[RooRoobird14]

It still astonishes me how many people don't save for a rainy day, and live paycheck to paycheck in spite of high incomes. They live in 4000 square foot homes, drive leased luxury cars, sport their Polo shirts and Rolex watches---and are always on the brink of financial disaster even before they lose their jobs.

In Texas, this is known as "Big Hat, No Cattle".

[man of Yosemite]

In California it's an expensive car parked on rental property. The lifestyle of living to appear wealthy and successful with little to back up that position is precarious. It's fine as long as the economy is growing, but when the crap hits the fan then you discover what you're really made of. I think it's better for a person to pass through tests like this early in life. Those of us who came to know the value of a buck aren't unprepared for a time like this.

[AppyPappy]

Yup. It's beyond me how people live. Ask any car salesman. The people with bad credit, no down payment and little to spend are the ones who can't live without the Accord with leather seats

[Mo1]

It still astonishes me how many people don't save for a rainy day, and live paycheck to paycheck in spite of high incomes. They live in 4000 square foot homes, drive leased luxury cars, sport their Polo shirts and Rolex watches---and are always on the brink of financial disaster even before they lose their jobs.

I agree ... Amazing

My mother always told me .. never forget where you come from

[anniegetyourgun]

I've often wondered why folks like this don't sell their 'big hats'. However were these people thinking they were going to survive retirement if not by selling the 4,000 sq. ft. house for one of 1600 sq. ft? Or moving from 3 vehicles to 1? Seems to me that they could start early with this concept.....

[twinzmommy]

I have to reply here because we're kind of in this situation. Let me preface this by saying I spent a couple of years getting us out of debt, cleaning our credit etc. We bought our first house -- and the company my husband worked for shut their doors.

We were shorted 40K. Yes, $40,000. Payroll, unpaid vacation (per employment contract it was to be paid), not to mention the fact that because he was always on the road he travelled on our credit cards. 12K of that total is expenses that remained unpaid. This happened as we bought our first house. It's a 2200 sq ft house in Ft. Worth -- around 150K -- so we didn't overbuy for hit salary.

He found another job about a month later. A 40K pay cut. We were okay tho -- because we hadn't overbought on the house. What has killed us is that pay that they owed for time worked and the expenses.

He was at the job he took until last Monday when he was laid off. So we've gone through a bankruptcy and a company shutting their doors, to being laid off. We are tapped out. We haven't done everything right, but likewise we haven't done everything wrong. It's the level and magnitude of the cuts and the events around them that have caused our issues.

I'm not sure where we're headed or what we're doing yet -- hubby has had tons of interviews and things this last week. But please know, not all of us did this too ourselves.

CEO's and their big bonuses need to be hung by their toes and bullwhipped ;)