Poll of the Day > Did you read that story about that couple who raise 400k for that homeless man

(+) Yeah! (+)

.....but apparently spent it all on themselves? Their new bmw was apparently hauled away

https://www.yahoo.com/news/couple-allegedly-spent-money-raised-161446762.html
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k
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bumpers
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The story seems pretty complicated

Theyve given the guy a furnished mobile home, an SUV, and 25K and hes already spent all the money and sold off everything for drugs

Theyre afraid to give him all the money because it will likely be the end of him
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Mead posted...

The story seems pretty complicated

Theyve given the guy a furnished mobile home, an SUV, and 25K and hes already spent all the money and sold off everything for drugs

Theyre afraid to give him all the money because it will likely be the end of him

I'm sure thats the bullshit story they came up with, doesn't explain why they spent that money on themselves instead.
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Obviously the GoFundMe patrons wanted the dude to have 400k of drugs
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Zangulus posted...

Lokarin posted...

Obviously the GoFundMe patrons wanted the dude to have 400k of drugs

So these people would obviously be okay with other people spending the money on themselves.

Shut the fuck up.

I'm not sure what position you're taking here, I'm for the guy getting 400k of whatever
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Zangulus posted...

Your wording implies sarcasm.

Fair enough then.

Ah, yes. That was not my intention.
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They're both as deserving of free money.
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https://imgur.com/Nwob6LV
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Do we know the money is all gone? Maybe the money is still in the couple's bank account.

I think the homeless man should still receive the money. Even if he uses it on drugs
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If anything they should donate the money to a local shelter where it might actually do some good
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Mead posted...

If anything they should donate the money to a local shelter where it might actually do some good

It's not their money to donate though.
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HelIWithoutSin posted...

Mead posted...

If anything they should donate the money to a local shelter where it might actually do some good

It's not their money to donate though.

Its in their name
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They all seem like assholes. Id just much rather see the money go to a good cause rather than to local drug dealers. I think thats the fairest thing to the people who donated the money.
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JOExHIGASHI posted...

Do we know the money is all gone? Maybe the money is still in the couple's bank account.

I think the homeless man should still receive the money. Even if he uses it on drugs

I think the lawyer said it was...
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Zangulus posted...

Mead posted...

They all seem like assholes. Id just much rather see the money go to a good cause rather than to local drug dealers. I think thats the fairest thing to the people who donated the money.

The fairest thing to do to the people who donated is for the money to go where they intended it to. The homeless man.

Now if he squanders the money, maybe people should have found out more about him rather than just a heartwarming story on the 6 oclock news. But thats their fault.

The money is his, regardless of anyone elses feelings on the matter.

Youre right, but I say donate it to charity anyways
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Actually as far as GoFundMe is concerned the money belongs to the fundraisers. Them not spending it on the homeless man is more fraudulence on their part than ownership on his, but it'd require a lawsuit. A lawsuit wouldn't grant the man the money outright, something else could happen to it.
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Kind of a bad situation all around. It would probably be better to give the money somewhere else, but the only reason they raised so much money in the first place was because of this specific story with this specific man. A more general "help the homeless" fundraiser would've given them more options, but realistically, it wouldn't have gotten nearly as much money.

I've also heard different accounts on whether or not the couple is using the $400,000 on themselves. I've heard both that they've spent it, and I've also heard that they're still holding on to it.
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"McClure and D'Amico told Megyn Kelly on the "Today" show they were holding onto the money because Bobbitt used it to buy drugs."

So basically they were keeping most of it for themselves on a whim? This is why I don't fund shit like this.
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Hmm, I wonder if the original "$20 for gas story" was a scam by both parties.
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Zangulus posted...

Mead posted...

They all seem like assholes. Id just much rather see the money go to a good cause rather than to local drug dealers. I think thats the fairest thing to the people who donated the money.

The fairest thing to do to the people who donated is for the money to go where they intended it to. The homeless man.

Now if he squanders the money, maybe people should have found out more about him rather than just a heartwarming story on the 6 oclock news. But thats their fault.

The money is his, regardless of anyone elses feelings on the matter.

That or spend it for the man's benefit, such as buying him food rather than giving him money or items that can be sold for drugs.
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I mean if they were worried about him spending the money on drugs then buy him stuff he needs rather then giving him the money outright. Either way, whatever he got should have totaled $400K, not the apparent $25k he actually got.
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This just proves folk really are selfish.
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Here's an important quote since many people didn't seem to read the article.

A judge recently ordered the pair to hand over whatever money is left, but Bobbitt's lawyer Chris Fallon said Tuesday that all of it is gone.

There's already been a lawsuit. They've already been told hand over the money. It looks like it's all gone.
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I wonder how the people who donated the most feel.
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Zangulus posted...

Dynalo posted...

Here's an important quote since many people didn't seem to read the article.

A judge recently ordered the pair to hand over whatever money is left, but Bobbitt's lawyer Chris Fallon said Tuesday that all of it is gone.

There's already been a lawsuit. They've already been told hand over the money. It looks like it's all gone.

Theyve been told by a judge to give any money left over and any receipts for anything purchased with the money. Theyve pretty much refused.

I mean, theyre dumb as hell. They could have bought themselves some stuff and gotten away with it. But to blow that much on themselves and think theyd get away with it. They probably thought hed just roll over and deal with it. Or not be able to get a lawyer and sue their asses. Lawls.

Also, the homeless man is kind of in a weird situation because he did get a bunch of money so I can see that he must have felt awkward about asking about the rest of the money that they raised for him.
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Zangulus posted...

Lokarin posted...

Obviously the GoFundMe patrons wanted the dude to have 400k of drugs

So these people would obviously be okay with other people spending the money on themselves.

Shut the fuck up.

Damn dude, relax
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If they really wanted to help, they could've bought a $100,000 house and a fully paid for car. And use a good chunk of the money to pay for utilities and taxes or whatever on the house for a few years. Same with the car insurance for the car. And even got him a card specifically for gas. And then a bunch of food. That would have allowed him to get settled. And if they did that, he could have fixed himself up, and use some of the money for nice clothes. And could have possibly gotten a job or something...
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Didn't see any of that coming.

Dikitain posted...

I mean if they were worried about him spending the money on drugs then buy him stuff he needs rather then giving him the money outright. Either way, whatever he got should have totaled $400K, not the apparent $25k he actually got.

It wasn't just $25k, though. You're forgetting the SUV and furnished mobile home (assuming that Mead was on the money)
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Well, it was either them getting a BMW or some bum overdosing, so...

*did not read story*
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Looks like gofundme is gonna make sure he gets the missing money. I heard more about the story today and it seems for sure like they just spent most of the money on themselves.

Sad considering it seems like they originally set out with good intentions. Nothing like a bunch of money to bring out the worst in people.
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It is really sad, but would way rather see something that helped people get on their feet, donate money towards helping people pay for rent, rent a room etc while trying to get a job etc. Donate money to provide bikes (riding ones) for people to get around with etc.

$400k to one person is rediculous, nobody needs that much and it's going to be wasted.

Meanwhile the way go-fund-me works it would be fraud on the part of the people who set it up, and the money should actually go back to the people who donated it (as they didn't use it the way they promised), not to the homeless guy.

We really need to fix the housing/rental issues in most areas though, donating could help a bit, but many places it's getting insanely hard to live off 50% of the jobs (around minimum wage).

Where I lived has jumped from about $800 for a 1 bedroom to about $1100, Seattle is much worse, but at least you have a $15 min wage there vs an $11 an hour min wage here.

If you work 30 hours a week (many min wage jobs don't let you work more then that), at $11 an hour, that is less then $1200 a month after taxes (possibly only about $1000).

Very few places you can rent yourself for that much in the area, which leaves renting a room. That is the new norm for most people in this area (about 50% of the population) that make under $15 an hour....they rent rooms.

And this is actually not one of the worse areas. The bay area in CA for instance is insane. You couldn't work as a teacher when i was there (for the first 5 years at least) and rent a 1 bedroom apartment. It was crazy.
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wolfy42 posted...

$400k to one person is rediculous, nobody needs that much and it's going to be wasted.

A person doesn't need $400k in assets? Really? >_> While people *can* live paycheck-to-paycheck, rent instead of own, and never invest, it means that they don't really have anything to fall back on. Ideally, people should want to own a home, have investment/savings, and at least 6 months' salary in the bank (preferably more) in case of emergency. The fact you can kinda get by on far less -- while praying that nothing goes wrong -- doesn't mean that a person doesn't need it. Plus that $400k is taxable so it's not even $400k in the first place.

And keep in mind that he doesn't currently have a recurring income stream so whatever money he got would have to last.

wolfy42 posted...

Meanwhile the way go-fund-me works it would be fraud on the part of the people who set it up, and the money should actually go back to the people who donated it (as they didn't use it the way they promised), not to the homeless guy.

Uh, why? If they donated so the guy would get money, it makes sense to have the money go to the guy instead of them considering that the whole point was so that the guy would get money.
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Zeus posted...

at least 6 months' salary in the bank

I have about thirteen-thousand American dollars accumulated in my bank account. Is that more or less than a full-time salary of a person working for six months?
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Zeus posted...

Uh, why? If they donated so the guy would get money, it makes sense to have the money go to the guy instead of them considering that the whole point was so that the guy would get money.

Because of the way the site works. Unless it has changed, when someone does a go-fund-me, if the promised action/item/etc is not delivered, the money is supposed to go back to the people who donated it.

If you put in towards a game and it is never made, in theory you get the money back etc.

In this case, people donated towards giving the homeless man money. If the homeless man had made the go-fund-me, it would be a different story. Since it was not him, the people who made the go fund me are responsible for making sure he gets the money, or they should have to return it.

Meanwhile nobody needs 400k period. Many people WANT 400k, but yeah, you don't need that much at all. You could even get around taxes on most of it if you really worked at it (put it in non-taxable accounts, and only take out as much as you won't be taxed on per yet (starting with a bit more since you can go 3 years back as well I believe).

So in theory you could get about 45k initially straight up, and not be taxed on it at all, then put the other 355k into non-taxed IRA's etc. You then proceed to only take out the 15k or so you can not be taxed on each year after that.

So in theory, the homeless guy would have freaking 25 years or so of 15k a year with the 400k, and 45k to start off with as well.

But yeah, 400k is more then anyone needs to get a life started etc, it's enough for anyone to retire off in fact if they are fairly careful, and it's a crazy waste to give to someone you don't really know, and don't know how they will spend it, or if they will blow it. Waaaay more good you could do with that.

For instance, use the 400k to suppliment rent for low income ($15 or under an hour) residents, helping them actually afford their own place. Basically covering half the cost on 1 bedroom apartments for X amount of people in your local area. Instead of it costing $1200 for a 1 bedroom, they can pay $600 (the 400k would go fast this way, since that is about 7k per person per year). This would give quite a few people a better start, allowing them to hopefully get a job, or a pay increase so that by the end of say 2 years on this program, they could afford the 1 bedroom themselves.

At 7k a year, per person, that means 14k per person for 2 years, or about 28 people you could help with the 400k.

Or you could give it all to one guy who may be a drug addict, may be a gambling addict, etc, and might just blow it all right away.
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EclairReturns posted...

Zeus posted...

at least 6 months' salary in the bank

I have about thirteen-thousand American dollars accumulated in my bank account. Is that more or less than a full-time salary of a person working for six months?

It depends on where that person lives in the US. Some places have lower min wages, it also matters if they are working one of the almost 50% of jobs, that pay near minimum wage. Those are really the people being considered though in such a situation. if your making over 30k a year, you might not be on easy street, but you hopefully can at least afford your own place (not in all areas but many).

If you go with $10 as your min wage, and a 40 hour work week that is around $1200 a month, after taxes it's about $1000 a month, so that is about $6k in six months, and 13k is about a years worth of income for anyone working full time at around $10 an hour.

The way most get by is either living with relatives/parents etc, or renting a room.

Sadly, average cost to rent a room is approaching the cost to rent a 1 bedroom apartment just a few years ago, it's over $500 in quite a few areas now, but still a bit below $500 on average nation wide.

Considering the fact that a min wage person only makes about $1k a month though, $500 just to rent a room, is pretty insane if you ask me. You are literally working for the first half of the month, just to have a small room to yourself, share a bathroom, and deal with a bunch of roomates.

Back in my day (when ze dino's where still kickin it), we got that for about $200 each.

Seriously, i feel really bad for new HS graduates and even people just getting out of college, especially if they wracked up student loans and are in a field which doesn't have many jobs or is currently flooded.
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EclairReturns posted...

Zeus posted...

at least 6 months' salary in the bank

I have about thirteen-thousand American dollars accumulated in my bank account. Is that more or less than a full-time salary of a person working for six months?

It's based on 6 months of the individual's salary. If you make more than the average person (and have higher expenses than the average person) then you should set aside more and if you make less (and have lower expenses) then you should set aside less. $13k would be fine if you were making and living comfortably on $26k/year.

As for what the average American earns, I can't find what I consider reliable data since it's usually done by household earnings. However, it looks like the median *might* be around $30k.

And ideally you'd have more than six months' worth to fall back on.

wolfy42 posted...

Because of the way the site works. Unless it has changed, when someone does a go-fund-me, if the promised action/item/etc is not delivered, the money is supposed to go back to the people who donated it.

But this action would deliver the promised outcome?

wolfy42 posted...

Meanwhile nobody needs 400k period. Many people WANT 400k, but yeah, you don't need that much at all. You could even get around taxes on most of it if you really worked at it (put it in non-taxable accounts, and only take out as much as you won't be taxed on per yet (starting with a bit more since you can go 3 years back as well I believe).

That's simply not true, especially considering that $400k isn't nearly as much in assets as you seem to think. My parents' home is worth more than that. And if nobody had $400k in assets, who could you even rent from?

wolfy42 posted...

But yeah, 400k is more then anyone needs to get a life started etc,

Bear in mind that they probably weren't asking for $400k to get him back on his feet. Less than a tenth of that could set him up for a year while he tried to get work.

wolfy42 posted...

it's enough for anyone to retire off in fact if they are fairly careful

Maybe if they left the country? Otherwise I can't imagine that a 25 or 30 y/o could live so frugally as to stretch $400k over a lifetime.
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Mead posted...

The story seems pretty complicated

Theyve given the guy a furnished mobile home, an SUV, and 25K and hes already spent all the money and sold off everything for drugs

Theyre afraid to give him all the money because it will likely be the end of him

What did they expect to happen?

What did anyone donating expect to happen? He would use his fortune to go to rehab?

Zeus posted...

Maybe if they left the country? Otherwise I can't imagine that a 25 or 30 y/o could live so frugally as to stretch $400k over a lifetime.

400k, not taxed, straight up, and you can retire no matter what age you are.

You won't be rich mind you, but you can avoid working a near min wage job for the rest of your life. This is a homeless guy, so thats pretty much what he would be looking at probably (not always, but highly likely).

I know people don't like long posts, short story is you can make 2% interest easily through savings accounts with large amounts of money, and 5% on the first 100k easy as well (you can make at least 5% on all of it but it takes more work).

Lets just say an average of only 3% on your 400k, that is 12k for life, $1000 a month, the same amount you would make working a 40 hour min wage job.

So yeah, you could retire off it though honestly that would be crazy, with that amount of money there are tons of ways to make a large profit while paying for your residence etc.

Buy mobile homes for instance, low/forclosures, sales from mobile home parks (they sell them just to cover the lot rent at really low prices). You gotta have a decent amount of free cash in some areas now (costs can get up over 200k easy now), but taxes are way less, so you don't have the full 10%of your profit gone between realtors fee's etc. Makes making a profit way easier.

Buy/Sell a mobile home every year, put the rest in savings and you'll be making enough to live quite a nice life, without hardly working at all.
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