BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living From $70k Salary to Food Bank in 1 month

"When she was laid off in February, Patricia Guerrero was making $70,000 a year. Weeks later, with bills piling up and in need of food for her family, this middle-class mother did something she never thought she would do: She went to a food bank."

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That's terrible. She has a horrible mortgage loan on her house. I bet her unemployment checks are larger than what she'd get from another job she could quickly pick up while looking for something better.

I make about 20% of what she makes a year, but then again my house payment is less than $500/month and I'm also a single mom with two children.

I wonder if there is a way to get her husband to pay some child support?

Then again, when did 70K a year become middle class? If I made that I'd think I was rich! LOL

70K a year sounds like a decent (big for some) salary until you get a look at her mortgage payment. I've always heard that you should never have a house payment that's more than a week's pay. I have stuck by that rule and still went through some really hard financial times, but I never lost my home. It sounds like that poor woman is in trouble even if she gets another job at her previous pay rate. I wonder if her husband was still around when she applied for the home loan. Estranged or not, those are are his babies she's housing as well as her own and he needs to pay his fair share.

I got really irritated when she said she'd need to take off her Tiffany bracelet and leave her Coach bag at home when she went to the food bank. In my mind if you have to feed your children you sell those things to put food on the table, you don't keep them.

Kiki - that was my first thought, that she was far too wealthy to be living off the state. They showed a photo of her in a very nice home with high end furnishings - and she's taking money from the food bank?? She needs to reset her life to match her income.

Yes, let's assume she got the house and loan while married to a rich guy. Once they split up - which we can assume was *before* all the rest of this started - she should have immediately started looking at how to make sure she was in a life she could afford. Maybe that means selling the house, or renting it out and moving somewhere less expensive etc. But instead she's maintaining this large house and expensive lifestyle with apparently no savings. It was only a few weeks before she was so broke that she was going to the food bank. In the meantime apparently she has expensive items all around - that most of us normal humans don't have!!

Wouldn't want to have to sell your spare jewelry to feed your children ...

Maybe she should have explored the selling opportunities on eBay as well as downsizing her home before she hit the food bank. I would have taken off the Tiffany bracelet all right. And then I would see what they were selling for at auction. There's a huge market for designer items in good condition and when you and your family are homeless and hungry labels don't mean squat!

I would sell blood to feed my babies, much less jewelry. It doesn't seem that she or the dad are willing to sacrifice to care for their kids.

Whole situation is sad and very grim.

She spent recklessly in buying a house she couldn't afford (interest-only mortgage tells me that), then when she got laid off, expects others to pick up the slack? She is an adult, and should have acted more like one. To be that down after merely weeks after being laid off is irresponsible. For perspective, my dh got laid off in 2002. He finally got a job after close to 3 years. We never once asked for help -- we had lived within our means for our entire married life, and had savings to live off of. Was it tight? Sure. But I resent the fact that others live high on the hog, then claim poverty at such short notice. Sock some savings away first, then if you want to spend on a new toy or fancy vacation, fine. But don't ask me (generic taxpayer, that is) to pay for your bills, too!

I wouldn't have thought 70K is average middle class. Maybe they mean by middle class standards in Southern California. Cost of living is really high in Altadena too.

What I don't quite get is that she is a loan processor. She is fully aware of what an interest only loan is about. Some people bought interest only houses for investment (to dump for a profit in a couple years) and it has turned on them now.

It may take some time for her to come down to reality.

If $2,500 is only the monthly interest on her interest only mortgage this woman is living way beyond her means. She would have been in trouble in another 3 years anyway. What is she going to do when the 5 - 10 year interest only period on her loan is over and she is forced to pay principle as well as back principle? I don't think she can afford her current lifestyle with the 70K a year she was making previously.

I'm sure that many people out there are having issues right now with their mortgages who are great people who were trying to be responsible. Most of the stories I hear though are people who bought a house they couldn't afford and then want everyone to feel bad for them once they run into problems. What about the rest of us who are responsible, save and follow a reasonable budget with plans for the future?

The fact that then she attempted to get food stamps is even more annoying. Why should tax payers give this woman free food if she has a Tiffany bracelet to sell?