Quote From: juliebggYou are very much on target. Alot of people are in debt due to poor decsion making and frivolous spending. As you put it, people want something and have to have it that minute...whether or not they can actually afford it is another story. I don't feel sorry for people like this when they fail which they inevitably do. I do not buy anything that I wouldn't have the money in the bank to cover when the bills come rolling in. I learned to sacrifice and save money in my earlier years and that is why I can now enjoy (and afford) some luxuries. So excuse me if I just can't feel sorry for the materialistic brats on the show who got themselves in trouble because they needed instant gratification, and are so immature that they can't sacrifice or save. What I'd like to know is whether it is going to cost me some of my hard-earned money to bail losers like this out.
Sadly it is not a family living beyond their means, it's a family whose means changed. I understand you are only commenting on what you saw, but trust me when I tell you this is a family who suffered more hardship then anyone deserves. In addition to their income dropping to almost nothing they have had an extremely sick daughter who required several surgeries in her first couple of years of life. Dr. Phil chose not to mention their medical hardship, but when you are self-employed and self insured (which the Holleys were) the results can be devastating. This is not a family sitting home on welfare, this is a family who has and still is working very hard to make ends meet. Their home is not in the least bit elaborate, it is a modest (under 2000 sq. ft.) home in a middle class neighborhood, in the four years I have known them they have NEVER taken a family vacation, and got rid of their boat as soon as things started to go south. They DID have savings and retirement and burned through both on medical bills. Their situation could happen to anyone so please don't be so quick to judge.
Imagine yourself if the only career you ever knew suddenly had 0 jobs and your daughter was on the verge of death and required several very expensive medical procedures in order to survive. A lesser family would have immediately filed bankruptcy and sought government assistance, but this family has chosen to try and make it work.
