Hello everyone
I had to add these few:
At my current job, a lady went out and bought a 2010 Nissan sedan. She put no money down (she openly admits to being broke all the time) and financed the whole thing. Being curious, I looked up the KBB retail on the car, and she paid around $1,000 over retail.
It gets better.
Fast forward two weeks and at her church, there was a family that needed a car to keep a job, so they wouldn't lose their house etc. She felt compelled to GIVE them her car. She just gave them the item that she was in debt for.
It gets better....
At the same church, the pastor's wife felt so "moved" by it, that she then gave my coworker HER car... a 2007 Mercedes with 170k on it. My coworker then felt obligated to give her a thank you present, so she financed a $500 watch for the pastor's wife.
It gets better.......
Now, the pastor's wife will not transfer the title or tag over to my coworker, but my coworker is still responsible for all maintenance and upkeep. (She has already spent over $1,000 in repairs in the 3 months she has had the car). She is still paying the loan for the Nissan and the new family will not get insurance on it themselves. She is required by the lender to maintain full coverage on it.
Okay, so now that is out of the way, here is a slightly less bad one.
At a previous job, a coworker was into drag racing (he fixed / built cars on the side), and he wanted to buy a drag car. He calls the bank, gets his mom to cosign on a $5,000 personal loan @ 19% interest to buy this drag car. (He was making around $10 per hour at the time) So he gets the car, buys a motor and transmission to put in it, runs it for one season, then decides he wanted a different one. He couldn't sell it for what he had in it, so it is just sitting in his shop now, still not paid off. I recently talked with him (hadn't seen him in over a year) and he was bragging about the GREAT DEAL that he got on a 2007 Silverado 2500, only $24,000 that he had to finance. (Making $11 per hour)
Do you ever want to just grab someone and shake them until they see the light?
I gladly help out people in need, but will not put my self at risk of finanical ruin over it. Typically, I help people with home projects (yard stuff, fences, driveways, hvac, etc)