Topic : 09/15 Money Matters: Surviving the Crisis

My heart goes out to people who live from week to week and, and are a paycheck away from being on the street - the guests on tonights show were not in that catagory. Both famlies had good incomes but made  poor choices when it came to spending money. Everyone needs to learn to live within their means, and save-up a Rainy Day Fund. Every high school in the country should teach a Personal Finance 101 Course. Before buying anything people need to ask themselves the following questions: Is this a nicety or a necessity , and can I pay for it or do I have to charge it?  I read a book a number of years ago titled The Millionare Next Door, it is a book worth reading - It helped me understand how to resist the temptation to try to live high in the hog, and beyond my means. I find it difficult to sympathesize with banks that were dumb enough to loan money to people without doing a means check, and have since gone belly-up because of their stupidity. I feel sorry for people that borrowed money to buy homes they could not really afford, and have since lost them. Unfortunately a lot of un-regulated banks and financial institutions became greedy and ignored good lending practices which has resulted in the financal crisis we are witnessing today. It is truly a sad state of affairs when so many people lose their homes.

I too felt sorry for the people on the show but what about people like us.  I could never dream of having a home anywhere near to what they have.  Like you I have 4 kids to support, (1 neice whom I took in because her druggie mom didnt want her) and 3 grandsons whose dad abandoned them and refuses to give them a dime).  I also support my 2 grown daughters, one has bipolar and is in a work program trying to find a job but around here there are thousands out of work so no jobs are to be found. The other one is disabled and has been trying to get her disability for a couple of years. She has fibromylgia, chronic migranes (3 or 4 a week) generalized anxiety problems just to name a few.  My brother also lives with me and I support him also. He has a lot of medical issues.  My hubby is on disability and cant work. Between his measly disability (which he only contributes 500 to the monthly bills) and my check we are barely surving. We cant possibly go out to eat or anything like that. Due to dr bills we cant even get a credit card much less max one out.  And if you have small children it definately doesnt pay to go to work and put them in daycare because it takes your whole paycheck to pay the outrageous fees.  Yea there are a lot of us barely making ends meet and cant get any help.  I mean I cant get help from anyone.  My family is dirt poor and couldnt help if they wanted to.  My mom and dad barely have enough food to do them because they have so much meds to take.  It is very frustrating.  I rent a 3 bedroom mobile home. My daughter and her 3 sons share one small bedroom. It is so small that with the toddler beds and Zanders bed she has to sleep on a couch in her room.  Shawna (my 12 year old neice) has one tiny room barely big enough for her bed.  My brother sleeps on the couch in the livingroom and my other daughter sleeps on the loveseat.

Yes I would say I am frustrated because for people like us we cant get help from anyone.  There is not enough money left over for even the things they need, things like shoes and underwear and all the essentials. By the time I pay all the bills and get the household supplies ( like toilet paper and such) and get a few groceries there is nothing left for even the needs much less the wants. 

It would be nice to see someone living dirt poor to be on DR. PHIL getting the help they so desperetaly need.  It is always people with big fancy houses getting the help. 

And I am not saying they dont deserve the help because everyone makes mistakes.

I cant even afford a retirement fund because I cant afford to have an extra penny took out of my already meager salary.

I know this is a long response but like you I am frustrated and I pray every day that the situation will change but it never does. I have also considered a second job but I can barely handle the first one.  I too have fibromylgia, chronic headaches, tendonitis in my shoulder and hands, carpel tunnel and Degenerative Disk Disease, so it would be hard to work more than I already do (I work 40 hrs at my job then go home and do what has to be done).  Really a second job is not an option, since I am already in enough pain to choke a horse.

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.