YOu have no predicament. A predicament in this instance would be lose of job, not able to pay mortgage. You are able to pay mortgage! the only predictament is that you want MORE and can't pay for it. That's not a predicament, that's consumer addiction. Don't ask for help when you don't deserve it, there are real good people who ARE in predicaments, have lost their jobs, had expensive health care bills, who DO need help. They deserve it, they'd be happy to live in your lovely home. You are just in a consumption fantasy, don't increase MY mortage costs by being greedy and defaulting. Good luck finding a new place to buy or rent (they check credit report too!) after that!. I frankly, am horrified that you claim to be an expert on finance and saving with a blog and you're proposed walking away from a loan you can afford simplely because you want to acquire a bigger house. I give this post an F.
I say let homeowners and consumers do the same things big businesses do. They wrtte off losses, walk away from bad deals, renegotiate terms on contracts that no longer make sense (including multimillion dollar mortgages) get bailed out by the government (YOU the taxpayer actually) for billions of dollars worth of bad decisions. Big banks use mafia like tactics to lock millions of people into high interest credit cards, sold billions in risky assets to unsuspecting investors. Where's the MORALITY there? Why is it wrong or a moral issue when we try to help consumers? Corporate welfare is good but helping the consumer (the engine that actually drives this econmy) is wrong? Help me understand!!!!
You just gonna have to wait and admit you can't get everything you want right now. Everything is coming back, property values, stock market, etc.--you just have to wait. I find it hard to believe that the top of the market was 7 years ago... the market peaked 2 or 3 years ago. So, you wait til the value slow regains and then you move. Easy. We'd all like more space, but we wait until we can afford it. I read a sad case about someone who sold all her stock after it lost so much value. She sold at the bottom of the market. Now all her boring friends who waited the recession out, have seen almost all of their value return, and she is out. Cold. Don't run at the bottom of the market. Sit quietly and be patient.
Well obviously you're preaching to the choir here, this self-congratulatory post isn't telling this group anything we don't already know and believe. Therefore, it kind of wastes the space.
I really like the idea behind this article. It is true--you do not need to have a ton of money to be happy. I have been reminded of this lately now that my husband and I are expecting our first child. So many people around me are waiting to have children for no other reason than they want to have the money to afford every single luxury they can get for that child. These couples want children but hold off because they cannot afford the luxuries. These couples have plenty of money to provide the necessities of life and many "fun" items for a child. However, they get caught up the luxuries they would not have instead of thinking about the experiences they would have. I place more value on the experiences I would have. Sure, I would like to afford luxuries some day, but I am not going to stress out about them in the meantime. Thanks for the post!
You know what this reminded me of? The guy who shows up on the ski slopes w/ all the gear, Spider jacket, etc., and can barely get down a green (I'm looking at you, NYC'ers who invade the Vermont slopes). And the best guy on the slopes? The one in the red one-piece (thankfully not skin tight) purchased in the 70s.
You seriously want to default on your mortgage because your house, which you can afford, lost a chunk of value? I don't want to hit a defense mechanism for you, but, ARE YOU CRAZY???? You can afford it, you have a home, and your family lives in it. A snug fit, perhaps, but it is affordable housing. Do you honestly think that if you default on this loan that any bank is going to lend you money for a larger home? Yes, you owe more than it is worth, yes, it's a bummer, but seriously, YOU bought the house, not the bank. They didn't hold a gun to your head and make you sign those papers for the loan. You probably were excited the day that you signed them--your first home! Bluntly, this sense of entitlement that everyone deserves to have a home, nice car, and everything that goes with it, with no sacrifice on anyone's part, is rubbish, plain and simple. If you borrowed an amount from a person to purchase something, you would not have this attitude. But since it is a big, bad bank, it's okay. The banks aren't the bad guy here, your whining is. Their "crime" is lousy customer service.
One of the ladies at my church was just telling me that her daughter has had to move to a gluten free diet-at 15. She's had a hard time with it-I will definitely send her the link to this post! I think she'd also be interested in seeing the noodle recipe.
It says PERSISTENTLY. As in, you continually do not pay your debts. Defaulting on your mortgage is just one debt. If he started defaulting on his credit cards, car loans, student loans, and other debts consistently, then he's a deadbeat.
Also, by this definitely every unemployed person out there that lost their home, got their car repossessed, and couldn't pay their credit card bills would be considered a deadbeat. How dare those people lose their job! They should have chosen a different industry or learned a different skill set. Deadbeats!!!
I actually hope the there are more people like you in the world. You know, people who are willing to throw $50,000 down a black hole just so they can hold on to their false sense of self-righteousness. In fact, I'll make a deal with you. You can call me a deadbeat for $50,000. For $100,000, I'll call myself a deadbeat. Deal?
@Rich: Ummmm...no. If one "chooses" to do this business decision, it makes them a baaaaaaaaaad credit risk in future. They don't get a free pass for this. They don't get to do it with no impact. If I were a bank, and saw that someone had walked away from a previous mortgage I would not lend to them at all. If they are able to get a loan in future, it will have a higher interest rate than for non-deadbeats like me.
As for living in a "***hole." This person chose this house. They've been making payments on it, and living there a while. Presumably they've gotten value from having a roof over their heads. If they felt it would not be adequate for them in the near term, and wanted to be able to walk away free and clear with no obligations, there is a very easy way to do that. It is called "renting." No one is owed profit on a house. No one is owed a bigger house. The fact that people think this is OK boggles my mind.
I have been using the law of attraction for about a year now. I was in a dead end job and had two small children to look after. My mind was so focused on the debt I had to pay and the dead end job. Then I changed all that. I have been living in a state of positive thinking for the better part of this past year. That is not to say I don't have negative thoughts ever, but that I channel my energy to be positive and I work hard to see the good in all situations. And, guess what, I have things falling in my lap left and right. I started by visualizing a white feather, that I desearved it. When I found the exact feather sitting on my car, I saved it as a reminder that I can do this. Now, I am starting a business with two other women and I am watching the universe bend over backwards to keep it coming. I am working harder now than I ever worked, the difference is, I am doing something that I want to do, not because of the money but because of my passion. I am meeting contacts from so many angles and I just keep on keeping myself open!
I think it is also important to remember to be grateful. I always say thank you when I get a green light or when I meet a new person that has something to offer. I am always givign thanks to the universe and being grateful for all it has offered me.
A mortgage says that you will make payments on a domicile until the loan(s) are paid off. If you do not make the payments, the bank(s) have a right to take back the domicile.
After you've made all the payments owed, the domicile is yours. But if you don't make the payments, you have to give the domicile back.
There is no language in (most) mortgages that says you still have to make payments even if it means you will live a sh!thole of a life for the rest of your life and most of your kids' lives since you are making payments that barely scratch what is "owed" on your underwater domicile.
There's no need to bring in ethics/morals/etc. Again, it's a business decision. Make payments; keep domicile. Do not make payments; you have to give back the domicile. Oversimplified. But that's all a mortgage loan "requires".
Honestly, I seriously doubt you have actually outgrown your home, unless you live in a studio apartment. Knowing the size of the average "small" American home, that's usually bigger than a lot of family houses in say, Europe, most of which don't even have garages as well! You may feel cramped by American standards, but in all likelyhood you just have too much stuff. Get rid of as much as you can, maybe repurpose a room or the garage, and you can deal.
As for walking away from your mortgage...don't. When you can afford to pay it, and you signed a piece of paper promising you would pay all that money back? Just...don't.
Wow! I am stunned that you are actually considering defaulting on your mortgage loan. Start acting like an adult and not a cry baby. Your home of 7 years has lost value and you WANT a larger home? Grow up! Persons of character would never entertain such a selfish and narcissistic idea. Nobody owes you a thing....not even a return telephone call. I thought I had heard it all until I read your article. Consider me a FORMER reader.
My mother had a penchant for inheriting the furniture of the damned! Okay, not damned, just dead. If grandpa dies on the brand new sofa, odds are 20 bucks and carting it away is all you'll pay. Relatives get the willies but you don't have to.
"It's not that he can just think about it, it's that he can actually DO IT; and that doesn't make him a deadbeat for doing so either."
I'm sorry, I'm afraid it does. See definition 2 below. Or course we don't know the author's history, but seeing as a mortgage is about the biggest debt an individual can have, I'd say that CHOOSING to default is certainly edging into deadbeat territory.
Main Entry: 1dead·beat
Pronunciation: \ˈded-ˌbēt\
Function: noun
Date: 1863
1 : loafer
2 : one who persistently fails to pay personal debts or expenses
Of course this is all moot. Since he will most certainly not be eligible for any government assistance (designed for people who are having real difficulty paying their mortgage in order to reduce the foreclosure rate) he can enjoy trying to buy that second larger home with a credit rating trashed by a foreclosure.
I lived in the Middle East where Pomegranate juice is common.
REAL Pomegranate juice looks and tastes nothing like what Pom is serving up and for the price they are ripping-off the public.
Pom is over charging for cocktails with apple, pineapple juice etc.
Basically you're paying a lot for the equivalent of welch's or treetop box juice in deceptive packaging.
Real pomegranate juice is a bright pink/red almost magenta color and is not clear.
Try juicing your own at home if you don't believe me or just google it.
Pom is not the healthiest for you. The healthiest for you is fresh, non shelf stable, and with all the fiber not strained out.
I agree with this post wholeheartedly. If you're going to pay more per unit or not even us it all by the expiration date, don't buy that item in bulk.
Want to hear one of my favorite tips on budgeting?
Go to Costco at lunchtime armed with a list and don't take a grocery cart.
Why Lunchtime? Free samples to fill you up so you're not as hungry and won't buy things based on being hungry.
Why a list? So you'll only buy what you've pre compared on costco's website you the flyers you've got in the mail.
Why no grocery cart? So you'll limit your purchases to what you can carry and put that darn crap you didn't write on your list back cause it's getting heavy.
Oh, and the peanut butter and tofu were the last things I saved money on buying them at Costco.
Have fun shopping, and don't forget all the free food at Costco.
Sometimes I walk out of Costco and glance at some of my purchases and wonder "Why" LOL This brings that point home. In other words, don't just buy something you don't need just because you can get it bulk.
Just two weekends ago I sampled my very first homebrew. It was one week in the fermenter and two in the bottles for carbonation. The beer was an English Brown from a kit. It was one of the most excellent beers I had ever drank, not just because I made it... but because it turned out great!
This past weekend I bottled my second brew (a porter) and brewed another (Scottish ale). The porter fermented for one week and was then bottled, the Scottish ale I'm planning to ferment for two or three weeks and then bottle just to see what happens.
I love this hobby. My girlfriend and I got into it as a cost-saving method and a bit of a "team-building" exercise. After the initial investment (about $200), it's pretty cheap to brew compared to buying six-packs at $10 each. But other posters are correct about how it becomes a bit addicting; I'm already pricing glass carboys, bottle trees, and other homebrewing accouterments to make my experience even better. Ultimately, we always want to have homebrewed beer on hand (if we can keep from drinking it all) and eventually move on to wine as well. After doing this, and researching how many questionable ingredients go into some larger "corporate" beers, I'm so glad we've gotten involved.... mostly for our health!
So if you're on the fence about this... jump. Once you start, you'll wonder why you didn't get into it years ago.
Really not the kind of post I'm used to seeing on WiseBread.
If you're going to default on your home simply because you want to get rid of it and buy something bigger, I don't feel you're a very positive authority on frugal living.
Instead of screwing all of us taxpayers like you're pondering, please remodel like has been mentioned in this thread. You have two kids, yet your house is too small? Is it a one bedroom or something? Why not remodel the garage, as was said, into the kids room. I'm sure your garage is big enough to be made into two rooms. Get rid of all that stuff (refer to Zen Habits or Mnmlist and start internalizing it) and convert it to a fun, livable space. I don't know how old your kids are, but a teenager would love to have a room apart from their parents. "I live in the garage with my own separate entrance." How cool is that? Seriously, your kids will thank you one day.
With this post you're essentially saying you deserve a handout. You don't. Suck it up and start practicing what you preach. You deserve what you work for. Maybe in twenty years your house will be worth a fortune. For now, live with the decision you've made and try your best to be a good person. Otherwise, you're just giving in to and contributing to the self-absorbed mentality that is seriously putting a hurt on our country right now.
My friend was recently fired. And, true to what you predicted, he was experiencing at least 3 of the 20 signs: given near-impossible tasks, then moved down to a less important position (dressed up by a fancy name), all happening after his immediate boss was 'let go'.
Of course, that I found this list after him becoming unemployed means that it didn't really help him, but it made me laugh none the less.
YOu have no predicament. A predicament in this instance would be lose of job, not able to pay mortgage. You are able to pay mortgage! the only predictament is that you want MORE and can't pay for it. That's not a predicament, that's consumer addiction. Don't ask for help when you don't deserve it, there are real good people who ARE in predicaments, have lost their jobs, had expensive health care bills, who DO need help. They deserve it, they'd be happy to live in your lovely home. You are just in a consumption fantasy, don't increase MY mortage costs by being greedy and defaulting. Good luck finding a new place to buy or rent (they check credit report too!) after that!. I frankly, am horrified that you claim to be an expert on finance and saving with a blog and you're proposed walking away from a loan you can afford simplely because you want to acquire a bigger house. I give this post an F.
I say let homeowners and consumers do the same things big businesses do. They wrtte off losses, walk away from bad deals, renegotiate terms on contracts that no longer make sense (including multimillion dollar mortgages) get bailed out by the government (YOU the taxpayer actually) for billions of dollars worth of bad decisions. Big banks use mafia like tactics to lock millions of people into high interest credit cards, sold billions in risky assets to unsuspecting investors. Where's the MORALITY there? Why is it wrong or a moral issue when we try to help consumers? Corporate welfare is good but helping the consumer (the engine that actually drives this econmy) is wrong? Help me understand!!!!
You just gonna have to wait and admit you can't get everything you want right now. Everything is coming back, property values, stock market, etc.--you just have to wait. I find it hard to believe that the top of the market was 7 years ago... the market peaked 2 or 3 years ago. So, you wait til the value slow regains and then you move. Easy. We'd all like more space, but we wait until we can afford it. I read a sad case about someone who sold all her stock after it lost so much value. She sold at the bottom of the market. Now all her boring friends who waited the recession out, have seen almost all of their value return, and she is out. Cold. Don't run at the bottom of the market. Sit quietly and be patient.
Good post for himself learned many new things, thanks
Well obviously you're preaching to the choir here, this self-congratulatory post isn't telling this group anything we don't already know and believe. Therefore, it kind of wastes the space.
I really like the idea behind this article. It is true--you do not need to have a ton of money to be happy. I have been reminded of this lately now that my husband and I are expecting our first child. So many people around me are waiting to have children for no other reason than they want to have the money to afford every single luxury they can get for that child. These couples want children but hold off because they cannot afford the luxuries. These couples have plenty of money to provide the necessities of life and many "fun" items for a child. However, they get caught up the luxuries they would not have instead of thinking about the experiences they would have. I place more value on the experiences I would have. Sure, I would like to afford luxuries some day, but I am not going to stress out about them in the meantime. Thanks for the post!
You know what this reminded me of? The guy who shows up on the ski slopes w/ all the gear, Spider jacket, etc., and can barely get down a green (I'm looking at you, NYC'ers who invade the Vermont slopes). And the best guy on the slopes? The one in the red one-piece (thankfully not skin tight) purchased in the 70s.
You seriously want to default on your mortgage because your house, which you can afford, lost a chunk of value? I don't want to hit a defense mechanism for you, but, ARE YOU CRAZY???? You can afford it, you have a home, and your family lives in it. A snug fit, perhaps, but it is affordable housing. Do you honestly think that if you default on this loan that any bank is going to lend you money for a larger home? Yes, you owe more than it is worth, yes, it's a bummer, but seriously, YOU bought the house, not the bank. They didn't hold a gun to your head and make you sign those papers for the loan. You probably were excited the day that you signed them--your first home! Bluntly, this sense of entitlement that everyone deserves to have a home, nice car, and everything that goes with it, with no sacrifice on anyone's part, is rubbish, plain and simple. If you borrowed an amount from a person to purchase something, you would not have this attitude. But since it is a big, bad bank, it's okay. The banks aren't the bad guy here, your whining is. Their "crime" is lousy customer service.
One of the ladies at my church was just telling me that her daughter has had to move to a gluten free diet-at 15. She's had a hard time with it-I will definitely send her the link to this post! I think she'd also be interested in seeing the noodle recipe.
Guest,
It says PERSISTENTLY. As in, you continually do not pay your debts. Defaulting on your mortgage is just one debt. If he started defaulting on his credit cards, car loans, student loans, and other debts consistently, then he's a deadbeat.
Also, by this definitely every unemployed person out there that lost their home, got their car repossessed, and couldn't pay their credit card bills would be considered a deadbeat. How dare those people lose their job! They should have chosen a different industry or learned a different skill set. Deadbeats!!!
I actually hope the there are more people like you in the world. You know, people who are willing to throw $50,000 down a black hole just so they can hold on to their false sense of self-righteousness. In fact, I'll make a deal with you. You can call me a deadbeat for $50,000. For $100,000, I'll call myself a deadbeat. Deal?
@Rich: Ummmm...no. If one "chooses" to do this business decision, it makes them a baaaaaaaaaad credit risk in future. They don't get a free pass for this. They don't get to do it with no impact. If I were a bank, and saw that someone had walked away from a previous mortgage I would not lend to them at all. If they are able to get a loan in future, it will have a higher interest rate than for non-deadbeats like me.
As for living in a "***hole." This person chose this house. They've been making payments on it, and living there a while. Presumably they've gotten value from having a roof over their heads. If they felt it would not be adequate for them in the near term, and wanted to be able to walk away free and clear with no obligations, there is a very easy way to do that. It is called "renting." No one is owed profit on a house. No one is owed a bigger house. The fact that people think this is OK boggles my mind.
I have been using the law of attraction for about a year now. I was in a dead end job and had two small children to look after. My mind was so focused on the debt I had to pay and the dead end job. Then I changed all that. I have been living in a state of positive thinking for the better part of this past year. That is not to say I don't have negative thoughts ever, but that I channel my energy to be positive and I work hard to see the good in all situations. And, guess what, I have things falling in my lap left and right. I started by visualizing a white feather, that I desearved it. When I found the exact feather sitting on my car, I saved it as a reminder that I can do this. Now, I am starting a business with two other women and I am watching the universe bend over backwards to keep it coming. I am working harder now than I ever worked, the difference is, I am doing something that I want to do, not because of the money but because of my passion. I am meeting contacts from so many angles and I just keep on keeping myself open!
I think it is also important to remember to be grateful. I always say thank you when I get a green light or when I meet a new person that has something to offer. I am always givign thanks to the universe and being grateful for all it has offered me.
A mortgage says that you will make payments on a domicile until the loan(s) are paid off. If you do not make the payments, the bank(s) have a right to take back the domicile.
After you've made all the payments owed, the domicile is yours. But if you don't make the payments, you have to give the domicile back.
There is no language in (most) mortgages that says you still have to make payments even if it means you will live a sh!thole of a life for the rest of your life and most of your kids' lives since you are making payments that barely scratch what is "owed" on your underwater domicile.
There's no need to bring in ethics/morals/etc. Again, it's a business decision. Make payments; keep domicile. Do not make payments; you have to give back the domicile. Oversimplified. But that's all a mortgage loan "requires".
Honestly, I seriously doubt you have actually outgrown your home, unless you live in a studio apartment. Knowing the size of the average "small" American home, that's usually bigger than a lot of family houses in say, Europe, most of which don't even have garages as well! You may feel cramped by American standards, but in all likelyhood you just have too much stuff. Get rid of as much as you can, maybe repurpose a room or the garage, and you can deal.
As for walking away from your mortgage...don't. When you can afford to pay it, and you signed a piece of paper promising you would pay all that money back? Just...don't.
Wow! I am stunned that you are actually considering defaulting on your mortgage loan. Start acting like an adult and not a cry baby. Your home of 7 years has lost value and you WANT a larger home? Grow up! Persons of character would never entertain such a selfish and narcissistic idea. Nobody owes you a thing....not even a return telephone call. I thought I had heard it all until I read your article. Consider me a FORMER reader.
My mother had a penchant for inheriting the furniture of the damned! Okay, not damned, just dead. If grandpa dies on the brand new sofa, odds are 20 bucks and carting it away is all you'll pay. Relatives get the willies but you don't have to.
Margaret Garcia-Couoh
"It's not that he can just think about it, it's that he can actually DO IT; and that doesn't make him a deadbeat for doing so either."
I'm sorry, I'm afraid it does. See definition 2 below. Or course we don't know the author's history, but seeing as a mortgage is about the biggest debt an individual can have, I'd say that CHOOSING to default is certainly edging into deadbeat territory.
Main Entry: 1dead·beat
Pronunciation: \ˈded-ˌbēt\
Function: noun
Date: 1863
1 : loafer
2 : one who persistently fails to pay personal debts or expenses
Of course this is all moot. Since he will most certainly not be eligible for any government assistance (designed for people who are having real difficulty paying their mortgage in order to reduce the foreclosure rate) he can enjoy trying to buy that second larger home with a credit rating trashed by a foreclosure.
I could have written this post myself. They did the exact same thing to us.
I lived in the Middle East where Pomegranate juice is common.
REAL Pomegranate juice looks and tastes nothing like what Pom is serving up and for the price they are ripping-off the public.
Pom is over charging for cocktails with apple, pineapple juice etc.
Basically you're paying a lot for the equivalent of welch's or treetop box juice in deceptive packaging.
Real pomegranate juice is a bright pink/red almost magenta color and is not clear.
Try juicing your own at home if you don't believe me or just google it.
Pom is not the healthiest for you. The healthiest for you is fresh, non shelf stable, and with all the fiber not strained out.
Don't be fooled.
Hey everyone,
I agree with this post wholeheartedly. If you're going to pay more per unit or not even us it all by the expiration date, don't buy that item in bulk.
Want to hear one of my favorite tips on budgeting?
Go to Costco at lunchtime armed with a list and don't take a grocery cart.
Why Lunchtime? Free samples to fill you up so you're not as hungry and won't buy things based on being hungry.
Why a list? So you'll only buy what you've pre compared on costco's website you the flyers you've got in the mail.
Why no grocery cart? So you'll limit your purchases to what you can carry and put that darn crap you didn't write on your list back cause it's getting heavy.
Oh, and the peanut butter and tofu were the last things I saved money on buying them at Costco.
Have fun shopping, and don't forget all the free food at Costco.
Sometimes I walk out of Costco and glance at some of my purchases and wonder "Why" LOL This brings that point home. In other words, don't just buy something you don't need just because you can get it bulk.
If you don't mind sharing, what is your fruit leather recipe?
Just two weekends ago I sampled my very first homebrew. It was one week in the fermenter and two in the bottles for carbonation. The beer was an English Brown from a kit. It was one of the most excellent beers I had ever drank, not just because I made it... but because it turned out great!
This past weekend I bottled my second brew (a porter) and brewed another (Scottish ale). The porter fermented for one week and was then bottled, the Scottish ale I'm planning to ferment for two or three weeks and then bottle just to see what happens.
I love this hobby. My girlfriend and I got into it as a cost-saving method and a bit of a "team-building" exercise. After the initial investment (about $200), it's pretty cheap to brew compared to buying six-packs at $10 each. But other posters are correct about how it becomes a bit addicting; I'm already pricing glass carboys, bottle trees, and other homebrewing accouterments to make my experience even better. Ultimately, we always want to have homebrewed beer on hand (if we can keep from drinking it all) and eventually move on to wine as well. After doing this, and researching how many questionable ingredients go into some larger "corporate" beers, I'm so glad we've gotten involved.... mostly for our health!
So if you're on the fence about this... jump. Once you start, you'll wonder why you didn't get into it years ago.
Really not the kind of post I'm used to seeing on WiseBread.
If you're going to default on your home simply because you want to get rid of it and buy something bigger, I don't feel you're a very positive authority on frugal living.
Instead of screwing all of us taxpayers like you're pondering, please remodel like has been mentioned in this thread. You have two kids, yet your house is too small? Is it a one bedroom or something? Why not remodel the garage, as was said, into the kids room. I'm sure your garage is big enough to be made into two rooms. Get rid of all that stuff (refer to Zen Habits or Mnmlist and start internalizing it) and convert it to a fun, livable space. I don't know how old your kids are, but a teenager would love to have a room apart from their parents. "I live in the garage with my own separate entrance." How cool is that? Seriously, your kids will thank you one day.
With this post you're essentially saying you deserve a handout. You don't. Suck it up and start practicing what you preach. You deserve what you work for. Maybe in twenty years your house will be worth a fortune. For now, live with the decision you've made and try your best to be a good person. Otherwise, you're just giving in to and contributing to the self-absorbed mentality that is seriously putting a hurt on our country right now.
My friend was recently fired. And, true to what you predicted, he was experiencing at least 3 of the 20 signs: given near-impossible tasks, then moved down to a less important position (dressed up by a fancy name), all happening after his immediate boss was 'let go'.
Of course, that I found this list after him becoming unemployed means that it didn't really help him, but it made me laugh none the less.