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These articles are ridiculous. 1. Bought too much house 2. Bought motorcycle 3. Had FOUR kids 4. Bought loads of presents at christmas 5. Wife wants to stop wo

These articles are ridiculous. 1. Bought too much house 2. Bought motorcycle 3. Had FOUR kids 4. Bought loads of presents at christmas 5. Wife wants to stop working Yet they live in a VERY cheap part of the country. If they had been better with their money they wouldn't be in such a terrible position. I'm not going to argue that losing 50% of your pay doesn't suck - because it does; yet whining about it while also bitching that your wife must now gasp work is lame.

BigZaphod 17y ago
During the part about the Harley and the gold band it is worded almost as if those purchases happened recently. I don't think they did; I think they happened before the downgrade when they thought times were good because it later says the Harley sat for months before a buyer was found - so it's sold off now. The house and kids situation is similar as well. Obviously the kids all happened prior to this situation when they felt they were moving up in the world. You can't just un-have kids when things get tough later! The house deal sounded like it was in progress when the downgrade came. Now they're effectively trapped there. You can't just sell a house immediately after buying and expect to break even - they'd likely end up taking a loss selling the house (especially if the real estate market there is still dropping). (Of course it's important to consider if the loss of selling now offsets the loss of paying a higher mortgage payment while you wait for things to recover.) If they had canceled the in-progress house deal at the last minute, they'd probably have been liable for some fees or perhaps even a lawsuit from the seller. (I've lived in my house just over 2 years and will be selling it soon due to a job and location change and we'll be lucky to even break even - and we paid a lot extra on principal each month while the times were good!) EDIT: I missed that the house they bought was actually his parents! Deals with family screws with people's sense of priorities, for sure.. :)
tcskeptic 17y ago
I think you are being more than a little harsh. The "too much house" that they bought had a payment that was a relatively conservative 22% of their income at the time of the purchase. He did buy a motorcycle, and has sold it and sounds like he has learned from it. I don't get any indication that anyone is "bitching" that the wife must now work, I think what they both saying is "we worked really hard to get to a certain point in life, and getting there allowed us to consider new options. Those options are now gone and that is hard." If 31% of your income dissapears tomorrow, and someone interviews you about it a few months from now, could you be this equanimous? I know that I would struggle.

BigZaphod 17y ago

During the part about the Harley and the gold band it is worded almost as if those purchases happened recently. I don't think they did; I think they happened before the downgrade when they thought times were good because it later says the Harley sat for months before a buyer was found - so it's sold off now. The house and kids situation is similar as well. Obviously the kids all happened prior to this situation when they felt they were moving up in the world. You can't just un-have kids when things get tough later! The house deal sounded like it was in progress when the downgrade came. Now they're effectively trapped there. You can't just sell a house immediately after buying and expect to break even - they'd likely end up taking a loss selling the house (especially if the real estate market there is still dropping). (Of course it's important to consider if the loss of selling now offsets the loss of paying a higher mortgage payment while you wait for things to recover.) If they had canceled the in-progress house deal at the last minute, they'd probably have been liable for some fees or perhaps even a lawsuit from the seller. (I've lived in my house just over 2 years and will be selling it soon due to a job and location change and we'll be lucky to even break even - and we paid a lot extra on principal each month while the times were good!) EDIT: I missed that the house they bought was actually his parents! Deals with family screws with people's sense of priorities, for sure.. :)

tcskeptic 17y ago

I think you are being more than a little harsh. The "too much house" that they bought had a payment that was a relatively conservative 22% of their income at the time of the purchase. He did buy a motorcycle, and has sold it and sounds like he has learned from it. I don't get any indication that anyone is "bitching" that the wife must now work, I think what they both saying is "we worked really hard to get to a certain point in life, and getting there allowed us to consider new options. Those options are now gone and that is hard." If 31% of your income dissapears tomorrow, and someone interviews you about it a few months from now, could you be this equanimous? I know that I would struggle.