Subprime Mortgage Mess Makes for A Very Sad Christmas

Across this country, there are tales of people running into trouble with their mortgages due to subprime lending. My family has been severely affected by this crisis in more ways than one. This past spring, my family was able to get a new mortgage for our house in order to pay off some debts that had accrued. With the new mortgage came higher payments and increased costs for basic standards of living.

There are four members of my family and three of us work to help pay the bills each month. My mother is working harder than ever to keep our heads above water. We have been lucky enough to not miss a single payment so far but it has definitely been a struggle. We thought that we were poor before the new mortgage but we are definitely poor now. There is definitely never any leftover money at the end of the month because it all goes to bills.

We used to go get some fast food for dinner about once a week but that is now just a distant memory. Movies, video rentals, music, and any other luxuries are now out of our reach. Unfortunately, the costs of food, heating, and gas have risen more than any of us had ever expected. The bills keep coming in but there never seems to be enough money to cover all of them at the end of the month.

I used to make up the shortfall with my credit cards so that we could keep current and not fall behind on any of the bills. That increased my credit card bills to the point where it is no longer a viable alternative. I start paying my student loans back this month so money has to be devoted to cover the payments. There is simply not enough income to even afford the idea of Christmas.

Christmas at our house has always been a fun time with lots of presents and holiday decorations. This year is going to be completely different. No tree for the second year in a row because that is money we could put to better use. No presents for everyone because presents cost money that we do not have. Decorations will stay put away because there is no time to put them up or money to buy new ones.

So we stay away from the mall and the stores unless absolutely necessary and even then we only get what we need. The credit cards are staying in my purse because that is where they belong right now. Things have definitely changed this Christmas season with our spending because we had no choice.