Post the most financially outrageous things you've ever heard of...

[ducklite]

I have a friend, I've spoken about her here a few times out of sheer frustration, she and her husband could have a decent financial situation, but instead have a widescreen, take an expensive vacation every year, and never pay anything on time. She's borrowed money from me in the past, I finally had to stop lending her cash for two reasons, first, she never paid it back on time and it was putting a strain on our friendhsip when she would brag about some new gadget they ahd bought or deposit for a cruise while she still owed me money that should ahve been paid back months ago, and second I decided to stop enabling her irresponsibility. They are in their mid-40's and have less than $20K saved for retirement--and the husband just "retired" from his union job and isn't working (he's getting a pension that's about half of what he was making), and they are just about to lose their health insurance because it only covers him for free for six months after retirement and they can't (or won't) pay the COBRA.

But I think the craziest thing I've ever read was a person who posted (not sure if it was the Dis or another WDW message board) about an upcoming vacation, it was ten nights IIR in a deluxe resort, concierge level at WDW, and this person has credit card debt equalling their annual income and zero savings! They were complaining about being broke, yet whenever anyone suggested they scale back the annual deluxe WDW trip, they had a holy cow.

And yet another. The friend of my son called last night and mentioned that the family was moving back in with the grandmother--again. This is the third eviction in six years. The father has a decent job and the mother claims to have all sorts of illnesses and can't work. She's been denied SSDI several times because even her own doctor won't say that she's disabled. But frankly the area they live in is very inexpensive, when you're paying $600 a month for rent and the father is making $40K a year, the only reason they can't pay the rent is that they blow their money at baseball card shows, concerts, etc. Classic case of wanting to make sure their kids want for nothing, and digging themselves into a pit for it.

Does anyone just not understand the mentality of these people? Anyone else have some doozies they'd like to share?

Anne

 

[Darcy03231]

I work for a law office that does a lot of real estate transactions. I see a lot of refinances where people are taking the equity out of their house to pay off over $100,000.00 (yes that figure is right) in CREDIT CARD DEBT! The sad thing is you see them back a year or too later doing the same thing. These are usually people that make really good money too. I'd love to see the actual charge bills to see what they could have bought to come up with that much credit card debt.

 

[KelNottAt]

Outrageous? Well, I wouldn't go that far. But there are some people I know who do unwise or illogical things.

BIL (42 yo) refuses to join his 401k because it only offers mutual funds. He thinks they're a rip-off compared to just holding specific stocks. How many stocks does he hold? None. Still hasn't gotten around to finding a broker. So, he has no retirement...for a pretty stupid reason.

MIL & FIL are now living off their SS and her pension. They're constantly moaning about the difficulties they face when the semi-annual car insurance bill comes. We urge them to switch from 2X per year ins billing to monthly car insurance billing so they can even out their budget. They refuse, saying the $20 annual convenience fee is not worth it.

Likewise, everyone we know refuses to sign-up for the "budget billing" program offered by their electric company. Seems they'd much rather deal with paying $200 one month then $450 the next in stead of $325 all the time. Whatev. Just stop bringing me all your BMW (*itching, moaning, and whining).

 

[Iluvthemouse]

Okay here's one.

My BIL got sheriff evicted from his house last December (he has 4 kids age 3-17 and a wife (who has never worked a day since I have known her)).

They moved in with family-all 6 of them. Still live with to this day.

For Christmas all the kids got Ipods, Uggh boots and the 2 oldest got Razor phones. They couldnt pay their utility bills, house payment (since last May) but the kids made out on the goodies. Oh and they have filed bankruptcy 2 times that we know of, and they have won money in car accident lawsuits and right now have nothing to show for any of it.

What is that teaching your children?

 

[sorcerormickey]

That would be my boyfriend's brother and wife.

Wife has older brother that is best friends with BF's brother. BF's bro has to have everything his friend has - even tho he makes nowhere near the $$ his friend does. Moved to the same street a few years ago. Last year, his BF moved to a high-end condo complex, so brother needs to as well. Brother's house sits on market for months but they still move to new condo (how they afford it I do not know!). Stopped making mortgage payments when they moved to condo - willing to let bank foreclose so they can pay for condo. Meanwhile, brother has EVERY electronic gadget and game system that comes on the market. Just because friend has them.

Now friend is talking about moving to California, so brother wants to as well.

I am so glad we live 1,000 miles away from this drama!

 

[krystalleigh1]

I'm a home daycare provider and have heard some great excuses as to why people couldn't pay me on time. Here are a few that stick out in my mind:

1. I can't pay you because I have to buy chemicals for my hot tub.
2. I can't pay all of my fees for this week. My 4 dogs were due to have their shots so I don't have any money left for you. Sorry.
3. I had to go out and buy some new clothes and toys for my DD so I'm going to have to pay you late.

Needless to say, I didn't keep these people at my daycare very long. One parent was always telling me about all the new toys, clothes, DVD's every week, etc, etc, etc, she was getting her DD but when it came time to pay me her money was mysteriously gone. Some people just don't have their priorities straight.

 

[mjbaby]

I just heard of one last night that broke my heart.

The cousin of a friend's husband died last week suddenly - a heart attack at age 45. He wasn't overweight, ate well and exercised and it was a shock to everyone.

He lingered for several days and then died, leaving behind a wife and three young children. What he didn't leave behind was life insurance other than the 1X salary coverage provided by his employer. There is a small retirement fund and mortgage insurance - so the house will be paid for but virtually nothing else. His wife hasn't worked in nine years and now has only slightly more than their annual income with which to raise her three children.

I swear, I could weep.

 

[Tink-aholic]

My SIL (on her 3rd marriage) rents a home with her DH (on his 4th marriage), DH's two adult sons (neither work), and their 1 yo DD who is on Medicaid. SIL complains ALL THE TIME that she works two jobs, but she is woefully unemployed. So is her DH. They just filed BK last week and decided to celebrate by spending three nights in a suite at an upscale casino resort. UGHHH!

I guess she comes by it honestly, because her mom and dad just had their house foreclosed upon and moved in with them. It makes me so upset to see my 77 yo FIL working as a Wal-Mart greeter while the two sons sit on their butts!

DH and I both work full-time (and I have held two jobs most of my life!), and have one son. We pay the mortgage on time and have no other debt. We ran our last two vehicles into the ground (1 was 10 years old and the other was 14!) and just bought two new vehicles with cash; a minivan and a compact car equaled just over $30K total! We have over $200K in investments and both contribute the max to our 401ks.

Oh, and SIL asks us for money every week.

This isn't just a rant for me (thanks for the opportunity, though!)...as this could have easily turned tragic. This week, my BIL didn't have enough money for his prescription (they don't have insurance), and he takes the same thing as my MIL. He asked for two pills from MIL and she left them on the table for him. My niece found the pills and swallowed them both! She was rushed to the hospital and was forced to swallow activated charcoal and had to spend the night for observation.

How irresponsible is it to not have insurance? Why should my niece have to suffer that because they didn't have the money for his prescription? And don't even talk to me about the tab at the hospital that we ALL have to pay because the niece is on Medicaid!

Sorry for the rant. I needed to get that out though. We are just waiting for the day they are evicted and the whole brood ends up on our doorstep.

 

[mrsltg]

I used to be friends with a woman who "needed" to vacation 3-4 times per year. Life wasn't "worth living without something to look forward too." Oh yeah, they couldn't afford it. They couldn't put it on credit, either, because they weren't credit worthy of any cards..... So, she would say, "I'll worry about finding money to pay the mortgage later." (side note: I can't imagine not worrying about paying the mortgage so I could do something else with the money - HELLO - it's your HOUSE!) Then she'd cask live checks to cover her tush..... Amazing. I lost touch with her about 3 years ago. I can only imagine how she is doing....

 

[MyGoofy26]

I'm sitting here doing end of the month statements (well, waiting on them to finish printing) and this topic reminded me of one I have to pull out. We just filed civil suits against a few attorneys for nonpayment, avoided all collection attempts. One, the original bill was under $300 - so this guy, who has a relatively successful firm in our area, is on the verge of a judgement over less than $300.

 

[CarolA]

One of the ones I found most "outrageous" actually occured on here. A woman was FURIOUS that her 401K administrators would not consider the fact that she had never taken her child to Disney an "emergency" and allow her to withdraw the funds. (not take a loan, but withdraw the funds) No matter how much folks tried to explain what the 401K regulations are she was convinced that this qualified as an emergency (just like a major illness...)

In my personal life, I actually have a former friend who has gone to the OTHER extreme. They have more in savings then ANYONE I know, house paid off, etc. and she is MISERABLE. She complains about not getting promoted at work, however a promotion would put her in a position where you have to go out and deal with clients. Not going to happen with a wardrobe like hers...she believes in wearing clothes until they are threadbare to save money and it shows.... (I have seen better dressed homeless folks LOL) She "can't afford" to go out to lunch with us, is INCREDIBLY jealous of our vacations etc. It finally got to the point where most of us cut her off. We were tired of pointing out that she had a good job and plenty of money and could afford a vacation so complaining to us that she "can't afford it" was getting old. (She was MORE then happy to give us monthly updates on how much they had in savings etc...) They are "saving for retirement" where I bet they are just as miserable.

 

[ducklite]

I just heard of one last night that broke my heart.

The cousin of a friend's husband died last week suddenly - a heart attack at age 45. He wasn't overweight, ate well and exercised and it was a shock to everyone.

He lingered for several days and then died, leaving behind a wife and three young children. What he didn't leave behind was life insurance other than the 1X salary coverage provided by his employer. There is a small retirement fund and mortgage insurance - so the house will be paid for but virtually nothing else. His wife hasn't worked in nine years and now has only slightly more than their annual income with which to raise her three children.

I swear, I could weep.

Actually with no mortgage and SS benefits for the kids, they should be OK. Not well off, but OK if she lives frugally and works p/t.

I'm not saying it's an ideal situation, but it could be far more dire. I'm fairly certain that with their survivor benefits, the children should also get medicaid, and possibly food stamps depending on several factors. Hopefully Barkley will see this thread an comment on that one.

Anne

 

[BeautyNBeast]

My aunt once descried my own mother as getting her paycheck, going shopping, then deciding to look over what she has left for bills. It is true too. It is sad when you and your DH, in our 20's, are more financially stable than my mother, and his whole family. It breaks my heart.

 

[barkley]

my nomination would be the family wherein the children were encouraged to attend the local very expensive private university, where the cost to attend ran 3 to 4 times higher than the equaly respected local public universities. initialy we thought they had encouraged the kids to do this because they lived only a few blocks away from the school so there would be no independant housing costs (though they could have easily done a short commute to the local university). nope-cuz then they had no qualms about the kids moving into the dorms (for the 'real college experience'). the kids want to go on all the education opportunity trips so they travel to africa, russia, south america..., in addition they want to take some 'fun trips' so europe and a few other places are traveled to as well.

all of this is well and fine-except that it's not funded by the parents (who were enthusiastic and supportive of their kids doing this)-it's all done via massive student loans (we figure each kid graduated with at least 80k debt )-student loans we cannot fathom they will ever be able to pay off. why??? their parents knowing the debt their kids were incuring activly encouraged them to pursue degrees that are designed such that they are only usable for a specific career within the same educational system they were raised in which is notorious for VERY low wages-and few if no openings for years they could have qualified for these same jobs by graduating from the local public university-and graduating with identical degrees that would have qualified them for a variety of jobs outside their school system.

despite being in their mid 20's i don't think they have a clue what they are up against financialy-and for the one in particular i belive it will be a rude awakening. he is newly married and he/bride just assume she will be a sahm when they have children-but given even the top dollar amount he could earn with seniority if he could find one of his desired positions (still looking over a year post grad while wife works) there is no way it will pay what has to be the minimum loan installments and even dirt cheap housing

 

[IDoDis]

I just heard of one last night that broke my heart.

The cousin of a friend's husband died last week suddenly - a heart attack at age 45. He wasn't overweight, ate well and exercised and it was a shock to everyone.

He lingered for several days and then died, leaving behind a wife and three young children. What he didn't leave behind was life insurance other than the 1X salary coverage provided by his employer. There is a small retirement fund and mortgage insurance - so the house will be paid for but virtually nothing else. His wife hasn't worked in nine years and now has only slightly more than their annual income with which to raise her three children.

I swear, I could weep.

At least the widow will get social security for each of the three kids until they are 18. That amount should be pretty good and will get her by. She will need to get back into the work force though. That is so sad.

 

[MEM]

I'm not sure if this is financially outrageous or just plain offensive, but here goes...

My sister's soon-to-be-ex sister-in-law has never worked outside the home. Her husband's official job is as a church janitor. He makes his real money as a landscaper-snow plower but the money is all "under the table" so is never claimed or taxed. The sister-in-law had three babies in four years and applied for and received WIC for all of them. At that time she was living rent-free in her Granddad's house, cooking and cleaning for him. When he died, she inherited his home, mortgage-free. Somehow, she manages to take out a mortgage for nearly the entire value of the home, completely renovates and furnishes it. She and her husband also drive nearly new gas guzzling SUVs.

She claims to be broke all the time and someone always bails her out - either her mother or my soon-to-be-ex brother-in-law. Even my own sister helps out by providing free child care and some dinners.

I recently found out that the sister-in-law received fertility treatments at the age of 38 because "she's always wanted a big family" (yeh, I'm thinking, that she cannot afford!) She had twins a few months ago and now has a family of 7, has applied for and receives WIC and food stamps.

She just appalls and disgusts me with her behavior with money but fortunately, I live 600 miles away and don't have to deal with her. My sister will soon be washing her hands of this person once her divorce from my brother in law is finalized.

 

[Hedy]

Friend's father (friend is one of the most frugal and money smart people I know, oddly enough). He declared bankrupcy about 4 years ago, had to sell his home and move in with his gf (who he doesn't pay rent to). He has quit his job for different ones three times in the past year-most recently, he's quit his job to start temping because he thought it sounded like fun. He owns CD's he's never opened. He buys every new iPod but doesn't use them. He bought a new car (this is his 3rd new car in 4 years) then quit his job.

 

[barkley]

Actually with no mortgage and SS benefits for the kids, they should be OK. Not well off, but OK if she lives frugally and works p/t.

I'm not saying it's an ideal situation, but it could be far more dire. I'm fairly certain that with their survivor benefits, the children should also get medicaid, and possibly food stamps depending on several factors. Hopefully Barkley will see this thread an comment on that one.

Anne

you called?????


if the deceased man worked enough quarters in a job that paid into social security the widow and children may qualify (there's a calculator on the ss website that a person can plug info into to get an estimate). medicaid is'nt an automatic thing when this happens. they would have to qualify under the same income and property rules as someone who's parent is not deceased. hopefully his retirement plan is like mine/dh's and in the case of death, the survivors can opt for a monthly allotment that ties them into the health plan (ours would cover our kids till 25 if still a dependant/going to college-surviving spouse for their entire life). foodstamps are the same-have to qualify under the property and income rules.

i'de be tempted to suggest that she look into what the provisions of her mortgage insurance are-some will do a direct payoff, some give the funds to the survivor to use as they see fit. if they have a choice they may want to crunch the numbers and see if they would'nt do better to bank the life insurance and the mortgage insurance to generate income (this would work if the mortgage was not outrageously high and she can manage it with whatever income she ends up with). it might be to their benefit to do this because the pension will be taxable as well as a portion of the social security-that mortgage (again if it's reasonable) might offer tax savings.

 

[crisi]

Not outrageous, but sad.

When my husband was 12 his parents divorced. His mother is a sweet lady and was interested in an amicable divorce. And that is what she got. So she wouldn't upset the "prince" she married - she signed away her rights to his retirement accounts (she hadn't worked in 20 years). The only provisions for child support were the bare minimum (everyone else I knew stayed in their house until the kids graduated from high school - not her, they sold the house, the boys and mom moved into a much smaller and not well maintained fixer upper - and dad moved into a nicer home with the equity. Everyone else I know had some provisions for college - my husband and his brother were left high and dry). This was all 30 years ago and she's been feeling it ever since. She declared bankruptcy after the divorce, went to work, struggled, did ok for a few years and then it was time to retire.

 

[crisi]

I'm not sure if this is financially outrageous or just plain offensive, but here goes...

My sister's soon-to-be-ex sister-in-law has never worked outside the home. Her husband's official job is as a church janitor. He makes his real money as a landscaper-snow plower but the money is all "under the table" so is never claimed or taxed. The sister-in-law had three babies in four years and applied for and received WIC for all of them. At that time she was living rent-free in her Granddad's house, cooking and cleaning for him. When he died, she inherited his home, mortgage-free. Somehow, she manages to take out a mortgage for nearly the entire value of the home, completely renovates and furnishes it. She and her husband also drive nearly new gas guzzling SUVs.

She claims to be broke all the time and someone always bails her out - either her mother or my soon-to-be-ex brother-in-law. Even my own sister helps out by providing free child care and some dinners.

I recently found out that the sister-in-law received fertility treatments at the age of 38 because "she's always wanted a big family" (yeh, I'm thinking, that she cannot afford!) She had twins a few months ago and now has a family of 7, has applied for and receives WIC and food stamps.

She just appalls and disgusts me with her behavior with money but fortunately, I live 600 miles away and don't have to deal with her. My sister will soon be washing her hands of this person once her divorce from my brother in law is finalized.

Are you aware that if you (or your sister) reports them to the IRS and the IRS collects from them, you will get some of the back taxes as a reward. This will be anonymous, she will never know who turned them in (or that anyone did).

People should not cheat on their taxes - they are cheating you and I. People who cheat on their taxes and let other people know are stupid - because I'd sure turn them in for the reward.