500 a month is roughly a $500,000 home, more than twice the price of my home. That's assuming a 30 year loan at 6% interest.
Why was this woman paying interest only on her home? Because her and her husband over extended themselves when they bought this home.
A former loan processor, Guerrero knows all about that, although so far she has been able keep her house.
WHAT?? She should have known better then to do an interest only loan! She's gone from 70k a year to nothing inside of two months?? Something is very wrong here and it's not the "credit crisis"'s fault.
She should have sold her home immediately if she lost her job and knew she'd be without money inside of 2 months.
I'm getting a lot of hate mail from people lately calling me a heartless monster and worse, but take a look at your own financial situation. Would you be destitute in 2 months if you lost your job? If so, you're living above your means.
You can send me all the hate mail you'd like, but deep down, you know I'm right.
Remember when we were kids and we had an allowance and we saw something in the store we wanted, but we didn't have enough money? What did our parents say? "Then you can't get it". The same rules apply.
Travis
2 comments:
I am as liberal as the come, but I laughed at this article and tried to comment on CNN. Yes, that house situation is outrageous. She's probably driving around in Lexus or Mercedes, too.
This was a terrible choice of for an example of the housing crisis. When I think of those in trouble, I think of the factory worker making $9.50/hour and his wife working part time at McDonalds who got taken for a ride by those more 'educated' than them, some who just didn't know any better and saw an opportunity to own their own house.
These are the people who should be helped out. Now we have a our backwards administration cotinuing their good deeds for the rich by bailing out banks and investment firms!!! UGH!!! Unbelievable. They make millions/billions of dollars for years, and now we have to bail them out for their mistake. Bush and his cronies have been an embarassment since day 1.
Exactly. I'll be damned if I have to pay for people who overextended themselves.
The factory worker who makes $9.50 an hour is unfortunately in the same boat as everyone else. If he makes that kind of money, perhaps he shouldn't have bought a home. It sounds cruel, but you need to be making a lot more money then that, unless your home costs significantly less in that area.
Everyone, take note, never live above what unemployment pays. If you can afford to live your current lifestyle with what an unemployment check covers (typically up to 2/3rds your salary with a $500 a week cap), then you're good. If not, then you need to take a look at what you're doing and what should be cut out of your budget.
That means kids in private schools and vacation homes (I think MSNBC did a story with people in that situation).
Travis
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