Posted on 06/27/2014 10:12:31 PM PDT by rjbemsha
Two weeks before Christmas of 2004, Kandy Hildebrandt opened a letter addressed to her husband Russ, at his request. The letter revealed that her husband had a personal loan of $17,500. They sat down to talk about it: Russ also had 11 credit cards totaling $89,000 in debt. “He handled the personal finances,” she says. “I knew we had several credit cards, but I was unaware of the extent of our debt.”
The finance charges on the credit cards alone were $1,593 a month – double their $750 monthly rent in New Richmond, Wis. The Hildebrandts knew they needed to change their lives. But unlike many people in their situation, they actually did.
Kandy, 48, and Russ, 52, celebrated five years being debt-free this week. They made their first payment on their debt management plan in March 2005 and their last payment on June 24, 2009. “After paying everything off with interest, we paid over $125,000,” she says.
(Excerpt) Read more at sg.finance.yahoo.com ...
“They (the daughters) are so content in their own little world. There was always food on the table. We’re home educators. They are two of the most contented people.”
Well isn’t this something - maybe you parents out there don’t need to keep up with the Jones’ after all to have HAPPY KIDS. Maybe having mom (or dad) home full-time (and both living together, of course) is ENOUGH for kids. Maybe you’re being scammed by society. Maybe even, for heaven sakes, you could live in an apartment, rather than have both parents work and leave the kids with a nanny (or worse).
Maybe there are OTHER OPTIONS worth considering...maybe kids just want PARENTS to be around.
(sorry, I just work with hot-shot moms every day and hate to think of what their kids go through)
After busting his arse working two jobs and sleeping in his car during winter ... I think maybe he learned his lesson.
They cheated. This free-spending couple had an unlimited supply of hash browns, making “austerity” pretty easy. For all we know they sold extra potatoes they couldn’t eat to local all-night diners.
You got to give her credit for her ambition. ;^)
Thank you. I owe you an apology too for getting my dander up with that last sentence. Uncalled for.
I would add in affirmation to what you wrote, that I think that the work that homemakers do is of immense importance to the economy though it doesn’t show up in the GNP. These women—and most of them are women—contribute hugely to this country. I saw first-hand how hard my mother worked and I see today that my wife contributes a lot to this household.
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