ArbolLoco said:b534202 said:Renovating their old house is a priority once they get back to Illinois. They want hardwood floors, wall paneling and a hot tub.

Some people just never learn ...formaldehyde flooring?

Horible facts about US becoming a dumping groud for the rest of the world.

Last year alone, China exported to the United States more than half a billion dollars' worth of hardwood plywood — enough to build cabinets for 2 million kitchens, a sixfold increase since 2002. Though China sends low-formaldehyde timber to Japan and Europe, Americans are getting wood that emits substantially higher levels of the chemical.

One birch plank from China, bought at a Home Depot store in Portland, gave off 100 times more formaldehyde than legal in Japan and 30 times more than allowed in Europe and China, according to July tests conducted by a lab hired by an Oregon-based wood products manufacturer. Formaldehyde exposure has been shown in human studies to cause nose and throat cancer and possibly leukemia, as well as allergic reactions, asthma attacks, headaches and sore throats.

With no government standards, monitoring or labeling, U.S. consumers cannot easily identify chemical-free products.

The husband left his job in 1999 with a $100,000 disability payment. So in seven years he couldn't go back to school and get a degree with that $100,000? He's 34 years old. Big deal if he can't do a physical job, go back to school and learn something else to do, you've got at least 31 more years before you can "retire".

codename47 said:Thousands a month in electricity?? Why??? No way, not in Texas.

Uh, that's not out of the question. I have a 3000 sq. ft. home in Texas, and with 105F degree days up until last month, I had a bill over $400, while trying to stay simply "luke-cool". Doesn't mean these schmucks can't reduce their bill, but don't say it isn't possible. A $1200-$1500 bill is quite possible for electricity alone. Texas has some of the worst rates in the country (too much natural gas generation and greedy utilities artificially keeping the price high).

Smoot said:Uh, that's not out of the question. I have a 3000 sq. ft. home in Texas, and with 105F degree days up until last month, I had a bill over $400, while trying to stay simply "luke-cool". Doesn't mean these schmucks can't reduce their bill, but don't say it isn't possible. A $1200-$1500 bill is quite possible for electricity alone. Texas has some of the worst rates in the country (too much natural gas generation and greedy utilities artificially keeping the price high).But Texas deregulated and you now get choices of electricty providers, saving you up to 15% through competition! Hope you guys get that all straightened out. Everyone I know in Texas is getting raked over the coals, and are not happy about it.

calvinandhobbes said:Smoot said:Uh, that's not out of the question. I have a 3000 sq. ft. home in Texas, and with 105F degree days up until last month, I had a bill over $400, while trying to stay simply "luke-cool". Doesn't mean these schmucks can't reduce their bill, but don't say it isn't possible. A $1200-$1500 bill is quite possible for electricity alone. Texas has some of the worst rates in the country (too much natural gas generation and greedy utilities artificially keeping the price high).But Texas deregulated and you now get choices of electricty providers, saving you up to 15% through competition! Hope you guys get that all straightened out. Everyone I know in Texas is getting raked over the coals, and are not happy about it.

Sorta like the savings Californians received from deregulation during the 2000-2001 energy crisis . . .

Don, a stay-at-home dad, and Shelly, an administrative assistant

Ha ha ha ha, should have sold out and

$672,000 tax bill

Lets see, stay at home dad and admin assistant given $250 - taxes liqid and a SUV to start with. This is like a deranged child with a knife in each hand throwing a tantrem telling them to be careful- a true accident waiting to happen.

Time for a reverse mortgage and a good realator (I am sure they would be hungry for the commision on this one)

I feel so sorry for them:

Upkeep is $2,900 a month. Homeowners insurance runs $7,000 annually. The insurance and gas bill on the Cruz fleet (they own seven vehicles, including the SUV they won in the contest) costs $1,000 a month. That's on top of the $1,000-a-month mortgage payment for the Batavia house, which they've kept, just in case.

Then there are the incidentals. Fixing up the family boat, which got little use in Illinois, cost $11,000. A dog run for their three dogs was $6,000. Between family and friends eager to see the Dream Home, the Cruzes have company nearly every weekend.

The tab: about $1,000 a pop. They've donated $40,000 to charity. And then there have been the splurges - $5,000 on Christmas presents; $2,000 for scuba lessons; an $1,800 go-kart.


All of the HGTV dream homes will never be able to be held by the winner, they are usuall in remote locals with a long commute for a job if you can find one. They are destin to be the super rich.


Oh and one final note of stupidity:

After paying back the loan they took out for their tax bill, they'd have $1 million left. If he puts the money into CDs, recently paying nearly 5%, Cruz figures they'll generate $50,000 a year in income

A 1 million CD, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

talljay said:Research shows that incompetent people do not realize how incompetent they are.
LOL, Great article. I couldn't help thinking of John Kerry as I was reading it...

Don, a stay-at-home dad, and Shelly, an administrative assistant who's gone back to school to become an accountant, are quickly running through their winnings as they struggle to pay thousands a month for electricity, household help and other outsize bills for their outsize home.

A stay-at-home dad to whom? Their 10-year old child? That is so outrageously ridiculous! Admin assistants in my area make $28k/per year-tops. So, the dad has no income, the mom has an entry-level clerical position? And they thought they could afford this lifestyle, how?

This reminds me of that "why poor people drive SUVs" thread on here a while back. I don't even know where to begin with this as they made one stupid mistake after another. I pretty much agree w/ most of the other posters in this thread.

It was amusing how ignorant some people can be, but also sad because someone who could have used this windfall better (like FW'ers) didn't win it. I don't feel sorry for this family, and I don't think anyone should. They chose to make one poor decision after another and they should pay for it. At least in the end they were put back in their place and got what they deserve. This is exactly like the people who obtain an inheritence or sum of money think they are now in a new economic class or are set for life and infinately rich then decide to live it up everyday. They don't realize that the windfall is stagnant and not income producing (unless they make it) so if they just keep spending it without realistically budgeting on how much they have in total, how much they are taking in, and how much they are spending then they run dry really quick. Then are flat broke in a year or two because they lived for the moment and didn't come up w/ a budget and long term financial plan on actually paying for everything and sustaining this new lifestyle based on their actual spending limits and income.

They were given a large gift (2.5 million dollar home, $250K in cash, and an SUV) how did they think they could afford to own and keep this on a $40K single income? Sure its worth a lot but that doesn't mean jack unless you sell it. If you plan to keep it you have to be able to afford all the liabilities and expenses associated with ownership (taxes, insurance, utilities, upkeep, etc).

They could have sold and profited like the other past 9 winners. They could have sold the house, sold the SUV, invested some of the profit from the sale of the home, SUV and the $250K cash and come out pretty well with all this FREE money. Taxes or not this was all given to them, if they stayed with their current/previous lifestyle plus applied the windfall wisely they would have come out on top rather than upside down. With the profits they could have hired a financial planner (since Ol' Don there obviously is no financial genius nor is his wife the "accounting" major) but they chose to not use it wisely and chose to spend beyond their means to live the dream they couldn't afford. Financially ignorant people make financially stupid decisions. Until they learn to spend within their means, plan for the long term and budget based on what they have (not what they project they will have....see how well Ol' Don's plans to save and renovate his home went) the cycle of spending, overspending/overextending credit, debt and bankruptcy will continue. People get what they deserve. This just goes to show, some people can start from nothing, work their way up and have a huge fortune, while others can have everything handed to them, not use it wisely, blow it all and get back to nothing. People who are ambitious, determined, financially educated and goal oriented make something of themselves, people that aren't don't. You can hand them a ton of money and they would still blow it all and end up with nothing.

My wife and I both work and I own a business and we have 3 vehicles, one of them being a truck/SUV because it is needed for business to generate income. If we didn't have a business or if one of us didn't work we would have a maximum of two cars, possibly even one. Why 2 people where only one works, has 7 cars just doesn't make sense. They do not seem to have their priorities straight. Why an unemployed man who has not worked in 7 years and his wife need 7 cars for is beyond me. There are 3 people in the family, ONLY 2 of driving age and only ONE that needs to go out and work. Earning a measley $40K/yr for a family of 3 the maximum number of cars they should have is 2 assuming the unemployed "stay at home dad" actually needs a car. I think something financially ignorant people don't understand is a need/legitimate necessity vs a want/desire.

Neither of the two seemed very bright when it comes to finances so even if the wife was to take control of the finances I doubt that would have helped their situation. I doubt ol' don sat on his butt squandering away the windfall all by himself. I also don't know anyone who would hire the wife to do any kind of accounting after this public faisco.

I also found it amusing and completely stupid on the Cruz' part how the article said they were shocked when they got the tax, utilities and insurance bills. If they were previous renters (where the landlord paid for property taxes and insurance) and never had a home then maybe it might be plausible they had never heard of property taxes and insurance. However having had 2 previous homes how did they not expect there to be a larger property tax and insurance bill on a home 7X the size and probably worth 7-10X their current home. The utility bill being $7K/month being a surprise was also stupid. You have more living space to heat and cool, more lights to light up more rooms, more motors (elevator, jacuzzi, hot tub, tv, etc) so Don can sit on his butt all day, watch TV and cast his fishing pole that all costs money. They also said they used to live on a $40K income. What makes them think they aren't now? With Don not working, Shelly still earning the same, how long did they think that $250K could sustain their living large lifestyle? I doubt when they were "used to living on $40K/yr" they were giving $5K X-mas presents, buying $1,800 go carts, $2,000 scuba lessons and having people walk and pick up their dogs $*&( for $6,000.

Judging from the pix at: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dream_home_archive/article/0,1783,HGTV_11536_3748866,00.html

it looks like they could have sold the his and her's treadmills for some extra cash since it obviously didn't look like they were using them. They could have also rented out their back up homes and the guest house or master suite that they didn't use.

It is pretty obvious that Don doesn't want to work. Sure he got a $100K workers comp settlement and his flooring days might be over. However it didn't say that he is now disabled and unable to work completely. It said he looked for another job but could not find any that paid comparably. Which implies that he is physically able to work, but either doesn't want to, or feels he is too good for the salary offered on jobs he CAN now do. With the hired help that was further draining their $40K income what does this "stay at home dad" as if thats a job when the kid is 10 do all day? What a guy that sits on his butt all day needs hired help for is beyond me. It is not like he has a job, or the kid is an infant that needs constant monitoring. He is 41 and the kid is 10. How did he expect to keep up with this home and lifestyle when he hasn't worked for 7 years and probably has at least another 20-30 years of life to go.

Also if he was THAT disabled from the "injury" and in constant pain I doubt he could be driving any of those 7 cars, riding in the boat, go kart, or going on this Scuba driving lessons. It sounds to me like he is using his injury as an excuse to put his life on hold or have his wife work while he sits on his butt all day. Aside from not being able to realistically afford it, they probably overpaid for everything they did get or paid retail dwindling their single source of income. The $250K cash prize isn't that much especially if your splurging everyday, not budgeting for the long term, have huge expenses and only pulling in $40K for a family of 3. Thats almost poverty level. For them to even conceive that they could live in a 2.5 million dollar home and not have to worry about the expenses on $40K was ridiculous. It also should not have taken a year, and their finances to run completely dry for them to finally realize they couldn't afford the home and the lifestyle. They should have realized this in a month or two, cut their losses, sold the house for money instead of trying to hang on until they were drained. They should have realized they couldn't afford it before or when they HAD TO take out a loan to pay the taxes.

The blurb about Ol' Don falling in love with large homes ever since he was a kid was a waste of time for me to read also. We all have things we want and like but if you can't afford it, you come up with a plan so that you can achieve your goal or you realize you can't afford it. It was also hilarious how he tried to sell the house HIMSELF for $5.5 mil and made his own website when professional realtors were saying its worth $2.5 mil tops. Looks like they are trying for $4.9 now @ http://doncruz.net/

The "complaint" about their FREE $2.5 million dollar home was also ridiculous. How do you complain about something that is free? Like the other poster said you can buy those telescopic light bulb changers for less than $20 at home depot and if that isn't tall enough to reach the bulbs you can buy a 20 ft ladder for around $200 get on that and use the bulb changer instead of buying scaffolding. Also if they didn't keep the lights on all day the electric bill probably wouldn't have been $7K/month.

The part about using video surveillance on a 10 year old boy in his bedroom is creepy. My wife is a school teacher and thought that was odd and disturbing too.

the 1 million dollar CD @ 5% interest netting $50K/yr in income. I guess the Cruz's haven't heard of taxes here either like they forgot about there being a tax bill on a 2.5 million dollar home.

It appears that after all this they have STILL not learned their lesson as they are planning to spend to make all these upgrades for the house their moving back to. (Renovating their old house is a priority once they get back to Illinois. They want hardwood floors, wall paneling and a hot tub. "We didn't realize how much we liked that stuff until we moved here," says Cruz.)

Unfortunately we will probably have to be footing the bill for financial aid through our taxes for Donald Jr. becuase I doubt his parents planned and will have money saved for college. Watch out Ol' Don, that tuition bill, books for classes, board/apartment costs, and food bills might creep up on you out of no where!

Good to hear this years winner is wiser and realizes he is not in a position to live in a 2 million dollar home.

BlkBimM3r said:This reminds me of that "why poor people drive SUVs" thread on here a while back.

This is the why poor people drive 7 SUVs.