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Friday the 29th of March 2024 12:34:11 AM

November 15, 2008

Stumble It!Quit Your Bitching

Filed under: Career — Eric Ptak @ 10:06 pm

Multiple times a day, I get the call:

“Hi, I have a supervisor request.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Mr. Customer wants us to modify his loan because he believes that in a couple of months he will be getting into trouble financially. He wants us to change his loan so he doesn’t have his credit affected. He says the government has a program and he wants us to use it for him. He is upside down, and cannot refinance. He does not like the answers I gave him, that we can’t modify his loan until he actually does fall behind, that the government program does not apply to his situation, and since he has large financial deficit, he can’t afford it, period. Now he wants to talk to a supervisor.”

Of course, I have to be nice, and be politically and corporately correct, and try to find a solution for the customer that works for everyone. However, I wish I could say what I really want to say to these people:

First of all, you signed the contract. Did you read the thing before you signed it? You didn’t? Why not? You make a 30-year commitment, and you don’t even know what you were getting into? So you don’t have a clue what the terms and conditions of this contract are, and you don’t understand how your loan works, how credit works, or even how the finance industry works?

Were you born stupid, or did you go to school to get a degree in it?

Now look at your finances. Just to educate you, 25% of your net income should be your mortgage payment. You should also be socking away 10-20% for savings and/or investments. That leaves 55-65% of your income for food, transportation, utilities, car payments, student loans, child care, medical expenses, entertainment, clothing and laundry, etc. etc. But wait, your mortgage is 1/3 to 1/2 of your net income. You don’t save any money, period. You have a lot of credit card debt, far too expensive cable/satellite service, extravagant cell phones, your car payments are too high, and you have other expenses that are simply unnecessary. You buy and do things you can’t afford to keep up with the Jones’, and you have no real financial plan for your future. You are already in a situation where you are at a 20-25% deficit each month, meaning that you are spending one week’s pay more than you make each month.

You are fiscally irresponsible, and you want everyone else pay for that? You want me to take pity on you, and save you from your ill-considered pecuniary choices? Why don’t you take responsibility for your decisions, suck up, and do something financially intelligent for once, instead of begging for help and hoping Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy will bail you out?

Now, I understand that we are in the midst of a recession that is bordering on global economic depression, and that it’s the worst this planet has seen since the Great Depression. I know people are losing their jobs, and it isn’t their fault that the business they worked for shut down or laid them off. I can understand when people have a medical situation happen to them or a family member that is horrible, and it is horribly expensive because the USA has an ill-functioning health-care system that clearly does not work. I know what it’s like when a fire, hurricane, or earthquake hits and due to Mother Nature, people are in crises out of their control. I know what it is like to lose a close family member, and deal with that loss. I understand what it is like to have to deal with divorce and similar relationship changes of status, and how difficult they can be. I have sympathy for these situations, and I will do whatever I can to help folks with these problems out.

But people who whine because they have “perfect credit” and want to be bailed out before they get into trouble because it’s the easy thing for them, I don’t have pity for. Spoiled brats who have always gotten what they wanted in life, and have never had to deal with adversity or negative consequences because someone was always there to rescue them before they got hurt, I don’t feel sorry for. People who are not responsible and can’t take the bad with the good, my heart isn’t going to bleed for them.

I’m sorry, but I don’t care that for the first time in your life, things aren’t going your way. Sometimes life gives you a shit sandwich, and you have to take a large bite. It doesn’t taste good, and the more the shit is your fault, the worse it tastes. Deal with it, and stop sniveling like a baby. Why don’t you do the right thing, look at your life and figure out where you went wrong, cut out the things you don’t need, make some sound decisions, deal with the hurt and the bad chioces that you have made, and move on with your life?

You don’t need two car payments of over $300 each – a good used car that you paid cash for is fine. You don’t need that cable/satellite bill of over a c-note each month when basic cable is good enough for ten bucks a pop. Cell phones that cost $400 each and run $250 a month are really not necessary when you can get one that works good for fifty bucks or less. You really don’t need a house payment that costs more than a week’s pay, because that is way too much house to own. Anything you put on a credit card because you don’t have the cash for it, you really don’t need. You don’t have to spend $300-500 a month for entertainment. What you do need to do is budget properly, and live within your means. Get some credit counseling, start using some sort of accounting system, and run your personal finances as if you were running a business. Turn off that TV, stop surfing the net, and get away from advertising for a while. Read a book, or write one. Get an inexpensive hobby to keep yourself occupied in your spare time. Spend some real quality time with your family. Volunteer at a food kitchen or a VA hospital or at a Boys and Girls Club. Get away from the mass consumerism culture that is destroying this country and the world, and start living within your means, with an eye towards your future and your children’s future.

But don’t bitch at me because your perfect little world is coming apart, and you don’t want to be responsible and deal with it. I really don’t want to hear it. There are people with much worse situations than you who actually need help, and I don’t want to waste their time on you.

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