Personal Finance Free Press Article

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/finance/

Such Poor advise or no advice from this column.
Money Makeover: Trapped in the indebtedness cycle


Single mom seeks way out of mountain of consumer debt



By: Joel Schlesinger this column , that The free Press should be sued for printing it!

Does anyone see what this lady should be doing to improve her cash flow?

I think the FP is trying to send the City and the MB government a message LOL!...

You cannot continue to run deficits and spend more then you bring in forever...

What do you think Rosie...Is the MB government starting to get the message yet or are they still in perhaps grade school still trying to learn how to read still?...

The lady should sink more money into paying down her debt, and less into buying sh1t she dont need.

She does not need a cell phone, digital cable, new clothing for herself every month.

She should budget her money better, ask the card companies to lower the interest. Or she can transfer all her credit card debt to a capital one card which is 1% over prime and start paying it by paying double payments. she can also dump the RRSP, go to TD bank and get a TFSA, have 25$ a paycheck deposited into it, and hook up her Debit card to it so that 4% of all transactions are deposited into the TFSA.

She should also work harder and try to take on more responsibility at work and shoot for a better raise come review time. She can use the child support money to buy her child cloths and school supplies from Value Village/Walmart etc...

Wow, LD sounds like he has all the answers. I must admit his post didn't come off as "holier than though"
as I expected.

Personally I found Rosen's advice given in the article to be much more helpfull and given in a much less judgemental tone.

It's always easy to tell others how to live if one is not presently living under duress. That perch of comfort however can vanish with one major life-changing event.

I just wish everyone could experience a big fall at least once in life Miz P. It gives one a completely different persepctive on things. It's more often than not that those sitting on their comfortable perch have all the "answers".

Good on Rosen for attempting to give some meaningfull advice rather than just throwing out judgement on her.

Just wondering LD where on earth did you deduce from the article that the problem with her budget is her cell phone, cable and clothes expenses? There was ZERO mention made of any of those things. By the sounds of the article she doesn't have any money left over to "buy sh1t she doesn't need".

[quote="grumpyrom"]I just wish everyone could experience a big fall at least once in life Miz P. It gives one a completely different persepctive on things. It's more often than not that those sitting on their comfortable perch have all the "answers".

Good on Rosen for attempting to give some meaningfull advice rather than just throwing out judgement on her.[/quote

Some of us have, are still processing and recovering and as well, adapting under sometimes extreme duress. That being said I do agree with LD that perhaps an assessment on her part as to what is a necessary expense needs to be examined. Too many folks live beyond their means and they get buried in credit debt - mostly for things that were not necessary.

The notion of paring down, simplifying - can be gratifying indeed.....besides, having laudable goals to work towards makes the rewards all the more sweet.

It says she owes more then $50 k in consumer debt. What is consumer debt? This is the definition: Consumer debt is consumer credit which is outstanding. In macroeconomic terms, it is debt which is used to fund consumption rather than investment.

I feel for her, debt sucks. There is good debt and bad debt, credit card debt is very bad debt. I work with a girl who is in the same predicament, she lives on her credit cards because she has a spending problem, she is constantly buying stuff she doesn't need. I am not saying this particular woman has a spending problem but it seems to me she needs debt counseling.

Unfortunately, the article is vague and doesn't tell the reader why her debt load is so high. Everyone I know who has major debt has this debt because they are living beyond their means. Now I am not saying this woman is doing that but all fingers point to that being the case. We live in a society where we are judged on what we own and material possessions rather than on who we are as humans.


I am reading an interesting book right now that touches on this very subject called A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle.

If you lost everything tomorrow would that change who you are as a person? Do your possessions define who you are?

What I would do, if I was this woman, I would cut up those nasty credit cards.

Perhaps she needs a boyfriend. Seriously, there are lots of women out there who would be in her situation, but are not because they have a responsible partner with a nice paycheck.

Triniman wrote:Perhaps she needs a boyfriend. Seriously, there are lots of women out there who would be in her situation, but are not because they have a responsible partner with a nice paycheck.

LMAO...you can't be serious? Before I married I lived quite well on my own and NEVER needed a man to take care of me or pay for my life. If my marriage ended tomorrow, I would make it just fine on my own with 2 kids to support.

Not you. There are plenty of single moms out there in that situation who get by nicely with their partner's paycheck. Without the extra income, they would be in a world of hurt.

Triniman wrote:Not you. There are plenty of single moms out there in that situation who get by nicely with their partner's paycheck. Without the extra income, they would be in a world of hurt.

Having a partner lightens the financial load but most women I know could and do make it on their own.

The article touched on a fair bit of her debt. A significant portion was student loans. Another goodly chunk was renovations to her home.

I'd say despite her debt she has done well for herself. She has a $170k house with a $117k mortgage fer gawd's sake. Almost half her debt is student loans. She ought to have waited on the renovations and paid down much of her debt first.

Maybe she could get a part-time job and throw that entire payCHEQUE at her debt and try to consolidate the balance.

I finally finished paying off my student loans in 2004. It sucked but it didn't cause me to have severe credit card debt.

No question she over-extended herself. Now she needs to slow the slide and start paying down the debt.

MizP- it is easy to tell people how to live if you aren't under duress? Where did that come from? I am under duress all the time! I have ben married to a left handed designer, and have a daughter working with me in the showroom who is left handed, and I have way too much duress, except I accept that as normal, and continue to sparkle with everything I attempt to get done! lol
Back to the topic, I saw red with the no help column in the free press, when it was so apparent to me, that she could eliminate a big chunk of her cash flow problems by simply using her house. That column writer is no specialist in commerce! That bank advisor is an idiot!

Rosen, I was not referring to anyone in particular and i agree with you wholeheartedly as to your assessment of the so-called advice.

grumpyrom wrote:Wow, LD sounds like he has all the answers. I must admit his post didn't come off as "holier than though"
as I expected.

Personally I found Rosen's advice given in the article to be much more helpfull and given in a much less judgemental tone.

Rosen asked a question, I answered it. I'm not judging.

I'm just saying the hard cold truth as to what she should do to get out of debt and to increase her cash flow.

Debt sucks, been there done that.

MizP- apology accepted. lol
just funnin' with you!

I KEEP thinking everyone sees things the same way. I posted my suggestions on the Free Press article about getting into a variable rate mortgage at around 2% and saving appx $375 per month, and the next person to comment said that was a dumb thing to do because rates would go up. I would estimate that if rates went up it would take perhaps 5-10 years to get back to 6.147% the ladys current rate. What makes people give harmful advice? Would this person be an idiot? Should I call them that? Probably the Free Press wouldn't post that?
Numbers are pretty easy to figure out for me. Look 2=2= .892

LivingDead wrote:The lady should sink more money into paying down her debt, and less into buying sh1t she dont need.

She does not need a cell phone, digital cable, new clothing for herself every month.

She should also work harder and try to take on more responsibility at work and shoot for a better raise come review time. She can use the child support money to buy her child cloths and school supplies from Value Village/Walmart etc...

Well, from working here the last 2.5 weeks I've learned the value of a dollar in winnipeg. You don't really need much to live life out here. If you can find enough for a small apartment, you're pretty much covered. There are food banks, clothing banks all kind of places to go for support (like OFE) that will support you while you're in the situation.
I have a new respect for social workers and other groups that help people unable to work. It sure makes life a little more comfortable for those of us that ain't pulling in 6 figures.

And that is a very good thing, to have support for those that need it, or for those that want to save spending any money. One of my co-workers brought me a short sleeved shirt that he got for $4 for me, and it almost fit me.
What rent are you paying for what size? and in what area?
There was a one room batchelor suite that i rented for a worker in from out of town, unfurnished, just around The Bay , down town for about $550 per month that seemed pretty low priced. It included parking and the room was pretty lalge and very bright and cheerful.

The article is not there anymore. But it seems the banks make it easy for individuals to live beyond their means by giving away credit cards, mortgages, lines of credit to pretty much anyone. This just sounds like an average american.