I watch a lot of TV- late at night- and in the daytime- when the debt counseling, mortgage refinancing, and those Goddamn Free Credit Report asswads target the little less fortunate losers and buy up every piece of ad space that they possibly can.
During the day, they pressume that the people watching aren’t at work , must not have a job, and therefore must be having financial problems. At night the assumption is that same person is up due to insomnia because they are worried about not being able to pay their bills.
Their demographic- losers that have debt. Like me.
I wish I could tell you that I live high on the hog like the Duggars and pay cash for everything, but I can’t. I envy the Duggars, not because they have a lot of sex or wear matching clothes and look Amish, but because they have made smart financial decisions in their life.
I wish I could say we were “house poor” and just down size and the problem would be fixed. Or that we lived a life of extravagance and could just make some cut backs and sacrifices and the problem would fix itself. I wish I could blame my debt on college loans because that’s so much more justifiable and easy to live with.
I can’t. We live a modest life within our means. We don’t travel. We don’t drive fancy cars. And my parents paid for every dime of my college.
So how did it happen? Bad choices and bad luck. Excuses? Yes. We take full responsibilty for them, but none the less, they were things beyond our control.
Buying a house as the housing market crashed and being stuck with 2 homes and expenses for nearly a year. Hospitalization on THE DAY that my husband’s employer entered us into a less coverage insurance bracket- by mistake. Luck has not been on our side.
We had plans. Seems as though the world had a different plan for us.
We didn’t want to be that couple that argued about money- like our parents. Yet the cycle continues.
I watch those debt reduction shows, too (in fact, am watching one right now!) and I always compare our situation to those people on those shows. Sure, sometimes financial stress is due to making stupid decisions but shit happens to everyone. We had to put about $7,500 into a vehicle a few years ago and that set us back considerably for awhile.
It just takes time, I think. xo
I have to laugh at this post. It sounds like my life. I actually called one of those debt places and they got me into a bigger hole then I was in. Needless to say I fought and fought and got my money back and put it towards better use. I am trying to learn how to save money and it was one of my goals for the New Year and needless to say I have already failed miserably. I hope to start fresh on Monday and be able to get our financial situation in order. My biggest hurdle right now is DH doesnt make enough to pay rent and all the bills. I need to go back to work but I need to find something that works with being a Mommy because I will be phoneless, cableless and carless before I am childless or they are without me. OK I know all those less’s dont make sense but trying to make a point. Good luck finding what works for you. I wish you nothing but luck and hopefully in a year or two we can both post how we have made a change for the better. We cant beat ourselves up we can only work towards making things better.
Ugh, I hear ya. We just got back from looking at houses ( because we pay way too much into renting a house we wont ever be able to afford to buy) and even getting a mortgage w/ no money down right now seems doubtful. Its scary. We dont have to leave our current house ( the landlord certainly does not want to put it back on the market in this economy) but paying out $2,100.00 a month is not as easy this year as it was last year… things are getting tight… and stressful!
I hear you….know that you’re definitely not alone in the boat…take care!
Sounds rough. Hopefully, things will be better this year.
Sounds alot like my life. I also understand that my hubby and I are the ones to blame. It sucks. We just don’t make enough money to pay all the bills, put gas in the car and get groceries. Some of it is my fault too because I still take the kids out and do things with bill money. I don’t want to deprive them because of bad choices me and daddy make, sounds dumb I know, but maybe in a few years we will be back on our feet and not living paycheck to paycheck.
I dont know many couples who dont argue about money from time to time.
Being that Im home with the kids, bringing in not much $ myself- i always feel helpless to our debt situation… which makes me bitter I think lol
Which reminds me — i have to go pay a credit card bill.. arrrghhh
Im not trying to be rude but why dont you work?
you know, this comment of why don’t you work makes me laugh. here’s why… those of us that don’t have multiple degrees or tons of experience can’t just go out and land a $50,000 job. i have done the math, and when my kids were younger we would have actually done worse if i were to work. daycare, clothes, lunches, extra babysitters, gas, etc are expensive.
oh, and ultimately, it’s none of anyone else’s business, unless you choose to share it with us.
Donna didn’t read your “Beware” entry, did she? Donna, please refer to that entry where Tena explains how she tried applying for a job.