responsibility, or lack thereof

[waider]

There's a TV programme on right now about middle-class debt (I kid you not), and there are people who are saying things like "I know I'm in debt, but the banks make it so easy", and "everyone buys on credit", and "credit cards are being pushed at me constantly", and blah blah blah. These people all have houses; one of their cases has FOUR HOUSES. Really, people. Get a grip, take some responsibility for your own actions, and SHUT UP. I know people in genuine financial difficulty, and YOU ARE NOT THEM.

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

I get credit card offers constantly. And, since I bought my house, I also get equity offers, refinance offers, and second-mortgage offers.

All of these things go to the same place: the brown paper bag destined for the recycling bin. Although I really need to buy a shredder and run them through that, first.

Clearly, "Just say no" did about as much good as everybody said it would.

[richtermom.livejournal.com]

In about February, I collected all my this-crap-should-be-shredded stuff. All the weird junk mail for a few months. A bunch of old check stubs. A zillion years of bank statements. Multiple copies of different lawsuits. About a huge-assed paper carton full of old crap. And one night when the kid was at her grandparents', I piled it carefully into my weber grill and burned it. And then I fed in some more, stirred it up, made sure my neighbor's garage didn't go up in flames, and I burned the rest. It took like 3 hours. I didn't wear a coat in the 20-degree weather because hey, bonfire, but when the last of the stuff was ash, the cold came back and it was really hard to put the grill away what with shivering the whole time.

It was pretty cathartic. BURN, UNEMPLOYMENT CRAP! BURN, STUPID SMALL CLAIMS SUIT! BURN, CHECKSTUBS FROM STUPID JOB THAT LAID ME OFF! BUURRRRRN!

[mskala.livejournal.com]

They have houses... or do they? Chances are they don't have enough equity in those houses to cover their other debts, and in that case the houses are part of the problem.