What happened to Adam, Joan and Man vs. Debt?

[Dicey]

At one time, I really enjoyed Adam's voice over at Man vs. Debt. Then Joan Otto mostly took over. However, her last update was at the end of April and there has been radio silence ever since. Since this is a small community, does anyone know what's going on?

[parsimonious]

I would love to know this too. Joan's story is pretty tragic in my eyes. She really should have declared bankruptcy and sold her house instead of treading water like she has. My favorite is when she cashed out her 401k to pay down debt....even though the entire community told her not to. Her lack of progress is probably why she stopped updating.

I probably am mean spirited and enjoy watching a trainwreck so I am really hoping she updates.

I mean homeschooling and getting masters degrees in martial arts is cool and all, but not when you are that deep in the hole.

[parsimonious]

Now I kinda feel like a weirdo stalker, but look at the numbers.

April 2011: ~89k in consumer debt
June 2014: ~53k in consumer debt

Looks alright? About 36k paid off in three years, or about 11k a year. But..

In November 2013 she cashed out her 401k for 34k.

So in terms of her net worth, she has paid off $2000 over three years. All while working her ass off.

It is a lesson in what not to do.

[Dicey]

You're making me laugh, p. If I hadn't been blasted before for not being nice enough around here, I'd probably have written something along these lines. Don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical of you. I love that you're calling a spade a spade.

I agree with your hypothesis as to why Joan hasn't updated, but where the heck are Adam and Courtney? I enjoyed their voices, especially when they were traveling. I think the Man vs. Debt concept still has life left in it, but it appears to be dying a slow death.

And if you're a weirdo stalker, move over please, so I can sit next to you on the park bench.

FWIW, Oh yes I was part of the "Oh NO, don't do it!" Greek chorus. Not that it did any good.

[NoraLenderbee]

You made me go over there and read the posts about the 401k. Wow. I can't believe this person is giving advice while making such . . . um, questionable decisions.

http://manvsdebt.com/cash-out-401k/

The weirdest part is where she says she did it to increase "motivation." I guess that putting yourself into a worse financial situation does increase your motivation, in the sense that your problems become even more urgent. But then you might as well go out and borrow $100K, because that would *really* increase your motivation, right?

I haven't read all her posts, but did she ever explain why she had so much CC debt?

[Dicey]

Come to think of it, Nora (yes, I'm slow) I wonder if she realized it and went out and got another job so she didn't have to be reminded of what colossally stupid move it was? Moronic to say the least. And yeah, she probably disclosed the source of the debt early on, but I don't remember and don't care enough to go look it up.

[CU Tiger]

I have felt a little ripped off by Adam ever since he "retired" from Man vs. Debt. Because I had been reading and following and suddenly he didn't feel like doing MvsD anymore...and rather than just saying, "See you guys, I have other things I want to do with my life!" he tried to have the best of both worlds. He went off to do the next big thing and left the website to his wife and Joan, and neither of them has what he had back at the beginning, which was a passion for the website.

Joan seems like a nice person, but not passionate about getting out of debt. She's got a get-out-of-debt-slowly thing going on, and doesn't want to make any difficult decisions. I mean, she's really proud, in her last post, that she's PAID ALL HER BILLS ON TIME. What the hell kind of achievement is that? In my life that is a given. In the life of all the smart people I know, it isn't a woop-woop thing to celebrate.

[plantingourpennies]

Maybe the debt won?

Best,
Mr. PoP

[wtjbatman]

Maybe the debt won?

Best,
Mr. PoP

Hilarious.

Yours,
Mr. Batman

[Dicey]

Touche, Mr. PoP. So sad if that's what happened, 'cuz we all know it doesn't have to be that way. Score another one for the Mustache.

[Asgard01]

I had never heard of that site before, I've had a look round today, some good content. I wish them well.