Woman sitting outside dressed up and looking sad

She Saved Carefully for a Bachelorette Party She Could Afford, Two Bridesmaids Kept Adding Events Without Asking Anyone, the Total Climbed $2,000 Above the Original Plan, and She Got So Stressed She Finally Decided Not to Go

ByKristin Stones

Planning ahead, saving carefully, and then watching the cost of a bachelorette party grow by $2,000 beyond what was originally discussed isn’t a budgeting failure. It’s a different trip than the one anyone agreed to attend. That’s the situation one woman’s boyfriend laid out on her behalf after watching her spend weeks stressed about a…

Woman looking shocked reading her credit card statement

Squatters Moved Into Her Inherited Home and Refused to Leave, the Sale Fell Through, the Executor Went Silent for a Year, and Now She’s Watching a Property She Was Supposed to Inherit Slip Away While Nobody Involved Will Tell Her Anything

ByKristin Stones

Inheriting a house should be the beginning of a process, not a year of silence from an executor while squatters claim ownership and a sale falls apart. That’s the situation one woman is stuck in after being left a home that’s still moving through probate. The property had a buyer lined up and was headed…

Man sitting at his desk looking very stressed out

He Owes More on Repairs Than He’d Net From Selling, Has Wanted to Leave for Years, and Is Weighing Whether to Stay Through the Foreclosure Process and Save $20,000 (Until Someone Pointed Out the Bankruptcy Didn’t Protect Him From a Second Hit to His Credit)

ByKristin Stones

Deliberately staying in a home through the foreclosure process to accumulate savings isn’t a new idea, and people do it, but the gap between how it looks on paper and what it actually involves is wide enough that it’s worth understanding the full picture before treating it as a straightforward financial strategy. That’s the calculation…

Man laying his head down on his laptop keyboard

He Found a Condo Priced $50,000 Below Market With Rumors of an HOA Due Reduction Coming, Made an Offer the Seller Accepted Within Hours, and Then Read the Financial Documents and Discovered a $4 Million Reserve Shortfall Nobody Had Mentioned

ByKristin Stones

A condo priced $50,000 below comparable units with rumors of an HOA due reduction on the way sounds like the kind of opportunity that doesn’t come around often. It took about one afternoon with the financial documents to understand why nobody else had jumped on it. That’s the experience one buyer is walking away from…

Man holding a car key with a confused look on his face

He Spent Four Months Trying to Find Out Who Owned the Company Car Sitting in His Driveway After His Employer Went Bankrupt, Got Code Enforcement Notices for the Expired Registration, and Hasn’t Heard a Word Since

ByKristin Stones

Getting handed a company car in June and watching the company collapse in July is the kind of timing that turns a straightforward employment perk into a surprisingly complicated legal situation. That’s where one worker finds himself after his employer went bankrupt shortly after issuing him a vehicle. What remained of the company told him…

Man making a gesture with his hand and a weird face

He Lent His College Friend $800 to Cover Rent During a Crisis, and Three Months Later That Friend Is Posting Weekend Trips on Instagram, Dodging Texts, and Physically Walking Away From Him at Parties to Avoid Paying It Back

ByKristin Stones

That’s where one 22-year-old finds himself after lending his college friend Jake the money to cover rent when Jake lost his job. He had savings from a summer job, sent the money through Venmo without hesitation, and took Jake at his word when he promised to repay it within a month. Two months later Jake…