I always keep in mind, though, that you don’t always hear the entire story. I saw a show the other day about nature documentaries. One of them was about wolves and it made you believe they were in the wild when they were not. They were in a preserve and not “wild.” The media can do wonders when it comes to tweaking things a little.

I do give the guy some benefit of the doubt here. It’s my nature to do it. Who’s to say that when he starts paying off his debt he gets bitten by the “debt reduction” bug and gets a bit addicted to it? Maybe then he’s ready to ditch the last few budget-busters he has. Some people can jump right into debt reduction – others may need some transition time.

That’s why I hope there is a follow-up.

The article does state that, of late, he has cut out his eating out by cooking at home, he moved to cut down his commute expenses, and his wife will be going to work in Canada and sending a good portion of her wages to him, to help combat the debt. So he’s working on reining himself in. And pathological or not, which is really how a lot of us get into debt in the first place (barring unforeseen medical or other life expenses that can not be avoided), I have a problem with people roasting others over open flames of self-righteousness. That was really my main issue. I know the road he took, at least some of it, I’ve been there myself. It took a lot of work to dig out. I think it would have been harder if there had been people, well-meaning or otherwise, responding as some have here.

I appreciate Tricia’s optimism, however… I think he can make it. He’s taken the first steps, and given a bit of time and much effort on his part, he will make it.

Continuing to spend $300 each month on dining out long after he was deeply in debt goes far beyond a mistake, though. That’s almost pathological.

The guy made some seriously poor choices, I agree. And he may not be willing to make all the efforts that obviously everyone else would do to get themselves out of whatever hole they’ve put themselves in. All I can say is that I’ve made some of the same mistakes mentioned in the article, and now I’m doing what I can to repair the damage. Thank goodness I haven’t had people wanting to send me to debtor’s prison or calling me a loser for trying to rebuild my credit with a secured card. Well, maybe I have, but since I’m dealing with the problem myself rather than submitting my finances to a public review, they haven’t been able to burn me in effigy as appears to be happening here.

I did appreciate Rob Madrid’s post on his site regarding this story… some good suggestions that I may even try for myself, just to make sure the husband and I continue to move forward realistically. Constructive criticism is so much more useful than character assassination. But that’s just my point of view.

I’d dump that truck though. $566/mo? Yikes. I think I’ll go give my tiny, fuel-efficient, paid-for car a pat on the hood.*

*In the interest of full disclosure, I also have a full-size truck, but it’s almost old enough to vote, minimally insured (it made my overall insurance bill go down!), and definitely is not my daily driver. It cost $800 cash.

I wrote “what should he do” post at my blog.

He can get out of debt, the question is whether he’s willing to rethink his lifestyle.

This guy continues to live in a fantasy world. There is NO chance that he’ll be out of debt in three years. He needs to face up to his obligations, but it seems clear to me that he’s not ready to commit to the work required to get out of debt.