Struggling Family in Economy

[raro]

I've been in this position. Once when my ex left me when I was 5 months pregnant and had a 1-year-old. Then when my beloved husband died suddenly when our son was 6 months old (and my older two kids were 13 and 14). So while I may not be in exactly the same situation, I can certainly relate.

My issues are (in no particular order)
Why school uniforms for Christmas? Is there any school in the country that requires them except private ones? If so, send them to public school and get them on free/reduced lunches and breakfasts. That would certainly solve a lot of issues.

"They made $38,000 last year in unemployment." Well, guess what? As a school teacher, I made that LAST YEAR and every year for the past five years since I started teaching. I have a family of four to feed on that. And we don't qualify for food stamps.

How do people manage? They PRIORITIZE. They decide that they have a limited amount of money and that they simply CANNOT afford TV or vacations or whatever.

I think advertising has a lot to do with it. All the ads talk about "Don't you deserve this product?" and entice the more vulnerable members of our society to buy things, to "stock up" or to be popular or to splurge because they're having a bad day. Well, I have bad days, too (actually, I'm having a pretty terrible day today, come to think of it ) but if I gave into every desire to splurge, I'd be sunk up to my eyebrows in debt.

I feel sorry for the woman. She is uneducated and was probably trying her best, but has no idea how to manage money.

 

[morgj]

She probably couldn't do the laundry because she was depressed that her dreams were crushed like a Dixie Cup after a picnic. I read the story and feel bad for them only in the sense that they are unable to understand how to undo the predicament.

There were times as a kid when carrot sticks, peanut butter, and applesauce would have been fantastic for lunch. Beats nothing. And I too, have to wonder why or if they cannot get on the subsidized lunch program.

If I made 75K a year, I'm not sure I'd buy a 175K house. I watched so many people buy beyond their means back in the boom times only to be severely hurt when the house of cards fell.

The story seems to smack more of what we are "entitled" to, and how we should feel bad for those who have lost their entitlements. Actually, I feel bad for them because they were not taught any different than to expect "what is their due" It's the grasshopper and the ant fable.

I hope they swallow hard and make the difficult choices.

 

[Wifezilla]

There were times as a kid when carrot sticks, peanut butter, and applesauce would have been fantastic for lunch.

Yeah! No kidding!

 

[TanksHill]

I could go on forever about this article. But it won't help....

What's the saying??? "You can lead a camel to water but you can't make them drink".

Some people just don't get it. That's sad.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Guess what? My parents raised 6 children on slightly more then that for many years.
No debt was incurred either, and we never went without.

Entitlement mindset, and no clue that there is any other way to go about life.

 

[glenolam]

Why school uniforms for Christmas? Is there any school in the country that requires them except private ones? If so, send them to public school and get them on free/reduced lunches and breakfasts. That would certainly solve a lot of issues.

Not disagreeing with you by any means at all, but there is a town very close to me that does require all children to wear uniforms to public school. Not the high school, but the elementary and middle school students.

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news...getting-word-out-about-uniforms#axzz1FH7kJDOw

 

[chickenone]

If I made 75K a year, I'm not sure I'd buy a 175K house.

this sums up the whole problem in my opinion.

 

[me&thegals]

Wow--pretty harsh, folks!

I agree they need to do better, but maybe *part* of it is depression and stress-induced apathy. I'm sure a marriage is not helped by this kind of stress. And it's easy to tell someone what they should be doing. To me, though, it seems like some people easily take on new responsibilities, skills, tasks; others don't really even seem to see *what* they could be doing to help out, like gardening.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

All I can say is that I pretty much agree.

I DO feel sorry for them that they can't readjust their thinking.

If *I* had made $38K last year, or the year before that, or the year before that ... I'd feel rich!

I had about $80K a year before the divorce. After the divorce ... I moved to a pretty low-end house on a busy road (hated it, but ... I paid my rent), took my kid to the park a lot, and sometimes the $1 movie ... but no more $8 movies. I got jobs doing what I had to do, and eventually a slightly better one. But most years, I reported about $13K on my taxes. Sometimes a LOT less.

I refused to take out credit cards. I stopped cable when I couldn't afford it anymore. I *DID* feed my child well, partly from my garden and home flock I eventually got. I got food stamps for one month, and a one-time for disaster assistance after a hurricane.

I dunno. Yes, I felt a little "deprived" coming from an $80K household to a $13K. I had been able to take vacations, go to the mall and spend $200 without freaking out and worrying, and eat out or go to the movies if I wanted. I missed those things -- a little -- at first. But honestly, there are so many ways to live well and I'm SO MUCH more glad that I focused on what was IMPORTANT to me -- spending time with my child being number one -- and creating a good home (not to be read an expen$ive one!).

Honestly, yes, I guess it's hard for me to relate. I guess I have no idea what their mortgage is ... maybe that's the problem. But in that case, I'd have dumped that house so fast and moved (if it would be possible). There have been nice enough houses in the less than 50K range over much of the country. There are no jobs in Las Vegas anyway, the article says, so why stay there?

OK, way more than 2 cents worth. But that's what I think. I hope it doesn't sound too harsh.

 

[me&thegals]

If I made 75K a year, I'm not sure I'd buy a 175K house.

this sums up the whole problem in my opinion.

Really? We make far less than that and built a house not much cheaper than that. Got a 20-year mortgage and super low financing. Our mortgage is very affordable. Maybe it just depends on some of the other numbers. At least around here, $175K is a very modest home.