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Laura Rowley Money & Happiness

Laura Rowley, Money & Happiness

What Not to Do When You Buy a Home

by Laura Rowley

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Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 12:00AM

In a 'New York Times' story headlined “My Personal Credit Crisis”, economics reporter Edmund Andrews, 48, lays bare his finances and admits to a headlong dive into the subprime debacle. In the piece, excerpted from a forthcoming book, he describes buying a home he couldn’t afford with his second wife, Patty, falling ever deeper in debt, and cashing out his equity to finance a lifestyle that cost $3,000 a month more than they were earning. It ends with Andrews defaulting on the mortgage and, eight months later, still waiting for the bank to begin foreclosure proceedings.

Andrews’ story is riddled with classic personal-finance errors thought to be the province of the uneducated, underemployed, and ill-fated. Andrews was none of these; he earned $120,000 a year and didn’t suffer a disability or job loss. He explains his folly this way: "The money was there, and I was in love…I just thought I could beat the odds." But -- at least in hindsight -- the colossal improbability of beating the odds leaps off the written page. This is magical thinking at its finest, from a guy whose job is to write about the facts all day long. Multiplied by tens of millions of homeowners, it brought the U.S. economy to its knees.

Here are just a few lessons from his story:

1. Price your passions. Andrews divorced his first wife after 21 years of marriage and was responsible for $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments. This left him with $2,777 a month in take-home pay to support his new wife and her children.

A researcher at Ohio State University found that people who stayed married accumulated 93 percent more wealth than single or divorced people. Economist Jay Zagorsky of OSU’s Center for Human Resource Research tracked the financial and marital status of more than 9,000 people from 1985 to 2000. Those who divorced saw their wealth reduced by 77 percent on average.

In the book 'Spend ‘Til the End', authors Lawrence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns urge readers to “price their passions” -- or consider the financial consequences before they have multiple children, move to a big city, or get divorced. Unromantic? Maybe. On the other hand, Andrews writes that financial stress nearly blew apart his second marriage.

2. Budget for the worst-case scenario. After the $2,500 mortgage payment, Andrews had $277 a month left for necessities, and hoped that Patty’s salary would make up the difference: “I was banking on Patty to earn enough money to keep us afloat.” Five months after moving into their home, Andrews was shocked to find just $196 left in his checking account. He writes, “How could I have glossed over the fact that we were spending about $3,000 more than we were earning, month after month?”

Actually, it’s pretty easy to gloss over those kinds of details if you don’t base your budget on your real income and expenses but instead dwell in a parallel universe where your fairy godmother balances your books with a wave of her wand (a big raise! the winning lottery numbers! an email from a Nigerian who will pay you a hefty fee to help him transfer money out of his country!).

For example, I have one budget based on our current household income, and a shadow plan that would apply if our income were cut in half. It eliminates college and retirement savings, an extra principal payment we make on our 30-year mortgage, vacations, and the kids’ extracurricular activities, among other expenses.

Theoretically, we could also sell my husband’s season tickets to the New York Giants games. But I don’t include that in my budget because I would have to chloroform him to get my hands on them, and Accounting 101 says you don’t count your tickets before they hatch. How could Andrews count an entire income before it hatched?

3. Avoid the two-income trap. Counting on a second salary to make ends meet in the first place was an enormous gamble. Andrews writes, “Patty had spent much of the previous two decades as a stay-at-home mother in Los Angeles. Her last full-time job as an editor at a political research company was back in the early 1980s.”

A 2004 study found women who drop out of the workforce for three years or more lose 37 percent of their earning power. Not surprisingly, Patty landed a commission sales job at a department store averaging just $2,400 a month in take-home pay. She subsequently found an editorial position earning $60,000 -- but by that time they were knee-deep in credit card debt. (And while Andrews portrays his family as average Americans, overwhelmed by rising expenses, it turns out his wife Patricia has filed for bankruptcy twice.)

Seven months into their two-income lifestyle, they refinanced into a bigger mortgage to pay off their credit cards. Four months later, after their credit scores rebounded, they refinanced again into a lower-interest loan. The original mortgage payment of $2,500 a month ballooned to $3,200. That same month Patty lost her job.

Married couples with children are 75 percent more likely to declare bankruptcy than childless couples, according to Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, authors of 'The Two-Income Trap'. Their research shows outsized housing costs, especially in high-quality school districts such as the one Andrews and his wife chose, are a big factor, along with car payments and health insurance costs. If one earner gets sick or laid off, there’s virtually no safety net.

4. Know what you can afford. A mortgage, property taxes, and insurance should total no more than 29 percent of gross income -- and those expenses, plus other long-term debts, should be no more than 36 percent of gross income. That’s according to the Federal Housing Administration. Andrews’ ownership costs, plus alimony and child support, totaled about two-thirds of his gross income.

Meanwhile, annual maintenance costs average 1 to 2 percent of a home’s value. In a $460,000 home, Andrews should have budgeted at least $4,600 a year for fix-ups. He didn’t. He writes, “Our stately little house looked increasingly trashy: peeling paint and broken screens on the front windows, crumbling concrete on the front stoop, a lawn that was mostly crabgrass.”

5. Call your bank and ask them to cut you off in the event you attempt a debit or ATM transaction and the account has insufficient funds. As Andrews’ finances spiraled out of control, he repeatedly overshot his checking account. “Every time I overdrew my checking account by even a few dollars, the bank would tap my Mastercard for $100, helpfully deposit the cash in my account, and charge me $10 for the privilege,” Andrew writes. He recounts a $5 overdraft for school supplies. Assuming he deposited money two weeks later to repay the overdraft, his annual APR on the $10 overdraft “loan” would be 5,200 percent. (Here’s the calculator.)

6. Have a serious conversation about money with your intended before you tie the knot. Even after Patty got the $60,000 job and they had an opportunity to catch up, Andrews reports spending $2,845 in one month on their credit cards, including $700 for clothing at J. Crew. “Patty spent little on herself, but refused to scrimp on top-quality produce, Starbucks coffee, bottled juices, fresh cheese, and clothing for the children and me,” Andrews writes. “She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes.”

Ah, the agony of nickels and dimes. A funny thing happened to me over the past 20 years: I kept saving my nickels and dimes and investing them, and lo and behold, they snowballed into hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of dollars. This happened in part because my husband and I agreed not to offset the nickels and dimes we were saving by financing stuff we couldn’t afford on a credit card. Brie and lattes at 27 percent interest are really pricey.

Talk to your partner about money, and agree to use a budgeting tool to facilitate the conversation. Researcher Zagorsky found that couples argue about money more than any other topic -- in part because they don’t agree on how much they have.

The typical husband says the couple earns 5 percent more income and has 10 percent more total wealth than his wife reports, the study found. Meanwhile, the wife says the family's debts are $500 more than her husband reports. Among older couples surveyed, half differed in their wealth estimates by more than $14,700; among younger couples, half differed by $7,000. (Husbands paid the bills about 40 percent of the time.)

Perhaps the most critical discovery: Couples who didn’t divorce in the 15-year study were more in agreement on their estimates than couples who divorced. In other words, they knew how to communicate about money. If you want to avoid your own personal credit crisis, that's a good place to start.

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  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 1:02AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Maybe Ms Rowley can give Jack Gutten"tard" some instructional assistance on morality and responsibility.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 3:04PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    The authors mentioned thinking twice before divorcing... how about thinking twice before marrying. This Andrew guy is just plain stupid, and apparently cannot see even two days ahead in his future.

  • whiskeyandlace - Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 8:31AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    I hope everyone reads this. SO many people are in this trap.. I agree some lenders are to blame for bad loans and F/C, but if people adopted the "just say no" (as drugs) attitude, they might avoid it .Just because a lender says you can doesn't mean you should. I am a lender. for

  • Al D - Monday, May 25, 2009, 3:38PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Went to Viet Nam, learn very early in life (19) that you can't be too careful! One dumb move can end it all! Came home, went to college, bought a ranch, had two kids, married, ect, then the 1980's came along, and even though I made all the right moves, lost it all! Started over the last 27 years, worked, worked worked, raised two kids, paid off the house, socked some money away, and resisted the greed, did not make any stupid moves. had money for large down pmt for kids homes, made more, large amount set up in trust for grandkids college! 60 now, got cancer but not worrying about how kids and wife are going to make it! Watching the younger ones around me with large homes, large mortgages, and job loss worries, doesn;t look good for them! Well, I told them they were screwing up!!

  • El Viejo - Monday, May 25, 2009, 2:51PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Good story .... simple solution: live debt free !

  • James B - Monday, May 25, 2009, 12:21PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    I think that people who get themselves in traps such as the one described should do the right thing, and go into bankruptcy, or at least feign a life-threatening illness. Why lose what you schemed so hard to achieve? There are plenty of "Ambulance-chasers" out there willing to help.

  • Octopus - Monday, May 25, 2009, 11:43AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    The main problem is the government. First he's required to pay $4000 a month in alimony just so his wife and kid can keep their lifestyle while his lifestyle can decrease, makes no sense. Then, he's taxed probably at least 18% of his income while the government wastes the money on things he doesn't use giving him almost zero return in value. If this is the picture of America (it is) then this country sucks. It's the American Nightmare.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 11:52PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    This is what's wrong with this country: you screw up with your life; the society pays for your irresponsible behavior and you get to make $$ by writing about your screwed-up life. Hooooooorray to capitalism!

  • Michael H - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 9:05PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    @Maria A. I think you are missing the point about happiness. Laura is not saying you have to live to save every dime possible. She points out in her own life that she & her husband have their luxuries, too (season tickets). The point is YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY IF YOU ARE IN DEBT OVER YOUR EYEBALLS! It has been proven over and over again that once you hit a certain minimum income of about 40K or 50K, more money or more possessions will not make a person happy. Does Starbucks coffee really make people happier than coffee from the grocery store? Are clothes for you kids from J. Crew really going to make your kids happier than more reasonably priced stuff? I do not think so. And the research increasingly backs this up.

  • David - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 4:52PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    So many couples fail to talk finance and money. Then when it comes up one person will be uncomfortable and things get worse. Money needs to be an open agreed upon thing between two people.

  • Jaime - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 3:24PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This is why all of responsible people are now paying higher interest rates on our credit cards! It's also why my house value has fallen so dramatically. My husband and I figured out how much each of us could afford for a mortgage. We included in our calculations how much cary payments, credit cards, utilities, food and gas cost. Then we found mortgage offers and picked a mortgage we knew we could afford. As a result we have never missed a payment or made a late payment and what is our reward for being responsible? Our taxes have been increased, our car registration has been increased (we live in California), our credit card interest rates have been increased all so WE can bail out the people who got in over their heads. I'm sick of the free rides for irresponsible people. I called my bank to ask about a possibly renegotiating the terms of my mortgage and was told to default for three months and then they would talk to me. Have we now decided to reward people for not paying their debt? This article just irritated me by using morons as their example. Let them fail, let them lose their house, make them repay all the debt they accrued. I shouldn't have to pay their debt!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 1:10PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Good analysis, both yours and the NYT article. Only two questions. Where was this kind of advice 5 years ago? Why should apparently intelligent people (well at least employable people) need advice about addition, subtraction, interest rates, etc? They could clearly figure out how to earn a living. What part of this stuff were they missing? Maybe the answer to "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" really is "no."

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 12:44PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I read the NYT article and also your take on it. What you write is well written and reflects sound thinking... if your goal in life is to accumulate cash assets so that you die with money in the bank. But it is also possible to have another goal: TO BE HAPPY. "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" is what Thomas Jefferson (and contributors such as wise man Ben Franklin) set forth in our Declaration of Independence, equating Happiness with Liberty, and even Life itself. Certainly, some people only define Happiness as "financial security" -- they don't care if the kids are depressed, the marriage not working, their health shot from overwork or lack of sleep agonizing over a late bill. But your article here fails to take a couple of things into consideration: Andrews wrote his book obviously to make some money and improve his financial position. So he pitches the book & its contents to the market, to the prevailing concern. Andrews's point is that it was a mistake to buy the house. You are the one here who suggests "people should avoid divorce and multilple children." What do you know about his first marriage? Were you there? Maybe the stress in it was due to Andrew's money obsession? Maybe there are ways to have a marriage in which Love, not the FICO score, take center stage? What is the big deal, really, about a late bill? Yes, it is unpleasant to accumulate debt, but if that is the price of a happy home, why should the money be more important. I read the same article and thought Andrews's wife sounded like a very nice mate, and one who helped him grow up and grow spiritually, letting go of his money obsession. OK, I would not have her shopping habits. I am happy renting and will probably never own a house in the US, because my income does not allow buying a crazy, overpriced dwelling so that I can be a slave to a bunch of ruthless banker. But I refuse to believe my worth, or my three kids' very existence, have to be based on whether Mr. Fair & Mr. Isaac happen to approve of our "passions" (as you refer to them) or not. By the way, my brother worked for Fair Isaac: a hugely mismanaged company that has had massive financial problems: yet we still run our lives according to their "expert" models? You need to lighten up a little: no one should assume more debt than they can carry, or risk foreclosure, or accept wild loan terms. But lying awake at night over a parking ticket deadline or a late bill or a credit score is really, really nuts. Compromising your marriage over a bunch of numbers is silly. And staying together with someone you loathe who is sick of you is vile. You are betraying THEIR chance at joy along with your own. Andrews pays his alimony, and good for him. He wrote this book. He will get out of debt. He has figured out how to have the house. He has done everything right, in the end: there was no reason at all to get upset about any of it -- EXACTLY AS HIS SECOND WIFE SAID, AND CORRECTLY ANALYZED. The panic and frustration were irrational & unnecessary!

  • JoAnn - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 11:57AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I found your article very informative. I am presently looking for a home to buy and practicing if I can manage a mortgage on my own by putting the approximate monthly payment in a savings account for six months. My thoughts are do a trial to see if you can manage it.

  • Byron "Brodie" Mullican - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 11:53AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This story is a great example as to why our finances are in such a bind. First of all, he should have gotten a better divorce lawyer, second, unless he is a moron, he knew he could not afford the house he bought and third, the mortgage company knew he could not afford this house and should not have granted the loan. The problem with this story is that we, who have managed our monies responsibly, are paying for the morons who cannot. We have saved and scraped out a living to save for our retirement and now, because of irresponsible individuals, companies and government, our life savings have been depleted by 40% and rising. Thanks to all who were involved in bringing down this countries economy.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 10:45AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    It was very informative to me and it guided me to better budget my family. I was a victim of the same about 2 years ago and we change back to my old credit union when I was on active duty and my finances had gotten better. We still felling a little effect of last years gas hikes but again it got better. Thanks for helping ordinary people understanding the banking and credit card world better.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 9:11AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    The article was very good in showing that bad financial decisions can even be made by people who should know better. I gotta say though - the Yahoo! Finance User who posted on Saturday, May 23, 2009, 10:51PM ET seems to have some unresolved issues that she should explore - the article didn't place blame on Andrews' wife or his ex-wife. Sometimes there is one person in a relationship to blame, but most of the time, both people are complicit in their poor financial planning.

  • tracy - Sunday, May 24, 2009, 1:44AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    I find it interesting that the man and his new wife move into a house they can't afford b/c it 'is in a good school district' and the author states that many other americans do the same. I detect some irony in this.....maybe these 'good schools' should start teaching kids somthing about finance b/c God knows their parents know nothing about it.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, May 23, 2009, 10:51PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Hey Wally, a couple of FYI's for you. First of all, I don't know what kind of ex-wife this guy had but alimony is rare in this day and age. Normally a woman gets "rehabilitative alimony" if they have been home taking care of small children. There is usually a time restriction placed on the alimony and once the woman has a job, that's it. Obviously this guy did something wrong, sounds almost like he agreed to the $4000 per month figure. Second of all, what do you mean women can do whatever they want? Again you're not living in the real world because there are TONS and TONS of women with children working full-time making good salaries, and it's not because they necessarily want to, it's because they HAVE to. Some might be living beyond their means, but others have husbands who have simply refused to step up to the plate and further their careers in spite of the opportunities that are their's for the taking. I have a male relative making $33K per year in a good year as a grocery store clerk. He's been there for almost 30 years and the company actually put him in the management training program at one time when he maxed out on his clerk salary. His wife FORCED him to do it and she was right. But alas, he didn't want the responsibility or extra work hours and was perfectly content in making his paltry salary. He could be making over $200K as a manager right now as the company has had a TON of growth and the opportunities have been plentiful. But instead, his wife had to go back to work after their son was born and become the primary breadwinner because Mr. Ambitious failed to carry the load as he should have. And as a double whammy she has 2 very elderly and sick parent's living there that she has to try to take care of on top of her child and job that she HAS to have. If she loses that job she and the family are screwed beyond belief - ever tried supporting a family on $33K in a high cost of living area? Yep, that's right, IT'S NOT POSSIBLE. Talk about stress. Frankly if it were me I would have thrown this useless lazy bum waste of a man out LONG ago. All of you men out there throwing women under the bus for supposedly cleaning you out after a divorce are probably at fault for marrying the wrong kind of woman in the first place. But, then again, all that you all ever consider is the "effortlessly hot" factor. Anything less just doesn't meet your lofty standards, even if you're not so hot yourselves, so you end up with high maintenance wife and a high maintenance divorce settlement. Maybe you'll make better choices next time instead of railing against alimony and child support laws. And those of you advocating that the laws be done away with, why, so you can leave your wife and family penniless and struggling after the next hotty comes along and seduces you? Yeah, that's real fair, thanks but no thanks.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, May 23, 2009, 4:17PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I like the honesty of the article. This guy knew damm well he was overshooting his budget. I dont want to hear all this crap that he didnt realize what he was spending. What he didnt realize was that house prices can go down. He thought he would overburden himself in debt with a huge mortgage, and then thought his house would double in 5 years and he would be on easy street. Im sorry but the age of wealth accumulating in the hands of non producers is over. Years ago I was so sick of seeing baby boomers becoming rich right in front of my eyes for doing nothing other than go into debt. I would speak to middle aged women who seemed to have the IQ of a turtle, who didnt even know what an interest rate was, and they were getting rich on their houses they owned even though it was a crapbox. Thank god those days are over and it is all unwravelling in their faces. Maybe the responsible young people, who are actually somewhat savy and work, will be the winners in the end. My friends parents made a lot of money on their house years back. Now its declining in value, they are still wealthy, and his mother refuses to get a job even though money is tight. This is the mind set of baby boomers. They think their lives should all be on easy street without doing a thing.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 22, 2009, 11:01PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Sounds like he is blaming his wife for his financial mess. Why not sit down and figure out a budget together? I bet they would have both stopped buying lattes if they knew what was going on with their finances.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 22, 2009, 5:50PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I liked the story. I always imagined that there were people like this in the world. They live a lavish life on the outside, and they look down on other people, but eventually their day of reckoning comes... It's rare that I get to see that day of reckoning though. I hope to read the sequel too, after he's foreclosed on... You have to read the NYC article after reading the criticisms-- it's just hillarious. He calls his wife "brainy"-- not a word I would associate with two bankruptcies and a fresh foreclosure. I love the part where she tells him not to worry about nickels and dimes-- too bad he left out the obvious response: "Look woman, you've filed bankruptcy twice before, don't give me financial advice!" The part where he wakes up in a panic attack, and his wife sleeps soundly is great too... she's been there before... The article makes me very thankful that I have common sense, and that I chose such a good person as a wife. If I worry about money, so does she. It doesn't mean she can't sleep at night, but if money is short, she's happy without a vacation, or fancy cheeses, juices, and clothes.

  • DaveW - Friday, May 22, 2009, 5:44PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Megan McArdle did real reporting on this story. You should have done more as well. http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2009/05/ed-andrews-patty-barreiro-and-serial-bankruptcy-megan-mcardle-smart-young-blogger-or-all-knowing-being.html

  • looneytarian - Friday, May 22, 2009, 4:50PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    As usual, a bunch of negative posters who read a line or two and think they understand the article. This wasn't about the stupid economics reporter, it was about the lessons that could be drawn from his stupidity. For those who are always looking for something new or complaining about 'rehashing' old material, here is a news flash for you: THERE IS NOTHING NEW. You will NEVER see an article about making money by clicking your heels three times and saying 'I wish I were on Wall Street'. Or push these keys on your keyboard in this sequence and your bank account will double. WHAT do you expect? The world of finance can be broken down to this: if you, your company, or government spends more than what comes in, you go into debt. If you keep spending more than you make you will eventually go broke. The opposite is that if you, your company or your gvmt spends less than they take, a PROFIT is made. If you make enough PROFIT, you become wealthy. However, a very significant portion of American consumers, corporations and unquestionably, doubly so, our frigging government have totally disregarded those basics to the economies detriment. All that these writers can do is find different examples to point those simple rules out. The only thing complicated about finance is that there are multitudes of different vehicles for acquiring income and debt and learning which is which and how they work. Hey, Yahoo! How much do I get for that lesson??

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 22, 2009, 4:43PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I found out that the wife who "refused to scrimp" had already declared bankruptcy with her previous husband and just several months after she was able to, declared bankruptcy once more. This is what concerns and disturbs me. We have a certain subset of individuals that want to live lifestyles they can't afford and consistently choose the irresponsible route. Then they expect the government to pay for their shortfalls or to be rescued. Who is going to stand up for the responsible members of society?

  • Scootter - Friday, May 22, 2009, 3:28PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I hope this reporter was banned from ever writing any financial advice pieces. I see a single cause for the dilemma presented in this piece. The lack of self control. I am 60 years old and retired for five years now. This was possible because I bit the bullet all my life and saved at least 10% of my paycheck and invested it wisely. I too was divorced but I haven't lost my mind. I was laid off and had to seek work many times over my 30 plus years of work. I didn't loose my mind then either. I plugged along one day at a time always headed in the right direction. I used self control. I don't think any other method works for most people.

  • Susan - Friday, May 22, 2009, 12:28PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    I saw the story in the NYT on Sunday - thank you for filling in some relevant back story. Even before knowing these additional facts it struck me that this is the typical guy. We ladies can't help noticing how you always pick the train wrecks to commit to. Someone like me, who has money in the bank, owns a house with less than 50% debt to CURRENT value ratio and is helathy & gainfully employed can't get arrested. Although I'm no Angeline Jolie, I am attractive enough. Men, please stop looking for damsels in distress and give us capable ladies a chance. Maybe we won't kick you out on your butts for not being perfect!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 22, 2009, 11:33AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    We know that the reporter and the wife both voted for Obama. These are the people that the president wants the rest of us to bail out. Sure, there were predatory lenders. But these people were predatory borrowers.

  • ANDY - Friday, May 22, 2009, 10:55AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Heaven forbid that people live within their means these days. Too many adults playing "pretend." Pretending to be well off just to impress other people who are most likely pretending to be well off. Capitalism was replaced by "Greedism" in this great country over the past decade and it permeates through the guy that buys a house he can't afford, to the realitor that shows him homes he can't afford (& implies that home values always go up) to make a bigger commission, to the banks/mortgage brokers who made billions in fees financing people w/ ARM's, Balloon Notes, & Interest Only Loans so they could afford those high priced homes, to house flippers, & to those idiots in Congress that took in millions in campagin contributions to look the other way as opposed to regulating the industry as they were supposed to do. Oh, I almost forgot about the marketing geniuses that have done a fantastic job of making the American public feel like your home is substandard if you don't have an $8,000 double door stainless steel refrigerator, a $5,000 stainless steel cooktop stove, & $10,000 worth of granite countertops in your kitchen. The kicker is that I have lived within my means and now my tax dollars are going to bail this guy, and his bankrupt wife, out.

  • Monk40 - Friday, May 22, 2009, 10:15AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    The bankruptiecs are definitely relevant to the story. THAT SAID - Im not sure it changes the overall story that much- a case study of a family addicted to spending and the financial pushers/dealers who were happy to enable the behavior. Our country is full of people that got in over their heads by over spending, with legions of enabling mortgage brokers; with or without the bankruptcy component the family is an extreme example of a widespread phenomenon in our country.

Showing comments 6-35 of 108<< PreviousNext >>
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