Mom Forced To Live In Car, Cnn Article

[Thiebear]

Some of you must have a ton of money. Let's try this for fun.

If you lost the vast majority of your income and were forced to get a low pay hourly position... how long can you go on what you have saved? Don't forget to feed yourself, gas your car, and all the rest of costs associated with living.

Do the math.

I'd last exactly 4 months... then its over.. I have kids and work in IT, i plan for this.

[Heidenreich]

Some of you must have a ton of money. Let's try this for fun.

If you lost the vast majority of your income and were forced to get a low pay hourly position... how long can you go on what you have saved? Don't forget to feed yourself, gas your car, and all the rest of costs associated with living.

Do the math.

I'd spend less on gas, since I assume I'd go out less while I don't have a job.

Without touching my 401K, I could get by for 4 to 5 months, I think.

[Destino]

4-5 months reserves isn't very much... and this is all assuming one of those little "extras" doesn't pop up and bite you on the ass. Sudden emergency room visit (because odds are you will have lost your health care), car breaks down, plumbing problem, etc etc etc.

The truth is most people are vulnerable if their sector of the economy is hit. All it takes a short string of bad luck to leave most americans in a world of hurt.

If you lose your house your credit is ruined and finding a place to rent with much less income and terrible credit isn't easy. You might be stuck with facing a bad apartment in the worst part of town or a parking lot in a safer area. Reality sucks sometimes.

Also moving to a cheaper part of the country isn't always an option. Depending on your job skills you could just be moving to a cheaper place where the job market is terrible and the ones you can get pay much less. Not to mention the fact that you don't know anyone there which we can all pretend isn't a big deal but is a significant hit to your mental state.

[Bang]

Some of you must have a ton of money. Let's try this for fun.

If you lost the vast majority of your income and were forced to get a low pay hourly position... how long can you go on what you have saved? Don't forget to feed yourself, gas your car, and all the rest of costs associated with living.

Do the math.

Can I say that before the hard times came along I made provisions to move out of my million dollar neighborhood that is eating up 3/4ths of my pre-hard times salary? (the wind has been blowing pretty hard abouts economic problems, you'd have to be living under a rock to not know what 's been going on..)

Seriously, if 3/4ths of your income is going towards rent or mortgage, you simply cannot afford where you have chosen to live, and the math on that one is very obvious. It's time to make a better choice before it's too late.

Now, I move into a more affordable apartment, save myself a ton of money considering the expense of the last place. I may not have my ocean view, but I must realize that I am not entitled to this view unless I can afford it, and I can't.

But I've got a lot more money to spend on these other necessities when disaster strikes. I look into public transportation, will I be able to get back and forth to work using a minimum of fuel and expense? Should I eat steak tonight, or Ragu?

I'm all for helping folks who need it. And right now she needs it, but she needs it because she did absolutely nothing to help herself before this happened.

I'm sorry, i simply can't work up any sympathy for people who live well beyond their means, then somehow fall on hard times.

~Bang

[Destino]

Can I say that before the hard times came along I made provisions to move out of my million dollar neighborhood that is eating up 3/4ths of my pre-hard times salary? (the wind has been blowing pretty hard abouts economic problems, you'd have to be living under a rock to not know what 's been going on..)

Seriously, if 3/4ths of your income is going towards rent or mortgage, you simply cannot afford where you have chosen to live, and the math on that one is very obvious. It's time to make a better choice before it's too late.

From the way the article is written it is unclear but it mentions that she lost her condo and had little savings to back it up (this implies she owned it). It says that 3/4ths of her income went to rent, which could mean high rent or low paying job.

You mention math so lets do some math. 8 bucks an hour is 1,386.67 a month. Let's subtract uncle Sam and say she keeps 1150. Her rent was 860ish at 3/4ths of her income. Not exactly living the high life.

Also she was a loan processor, they often make money based on files and when the mortgage crisis hit her income would have been destroyed. So assuming that her income was higher then isn't a safe bet.

Now, I move into a more affordable apartment, save myself a ton of money considering the expense of the last place. I may not have my ocean view, but I must realize that I am not entitled to this view unless I can afford it, and I can't.

Who did you find that would rent to you making 8 bucks an hour with a foreclosure on you recent credit? And what did you find that was a lot cheaper than 860 a month? I live in a much cheaper neighborhood then a million average and 860 doesn't get you much. I assume by more affordable you mean someone's basement for 550-650 a month, saving you a grand total of 300 bucks give or take. Meaning you have to live for some time at <600 dollars monthly. Better hope you don't get sick.

But I've got a lot more money to spend on these other necessities when disaster strikes. I look into public transportation, will I be able to get back and forth to work using a minimum of fuel and expense? Should I eat steak tonight, or Ragu?

A lot more money? No. You have barely enough to keep the lights on and the car insurance paid for... nevermind a car note.

I'm all for helping folks who need it. And right now she needs it, but she needs it because she did absolutely nothing to help herself before this happened.

I'm sorry, i simply can't work up any sympathy for people who live well beyond their means, then somehow fall on hard times.

~Bang

You underestimate how quickly things can hit you. Like others have said 3-4 months reserves... and you can only move if the economy says you can. Home owners right now have to shortsale if they need to leave and then they get to deal with terrible credit little income and finding a place in a decent neighborhood that will rent to them.

[China]

Some of you must have a ton of money. Let's try this for fun.

If you lost the vast majority of your income and were forced to get a low pay hourly position... how long can you go on what you have saved? Don't forget to feed yourself, gas your car, and all the rest of costs associated with living.

Do the math.

I could go at least 4 years without touching my 401k at my current level of expenditure. Should I lose the vast majority of my income, there would be alot of expenditures I could eliminate (e.g., charitable donations, dining out, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, cable TV, etc.). In that way I'm sure I could go much longer.

[Destino]

I could go at least 4 years without touching my 401k at my current level of expenditure. Should I lose the vast majority of my income, there would be alot of expenditures I could eliminate (e.g., charitable donations, dining out, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, cable TV, etc.). In that way I'm sure I could go much longer.

You have planned well. I'm just past 1.5 years myself. My burn rate is tiny and frankly I could extend that significantly just by getting a low paying job. My skill sets allow me to be employed easily in different fields. My only concern is that my wife wants kids and what impact that will have... so I'm working my ass off at the moment and trying to create a few more revenue sources should my primary weaken.

[Popeman38]

Some of you must have a ton of money. Let's try this for fun.

If you lost the vast majority of your income and were forced to get a low pay hourly position... how long can you go on what you have saved? Don't forget to feed yourself, gas your car, and all the rest of costs associated with living.

Do the math.

Well, without touching my 401(k) and getting a low paying job I could easily make it 5 years. But again, that is with me cutting my disposables (DirecTV, DSL, mag subscripts, stopping school, Skins tix, eating out...). I would also have the ability to go to the unemployment office and draw those benefits till I could find a job. Of course, if my wife kept her job would extend that 5 years by to at least 15 (assuming we could refi the house in 5 years, which won't be an issue).

Blaming this ladies problems on the govt is ludicrous. Let's not forget she is eligible for social security (roughly $2000/month). Couple that with unemployment benefits (CA allows employees to collect both) and she should have enough money to "scrape" by. Unless she extended too far and bought a condo that ate up 3/4 of her income. Oh wait, she did. And she is too proud to ask for help. What is the saying that has been around for years?

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

[endzone_dave]

Some of you must have a ton of money. Let's try this for fun.

If you lost the vast majority of your income and were forced to get a low pay hourly position... how long can you go on what you have saved? Don't forget to feed yourself, gas your car, and all the rest of costs associated with living.

Do the math.

By the time I'm 67 I'll have plenty saved up. I sacrificed a lot in my 20's putting 10% of my income in a retirement fund but I didn't want to be living out of a car when I retired.

[Drop]

Yet somehow children return to the home 3-4-5 times in a lifetime. If you can't count on your family when your living in a car WTF is the point.

You mean I'd have to give up an entire room and closet? That *****.

Taking the women that gave you birth in when she's in trouble is not putting his life on the line. It is doing the right thing.

Selfish is thinking that your current financial situation and fun first lifestyle is more important that sucking it up for a few months helping out a relative.

I'd give my life for my family, they are that important.

I was the first one to point out it was her fault not "America's" And the state did a pretty cool thing in coming up with a solution it seems. A free society means you have the ability to fail. Or we wouldnt allow people to live next to the Mississippi.

You're making it sound like her children are just out partying while poor old mom lives in her car, suffering.

You DON'T KNOW that that is the case here. You're making assumptions and generalizations.

I said it before, i'll say it again. If the children have the means to take care of their mother and they aren't doing so, shame on them. That's wrong, plain and simple.

HOWEVER, if these kids are away at college, how are THEY supposed to afford the expense of flying mom overseas and "take her in"? I'm sorry but asking your son or daughter to forfeit their college education, their livelihood, or their future shows that you only care about your troubles and yourself....and the situation your in is more than likely your own fault, not theirs.

What about the 19 year old daughter that moved in with friends? Is she supposed to force her friends to let her mother move in with her?? And if that daughter has nowhere else to go, i guess she's supposed to not live with her friends just because her mom has nowhere to go? If you want that for your child, then you're f*cked up in the head.

Lets get real here. We don't know enough about the situation to sit here and point fingers at, and/or criticize her children. I know i'm not necessarily right about the kids being in college, i was simply playing devils advocate to all you that were wagging your fingers at her children from your pedestals.

And once more, i don't believe that her children should have to make up for her f*ck ups in life. That's not fair to her kids. And any parent that would ask their children to sacrifice something like their future or their oppurtunities, is a selfish person. Her children SHOULD want to help her....but if they don't have the means...who are you to hold them in a negative light??

[NavyDave]

Some of you must have a ton of money. Let's try this for fun.

If you lost the vast majority of your income and were forced to get a low pay hourly position... how long can you go on what you have saved? Don't forget to feed yourself, gas your car, and all the rest of costs associated with living.

Do the math.

Hmm, I'd have to look in the mirror, lay myself off. But, I'd still get that darn retired from the military monthly payment to go with that 8 to 10 dollar per hour job, curses.

Food two freezers full of food. Fish from a nice weekend down in the Tidewater area, still have 70 pounds of Venison with more available if I want.

And I can count on family in North Carolina that have farms with pigs, chickens, etc.

I do on ocassion park the Navigator and ride the Metro to places like Bethesda Medical Center and ChinaTown.

I've been saving since the 90's but to play along, by myself I'd say 2 years.

Mrs ND also has a job and a house thats paid for in Florida thats rented out to fellow shipmates among other things.

[Destino]

By the time I'm 67 I'll have plenty saved up. I sacrificed a lot in my 20's putting 10% of my income in a retirement fund but I didn't want to be living out of a car when I retired.

By the time you are 67 you may have had two messy divorces that reduce your net worth to zero. Some of you really don't seem to have a lot of real world experience in personal finance. People lose a lot of money all the time without having done anything that most of us would feel is out of the ordinary. Hell I've seen people lose a ton of money in their 401k's because the company managing them had bad ideas.

If you want to control your own financial destiny think multiple revenue streams. Think long term and short term investments. Start buyng only that which you can afford by investing in something else and spending the earnings so your assets never decrease.

401k and savings accounts aren't security. They are a step in the right direction but if the economy tanks and your area of it is hardest hit you can find yourself just like this poor lady faster then you think.

[McMetal]

I may not retire a rich man, but I sure as hell won't have two divorces under my belt.

There's fiscal responsibility, and then there's poor character judgement.