Who should pay?

I'm glad the House didn't pass the financial bailout. I don't want to pay for the gross negligence and financial stupidity of the mortgage companies who lent money to credit risks and homeowners who bought houses they couldn't afford. I don't see how it will affect me if the mortgage companies go out of business, and if these people lose their homes. They shouldn't own those homes, because they can't afford them.

When we were pre-approved for a mortgage almost three years ago, the bank gave us a figure of $200,000. I didn't have a job. My husband's salary was in the low 50's. And we had no down payment. So we were supposed to be able, according to the bank, to make a payment of $1500 + a month with a monthly income of $3,000 net per month. Half our income. I laughed. These were experts, trying to sell us a loan that they knew we could not pay without grave financial hardship.

Too many people did not make this calculation. They believed that the bank could not possibly be wrong. Banks are in the business of making money, and everything they tell you should be taken with the same grain of salt you would use if you were buying a car or a suit or groceries.

So how did it turn out for us? I got a job, we bought a house at less than the pre-approved amount, and we only spend what we have. Do you know how you do that? You don't use credit. I have a credit card. I use it to buy plane tickets for which we will be reiumbursed. That's it. No fancy dinners, no shoes, no Jaguars, no nothing. That's how we got a house in the first place, and that's how we keep it, month after month, for thirty years. I'm proud of my house. I love it. And I'm proud of myself and my husband, for paying every bill every month for 6 years so we could have it.