Bail Me Out?

So here I am, renting a home because we decided that buying at a time when prices were sky high was not a financially responsible thing to do. We decided that renting for awhile at half the cost of a mortgage was smarter. What happens if a bailout is issued in Canada to help those who did not act responsibly while making the largest purchase that virtually anyone would ever make? It angers me that I could end up paying more taxes, or have other programs my tax money supports cut, in order to bail out people that did not think ahead or act responsibly. Why should I not be angry? What if I have to bail out the family I know that had a perfectly good home but decided to get a bit greedy and sell, in order to buy a home for over $400,000? Why shouldn't I be a bit pissed at that idea? We acted responsibly, we decided it was not the right time to buy a home, we decided that going to the bank and having them approve a ridiculous mortgage with enticing zero-down offers was financial suicide in the near future. So why should I have to pay more to bail out others who were careless? And really, because of economic issues going on in the US, it could very well effect us in Canada too and lead to problems so would we actually be paying more in response to the similar mortgage crisis in the US???

We saw a Canadian family on CNN the other night who moved to the US, bought a huge home, and the wife lost her job. They were crying about not knowing what to do, being behind in payments, but not once in the whole interview did they talk about selling anything. Meanwhile, their home featured stainless steel appliances, granite counter-tops, they had 2 high-end newer vehicles... well boohoo! I feel sorry for the people who have a meager home to begin with, have not gone crazy with purchases, but have trouble meeting their basic needs. I do not hold much sympathy for people that went spend-crazy and maxed themselves to the hilt with payments for umpteen new luxuries. It brings me back to a few years ago when a married aquaintance of mine commented that she can't believe a single mom of two like me had more money to spend on groceries than she did. Her comment FLOORED me. They were paying off a mortgage on a brand new house that was huge and gorgeous, new leather furniture, 2 new quite expensive vehicles, a hot tub, and something else I forget now. When I mentioned that to her, she was offended. Why? It was the truth! I chose not to go out and buy new furniture and then take food from my kids' mouths just to have fancy stuff to sit my arse on. I chose not to buy a hot tub for the back yard to use occasioanlly and then have to scrimp on groceries. I figured out that with their luxuries alone, they were spending $1000 a month in payments, let alone what they paid on their 3 credit cards. That $1000 of course did not include their mortgage. They had a home that fit them all just fine, but wanted something 'newer' so they moved. That was all their choice and I was angry that she was suggesting it was unfair a single mom had more for groceries! They chose to buy luxuries over food, THEY CHOSE it. So if they were to come into trouble now with their mortgage, should I work more or lose more of MY grocery money each month to help bail them out? I think not!

One more little observance before I head out to BUY GROCERIES lol, is that I wonder what giving people a payment or two on their mortgage is really going to do?? I have heard about negotiating lower payments as well, but really, if they have stretched themselves to the limit, are they not going to be back in the same spot 2-3 months later? Will they learn anything from this or will many of them think they will just get rescued eventually and keep on spendin'? I have two credit cards and neither one of them is maxed, and neither one has even BEEN maxed. My bf has one card and it is not maxed either. Total, it's under $5000 in credit anyway for all 3 cards. I know people that have 10,000 and 25,000 cards that are MAXED. But these people make around 100,000 a year. A quarter of their yearly earnings owed on a card? On top of their regular payments like taxes, mortgage, food, utilities... how do they think that is responsible? And how is giving them a break going to teach them anything? When my card company tried to put my limit to 5000 last month I phoned them and said No! I let them leave it at 3000 but told them I do not want it to go up unless I ask them (major emergency, etc). I keep it far below 3000 anyway and I have had the top credit score for over a year because of that, and I can't go any higher than I already am apparently, so why push the limit up even more? People get sucked into that. They don't even look at their interest charges on those high amounts, and often only pay the minimum which never gets you anywhere in paying the card off. Why on earth should I have to pay more for those reasons? How can I be assured they learned from their mistake??? I am offended that even though I have tried to do things right for my family, other people have not and I might end up having to pay for THEM. Take food from MY kids to pay for their's. I am only talking of people who live way beyond their means. I do not mind helping families who are in serious dire straits through no real fault of their own, but not those who should have known better but were more concerned with Keeping Up Appearances than their own children.

**Update: Check out THIS BLOG POST by WC Varone for some interesting info. I will get into my opinion and experience with receiving govt funding and the hoops you suddenly find yourself jumping through (and new policies to adhere to) in order to receive those pennies.