From $70K to food bank......

ALTADENA, California (CNN) -- When she was laid off in February, Patricia Guerrero was making $70,000 a year. Weeks later, with bills piling up and in need of food for her family, this middle-class mother did something she never thought she would do: She went to a food bank.
Patricia Guerrero was laid off in February. Desperate to make ends meet, she recently went to a food bank.

It was Good Friday, and a woman helping her offered to pay her utility bill.
"It brought tears to my eyes, and I sat there and I cried. I was like, 'This is really where I'm at?' " she told CNN. "I go 'no way;' [but] this is true. This is reality. This is the stuff you see on TV. It was hard. It was very hard."
Guerrero is estranged from her husband and raising her two young children. She's already burned through her savings to help make ends meet, and is drawing unemployment checks. She has had to take extreme measures to pay for her interest-only mortgage of $2,500 a month. In fact, her mother moved in with her to help pay the bills.
Guerrero even applied for food stamps, but was denied.


From $70K to food bank, one family's struggle - CNN.com

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"When faced with facts and truths do the Democratic thing, Ignore them they will go away" Me
Senator Obama what is your experience ?
I have been in the Senate for a total of 1347 days of which 600 of them have been running for President of the United States I have introduced 121 pieces of Legislation of which 116 never made it out of committee's and 2 passed. I have released 6 books and one cd in that time.
Oh that is not good enough? I was also a community organizer I am good at pushing buttons

WARNING: Someone who cares about me is well trained in the use of their weapon and accurate at 800 meters.

This is me.

Well you see.... she should have planned on this happening, and pulled up her boot strings, and put money away for times like this.....
See its people like this that are always asking for a handout, and not planning for themselves..... What is the US coming to when you have to go to CNN because you can't pay your electric, or fill up your tank.....







sarcasm at its finest....


On a sidenote....
she's cute BTW
thanks for sharing the pic Frogman.....

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__________________
"When faced with facts and truths do the Democratic thing, Ignore them they will go away" Me
Senator Obama what is your experience ?
I have been in the Senate for a total of 1347 days of which 600 of them have been running for President of the United States I have introduced 121 pieces of Legislation of which 116 never made it out of committee's and 2 passed. I have released 6 books and one cd in that time.
Oh that is not good enough? I was also a community organizer I am good at pushing buttons

If you ever meet someone who claims to have found The Truth or True Enlightenment... run like hell!

I see what you did there Frogman....

LOL.......

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WARNING: Someone who cares about me is well trained in the use of their weapon and accurate at 800 meters.

This is me.

If you ever meet someone who claims to have found The Truth or True Enlightenment... run like hell!

I was thinking about something similar today - which maybe needs its own post, but what the heck. Why aren't we better off today than our parents were 20, 30, or 40 years ago?

I think it's easy to say that this woman should have put money away, but according to her she did have a savings, which was gone in two months. It's been pointed out at $70K, while still a good deal of money, will only go about half as far in California. I'm going to say that after taxes and health care deductions, a salary of $70,000 per year will net you a take home pay of roughly $4500 a month, maybe even $4300 depending on state and city taxes on the west coast.

$4500, minus the $2500 she pays for her mortgage leaves her $2000 per month. According to the U.S. Statistical Abstract, a family with a household income of $70,000 - $80,000 spends $7337 yearly, or around $611 per month on groceries. Assuming the average, that brings our subject down to $1389 per month to spend or save.

Still with me?

The average Californian also spends about $80 in car insurance a month, plus factor in somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 for gas, and we don't even know what kind of car payment she may have. That brings us down to around $1000.

She has two children. Factor in the costs of childcare, if necessary while she was working, clothes, school functions, medical care not covered by insurance, home and vehicle maintenance, and I think it's easy to see why there's not much left over at the end to save past a two to three month emergency stash. In fact, having enough in her savings to last for the month it did is more than I have saved.

My fiance and make more than $70K a year, combined. We have no kids. And if one of us lost our job, we wouldn't make it for very long without having to cut into the equity of our home (which may not be an option with interest only like this woman has) , rack up the credit cards, or turn to our family for help.

I think the tragedy here is that this woman was denied access to food stamps that would feed her family. We let generations of people eat the government cheese and abuse the system, but here's a family in need and we leave them high and dry.

Cryin' shame.

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No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
--Eleanor Roosevelt