We get dozens of requests at GetRichSlowly.org every day. They are usually queries such as “Can I guest post to promote my business?” (No.) “Will you share our infographic with your readers?” (No.) Last week we received one that intrigued me. The writer had started a crowd-funding effort to pay off his mortgage and he wanted me to share it with the Get Rich Slowly community. I replied, “Why would anyone want to pay off your mortgage? I'd like other people to pay off my mortgage too. What's in it for them?” His reply and reasoning made me decide to let him tell his story and make his plea to you.
There have been successful crowd-funding efforts in the past couple of years to help people pay their student loans, their personal credit card debt, medical bills and much, much more.
I warned Eric that the attitude of the GRS folks tends toward “be responsible for yourself,” and his request could invoke the wrath of the crowd. (Crowd-sourced vitriol!) But he said he was willing to take it.
Beyond his particular plea, I would like to hear how the GRS community feels about crowd-funding for personal goals. Is this a fad? Or might this become a “pay it forward” movement?
My name is Eric Estrada, and please, don't let the name fool you, I'm not an actor famous for riding on a CHP motorcycle. I'm actually just a regular guy. I'm 34 years old, I have three kids — two girls, one boy — a fiancée, and a dog named Zero. My fiancée, Jeanette, is a hair stylist and I work for a medical device company as a Quality Process Technician. We pay all of our bills on time, we currently do NOT have any credit card debt, and budget as best as we can for groceries and other miscellaneous monthly costs. I'm not a financial guru, nor do I claim to have all of the answers. Heck, I've made some financial decisions in the past that I wish had not and made others that I wish I would have made sooner.
One of the “best” decisions we made was to stop renting and purchase our first home in 2010. As our family was growing rather quickly, we knew it was time to buy a house. Not just any house: It had to be a house that we could raise the kids in and see ourselves living in for a very long time –you know, all the important stuff that everyone else looks at when buying a home. After searching for a few months, and falling in love with many houses that were big, beautiful, and obviously expensive, we decided to stay within our means, and bought a small three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,322-square-foot home with a price tag of $167,100! We found a house that was below market value (I'll have to write another article on how we found it for such a low price). Although the bigger houses would have been great, especially since we found out we were pregnant with our third child, we decided this small home was just going to have to work.
It's been four years since we bought our home. We've worked really hard to get where we are. For the first time in many years, we have a savings account that we've actually saved money in! We've sold our new cars and bought much older cars with cash to avoid interest and monthly payments. We don't eat out as much as we used to. We buy clothes at the second-hand stores. I even grow my beard as long as a I can so I don't have to buy razors. What? Razors are expensive! Some might even say I'm obsessed with the thought of having financial freedom. Call me crazy, but I like to save anywhere I can.
As frugal as I may sound, I do have a kind heart buried in me. As many of us are, I'm constantly being asked to donate to those in need and, like many of us out there, I do. I donate what I can, when I can, whether it's the change in my pocket or a few dollars in my wallet. I try to donate whenever possible no matter what the cause is. Obviously, the individuals asking for donations are in need of something or have suffered more than I have, so I donate.
“Donating” is just one of those things we as humans do. Charity has been around forever and I'm sure it will be around for a long time. These days social media plays a huge part in how individuals share their causes and receive donations from all around the world.
The ask
Although I am not personally suffering from any major illness, or living on the streets, I have a goal and that goal is to pay off my mortgage, the last of my debts, to give me “Financial Freedom.” This goal of ours is what led me to create the account gofundme.com/onedollaratatime.
Some of you may say, “I want to pay my mortgage too! Why the hell would I help this guy pay off his?” Some of you may even stop reading here. But to those who keep reading and may want do the same thing, I want you to know I asked myself the same questions. “Could crowd-source funding REALLY help me pay off my mortgage?” I say the answer is YES!
And I'm sure you'll ask, “What's in it for me?” For starters, you get to be a part of a fund that helps a family achieve a life-long goal of having financial freedom.
If this still doesn't answer the questions “what's in it for me?” or “what do I get for donating?” I answer with a question: “Wouldn't it be great to be a part of something that helped one family at a time?”
If a regular guy like me was able to actually receive $5 donations from approximately 31,000 people, what stops me from starting an organization that helps others who want to achieve financial freedom? I envision an organization that would collect donations from small private businesses and large corporations to help individuals like you and me achieve the same goals. Of course like any organization, this organization would have stipulations like once a home is paid off, you can't sell it and buy a bigger house. When we pay off the mortgage, we plan to be mortgage free for the rest of our lives.
The possibilities are endless. Whether you think I'm crazy or you find yourself thinking the same way I do, please hit that share button. If you have an extra $5 in your wallet, please donate. Who knows, once I reach my goal, we can get started on yours.
This sounds nice, but it also says you want a handout. If everyone owned their home and was entitled to that, what motivation would people have to be responsible?
I’ve thought of trying crowd-sourcing, but I wanted something tangible to offer. I have some ideas.
In the meantime, I put a Paypal Donate button on my blog. I’m raising money to repair my parents’ home (damaged by a tornado) so they can move back in after 7 years as well as pay off debts. My site is livinginmyhonda.blogspot.com
If I received help paying off a mortgage like Eric Estrada is attempting to do, I would feel a strong sense of responsibility to be a good steward. I’d manage the funds better than I manage my own earned money because I would be accountable to other people. Having people give to me would also make me mindful to pay it forward to others, so one day I could end up helping you or your friends with their goals.
I know, how about we ALL post our favorite wish that we’d love to get funded? 100% of us readers here can put this as a message on every single blog post we see. Isn’t that a FANTASTIC idea? What could possibly go wrong?
Wendy my contribution to the world will be the sarcasm font hahaha. Haven’t made a font yet…but my friends and I use what we refer to as sarcasm quotes. They work just like regular quotes except you put your sarcasm inside the greater than and less than symbols .
Should we help someone else pay off his mortgage? Unless he’s experiencing financial hardship (and he pretty much admits he’s not), I don’t see the point.
It sounds like you wants to set up a debt cooperative. So… where are the plans? How are you going to make it work? How are you going to assess peoples’ ability to pay into the system? Do you really believe in such a system? If you do, what is the next step to building it?
A clear vision will be required to convince people you’re not just interested in clearing your own mortgage.
The larger project is simply words on a screen at this point. Making it happen will require money, effort, and plans.
The point is to have FINANCIAL FREEDOM. Wouldn’t anybody want that? Yes its a wanted handout but if anybody can help out somebody else not only is a good deed on your part it helps out somebody get to their goal. I have always said why not create a group where 1 million people donate $20 in Which you pick out lets say 10,000 people from those 1 million that will gets $10,000. Not only did you help out 10,000 people its a $20 donation if you didn’t get picked. I love the idea that people should be able to raffle off their homes or even debts. Its a write off for the donaters and a win situation for somebody who gets the paid off house.
coming in a little late to the meeting, but ya know, if the mortgage is paid off, that frees up assets to be spent much more freely in the community which lifts up local business, which then adds jobs, more money available to put the kids through college etc., etc.!
Yeah there will always be those that abuse the system but more humanitarian thinking would give all of us a boost
Huh. I’m curious to see the reaction to this post. (Comment bait?) I wish him luck with his dream, but I don’t think I could do this myself unless I was in genuine need of help.
The idea intrigues me though.
Yeah, I’m more intrigued than upset. Does one have to pay income tax on donations received?
Pure comment bait.
And yes, he will owe taxes on gifts received.
Generally, gifts are not taxable to the recipient, only the giver. This may be a bit different because it’s done through Kickstarter.
Don’t you only have to pay gift tax on gifts over $14,000 (per person)? http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Frequently-Asked-Questions-on-Gift-Taxes
The donor pays gift tax on giving more than $14K of their estate away. Well, in most cases they just file a gift tax return and any eventual gift tax gets taken out of their estate return. But it’s about estate tax, not income.
Kickstarter is taxable if you are earning money from your products or services. Basically, if someone agrees to buy your CD in advance you’ve just made money being a musician. But pure begging? It’s not taxable income for someone to just decide to give you $1 because you’ve got a bowl out at the corner.
I’m nearly speechless. I guess I just don’t get this post and I’m surprised that it’s here. A post asking for asking for 31,000 handouts. Incredible!
And here I’m trying to pay off my mortgages the old-fashioned way… by patience, hard work and self-discipline. But I guess in this age of strategic defaults we can just ask others to pay our way through life. What in the world is happening here? Is this a troll post by GRS?
Ugh!
I agree with you! This guy wants help paying off his mortgage? GEESH!!
Curtis I follow your blog and am thrilled when I log on and see an update. Keep up the great work!
WOW! I’m very honored, Steve! Thanks so much for that. I will continue the mission.
It took years for my wife and I to pay ioff my mortgage early. Coming from humble circumstances It is something I am very proud of. I would not want to deny you the opportunity to do it all on your own and feel that self satisfaction.
There are too many good people with greater needs then yours – life isn’t always fair or easy but it seems to me you are doing pretty well. Thank god for that…
I have never been angered by a Get Rich Slowly post before. This is the most outrageous example of entitlement mentality I have ever seen! If he wanted financial freedom sooner than later, he should have picked a smaller house, found another source of income, or picked a different set of priorities. Come to think of it, if he thinks everyone should pitch in for someone else’s lifestyle, perhaps he should go live in a communist country.
I’m retired so probably older than many readers of this column, so I guess I’m the only one offended that this guy has three children with a woman he is still calling his “fiancée.”
Way to commit.
I am in your age group and think it is a sad statement of the times that they each think the other is good enough to live with and raise children with but don’t feel marriage is necessary, even after three children.
I, too, am casting a squinky eye at anyone who has THREE kids and hasn’t bothered to marry their mother. Doesn’t sound like sound planning for taxes, real estate, insurance, pensions, social security, and other rights of survivorship. Meanwhile, I’m paying off my $150,000-barely-900-sq.ft. without a partner OR handouts OR whining about it.
Hi Ed,
I am 34 and I completely agree with you. The very first thing that bothered me about this post was that he wasn’t married, but rather engaged. I wouldn’t give this guy a dime because I can’t respect him. We need more Ed’s in this society. Thanks for your comment.
You are not the only one offended by that. I realize having illegitimate children is all the rage these days, but I’m old-fashioned enough to think it’s still something to be ashamed of instead of proud of.
Frankly, if a guy is too irresponsible to use a condom or to at least marry the woman to legitimize their children at the FIRST pregnancy (not the third), then he’s probably too irresponsible to handle money well. Getting out of debt requires restraint, and popping out illegitimate children without bothering to commit to a relationship points to the polar opposite.
I can see where you’re coming from, but the former teacher in me would like to point out that a big party and a piece of paper doesn’t always mean commitment either. People cheat on their spouses. People neglect or abuse their family. People get divorced for all kinds of reasons.
IMHO, being dedicated and loving to your family and building a strong future for them IS commitment. I’m old fashioned enough that I want to be married in the eyes of the law and the church, but I’ve seen enough to know that a marriage license doesn’t actually make anyone better than anyone else.
Also, he’s getting married next weekend, according to his fundraiser page.
A marriage license may not guarantee commitment, but NOT getting one is a huge red flag as to the lack thereof.
Really? My grandparent and step-grandparent were together for more than 30 years without rings or a piece of paper. They shared their families and stuck it out through some pretty tough times — including a critical illness that ultimately took one of their lives. You know that “in sickness and in health… ’til death do us part” stuff? Yeah. They lived that.
With some couples, not officially tying the knot may be a red flag. For others, it has absolutely no bearing on their commitment or happiness. I don’t think it’s possible to make generalizations — it really depends on the couple.
I don’t think he ever said that his current fiancee is the mother of the 3 children, did he? Maybe she is, I don’t know. But maybe he was married before and his first wife died? Why jump to a judgment when you don’t know all the facts? I am a firm believer in not having kids outside of marriage, and I think the idea of asking others to pay your mortgage is utterly ridiculous, but I don’t necessarily agree with the judgment shown here.
Quote: “As our family was growing rather quickly, we knew it was time to buy a house.”
And “…especially since we found out we were pregnant with our third child,”
Sounds to me like Eric and Fiancee are the breeding couple without benefit of clergy or birth control.
Maybe he should have thought twice before having 3 kids if he wanted to pay his mortgage off. How dare he use the “gofundme” site to fund something he is able to do himself. That site is for people with cancer, Lou Gerhig’s disease etc. People who are truly in need.
This is just a set-up b.s. post, right?
I want to clarify for everyone that crowdfunding sites are NOT just for people in need (unless the site specifically states that, in which case they will remove requests that are inappropriate). You don’t have to like the requests, but please don’t think that the requests are a misuse of the sites.
GoFundMe answers the question “What Can I Raise Money For?” on their FAQ’s page:
“Most people use GoFundMe to raise money for themselves, a friend or loved one during life’s important moments. This includes things like medical expenses, education costs, volunteer programs, youth sports, funerals & memorials – even animals & pets.
That said, we’re always amazed at all the unique ways people use GoFundMe to raise money online. The possibilities are endless!”
This is pretty disgusting comment bait. Get Rich Slowly, or Get Rich by asking for handouts? There are people with disabilities, people who can’t feed their own kids, but by all means, let’s help this greedy jerk pay off his debt because he doesn’t want a mortgage.
Here’s a thought. Grow a set and take responsibility for your own life!
I’m extremely disappointed with GRS for giving this jerk a platform.
I’m not upset by the request. There’s nothing wrong with asking and everyone has the right to say no.
If Eric wants to start an organization to help others he doesn’t have to wait for donations or involve businesses. I’m not sure what it’s called, but I’ve heard of groups of families (particularly immigrants) creating clubs where everyone contributes monthly to a pool of money, with the pool going to a different family each month. Maybe Eric could start something similar in his community?
Really? Because I *am* upset with the request. I find begging every where I go. On Facebook with the GoFundMe pleas. In emails. In solicitation phone calls. Everywhere I go there’s someone with a bowl, someone holding a sign at an intersection, someone knocking on my window.
Yes, I *DO* mind. I give to charity. I cook and serve as the soup kitchen. I donate both time and talent. But there is an insatiable demand for people to be given things and I think it is RUDE for them to join in the chorus.
Hey, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? That seems to be the justification that many people use to ask for things they want. You don’t get what you don’t ask for, so he just gave it a try as he has nothing to lose. My objection is that GRS gave him a free and easy forum to do what amounts to panhandling. I’m not sure who made the decision that this scam fits into what GRS is about, but I fail to see how it’s worthy of inclusion. In fact, it runs counter to what this blog is about! Time to consider unsubscribing to GRS if this is what you’re going to post.
I am working from home this morning and my landline has rung four times now with spam solicitations. Civilization cannot bear the constant barrage of requests. It’s simply rude. It’s rude the way it’s rude to stand up at parties with signs for your political candidate or inquiring of your dinner guests if they’ve found Jesus yet. We all have our political beliefs, our religious beliefs, our need to fund our daily existence. Once you start imposing it on others it’s just rude. Rudeness exists, certainly, but we shouldn’t be OKAY with it.
This is scraping the bottom of the barrel. So disappointed in GRS…..
Isn’t the point of frugality being able to distinguish a need versus a want? Push that further- is your want to have your mortgage payed off when you are not desperate more important than someone’s else’s need to afford cancer treatment, or therapy for their autistic child, or for a foster child to have the support they need to be “independent” at 18?
No.
What you envision is a type of pyramid scheme–help me pay off my house, then we can ask others to pay off yours. With a kind of vague “there will have to be stipulations, of course” that will be defined at some later point in the future that would apply to your donors…but are not in place for you at the moment. For the others there will be rules, but since you are at the top of the pyramid, no rules exist. I think you can see the inherent unfairness in that, to put a diplomatic touch on my point.
It is if you want to be rewarded for being frugal. LIke the rewards you are reaping yourself aren’t sufficient for what you think are sacrifices. This might net you a few thousand dollars, and I really do hope you use it wisely. But pyramid schemes are not viable long term, but if you are in on the ground floor they work. Not to be mean, but I think if you put your obvious time, talent and energy into something actually productive you could find ways to pay off the mortgage on your own, and not depend on the kindness of strangers.
I suspect tactics like this work only for the first few people to do it because of the novelty factor. People will talk about this family, share this “crazy idea” and perhaps even make a donation because “hey, why not?” Many of us aren’t too careful with small amounts like $5 anyway.
Amplify this by hundreds or thousands of families trying to do the same thing and people will lose interest pretty quickly.
I’ve worked for small businesses and seen how often they get hit up to contribute to this or that good cause. I doubt people will have much success soliciting donations for people who aren’t in need.
Wow, just wow. Really disappointed in GRS for going this editorial route. Debating whether I remove GRS from my RSS feed after many, many years…
I’ll be honest – I couldn’t finish reading this post so maybe I missed something. I can see GRS’s point in posting it – to get reader feedback on the general idea of using crowdfunding to help pay off debts. But this guy is better off than me and I’m paying my mortgage the old-fashioned way – by busting my ass at work to bring home a paycheck.
Dude, life isn’t ideal. Everybody wants a nice house and no mortgage. But you’re not owed a nice house with no mortgage. (I do believe, though, that everybody deserves a clean and decent place to live.) If you get one, terrific, but it’s not your due.
I think crowdsourcing is great for raising funds for new ventures that will pay back society or to help someone out who is truly in a bad spot. Neither of these are the case here. Paying off this guy’s mortgage does not benefit society as a whole, and he is not truly bad off. So my vote is, this is an abuse of what crowdsourcing should be.
I am with you. To read past the first paragraph was an obvious waste of time. This post is an insult to the readers.
I’m with you, too. I just sent a small donation to youcaring.com for a young mother fighting stage 4 breast cancer. THAT’S where my heart and dollars go. To people struggling through a crisis.
I can’t believe how angry I am at this post!
What a ridiculous request and I’m disappointed in GRS for giving him this platform to try to real his goal. Isn’t the premise behind GRS doing the hard work yourself to reach these types of goals? I’m a firm believer that people don’t truly appreciate and take pride in the results unless they do the hard work themselves. Let’s hope that none of the GRS community play into this type of game. What is it they say about a fool parting with his money?
I’m not upset by the request (can’t hurt to ask and people can choose to do it or not) and it does create an interesting question by GRS to see how crowdfunding in general is seen by the readers. That being said, I won’t be donating. This is a want, not a need. He pays all his bills on time, he can feed his family, they both have jobs. He just *wants* to be mortgage free *now* vs later. Keep plugging away, you’ll get there.
I agree with your perspective. I don’t think that I would do this, but if it works for him I have no problem at all with it. Crowdfunding is an opportunity that I am very interested in, but not in this application. Not completely clear on what the article is doing on this site, though.
Que? What? Quoi? Was? Sorry I ran out of ways to say “wth”. Being home less than 48 hours from a month-long stay in impoverished W. Africa, this post actually turned my stomach.
It may not hurt the OP to ask, but it would hurt my pride and sensibilities. Why pay the price of coming off as a greedy miserly character just to reach FI? For me 1/2 of the pleasure of reaching FI is the feeling of achieving a goal through my own hard work.
Lmoot is back!!!
Hi!
Hey El Nerdo! Good to be back.
Best wishes for a life changing trip lmoot. Amazing really…the idea that you can change your life by doing something for others who have asked nothing of you vs. the other way around. Be safe!
I usually throw in a finnish “Mitä?” as well.
Out of curiosity, the other day I spent some time on Go Fund Me to see what kind of requests existed. There are thousands of people like Eric asking for things, for no other discernible reason other than that they want it now.
Help me pay off my mortgage. Help me start an organic farm, even though I have no capital, no experience, and am only 20 years old. I’m really not asking for much, just about $400,000 to get my sustainable farm going. Help me pay to go to Vegas to be the maid of honor at my best friend’s wedding, since at the moment I am struggling to pay my rent.
Not surprisingly, very few of these requests garnered much financial response at all, and neither will Eric’s. One had received a $1 donation anonymously, and the recipient responded enthusiastically, not realizing that this was probably an ironic donation.
The reality is that people don’t want to fund your life, barring tragedy or illness or in certain cases your child’s sports trip or your mission trip. Those are the main campaigns that are successful, although I do wonder if Go Fund Me engages in any type of verification that the requests are legit. I doubt it. The moral of the story? Give to people you know, and in those cases, just write them a check and hand it to them, since the sites take a not insignificant portion of the proceeds.
The main other use for crowdfunding is for businesses, artistic pursuits, etc. We have had very successful campaigns locally to either expand or save a struggling business. I have never contributed, though. My question to them is, if you need $10,000 to buy that oven, what confidence do I have that you will be able to sustain a business, which takes capital reserve?
Yeah it didn’t take long after a couple incidents like this that Kickstarter changed their policy to ban “please finance my lifestyle” projects.
“”Help me pay off my mortgage. Help me start an organic farm, even though I have no capital, no experience, and am only 20 years old. I’m really not asking for much, just about $400,000 to get my sustainable farm going. Help me pay to go to Vegas to be the maid of honor at my best friend’s wedding, since at the moment I am struggling to pay my rent.””
With that last one: if her friend so wants her to be maid of honor at her destination wedding then she ought to be paying for her to come out there.
I dont get why people are getting annoyed with this guy. I can understand if you dont want to help him. But i can see the point in his appeal. Essentially a vast amount of money is collect from us, the responsible workhorses, (who are neither rich not dirt poor) in the name of helping the poor, the disabled and so on. more often than not, all this money is frittered on irresponsible, immoral and bureaucrats, charity bosses.
so when a responsible, working man asks for help to pay off his mortgage so that he can avoid paying vast amounts of interest to the corporatocracy, i am very sympathetic. not saying i am going to donate, but i am very open to this idea of helping fellow responsible citizens.
good luck eric
Wow… this post goes against everything GRS has stood for over the last 7 years.
heck, it even goes against the NAME of the webpage.
Disappointing, to say the least
Agreed with many of the other commenters. If the ultimate goal to start an organization or foundation, why not ask others to help fund that instead?
Lol, can I mail you a quarter? I’m fine knowing the postage is more than my donation!
Doesn’t hurt to ask, we all have the ability to say no. I would have like to hear from Eric what he’s doing to pay off his mortgage. I don’t see any mention of extra money being paid towards it, or extra jobs extra. If that’s truly his goal and he’s not doing anything to achieve it other then asking for donations, that disappointing.
I dunno — it doesn’t bug me, and if he can raise money that way, good for him.
I give money on this type of fundraiser to people who have to get the money together for expensive operations for their dogs (usually rescue dogs). I’ve donated to four such fundraisers (about $25 per time). I know how expensive pet operations can be, and I’m happy to give $25 to help pay the costs for those who are struggling.
And I’ve given to this type of online fundraiser for victims of a fire in my neighborhood and for a family whose father died unexpectedly. I gave more to both of these than I did to the dogs.
I guess many people like to help others in need and we all decide how/where we want to give that help. If there are people who read this guy’s story and say “hey, I can give you $5 towards your mortgage”, then there we are.
I gave earlier this year (through Kickstarter) to a friend who was raising money for a CD release party. A want – not a need.
I then gave to a family whose little boy had cancer and they were raising money for medical costs. A need.
Later this year, I want to give to an elephant sanctuary.
My point is, we give to causes that somehow touch us or have meaning for us. I think Erik is hoping that his story will touch somebody or have meaning for them. Maybe someone will be impressed with Erik’s history of being hardworking and committed to financial freedom and decided to send a blessing his way. There’s no need to think his story represents a new low or attempt to escape responsibility.
It IS a new low.
One I hope GRS never repeats again.
To me, this post seems to higlight exactly what is wrong with this request–there is NO cause. We give to a variety of “causes,” and here, we have a person who has no reason for asking for this request that he can take care of for himself–unless one considers “greed” as a “cause.” We all have only so much we can give to others, but he is asking us to fund himself instead of funding those causes where there is a NEED. He recognizes candidly he has no need.
HEY ERIC ESTRADA THIS IS MY CORNER, GO AWAY. GO FIND YOUR OWN CORNER.
LOYAL READERS PLEASE SEND ALL YOUR SPARE CHANGE TO [email protected]
THINK OF THE CHILDREN
I just tried making fun of this article by asking for money and posting an email address.
The spamfilters ate my post.
How come they didn’t eat the whole article in the first place?
edit: oh wait! there it is! ha ha ha
While I can’t say it’s wrong to ask for help, it doesn’t seem like your circumstances justify the need. I face more dire circumstances and would feel quite guilty asking for such help.
I bought my first home in 2004 after Hurricane Ivan destroyed my mother’s home, where I’d been living. My mother moved in with me. The house was overpriced, because everything in the area was in high demand due to all of the displaced families. Property values fell, and I have a very underwater mortgage.
I lost my job. I’ve had health issues, and now my mother is getting dementia and other problems. I can’t go back to work while she needs care. My savings are depleted. I have never collected unemployment. For some reason, Obamacare decided the only health insurance I qualified for was an expensive plan. HARP turned me down for mortgage refinancing. My Freddie Mac mortgage holder turned me down for modification. I failed to qualify for a Florida sponsored program for underwater mortgages because my mom’s retirement income exceeded the plan limits. Yet I do not ask for help from individuals. I will survive. I’ll eventually return to work. Hopefully, property values will rise so that I can one day sell the house without too much loss. All this, and I’m still more fortunate than some friends who are even more devastated by the current economy and financial demands. So, be thankful you do have a home, a job, and a healthy family. Good luck to you.
I’m not sure why you all are getting so upset. GRS said they normally don’t do this and it appears they are interested in what the “crowd” (grs) thinks about this idea.
It appears more of you are upset b/c they posted this instead of the “i want” attitude of the guy.
I also am happy to see that basically nobody has contributed to guy that wants his freedom without working for it.
Do you really think they didn’t know what the crowd would think? If that is the case, they don’t know their own audience.
This is the iconic definition of chutzpah. There is no law against asking, but IMHO, donations should address requests that result in a benefit to society, not individuals who can help themselves. If this man and the woman he is living with we’re more responsible, they would not have had any more children than they could afford.
Horrible! I am so tired of people asking for handouts because they are lazy and the ” i want it now” attitude. His life sounds like mine but he seems to be in better financial shape than me. I work two jobs ( in the past, i’ve worked three to help pay off the bills. There are other options to meet his goal (get a second job) rather to stoop that low and ask others who most likely can’t provide for themselves, to give him money for a mortgage that most people now couldn’t even afford.
What, no pictures of the kids to really pull at the heartstrings? If you really want to sell it, you’re going to need to pull out all the stops…
Get rich slowly has gone downhill since it was sold awhile back
I totally agree! For all the ‘staff writers’ they have, you’d think they’d have better articles to share.
Maybe if he pledged to donate what he will save in interest charges I would see a vague karmic benefit to myself and the world at large. Maaaaybe. However, his statement “Who knows, once I reach my goal, we can get started on yours.” shows me he’s looking out for himself first, maaaybe me second.
I feel Habitat For Humanity has the better business plan, track record, and is a 501(C)(3).
Wow, this post has significantly eroded the trust I had for this site. The concept of crowdfunding (or, more properly, electrified panhandling) is easily discussed without giving a full post up to one particularly vile and undeserving case. As another commenter said, there are a million stories of self-interested, vacuous people asking for others to pay their bills because they are either too lazy or entitled to be bothered doing it themselves. Why couldn’t you just bring up the topic as opposed to schilling for this guy? What’s next, anorexia as a intriguing way to lose weight?
In response to your intrigue – So begging is now an acceptable means of reaching independence? Calling Neville St. Claire! How could you give this guy’s spiel even a second thought as proper content for this site or your readership? Of course begging for others to pay your way is a means by which you can possibly pay your bills. So is selling drugs or prostitution (both not illegal everywhere). What is your point? I wonder how many of his family, friends, and co-workers he’s asked to “contribute”? What infuriating rubbish. And all the while hinting about starting an organization to help others. Pffft. What’s stopping you from starting it RIGHT NOW, Estrada?
I wonder where Eric is? My guess would be South Florida with kitty and sunshine?
Since when is a 1300 SQ F house small and something that you have to make work? I live in a 1000 Sq ft house as a single mom with 2 kids. Its more then enough. No I have no interest in paying off your mortgage. Grow up.
If Eric gets money for paying off his home early good for him. This concept however screams entitlement and asking for welfare. If anything it does concern me that GSR chose this article out of the thousands that are submitted. If future articles are going to be about how to receive welfare checks, food stamps, and get government assistance, I would choose to move on to other great blogs out there working hard and sharing their stories.
Total BS. What a self centered, entitled asshole.
I guess it’s time to stop following this site for promoting this spam.
Like many poster have already mentioned, I’m good with crowd sourcing if it goes to someone in need of there is a “reward” tied to it (Like many bands are doing).
I’ve happily donated money to a few causes with zero return. A friends wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer a year ago so I was happy to donate. She has since passed. When the Boston Marathon bombing happened, I readily donated to a fellow hairdresser whose legs were blown off. You know, people in need.
I utilize crowd-sourcing with a number of bands I love. I think it’s cool I can pre-buy the album and be a part of the process.
Todays post is sad. I don’t really like my mortgage either. But like most others I’m chipping away at it as best I can.
Paying off your mortgage does not give you financial freedom.
I paid mine off 7 years ago (at age 35). It’s certainly nice to have that 12 to 14 hundred dollar bill (I can’t even remember) off of your budget. And it was a thrill.
But for folks like the readers of this blog, it changes nothing. You focus on funding retirement, or real financial freedom (not HAVING to work), or somehow getting your kids through school debt free, or a myriad of other financial challenges beyond your mortgage.
The mortgage is one step. Will your next request be for retirement funds? Or your kids’ college funds?
Yes, I can just say no, and I will. But I find this request patently offensive.
“Paying off your mortgage does not give you financial freedom.”
Amen to this. We recently paid of our mortgage after many years of hard work. People appreciate more the things they work for, so far be it from me to deprive Erik of this valuable learning experience. Instead of funneling that line item in our budget to paying a mortgage, we’re paying into our retirement accounts. Real financial freedom comes from recognizing the difference between wants and needs and living below your means.
I find all of this “go fund me” stuff patently offensive. More often than not, it’s someone launching an entitled fantasy at the expense of others. Giving to real charities or helping out those truly in need is one thing, but sites like gofundme have co-opted the opportunity to give into something gross and slimy. After being recently hit up by someone I haven’t seen or heard from in years to donate to her gofundme page so she could fly her family to Canada for a wedding, I’m calling shenanigans on the whole situation.
I also posted to a crowdfunding platform, asking for support to establish my own business. I am sixty two years old, disabled and want to work, however have not been successful. My husband works fulltime, and we also support my disabled 81 year old mother that lives in our home, a disabled daughter who has been successful in finding part time work, as well as a disabled grandson, who has not been able to find work, yet tries daily.
We do the best we can, pay our mortgage and monthly bills with nothing left to put in savings each month. Therefore this is why I want to work. I have applied yet no one will provide opportunity for me to work.
We live in Alaska, and it is very expensive here and on a single income it is very challenging. I was trained to work on my computer as a blind person, and yet feel that time and money was wasted. No one has a problem asking me to donate from my mediocre income, does this make me or my family an insult because we stated we could use help?
Have you guys heard of the crowdfunding of potato salad? This guy got $55k in donation for making potato salad. If it goes viral and catches on… Ppl will back u up. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324283889/potato-salad
A mortgage is in no sense a need. Rather than have others fund a house that you can’t afford, why don’t you sell it and rent? I have a friend who tried to use crowd sourcing to fund her summer unpaid internship abroad in Italy and then again this year in New York City. She only managed to raise about $20 each time…from her mother. Why put try to put your financial burdens of overspending onto others?
WTF
Pretty well sums it up for me.
Oh wow, this post left me completely disgusted.
I think particularly so because I just found out that my grandparents have been hiding the fact that they have not been able to fully pay their school taxes for the past few years, and now have their home set for a sheriff sale. Our family had absolutely no idea. So, the thought of a Navy vet who worked for over 60 years and a woman who built her own business in the 1970s losing their home versus an entitled 30-something who is seeking to capitalize on the generosity of others really just rubs me the wrong way.
Moral of the story – my family is in the process of helping my grandparents through the same example that they have always taught — sacrifice. I suggest you consider the same.
I don’t feel that donating $5 for your mortgage is something I should do, but if you don’t have the money to marry your girlfriend, I’m pretty sure you could get some crowdfunding for a marriage license.
I’m just going through the archives on a slow day at work, and reading about this guy with a fiancee and three kids brings up a question. Having watched far too many Judge Judy episodes, there are many litigants who appear with longstanding fiances/fiancees. Under JJ’s grilling, it frequently comes out that an official marriage never takes place because then the fiancee would lose state benefits since she is no longer a single parent. Is that the case in this situation? If so, then this family has already been the recipient of crowdfunding. If this really is the case, enough is enough.
When I first started my blog, I posted about the thought of crowd sourcing for our student loans. I want to be a stay at home mom and the loans (which we are able to pay but not pay ahead) are the only thing on the way. It’s an intriguing idea, but I knew I don’t have a compelling story. My children have minor birth defects – but they are minor. No one has debilitating or terminal illness. Sure if I stayed home, I’d be helping my children and probably paying forward to others… But that’s not really very compelling. Neither is this.
Serious birth defects, diseases, surviving disasters – these are not “compelling stories.” They are real hardships that people have to live with, and have a greater impact on their lives than whether they can get financial help through crowdsourcing. You might try reframing the way you think (or at least talk) about this.
I love the comments about entitlement and welfare mindset. Not that I’m endorsing his request. We as taxpayers paid a couple trillion in corporate welfare since 2008, particularly to Wall Street and essentially received nothing for it, perhaps only to set off an eventual rebound recession of greater impact. If we had applied that money towards Main Street and the infrastructure spending that we so desperately need (its in the local and national papers daily) there be far less real unemployment with a positive rebound in tax rolls, employment and real stock market gains through consumer confidence not one that is artificially inflated by the government. Oh and by the way the infrastructure might actually be fixed.
This is disgusting. Hey Eric, stop asking for a handout and get to work!
GRS is fading into oblivion with posts like these.
Ditto to AG: this is a pyramid scheme. (And since he says this house is a squeeze for them… where do I get the feeling that an upgrade would soon follow?) Disappointed in GRS: this is lowest-common-denominator material.
BTW, Eric, the way you say you give a few dollars or the change in your pocket to everyone who asks makes me wonder if you’re tracking where your money goes? But it certainly rewards organizations that spend a lot of money on fundraising.
Pick a cause or two that’s meaningful to you, do your research and pick a recipient that spends <10% on administration and fundraising. Then send them a cheque regularly. That way they don't have to spend a lot of their donations chasing more donations: they can spend it on the cause you want to support.
I have to admit that I am seeing this type of ‘give to me mentality’ nearly everywhere I go these days. Young people approaching me for money in parking lots,gas stations,when I’m sitting in my car,etc. Healthy, strong young people that could be working 2 & 3/jobs like I did when I was their age while taking college courses but, instead, they’re choosing to be beggars and loafers. Oh, I know words like those,as well as bums, are not politically correct these days, but that’s what I see them as and I refuse to help them. See, if they approached me and asked if they could wash and wax my car or do some other WORK for me, that’d be different. But they just want others to pay their way for them and I refuse to do that! I’ve worked many, many long hours and still do so that others would not have to be responsible for me; sadly I’m not seeing that in the younger generation. Thank God there are those who work hard, are responsible and want to be a blessing to others; but too many that I’ve encountered are like this OP… Looking for the easy, or at least, the easier way out. I’m glad he has a job, but if he wants to continue having more children, a paid off home and whatever other fine things in life, he will have to make some choices. Birth control, 2 jobs, Never eat out, take in a tenant, etc. But, mooching off of others? Not a viable one and definitely not a good things to teach the children.
Evening if I accepted all of your motives and logic towards “helping” as sound (which I do not), the math behind what you’re saying just doesn’t work out.
If it takes 31000 people to pay off a mortgage, you will always need 31000 times the number of people donating than the number of people receiving. Good luck with that.
Get a second job and lower your standard of living if you want to pay off your mortgage quickly.
I really think you picked the wrong site for this request, but they say all publicity is good publicity and stupid things like potato salad get funded on these kickstarter-like sites all the time.
GRS – if this was link bait bait or comment bait it worked. But this kind of stuff posted too often will get you dropped off of my feed list.
GRS, please respect your readers and don’t waste our time. This is ridiculous. You should have gone with your gut and not run it.
This is spam and a total waste of my time. I look forward reading to reading this site each day. Were you desperate for a last minute article? This is inexcusable. I would take this post down and rerun an oldie but goodie. I don’t blame the writer, I blame the site managers. This was a huge mistake.
No way! It took us 30 years to pay off our mortgage. Let him do it just like everyone else.
Hey, would he like to contribute to my daughter’s college fund? We’d really love it if someone else paid for it.
Oh, good, I can stop reading this blog now. I recently stopped reading email, and disconnected my fax, and never answer the phone anymore. They all waste my time on an endless parade of requests. What’s in it for me? Truly nothing but a life fending off beggars.
This article has made me anger and very upset! I have been ill and had NO income and NEVER asked anyone to help me pay off my mortgage. I just had to try to work it out. I went back to work AGAINST doctor orders because I had bills to pay and social security disability was not enough to take care of it. Never did I think to beg others to help me. They can both get two jobs and pay off their mortgage themselves!
To answer Ellen’s question, even if this were a valid pay it forward situation, someone who would nominate themselves in such a public way for the opportunity would probably be the least likely person I would want to help.
Just to reply generally to the question of crowd funding, I have always found it to be a bit obnoxious. Where I live, a lot of people will do it for film projects and I’ve never really agreed with that (though huge movies have been made that way including Zach Braff’s that came out last weekend). I think for me, I wouldn’t donate unless it was a very sick friend who needed to pay for medical expenses or someone had died and the family needed help paying for the funeral or a new start. I have considered donating to those kinds of causes for a friend of a friend before. That said, I know it can be a widely popular thing in this country, just look at that potato salad guy. Silly.
Potato salad guy? Who’s that??
http://www.money.cnn.com/2014/08/03/technology/social/potato-salad-crowdfunding/index.html?iid=HP_LN
All I know is in this article, but it sounds like the guy did it as a joke (his goal was $10) and it went viral. He’s planning to donate a good chunk to a non-profit fighting hunger and homelessness.
GRS, you should have saved this one for April 1 and posted it without the foreword. Clearly, the very idea presented here is going to offend everyone who values “getting rich slowly.”
NO. And I am extremely disappointed that GRS even considered posting this. We’re all here to see how we can improve our finances through frugality and hard work, and this goes against everything I thought that this blog stood for.
NO.
This is not crowdfunding, this is welfare. No, I will not pay off this random guy’s mortgage for him. Doing so would encourage financial irresponsibility of the type that GRS strives to educate against. The concept of the organization he envisions is basically a pyramid scheme, and additionally there is no commitment to actually form it, just a “what’s stopping me from…” statement.
You’ve chosen to go into debt to purchase a house. This is not a bad decision, but asking the world to pay off that debt for you is exactly the same as asking the world to buy you a free house. That is the opposite of achieving financial independence.
I think I echo the thoughts of many when I say this is either asking for free handouts, a scam, or both.
While I fundamentally disagree with the handout request like others, I’m actually more concerned with Eric’s long term vision that builds out an organization from this.
Think of some of the macroeconomic impacts. Those people who currently steer away from, or are not qualified for, a home purchase now have an incentive towards the purchase. “I can afford a home, I just need to crowdsource it.” Even if they get a house they normally don’t qualify for free, then come the taxes, repair expenses, maintenance, etc. It would promote a world of increased financial irresponsibility and false hope. That bubble would surely pop!
Sorry Eric! There’s no free lunch.
I was LIVID when I saw this headline. Wow, you have balls.
Dear “Erik”
Your sense of entitlement takes the cake. You should meet the young woman who wants folks to pay for her masters degree. You’d make great pals.
Also, you’ve made a stronger commitment to this supposedly important house (and all it represents) than to the mother of your children, which is just too sad for words.
You clearly know the ethical way to approach this situation. Try it.
GRS — really disappointed in this post. Very sub-par and not in keeping with the mission.
Why the h*ll should I pay someone else’s mortgage and 3 kids when I’m a renter with no kids myself? You have the 3 kids and the mortgage? You pay for ’em.
I agree with others who say this is an entitlement mindset that goes against the basic principles of frugality and hard work. Giving people money and stuff with no strings attached almost never leads to anything good.
This guy will be getting serious clown time on MMM forum. This guy has got some nerve…
Eric, I have not heard you say “why” as yet. Your “why” is very weak, and it almost says “911, Help, but I don’t have an emergency”.
Paying off Debt is like filling out the FAFSA form with a $200K per year income and convincing the government to pay the College Bills for My Kids. It does NOT work.
“WHY” is life is what “ticks human beings”.
If your WHY was that once I get $10K (arbitrary), I will try to pay that amount off in the future with the “Pay It Forward” mentality, some of the people would try and send some money. Many would still disagree, but besides thinking about You, Yourself, you have said not much about what YOU are going to do after the 31K x $5.
So, I think your plea is weak, and very selfish/self-centered. Also, you have to have a nearly perfect life. You have kids, home and dog, but NO WIFE. You seem to be either the new XYZ generation (don’t remember the correct letter for you), but you seem to be following the Baby Boomer generation of having the ‘ideal definition of a life with a wife, kids, home, dog, dual income and retirement fund’.
Now, on the other hand, if you said, I have created a website that will CAN and WILL do this for others, and I will start it with $5K of my own, then it was a ‘sharing AND caring model’.
Sure, it was gutsy of you to ask, and you were warned of strong opinions in return, and you agreed. But, maybe, you can twist this and take time to reply to people assuming you consider all of us as ‘giving you valuable input’ and it was NOT a waste of time, where GRS made $20 from Google, and you got tons of feedback, and we got nothing back from you. So, again, in the non-selfish mode, you NEED TO and HAVE TO reply to 80% of the posts above here (80-20 rule applies), so that we all feel good too, that you are not a heartless, give to me for free type of a guy.
Special PS: Just as an example, I paid off my mortgage, and all debts at age 41 without any handouts, living a very smart and high activity life, and still do the same. On an average I run 2 businesses outside of the job, and continue to generate new income sources. I do pay for my kids college without loans, and will buy them homes after they get their PhDs/MD. But, in the end, it was me, and my determination that did it, and no hand-outs. Again, if you feel great about what you do, then put in those extra 4 hours a day, and you can and will pay off the mortgage in under 2 years (with your own efforts). This is America – Land of True and Real Opportunities, and I am proof of it.
If you had a major expensive medical problem that wouldn’t be covered by your medical insurance, and you lost your job, I would consider making a donation. Or if you lost your house in an earthquake that wasn’t covered by homeowner’s insurance.
But you haven’t given me, or the readers any benefit to us for making a donation to you. A gift to you is not deductible, and we don’t get the psychological benefit of helping out someone in need (real need).
That is the number one rule of selling: give the buyer the benefits to handing over money. There are none.
Other than that, if your only debt is an affordable tax-deductible mortgage, then you have reached Financial Freedom. Count your blessings.
I think the topics are running dry around here.
It’s been said on more than one personal finance blog that there are no new topics in the PF world. Case and point: how to turn down awkward requests for money. Perhaps the comments are more informative than the article itself?
I guess the only reason I’m bothering to comment at all is that I really liked GRS when JD was at the helm and the topics were more relatable. What is the goal of this forum? Other PF sites I still enjoy include things like reader case studies that allow the reader to write in with their specific financial circumstances for advice as well as real-world budgets/numbers and analysis into how those numbers affect day-to-day life.
Let’s get back to what made this site good in the first place- real people doing real things.
Maybe this guy’s site will go viral and people will actually be okay with paying off his mortgage as some social experiment. But this isn’t the place for that.
I can’t believe GRS allowed this article. One more reason not to keep reading this site. Payoff your own mortgage. Financial independence shouldn’t be the result of a handout. Keep working for it like everyone else.
Better watch out JD, or this guy’s going to start a website called “get rich irresponsibly”……and eat your proverbial lunch…. because who want s to be responsible if you don’t have to?
I always feel, when I hear personal requests for charity, that the charity case will ALWAYS be better served by an analysis of their situation and then educating them on how to live within their means -just the type of advice GRS espouses.
This guy is on the right track if what he writes is true, and it would be a DISservice to give him a quick/easy way to financial freedom. We would collectively rob him of the pride of his achievement, and encourage further irresponsible behavior -such as this request.
He’ll get there.
And on his own if he can keep it up for enough years.
After all life -and financial freedom- is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
Guess what? If my $5 can help this guy pay off his mortgage, maybe I’ll just send it to him. Kudos to him for being creative. I spent $5 I’ll never see again on a Big Mac meal yesterday…sending the same amount to this guy may actually help. I say if you don’t wanna help, DON’T. I figure it’s better than handing $5 to the guy standing on the corner with a sign. What the heck!
Do you also feed the squirrels?
OK, folks, here’s your chance to be part of something wonderful: financing my ongoing retirement.
True, I’ve been at it 3.5 years and my income is pretty good and the house is paid off and I bought the car for cash and I have no other bills outstanding. BUT, there are always maintenance issues with a house plus taxes and insurance and instead of buying used next time, maybe I’ll buy a new car … but it can’t happen without your help.
Just send me those extra dollars you don’t need and know you’re helping an old man live not only the retired life but the good life.
That’s right, you might not ever be able to finance your own retirement, but just a few dollars now and then will help you live the retiree’s life through me. Oh, the fun we’ll have, the trips we’ll take and the high life we’ll lead.
Yep, this crowdfunding idea is a great one and you can participate by just sending your money to me. You’ll feel better giving it to someone who can use it NOW instead of just saving it for your own selfish reasons many years from now.
Get on board today and help send an old guy on his next fun trip; I’m planning a river tour in Central Europe next summer, but you can help me add all the fun big cities on the way over there and back.
I figure just $50 from each of 10,000 GRS readers (why think small?) would really get this thing off the ground. Let’s get it going!
Ha ha ha– yes! Start with Toni right above you. She’s got money to throw away.
I am a daily reader of GRS, and have been putting in the hard work to reach strong financial goals thanks to the inspiration and education the site has offered. I am blown away that GRS would even consider posting something like this appropriate. I feel that this post exploits GRS’s purpose, and hurts the purpose and merits of crowd funding. I am left with one significant question….
What would JD say to this post?
I stopped reading in the exact place this free loader thought I would because that’s where he placed the pitch.
Why not set up a fund to pay for sterilization of men and women with no health plan coverage to cover it? Voluntary only of course. That I would support.
Thinking about this more, it’s definitely time to abandon this blog. Removed from my RSS feed.
That someone would attempt this maneuver is not surprising. There is ample evidence of this type of activity on the web. That a once reputable site would publish it, however, is quite another matter. Giving to Eric is a personal decision. So is choosing what blog one should support. I have made my choice. All my best to the community.
I don’t have anything against the guy for trying. I wish I had the nerve to do the same thing and get out from under my student loan debt so I could have the freedom to buy a house or have kids. Most of it is accrued interest and it hurts. 7 more years of payments…
Maybe I’m old fashioned but I come from a time when you just worked harder and smarter when you need help. Shouldn’t the last resort be to ask your neighbors for assistance? Am I missing something?
I am wary of donating to anyone online. For one thing, check out the fees most of these crowd sourcing websites charge. For another, do you actually know the person you’re donating too? I donated to one of my friends whose medical bills for their child (who died at 6 months old from a serious heart condition).
I was disappointed at how few donations they received, when I had clicked on a friends link to “their friend’s cousin’s friend” who was asking for $100,000 to “Stay home for 6 months to a year” with their sick and dying child. I’m sorry, I have to pay you to stay home for a year because your child is dying? That sounds like a pretty pathetic plea. If you really want to stay home because your child is dying, make it work, don’t ask me for a handout (and this person was fully funded by about 250%, which I was shocked and could not believe). I wish someone paid me to stay home with my kids! Especially $250,000 for a year! The rest of us have to take our own unpaid time off.
Also, my friend knew families of fellow heart babies whose pictures were stolen from Facebook and used by strangers to try to steal donations from well-meaning people, so my friend has had to be very careful about what pictures of her son are posted online. I think it’s sad that this has become a big business. People should donate to people they actually know and not strangers leaving comments on Facebook or blogs.
And definitely not to anyone who “just wants it” and has no real need or reason. Oh and congrats on “donating what you can when you can” for the blog author. I help support 4 kids in Africa, South America, and India, tithe 10% to my church, donate to Feeding America and Habitat for Humanity. And we are paying our mortgage off in 15 years on one average middle class income. It’s amazing what you can do when you’ve been blessed (to live in this country and have a job) so go be a blessing.
And I agree with the fiancee comment earlier. It could be her decision too, but it is still disappointing that our country no longer believes in marriage (I’m 29 by the way, with two preschoolers).
A big YES about the fees! I had a look at the website. The fee for us North Americans is 7.9% plus $.30 per transaction.
Donors aren’t charge extra — it looks like the fees come out of what the fundraiser receives. So for every $5, only about $4.30 goes to Erik. He’s asking 31,723 people to donate $5, so….
31,723 x $.30 = about $9,517
31,723 x $5 x 7.9% = $12,530
Need I go on? You can imagine what would happen if a lot of people donated a buck or two, as he suggests.
Ugh. I’m 42 and have never owned a home of my own (too poor). When I was 25, I accidentally got pregnant (with my husband.) We were both too poor to afford to raise a kid properly, so we gave him up for adoption to a family that could afford him (and then got hubby fixed once we saved enough for the operation). We never asked anyone for money.
And this guy has 3 kids, and then asks for others to pay his mortgage? This really rubs me the wrong way. I’m genuinely surprised GRS would put this on here, especially when he’s not in need or handicapped.
BD, I simply want to say thank you for your responsible attitude. I cam imagine that giving up a child is not easy, but you had a higher view in mind – loving that child enough to give him/her to a family that would be able to provide for it in a way that you could not. That is altruism. Kudos to you and wishing you happiness.
This already exists it’s called a lottery
I was wondering if anyone else had the same thought! Yup, Eric wants to start a lottery, except the winner has already been pre-selected.
Good luck!
I resent this man for asking for a want to be funded when both myself and my husband are disabled and struggling to pay rent, buy meds, and buy food without asking for help. We have to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul,’ every month and I imagine if we set-up a ‘crowd funding’ website, people would think we were trying to scam them. We are ‘existing’ on $1400 a month and $600 of that is rent but he can ask for help when he ADMITS he can pay his bills!?!
>>His reply and reasoning made me decide to let him tell his story and make his plea to you.
I read the whole thing and wasn’t able to find a reason that anyone should give him money or that this plea should have been given any consideration.
This post really undermines everything GRS has ever spoken about.
That prefatory statement jumped out at me too. I question Ellen’s judgment. What at all about Eric’s reasoning justifies this solicitation post on GRS?
Its rare that a Sunday post get almost 100 responses so I had to bite and read it.
____
After all of the suggestions that was made a couple weeks ago when the staff(?) asked GRS readers what can be done to improve the blog, this was not what we had in mind.
A better post would have been to write an article on Crowdfunding sites for people looking to start a business or save someones live by helping them with their medical bills.
This post is nothing but bait.
Hey Eric, how about you pay my mortgage first and then we’ll work on yours! Sounds good to me. It has been my lifelong dream.
There are a lot of people that need the money more than this guy. But maybe he will succeed. If he does, I am going to start begging too.
I was furious when I first read this story, but now that I’ve had a chance (several chances) to vent, I’m over it.
I’ve been reading this blog for over 2 years and gotten lots of good info. I’m not going to drop GRS because of one low-life submission. But I will be quicker to pass future ones up. Why raise my blood pressure over someone’s selfishness and crassness?
You purchased your house for 167k and you’re looking for 159k in donations? Seriously? You claim to be striving for financial freedom, but it appears you have not worked for it at all so far. You only have 8k paid towards a house you’ve lived in for the past 4 years. So you must be paying only $166 towards principal per month (8k/48 months) and you put down $0. For someone who claims to be serious about attaining financial freedom, I would have expected you to have put at least 20% down and been making extra payments every month. You clearly haven’t done that so I don’t know why you would expect anyone to help you. Can’t believe GRS posted this.
I totally understand why this guy is asking people to give him money – there are guys begging on street corners too – but it’s all the same thing – give me your money.
I am surprised and disappointed to see it both publicized and legitimized at GRS – enough to take a break from the site – possibly permanently
Been a loyal fan since the very very beginning.. Never commented until today.. I’m not mad at the guy at all but now he’s the same as a panhandler,. He’s just a slick electronic beggar.. I give money sometimes to the people holding cardboard signs even though I know most are like this.. Just trying to pad their accounts and jump to the finish line faster than everyone else.. I don’t fault him… At all.. I just think he’s standing at the cold street corner.. Holding an iPad instead of cardboard….
I have to admit I’m more shocked by readers comments and reactions than the post GRS published. Why get so emotional over a post?
The idea is interesting at it’s best, the guy may or may not get some cash, but at least he’s being creative in his endeavour. While I’m not a fan of handouts, hard work is the way to go, I have to give him credit for thinking outside the box. It’s selfish but if we take a closer look at ourselves we all do selfish things from time to time.
I was more shocked when I read the article about the potato salad guy who raised over $50K to make a potato salad, a potato salad really? So hey if he raises the money to pay off his mortgage good on him…personally, I’d feel stupid asking someone else to pay off my mortgage. But each to their own. :)
But it’s not creative. I really cannot see anything creative about this request. It’s a boilerplate use of one of the common crowdsourcing sites.
Given the intro from Get Rich Slowly, I thought Eric might really have some good answers to “why” I should contribute to his mortgage, but he doesn’t. I remain unconvinced.
But I will say this and it hasn’t been mentioned in these 150+ comments: “hate reading” on the internet is a popular pastime. GOMI (Get Off My Internets) is the best known forum for commenting on hate-read blogs.
GRS may know that “hate reading” brings in more readers and commenters than thoughtful, positive posts. A good “hate read” switches up the usual content.
It may be purposeful, this post by Eric. Just a thought.
I’m with a lot of other readers — this post is so disappointing for me. And it is probably the last one I’ll ever read from this site; I am taking GRS off my newsfeed. I don’t need an ad asking for money in my blog reading!
For the record — in terms of crowdfunding worthy and needy causes, I’m all for it. My husband and I are lucky enough to be comfortable enough to contribute to our favorite charitable organizations and I’m a huge fan of Kickstarter. But this? Bleh.
Hey Eric, I have good news for you! Your family has made it onto my list of deserving causes. You will receive your $5 from me very soon.
All I have to do first is raise $5 for about 50 million other American families more deserving than yours. Then about one billion other families in the world. The every school child. Then everyone affected by disease, illness famine or hardship. Then every mile of coastline on the planet. The every researcher looking for funding for disease prevention or vacations on Mars.
I promise, I’ll get to you just as soon as I can. Meantime, please do what you can with all that money you save (by not shaving) to help out with some more deserving causes so that we can help all those in greater need so that we can get to your family sooner.
/s
Really don’t get the point of this post on GRS. Are advertising prices influenced by comment numbers?
Whatever ….
Next !
No.
Never would I ever give this guy a dime. How self-entitled to appear on a website where people are working to get their financial-act together and beg for money. This is like letting a crack dealer on an AA forum. Just say no everyone, and I think it’s shocking that this guy got published.
I don’t understand why he feels he will have financial independence if he pays off his house. Technically if he went back to renting he would be “financially free” according to his definition of not having any debt. This request is foolish at best. If all of the 31,000 people gave 5 dollars to each of the 31,000 people… oh wait you see where I’m going with this. If this is a pyramid scheme then I don’t see how it can go more than 2 levels deep. It takes 31,000 people to pay his mortgage. It would take just shy of 1 Billion people to pay 5 dollars for the 31,000 people who helped to pay the first guys loan.
GRS asked what the crowd feels about this post.
My opinion is I don’t come to this blog to be solicited for money in any form or fashion.
Therefore I recommend the site doesn’t bother doing it again regardless of the charity, need, rationale, sob story, etc. I don’t care. I get enough begging for money from my mail, e-mail, TV ads, church, and evening phone calls to my land line. They all have people in real need or desire asking for my money. I neither want nor expect to have that experience here. People have said this guy has a right to ask. Maybe, but the real question is does he, and all those people with legitimate needs and desires, have a right to ask in this forum. To me, that isn’t the purpose of this forum and if you change that, you change readership.
I actually think the charity, church, panhandling thing would make a good topic for GRS reader feedback. How are we all dealing with our friends, loved ones, neighbors, coworkers–whoever! who ask for loans and a handout? I’m doing much better than I was when I first joined GRS and I’m constantly saying NO to requests for a handout. I’m a lot more selective.
So Ellen, that would be a better topic!
I agree that a well written article on dealing with suggestions on how to handle charity during the various stages of getting your financial house in order could be an interesting topic versus a direct solicitation followed by a question.
Crowdsourcing efforts I’ve given money to:
Two documentaries about a subject that’s important to me. The filmmakers for the each project are legit and well-respected, and they do great work. Plus, I get a free DVD for each film.
A fund to help a friend’s children return home for their brother’s funeral :(
Note: These efforts were for people I KNEW, if not personally at least I knew who they were beyond some dude on the internet. The efforts either provided me with something tangible (a DVD), or were truly altruistic (helping a family mourn and honor their loved one). NONE of these were outright begging.
I unsubscribed after this crappy story about begging for 31,000 handouts showed up in my email. Grow a pair and get a work ethic.
This is also the last article that I will be reading from this site.
I am tired of the entitlement attitude nowadays. My husband and I have worked hard to get where we are and have gone without wants to take care of our needs. Heck, we have actually had to tell our kids “No” many times on things they want.
I am all for donating when there is a need. I volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, donate to Red Cross, and Project Nightlights and I am a regular shopper(and donator) at the local Salavation Army.
If you want to donate to people in need, there is a better place to do that. I have donated online to ModestNeeds where people who really need it can ask for help. This site takes you through a screening process and you must provide proof of the need. I even used it when my husband was ill and lost his job and we were desperate for help on a medical bill. And the check is issued directly to your debtor so no chance the money is going on a new flat screen instead.
GRS I love your site and have learned so much from the articles. Although this doesn’t deter me from your site, I hope in the future you post more money saving tips and not this type of article.
I never heard of HonestNeeds before now. Looked up the website and I like what they’re doing.
Good tip, Tina!
I’m with most of the other readers – this site has always been a resource for tools and strategies that people can use – people who are willing to work hard, practice discipline and even sacrifice to improve their financial situation. I’ve never been one to look for a handout and I honestly don’t know how this guy can sleep at night making such a selfish request to get others to pay his mortgage so he doesn’t have to. We all have our own mortgages, or rents, or student loans, or other bills to pay, buddy. We should rob our own finances so that you can be entitled to a free house?
I’m also a little surprised that GRS hasn’t posted a response from what I can see – I think they owe it to the readers to respond, given the overwhelmingly negative and emotionally charged response.
I don’t think the negative comments will bother the administrators. They had to know the reaction on a personal finance site would not be positive. Articles like this are all about generating page views and comments. From their perspective, this article was a success (and yes, I’m part of the problem!)
No, the article was not a success. We don’t consider the number of comments we might get when we publish an article. We want debate, discussion, a community sharing ideas and opinions. The reason we decided to run this was to see what the limits of crowd-sourced funding are. I thought his idea was ridiculous. I discussed the story with Flexo at Consumerism Commentary last week, and he reminded me of crazier schemes that have been funded — like people getting others to pay off their school loans or credit card debt. I guess we now know the outer limits of crowd funding.
“The reason we decided to run this was to see what the limits of crowd-sourced funding are.”
If that is the actual reason then it was extremely poorly executed. You could have written this post, removing some of the personal information Eric provided and ESPECIALLY removing the link, thereby collecting reader commentary in a neutral way. Instead you chose to post it in its entirety with the link for people to donate, essentially condoning this type of behavior rather than merely collecting reader feedback.
I agree with Suzie’s comment. And to be honest, I find it hard to believe that a negative reaction was not anticipated. That’s what created the “clickbait” vibe for me.
Oh I did anticipate a negative reaction. I even quoted myself telling him to be prepared for crowd-sourced vitriol.
This article infuriates me as pure crap that should not have been allowed by GRS. JD would not have allowed it.
2013 was the worst financial year of my adult life. My infant daughter was in the hospital on the other side of the state from our hometown, having horribly failed a sleep study and requiring emergency surgery that kept her sedated for two and a half weeks and I couldn’t hold her. She spent her third and fourth months birthdays hospitalized, 34 straight days. I was living in the Ronald McDonald House, and my husband was driving back and forth, an hour and a half each way, on his days off. The triplex that we had purchased in 2011 as a rental property was totally empty because we had to evict all three of the tenants we had inherited from the slumlord previous owner, and we had no time/money/interest in getting the money pit ready to rent out again because 100% of our energy was tied up in the PICU of U of M Hospital. Our electricity was almost shut off because I am the one who does all the financial stuff in the house and I wasn’t home to even open the mail, let alone worry about it. When some of my close friends asked what I needed and what they could do to help, it took ALL of the cahones I could muster to say “Paint one of the units in the triplex?” Because that, to me, was begging, even though I was in dire straights and that was something I truly NEEDED. I felt weird asking people – who knew me in person and cared about me – to help. GRS just posted a story about some random guy begging for money just because?
In the meantime, Erik Estrada of Amsterdam Road, maybe if your girlfriend stopped dying her hair in a rainbow of colors you could find an extra $5 or so.
I was thinking the same thing–cut back on the rainbow hair dye and tattoos (and children) and maybe you’d have some more money.
And I do think it’s a cop out that he used this forum to basically get a free advertisement for his project and then didn’t engage in reader comments. It’s the least he could do for the publicity GRS gave him, and he had to know this request was controversial.
I started reading the comments yesterday and wasn’t surprised by the reader reaction. My reaction to his original request was the same as yours. But we who run GRS talked it over last week, and decided to see what the reaction to this kind of crowd funding plea would be. You all often surprise us with your reactions.
I was particularly annoyed that Eric didn’t get into the discussion, didn’t defend his position in any way. And I emailed him this morning to let him know that I was irritated.
I read through about 40 Reader Stories this morning, and there are a couple of good ones. The good ones are few and far between. But we certainly won’t be running anything about crowd sourcing, Kickstarter, or any pleas for anything in the future!
Hi Ellen,
Actually, I think an “Ask the Readers” asking for opinions about crowdfunding could have been an interesting discussion. What most people seemed to object to was giving this random guy (who clearly is not needy in the common sense of the word) a platform to beg for money.
Knowing that many readers have submitted stories and have been rejected or have heard nothing, perhaps a better tactic might be to take five to inform those folks what would improve their stories? As a retiree who lives well on a fixed income, stories like these and the comment above make me less likely than more likely to make a submission, frankly. And I know well that I have something to say and have been invited to do so by previous contributors.
Ellen – did Eric ever bother to reply to your email? I am guessing not, and that he’s “shocked and awed” by the backlash to his approach. But I’m curious to know, thanks.
Yes, Eric did reply, but all he said was that he expected some blowback, and he’ll just keep paying his mortgage. Obviously, he won’t be getting anyone else to help, I believe!
So because we didn’t do exactly what he wanted, he refuses to come here and engage with readers in the comments? I’ve always felt that was part and parcel of having a “Reader Story” posted here, but especially one that is essentially free publicity to a very large audience.
I was a reader here when Honey first came on and shared her story, and she got it waaay worse in the comments imo (people speculating about personal aspects of her life and relationships), but she always engaged with commenters and addressd dissenters. I know she was staff, but still she wasn’t asking those readers to give her money!
Good to know, Ellen, but has the link been disabled? I’m not about to click on it to find out.
Sounds to me like Eric never intended to engage with the readers and I strongly suspect he was looking for a free platform to advertise his page.
Ellen, could I suggest that the GRS editors who are engaged with other PF bloggers let them know that Eric is a troll who may well solicit his “story” on their sites to get the free publicity? Even if the PF blogs excoriate him, he may be counting on readers to indignantly (or even not so indignantly) comment on his site to friends which makes them curious to check him out and then continue the word-of-mouth advertising for his site.
In short, while I don’t think GRS made quite as giant a misstep as some other readers feel, I do think GRS got used by a troll for free advertising: “My crowdfunding site to pay off my mortgage! As seen on Get Rich Slowly!” His antics should be shut down.
“Your reward is that you get to help me get something that I want!”
Wow. Spoiled much?
This guy makes the potato salad guy seem legit.
Wow… having been a longtime GRS reader, I am appalled at the editorial choice. This goes against everything this site is for!
I am all for helping others achieve their dreams, but to give a person money to pay off their mortgage just because they want to be debt-free? That is ridiculous. If you are debt-free in other areas, then start budgeting your money more carefully and you WILL be debt-free.
No one is going to crowd fund paying off someone’s mortgage unless there is a solid, legitimate reason – illness, sudden tragedy, etc.
I can’t believe I wasted my time reading this article – I guess I was just hoping that this trainwreck of an article was going to end on a different note.
I have to say that I dont like the easy ride in the publicity of this article for this person. GRS has lots of readers and followers, so this is instant attention. I also see that the contributions havent increased much either as a result. This is partly based on the principles that GRS readers hold (see comments above).
However, if this was truly his way of testing the waters with a charity to help people pay off their mortgages, that idea should have been the main point in his plea and expanded on heavily….not just a side note at the end. Who cares about the family history background! It doesnt make me want to donate. But if there was a solid idea about transforming this idea in a charity to help others, maybe. But I would need a business plan/model and have to be heavily persuaded, not an easy task. Im not going to give for a half-thought out plan.
It’s interesting how crowdfunding has really taken off. There’s quite a few popping up for student loans as well, as I’m more personally attached to. I just did a sort-of review on a new one StudentLoanDiary.org — I wonder what kind of success it would get helping one person like above, or an entire program to help many.
Either way, he has some courage asking for donations, but whatever anyone else thinks, it can only do good for him I suppose, whether he raises $1 or the whole mortgage cost!
Love this blog, hate this post. Even being friendly to the OP. What does a get out of debt quick scheme have to do with Getting Rich Slowly?
As an alternative, maybe the OP should send $1 to the 6 people on this list I’ll give him. Then put his name on the list and remove the bottom name and ask his friends to do the same?
Pay your own mortgage. I have to pay mine and I don’t expect anyone else to do it. You bought the house, pay the freight.
Seriously? I wonder if this post made JD Roth regret selling his blog to its current owners. My bet is yes. Here’s a hint to the new owners: If the article violates the title of the blog, don’t publish it.
Eric is pathetic and should be embarrassed. His only reasoning is that he’d prefer not to have a mortgage. That would make him the same as every other human who has a mortgage. And how disingenuous that he theorizes about starting some nonprofit in the future. Eric, if you want to start a nonprofit to help other people, you’re free to do so right this second. But, I suspect you have no intention to do that.
This is why I stop coming to GRS as often as I used to. What a stupid request. Hey I don’t want to work so will people gofundme a paycheck every two weeks!
That’s not going to work but kudos for trying. There are so many other people who are desperate for real help… Illnesses, medical bills, etc. Every single dime I have goes to my child who has a serious life-threatening illness. We are also struggling with massive student loan debt (although we do own our home outright!)
I give when I can… Homeless folks on the street, sick folks, etc. This just doesn’t seem right that he should even ask.
Eric, good luck with your goal, paying forward is an honorable thing. The Bible says that the borrower is slave to the lender and that phrase reminds me to avoid debt. Even if you fall short of your goal, don’t give up, have an emergency fund and be gazelle intense. I learned alot of this by listening to and reading Dave Ramsey.
We paid off our house the old-fashioned way through hard work and a budget. It is an accomplishment we can be proud of everyday. It took only 9 years to pay off a house that was 228,000 after closing and fees. We paid it off 24 years earlier than the original USDA mortgage of 33 years (and seemed like a life sentence). We didn’t make much money at all, but we got the kids involved and turned it into a game. We taught our kids about money and they know the sacrifices we made to get to where we are and they all want to become financially responsible adults. Good luck with your fundraising but I cannot help since my donate $ goes to those who really need it.
Allison, I would be very interested in hearing your story about how you paid off a $228,000 mortgage in only 9 years. Clearly your family made some sacrifices, but I would love to hear exactly how you did it. Maybe it would work for me and maybe not, but I’m sure I would learn something helpful. Thanks.
I’ve given twice on Go Fund Me. The first time was to a family in which mom was pregnant with a baby who would need heart surgery upon birth. Oh, and mom had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and would require surgery during her pregnancy. (Unfortunately, last update I received was that baby’s surgery had been done, but after months he was now on hospice. So sad!) The other was to a fellow teacher in the state who turned down a raise that was offered to him and not all teachers. He did it as a form of protest, so many of us teachers rewarded him for the solidarity. He did not set up his own page, by the way. It was organized by the union.
You’re of course free to ask for whatever you want, but personally I would be embarrassed to ask for help short of some vital need due to catastrophe.
I have been a persistent follower of GRS for many years now. I even had a chance to meet JD in person during one of his travels. I rarely comment(I don’t like to comment unless I think what I’ve got to say is really important) but I pretty much read every single post, including the reader comments. When I read this article, I could not help myself to make an entry: This is the biggest load of junk I have ever read on GRS. I do not blame the guy for writing this, he is simply fishing, taking his chancees… However, it is a huge error of judgement on Ellen’s part that she could actually publish something like this. Two thumbs down.
Here’s an idea, Eric: Go fund yourself.
Congratulations, you’ve lost a long-time reader.
GRS readers are ones who by and large own our mistakes and work like mad to dig out. Asking for handouts doesn’t bode well with that population.
So why ask at all?
Was this really just a ploy to see what the GRS populous thinks about social services? A veiled way to read into one’s political views, perhaps?
I think GRS not only lost the respect of it’s readership, but the integrity of the blog. I guess my question is what were the editors thinking? If you wanted to find out what the readers thought on the subject of crowd funding , maybe you should have just asked .You took a big risk with this post and based on the other comments it was a mistake. Time to fess up and move on and try to recover some of the integrity lost.
I am not sure if crowdfunding is really the appropriate place to be asking for money for this circumstance.
Thanks for posting this, I’ll be unsubscribing from your RSS feed and won’t be coming back.
I’m disappointed in all the negative comments. This guy may not be the exact inception point, but what he’s describing could be a great way for regular people to break free of banks. Yes, if this took off and he took his newly freed up cash flow and reinvested in similar schemes for strangers, it would basically be a giant pyramid scheme. This would probably run aground at some point, but only after tens of thousands of households achieved outright home ownership. The losses incurred by the last rounds of funders would only be what they were willing to risk $5-$50. But the losses incurred by slimy banks would be millions. And frankly, I’d rather provide an ‘undeserved handout’ to some random fellow citizen than a Bank any day of the week!
Since you have so much sympathy for him, I take it you’ve already visited his site and made a donation? I have a hard time imagining that tens of thousands of homeowners will be mortgage-free using this type of scam, but anything is possible. This crazy post isn’t the type of thing that made me want to subscribe to GRS, and seeing how it’s been handled makes me want to vote with my feet and unsubscribe.
Sorry, I’m unsubscribing from GRS because of this article.
So.. Um why is your go fund me page listed under EMERGENCIES? I clicked in the category you chose.. You put this greedy desire under..
EMERGENCY CATEGORY- “Raise money fast: legal defense fund, house fire victims, car repair, citizenship and more.” Per THEIR GUIDELINES..
Um… Really??
You are making me feel a lil sick.. Now give back the big $100 you have raised in 20 days and shut down this silliness.. I can’t take any more comments in my mailbox!!!!
In my opinion, there is crowdfunding and then there is crowd giving. Crowd funding is asking a community to make you a loan, using that loan to pay down high interest debt, and then paying back the loan overtime (micro finance). THis isn’t crowd funding, it’s just giving. Giving has no place here.
Entertaining at best.
I liked this article. I think it is a very interesting thought. Here we have a nice guy that is raising a hard working family and wants stability in life. Five bucks from a couple ten thousand people is a crumb compared to the thousands of taxes paid by millions of Americans for real handout programs- to people that were raised knowing exactly how to take advantage of the system. So I commend this man for writing the article and posing this question. Anyone participating would be doing a good deed in the exact same respect as Habitat for Humanity or a foreclosure prevention non profit. Crowd funding can start people dreams of small businesses. Well, this man is in the business of trying to keep his family comfortable and stable in the home they are proud to take care of. Sounds just like the people I would want to have as neighbors!! Good job Eric :)
Wow, after posting my original comment and going back to skim over the other 197 comments- I see that a lot of people here are so quick to judge and think quite highly of themselves! Hey step off the soapbox. Do you want a pat on the back for paying your bills? Is that your lifetime’s claim to fame??? I am all about fiscal responsibility and practice it in my life as well. I have savings, live below my means, and a credit score over 800. Awesome. This guy isn’t living off the system in an income based apartment paying 200 a month but driving a Mercedes to Walmart while picking up the newest 70 inch HD TV. He is another ordinary person with a family, who isn’t struggling objectively, but who simply brought up a concept of crowd funding for a mortgage. It is a great hypothetical. Get over yourselves! If you don’t like crowdfunding, donating, or anything of that sort then just don’t do it, geez!
I wasn’t insulted or repulsed by the pitch, though I won’t be giving money, either. I have my own mortgage to pay off, which I’m managing fairly well so far (knock on wood).
The first thing I thought of when I read Eric’s idea to help others get out of their mortgages was the “tanda” or “susu” model of savings pool, which has been around for a very long time. This is where a group of friends, family or neighbors get together and agree to chip in a certain amount of money weekly or biweekly. They meet once a month and decide who gets the pot, usually a few thousand dollars. This is not a loan and does not have to be paid back, though the expectation is that everyone will stay in the club until everyone gets the pot at least once.
This helps people with modest incomes who have a hard time saving up enough money to do things like buy a car, make a down payment or fix up their home. The model also has advantages besides the money itself, since it provides support, social contacts and mentoring. Many immigrant communities in the US and UK make use of pools like this.
Eric might be better off trying to put something together based on this model, if he is really interested in helping others as well as himself. There are a couple of websites now that try to assemble such pools online from people who don’t know each other, but they charge a commission fee to operate. This might defeat the purpose. One of them is emoneypool.com, if anyone’s curious.
Erik,
Life is made up of experiences and adventures; some good, some bad. This experience you have created by attempting to finance your mortgage via crowd funding, well, my hat’s off to you because you had the cahones to ask. I’m not mad or upset.
But it’s pretty obvious your experience has been negative and that a lot of the readers were really mad. At least you were smart enough not to post your address.
I got divorced and had $20, a 3 yr old son, a large dog and a cat. Lost my house to in law’s due to an illegal error in paperwork..long story… finally a year later I had a great job and a few months after that I bought my own house no one could take from me… 5 yrs later I lost my job, never got child support, actually he never saw my son for 7 years, I worked temp jobs and kept afloat barely. My brother/best friend died and I couldn’t get out of bed to keep a job. My boyfriend cheated and gambled in secret…many other unfortunate events happened along the way… Got behind on my mortgage cashed in my retirement at age 34 and gave it all to the bank. Finally I started a new job yesterday and now I am losing my house at the end of the month anyway over $7000. It’s hard for me to feel sympathetic to your situation. I dont even need much but can’t ask someone for that kind of money. I screwed up. I have to deal with it. I’m depressed. It’s sad to me that you think you are entitled. I’m just screwed… but I’m not begging. You can put food on your table. You can probably afford for your kids to do things they want. I haven’t had new clothes in years so my son can if they are on clearance or a great sale. I couldn’t afford all his school supplies. And so many others are way worse off… it’s hard to feel like helping you. I buy a homeless person food sometimes I help everyone when I can… but it’s almost offensive that you want something and you don’t need it.
This is the most ridiculous request ever. Help yourself Erik. You should hang your head.
First, I’m amazed at the number of people who say they will unsubscribe due to this post. The poster explained the purpose of the post and I was clear that this was not a “normal” type of thing here. I’m a new reader, but I’ve already learned some very helpful things in this blog. To unsubscribe is to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Protest, via a post, but also remember that we pride ourselves in being a country where free speech is celebrated.
Do I agree with Erik? Not one bit. Do I believe he has the right to ask? Of course, going back to the free speech thing. I also have the right to not listen. I CHOSE to read the original post and all the comments out of curiosity. I’d never heard of crowdfunding. So that is something I learned about by reading all this. It surprised me a bit that Erik chose not to participate in the dialogue–some people had interesting ideas. Also, no one commented on the value of not pre-paying your mortgage. Some might say that the return value on money invested would be higher than the mortgage interest rate–I know that’s the case in my situation.
I have a long way to go and much to learn about personal finance–things I feel I should have learned years ago. Hence, no throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And I would like to see an article (unless it’s here and I haven’t found it yet) about giving to the many worthwhile charities out there. How does one do that when trying to pay down debt, save for retirement and be aware of the less fortunate all at the same time? Even with my financial burdens, I am conscious of being far more fortunate than many others.
Personally, I found this an interesting exercise in reading. Also in human nature.
I don’t mind Eric’s story or his desire to be debt free. I don’t think he has a sense of entitlement either. Things seem to be going well for him, and I don’t see anything wrong with asking for help, and then wanting to help others in return. I feel the same way, and I believe very often we don’t have what we need because we never asked.
Hi,
This is my first exposure to this organization and not having read all the feedback (there are many responses!), the reason I found this site is because I’m curious about crowd funding my mortgage, too. The main reason I’m interested is that my home (as would anyone else’s who went this route) would end up costing a whole lot less than it will with a 30 year mortgage. This makes perfect sense to me–to purchase a home at its actual value and not pay the interest on it for 30 years.
There could be financial freedom for many Americans without having to pay the large financial institutions that helped create the economic crisis and real estate crash of ~2009. I see it as an opportunity for people to help people. In doing that help, it could free up a lot of resources that could then be helping other people, as well as put a stop to the aggregation of wealth at the top.
I would gladly give $20 to help someone become mortgage-free! It’s a small price to pay to help people in these financially difficult times. Anytime really, as wages never seem to keep up with inflation.
I don’t at all see it as an entitlement, but rather as a way of empowerment of the people by the people.
Hey Joann,
DH and I paid “actual value” on our house many years ago by saving up the cash and paying outright for it. Then, because it was a “gut rehab” house, living in it undone for 20 years while we chipped away at the work.
Try it. Saving. Working. It’s astonishing what that will accomplish.
And yes, the OP who made an “ask” on Go Fund Me IS treating his request like an entitlement and even worse, like a “new idea,” the idea of “you guys give me money and then I’ll give you money ” only in those pyramid schemes, only the first couple of asks get funded.
I’m now a subscriber to GRS, but I am surprised by how many people are upset by this post. I’ve thought about similar ideas before, albeit fleetingly. Certainly if a student wants help to pay off their debt a home owner wanting help to be debt free is not a significant leap. I like the idea of handing over a few dollars to help out a fellow home owner- buying a home costs so much more to the current generation than it used to and handing over a few dollars is not going to impact on my own savings (and chances are I would not otherwise hand over that few dollars to a more needy person anyway, because I, like everyone else, have reasons for preferring to donate to certain causes over others, or at random times).
And maybe we’re underestimating the contribution happy loan free individuals can make to the community – sounds silly, but when I left my job recently and took a couple of months off I had this new found freedom and creativity in the way I thought and felt, and I had a great feeling of being able to contribute my time – voluntarily – to my society. This volunteering makes me feel so good, I don’t know why we dont’ do more of it!
Sure not everyone is in my situation, but I have a home loan and will need to return to the workforce soon. My former workplace stifled creativity and my government is bent on fear mongering campaigns about terrorism and economic crises. These systems do not help create an innovative, happy society. We have much to be grateful for but you wouldn’t know it by everyone’s stress levels!
In my eyes this person is doing some good things for a sustainable future (apart from having three kids!) and I think he should be congratulated for that at the very least.
This just sadend my heart. My husband has terminal cancer, no life insureance, and we own a home with a 65,000 morgage. I was just fired from a job I worked at for 7 years, to be replaced by a non english speaking worker who will do the work for half what my pay was. We have no retirement, i will be left with nothing when my husband passes. I will have to imediately go to work at a fast food estsblishment just to paythe morgage to stay in my home.So , you see, this mans story, just breaks my heart. He is capable of supplying his needs and asks for more from others. I will send prayers for him.
So instead of complaining go to gofundme.com and post your story maybe you will get money donated to you!!
All of the negative comments are brutal. Just because somebody has jobs, a house, cars, food on the table doesn’t mean they are living comfortably. My parents worked their asses off and still lived paycheck to paycheck and that was not living outside their means or going on family vacations. Whats wrong with financial freedom at the expense of GOOD HEARTED people? If I knew only $5 would help payoff somebody else’s debt and put them into a situation to feel a little bit of relief then I know as a person I did my job in life. It’s $5 he is asking for not hundreds or thousands. I think that if 1 million people donated $20 and would help 1000 people that could use an extra $20,000 to help with debts then this country or world would be in a much better situation. Pay it forward! Spare some dollars to the hard working people that never get ahead or get to enjoy time with their kids when they are young. Not everybody has high paying jobs and not everybody has the smarts to be in those situations. So before knocking down this guys idea maybe think of how he could be right or onto something. Think about what you just did to him and his family if ONLY $5 was donated. Not only knock off a $1200 payment per month but also just made him worth at least $160,000 in home equity. FINANCIAL FREEDOM….the word FREEDOM alone is good enough reason for me!!!
Scott, there are millions and millions of people in exactly the financial situation of the OP.
Will you be donating $5 to each one? Have you given ANY money to anyone on Go Fund Me?
I give to organizations that mean something to me, that do good works.
I expect my fellow citizens to take care of themselves and to similarly contribute to charitable organizations, not drain those donor sources.
I have supported little kids in need for surgeries or doctor bills to start up bands who needed money to travel, cds and gas money. I don’t have much myself and am in debt up to my eyeballs. My wife is a great teacher who is basically supporting our family right now as I am doing odd end jobs to just pay on that overwhelming debt. Did I mention my condo that we own is worth $30g’s less then what we owe and can not according to the mortgage company do anything about it but to not pay on it and claim money hardship problems in order to get consideration of a lower loan rate or better yet just to lower the payment a couple hundred dollars a month? We unlike millions of people in this country pay on our debts and feel obligated to pay it off because we put ourselves in those situations. We have two little girls that mean the world to us and when I did get a BS paying job it took up 24 hrs a day of my life where I barely saw them. So to me this guys wants and needs are just as important as somebody who doesn’t have what he has. To be able to know that I wouldn’t have to pay on my mortgage would free me up to do what I really would want to do in life including taking my girls on a vacation of some sort. Not everybody has the brains or the know how to create extra money, so whats wrong with what he is asking for? Like he said just $5 of 30,000 people to pay off his mortgage and create FINANCIAL FREEDOM means it would create FREEDOM to do whatever he wanted to do including spending time with his family without worrying about paying on a mortgage. I know people who have money and still complain about not having enough or not being able to spend time with his family in which you DO NOT GET BACK once they grow up. Maybe if he was able to be able to free up some money he could create an organization to raise money for those people who truly need it? So there is nothing wrong with asking.
Things happen for several reasons in life. anybody everybody needs help every-now-and-then its ok to ask for help and get it just don’t make a continous habit.
I wonder if Eric or his fiance is employed by the crowdfunding site that he has his campaign on? If so, this guy is a marketing genius! Not only did he manage to increase the amount of traffic to the crowdfunding site to check out his “pay my mortgage” fundraiser, but gained free advertising on a widely read PF blog without paying for it. IMHO I believe this was the true motivation. Why would someone ask for a “donation” on a site read by those trying to or who carefully manage their money?
Eric or whoever you are, bravo.
Spam?? how is this a waste of time.
Reality Check for Americans,
The real waste to time, giving your money to charities/governments. They waste most of the funding for marketing to get you to pay more. Then they have to pay the workers. The actual Funds sent in to help the less fortunate, never makes it to them.
WAKE UP. America, and it’s so called freedoms, Should be pushing people every day to help each and everyone of us out of the DEBT this country has brought on us. Businesses and 100% of the earth can operate with out the government taking our money in every way they can.
If I was funded to pay off just my mortgage, The exact opposite of what you state would be true. There would be no laziness, I would donate every month to others relief of debt. Take away the one most expensive thing people have to pay for. Housing cost. Then let them work for the toys they want.
If only 350 people donated to me each a $100 bill, I would have $350k to buy a house for my family. In my area, not bad. And in return, every month, I would then be a part of that population donating only $100 dollars to a family in need. Not to a government ‘funded’ relief, as Americans paid to get that relief started and then keep paying to keep the lights on for that ‘group’. Just work with each other, make the money go to the actual families in need and success for all.
It’s not about Being any better than anyone else. It’s about the Good Life.
In my generation, except for a few people who’d gone into banking or nursing or something like that, middle-class women didn’t have careers. You were to marry and have children and be a nice mother. You didn’t go out and do anything. I found that I got restless.
Reading the post the replies aren’t surprising, but I guess you can’t blame a guy for asking, if he has the guts then fair play to him ?
I have breast cancer, a degenerative bone condition, an autistic kid, and a home due to be repossessed, and am too afraid to ask anybody for anything. I can’t put aside shame and guilt (pride goes out of the window when consultants, nurses, and students of course all want a feel of your breast on a regular basis !) and guess I wish I had the OP’s confidence in just daring to put his question out there.
Jaye
ASK for help. You have a situation and NEED help. ASK.
This guy Eric might be legit, might be looking for easy street.
Maybe someone needs to start a pay it forward fund without big salaries for managers and CEOs as many of the big name chairities have turned into where some larger % goes to the overhead and some tiny % goes to the people in need.
If only the world was a better place everyone would help everyone. His lucky he has a mortgage to pay and a place over his head.
What if 33,000 people decided to donate 750 each year to a lottery that only dona-tors qualified for? using Paypal accounts to a website? What if all the funds was held at a bank and 165,000 was given to 144 people each year who own a mortgage to pay it off or to put it down on their mortgage. What if only people with mortgages qualified and funds were only balance transfers to the 144 people who were selected each year. What if the numbers were given to don-tors and only the first to signup was in the priority drawings of the first 1000 people selected in the drawing each year? Could we all payoff our mortgages sooner? or atleast have a fighting chance? It would be better odds then the lottery would give, at-least a 9 % chance you could be selected. I would be willing to do his if each owner could provide proof their mortgage was paid off, with tax statments, loan numbers, and documents of funds being placed in this lottery. Would you be willing to try this? LOL
I cam relate to this story. I am a domestic violence survivor and also suffers with Parkinson diease.I had 3 kid one was murdered in the event of the domestic violence and my other son shot and lived.my son was a Sr in high school and I am now divorced and waiting on the trial.but I am living off a disability check support my 2 kids and pay a mortgage not along the other bills that come out. What my kids need. Yes the mortagage is the bigger portion of the bill.if was paid off it would b wonderful and people like me living off one check would breAth a lot better.
I am not sure why people are downing this guy for what he was trying to do. I know this story is old but it came up when I was doing a google search for crowd funding to pay off your mortgage. I personally have some health issues but because I still owe on my house I push myself daily to go to work. I thought it would be a great idea to help a few people to pay off their mortgages by crowdfunding and then I myself in turn could get mine paid off. I was only thinking about people who owe a small amount for a balance…like 20 thousand or less. What would it hurt for people to donate a small amount to help someone?? Not sure why so much anger to this story.
Wow, very apt that the color on replies is green, they say honesty is the best policy,would you people prefer he lie and drum up some sob story instead ?.
So they free up $$$ every month. What are they giving back to the world of mortgage holders who are not successful in asking the world to pay off their debts?
Seems only fair that if 31000 people helped them, that they help others without enriching themselves.
We’re paying off our own mortgage. Bit by bit. Every month.
Wow I’m really disappointed by the responses here. Why are people so vitriolic, stingy, and judgmental. If you’re in a worse situation than this guy and struggling, you’re mad at him for asking for help? Because you’re too proud to ask for help? Housing is a human right. 1/3 of Americans own their homes outright (mostly retirees and rich people), 1/3 are underwater (mortgage is more than property is worth), that leaves 1/3 working hard and paying the bank month to month for the privilege of living in home that they might own by the time their 65-70 years old. Why not help those people pay off their mortgages? It would be a huge boost to the economy as these responsible people would have money freed up to invest elsewhere instead of giving it to the banks (who are wealthy enough as it is) and who caused the 2008 Crash.
I believe in this primary home resident concept of paying it forward.
This is a really nice story. I too am trying to find someone to help me pay my mortgage off. Difference with me is I’ve had diabetes for 31 yrs, my husband has high blood pressure and my two young children have autism and for them I need help as they are both problem eaters and need special therapy to learn to eat other foods. I need help to so I can afford the sensors to a pump to better control my diabetes and we are in need of a new family car. If you know of someone who can help (genuine help) please let me know I don’t know where to start.
Sounds like a doable thing as I know I have to give the bank $10.00 a day in interest to live in my house and know it has already been paid for a couple times by previous owners.Mortgage is just another ripoff just like buying a car. So hey Americans need to come back together like they used to be. Work with each other not against us like the political and corporate side is.So let me know how and I’ll donate to this cause.
Wow. I’m with ya, Eric. How’s the response been? Is this working for you?
If I can, I’ll see if I can send you five bucks… you see, I’ve been out of work for 9 months (“downsized”), and have 325K left on the mortgage with another 50K in credit card debt (no income means living on credit… not fun!), 1/3 of which is medical. Not certain where next month’s mortgage payment will come from. Banks won’t even talk to you about arrangements until you are in default (BAH!).
I’m 58 and my wife is older. We live in a house we plan to die in (far in the future, I hope!). If we didn’t have any debt, we could live off of her Soc Sec and my unemployment until I can find work, instead of digging an ever deeper hole…
I would love nothing more than to live free of debt so we could contribute more to the community around us. As it is currently, even when I was working full time, it was basically constant survival-mode due to a number of serious financial reversals over the last 10-15 years. Not a happy way to live.
Like “Joe” said last year, we have always striven to pay off our mortgage and other debts “bit by bit” – but the bits keep growing beyond our capacity, regardless of what we do. Moving and other adjustments at this point have already been done or are totally impractical.
Just $10 from 40,000 people would do it. I’m not a marketing guy, but if I could sell 40,000 units of something (rapidly!) at a profit of $10 each, I could be out of debt… well, except for the taxes on those sales… Guess I’d have to earn $15+ profit per in order to pay the income tax.
So, back to my original question… does this work at all? Is there any hope? Or am I just dreaming the daydreams of a desperate man?
Followup on my previous post…
I can’t seem to find Eric’s campaign on GoFundMe. It has been about a year and a half since the article; perhaps it is over and done with? Does that mean it was successful? Or a dud that was pulled?
I don’t see hand out at all! I see a hard working American family with the dream of living debt free which is not easy today, I have wanted to do this same thing but didn’t know how to go about it. Why wouldn’t we as Americans want to pay off our homes one neighbor at a time until we all have this freedom! I hope you achieve your goal!
I don’t knock him for trying. I myself feel overwhelmed with debt due to bad decisions, misplaced trust, multiple divorces, child support for my two kids.
Sometimes people just want a fresh start. If I knew then what I knew now…I would be better and in a better position to help those around me. Mind u…I am a retired vet
I can sympathize.I am a 52 year old disabled (I am a below knee amputee) healthcare clinician and executive who was injured at work and then let go. I had been gainfully employed as a Vice President locally for the last four years at a good salary. I have a family of four – my wife, daughter, and son. Last year I suffered two injuries to my cervical spine and hands at work. My employer would not pay for worker’s compensation or medical care and terminated me.
I had received treatment and spinal injections, but my doctors have decided the ultimate solution is spinal surgery to remove the pressure on the nerves in my neck. Unfortunately since my employer would not pay for my surgery and let me go from my job, I have been out of work for over 10 months. As you can imagine this has left me in an extremely poor financial position. I have ended up on Medicaid, but the positive of this is that it allowed me to have surgery on 10/26/16. ON 12/02/2016 I will see another surgeon regarding my hand. I am certain when I recover I can get a well-paying job, and begin paying my own mortgage again – if only given additional time.
I had overcome much in the past when given the chance, including the loss of my leg, two foster homes, and two children being born with congenital defects. I don’t bring these things up to ask for sympathy, only to show that I have faced hardships before and have always overcome them. As a below knee amputee athlete, I ran competitively against able-bodied runners and beat them. As a certified prosthetist/orthotist, for over 25 years I used those skills to help many others fulfill the potential they thought lost. I have taken many negatives and turned them into positives.
In my life I would just be thrilled to have my mortgage paid for but I don’t expect that. I would be thrilled if someone would consider provide a 0% interest loan to help me stay afloat before I lose everything. If I had help until I am able to work again I would gladly pay them back over time although it might take a while. I just don’t want my family and I to lose our home. I have dedicated my life to helping disabled people like myself. I want to do so again. My spinal surgery was successful and I believe that the issues with the tendons in my hand can also be resolved. I just need help to get back on my feet again. I certainly don’t judge this gentleman for asking for help and only hope there are people who are kind enough to help others in need.
I came upon this post as I am considering creating a way for people to pull together – like communities used to do – to bare one another’s debt and burdens.
I found it is illegal to debt pool. Fundraising raffle/lottery is an option. For instance, for $5 a ticket, you could be entered into a chance to clear your debt or gift it to another to clear their debt.
And yet, as I read through the posts I read a lot of self-centeredness and judgment statements within a community which centers on building wealth. This surprised me as the quickest way to build wealth is to give and to serve more people.
If I was to offer to pay off your debt – just because – would you accept it or deny me the gift of doing so?
If your debt was paid off – what would you do with the extra income every month? Would you give part away and build wealth with the other part?
What if I ask for a great compelling reason why I should pay off your debt? What would be your reply?
There are times people get into stupid debt – lack of education, common sense, parents who neglected to establish their children in businesses and in homes before sending them out into the world, illness or tragedy, lost their purpose in life or never found it, are not living a priority-driven life, etc.
I once lived in a neighborhood where 4 families bought a house and moved in together. Once the debt was clear, 2 families moved into the next house. Together all four families paid the debt on the new house till it was cleared. They did this until everyone own their own home free and clear.
Wealth is not a state of the pocketbook, but of the heart.