Author Topic: Middle class couple forced to live in airport terminal after loosing home...  (Read 8376 times)

boogiewoogie

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943251/Homeless-Heathrow-look-holiday-truth-middle-class-couple-living-airport-losing-500-000-home.html

This couple were earning over £80000 a year at one stage, but somehow have managed to loose everything and now live homeless in Heathrow Airport. They should probably post a case study here on MMM...

kathrynd

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I'm sorry...but I have little compassion for them.

They seem to be trying for the 'free money' now.

UnleashHell

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daily fail click bait.

they had a house, then a smaller house then a flat..

how did they blow through all that money? no savings? and with a pension that would have been enough to survive on at least.


Sibley

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They don't want to sell their belongings because there's no monetary value. Ok, that makes sense, used furniture probably wouldn't bring a lot. Except they're paying every month to store them! Seriously people, sell that stuff, get rid of the storage unit. And you have family in Canada? They're willing to help out? Maybe they'd be willing to house you!

KD

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Forced?  Really?????????  Someone is holding them at gunpoint in the terminal?  Gahhhh.  I'd agree that they are after the free publicity/sympathy money.  Alas, I will not be forwarding any.

hunniebun

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I do feel badly for them. I sure they spend their days and nights wishing they had done things differently.  But I agree...paying 300$ to store furniture for a home you will likely never have again is insanity.  But I suppose if that is how you are clinging to hope...

It always surprises me that people don't have family, children, friends that could help them on the short term.  Surely after 60+ years you would have at least one person who could take you in for showers and laundry.  But I am sure pride foolishly prevents this.  Also, I imagine that if they left London they could find somewhere to rent that is less than 800 pounds.  Hopefully they get out of their mental trap of wanting to get back to the way things were and use their limited resources to focus on moving forward with the way things are now. 

sleepyguy

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Agreed, I don't get it either.  No way they can have "no one" that will lend them a hand for awhile.  Seemed the tried to continue spending away and not "lock down" after they lost continual income sources.  Like saying I'd rather starve to death than going to a food bank... I don't get it.

Hopefully they get in some affordable housing or something.

mdc

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Even ignoring their past bad decisions, according to the article they currently have a £900/mo income after debt repayments. That is enough to afford to rent somewhere right now and more than a childless couple would receive on benefits. What they are saying is that they want the government to pay their housing costs so that they can use this £900/mo as pocket money. There are plenty more deserving.

AH013

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Why waste your pension on rent and groceries when you can get free rent at an airport and use all that extra money to store your hoard o'junk while enjoying fine dining at airport restaurants?  Don't you get it, you anti-consumer suckas?!? (sarcasm intended)

danny9m

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Some people are really mean, and think nothing bad will ever happen to them because they are so smart.


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SaintM

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Some people are really mean, and think nothing bad will ever happen to them because they are so smart.


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I think they are just mean to this couple, given their £900/mo guaranteed income but won't find a way to live on it.

leherself

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Lots of poor decision making and lack of creative thinking.

They couldn't afford their mortgage, so they cashed out with 200k... then got another mortgage?  That they ended up not being able to afford either?  Really?

Being too proud to admit to family that you're homeless, and ask for help...

Spending hundreds a month on storage - about a third of their income?

Poor planning, poor decision making, poor management.  Even now when they're presented with possible solutions they refuse because they don't want to, and then complain when other people aren't willing or able to bail them out.

I have a little bit of sympathy for the fact that they've had so much trouble trying to find work, but don't have much patience for them *still* not wanting to admit that they need to downsize their lifestyle.  They *do* have an income, but are refusing to live within it on the basis that they used to earn more.

kathrynd

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There must be an apt or room they can rent.


What are they eating..I can't see them being permitted to barbeque in the middle of an airport, so where and what are they eating?

There is more to this story, we don't know.


gluskap

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I do not feel sorry for this couple at all.  They are using the news to hopefully cash in on other people's sympathies for their bad decisions.  Yes it sucks that they aren't making what they used to but that's no excuse for not living within your means.  With 190,000 pounds of equity in 2006 they should've downsized to a modest house.  Then they would've had a home and been able to still live off of their pension income.

LucyBIT

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From the article:

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They strive to remain anonymous, unremembered

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They try to be inconspicuous.

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We don’t want to stick out.

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I don’t know if the airport staff suspect we’re staying here.

Well they bloody do now, don't they?

arebelspy

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The fact that there's a charity drive for them annoys me.  There seem to be more and more of these stories just looking for funding from people.

I hate the fact that I'm skeptical of their story, but I am.

That aside, let's look at the actual financials:
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Last year, Alan earned around £7,000 and received £527-per-month old-age pension along with a meagre occupational pension of £292 a month.

So he got 819/mo = 9828 annual + the 7k he earned, which gives 16828 gbp, which is $25,890.72 USD.

Sorry, but that's enough to live on.  You don't need to live in the airport.  It may not be a ton, and they may be in an expensive place (London), but it's doable, especially if they move.

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Although they have a modest income of approximately £1,400 a month, £300 is spent on paying for storage for their furniture and £485 goes towards a £20,000 bank loan they took out in 2011 to try to keep afloat. This leaves them just over £600 a month to live on.

What the fuck?  300 GBP to STORE FURNITURE?  Sell that shit, immediately bank the money to help pay off that bank loan, and save yourself the 785 GBP/mo.

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although they would be eligible for housing benefit if they already had a home, they cannot hope to get one without funds for a deposit and a month’s advance rent.

Hell, use the furniture money for that down payment, get the housing allowance, then pay off the bank loan on an accelerated schedule plowing the extra money that was going into paying the storage unit into the bank loan.

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One might question why they didn’t just sell their possessions in storage to make some spare cash and save on the £300 monthly fee, but, they point out, their belongings, though precious to them, had little monetary value.

Okay, then throw them out or give them away and save on the fee.  Sell what you can, but don't keep paying that stupid monthly fee.

This is not rocket science.

25k USD/year is more than enough to live on.  Most of us here do.

From the article:

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They strive to remain anonymous, unremembered

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They try to be inconspicuous.

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We don’t want to stick out.

Quote
I don’t know if the airport staff suspect we’re staying here.

Well they bloody do now, don't they?

Yeah.  That's part of why this seems a scam to get free money.
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LucyBIT

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arebelspy: Seriously. Here, have our names, what amounts to our address, clear photographs and descriptions of us, and our entire life story, but no really, we're trying to stay under the radar!!!

I also feel bad about it, but I do think it's rather fishy. I can't get over the furniture storage. I don't care how much you'd get for it, the point is the monthly fee.

mdc

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I get a sense they like being in the airport. It's a middle class area, there are expensive shops, it's what they know and are used to.

Moving into a £300-400/mo flat would just be depressing, and they're old enough they might not ever get to move up the ladder again.

MrsPete

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In my limited experience, people who find that NO ONE will help them have typically burned all their bridges.  I wonder what's left out of the article. 

I suppose living in an airport is a pretty decent gig for a homeless person:  As the article stated, it's warm, and since the population is transient, no one would really notice you.  Food, of course, is overpriced, but I suppose they leave the airport occasionally and buy granola bars and other snacks. 

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MgoSam

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I don't mean to judge them, but do they honestly need to live in London? Of course, moving out of the city isn't generally a good option, but wouldn't it be easier than living at the airport? I get that London is an expensive city, but wouldn't Leeds or somewhere farther out by a better option?

I imagine that that they might be able to get by with their pension and any forms of assistance if they are living in a less pricey area, but I could be mistaken.

kathrynd

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I don't mean to judge them, but do they honestly need to live in London? Of course, moving out of the city isn't generally a good option, but wouldn't it be easier than living at the airport? I get that London is an expensive city, but wouldn't Leeds or somewhere farther out by a better option?

I imagine that that they might be able to get by with their pension and any forms of assistance if they are living in a less pricey area, but I could be mistaken.

They seem to be completely in denial.
Might be some mental problems at play here too.

It will be interesting to see what happens if the airport moves them along.