"My Personal Credit Crisis" by: Ed Andrews

My friend Annie and I were talking about the merits of writing new stories in the first person. We didn't find many. But in reading this story by Ed Andrews from The New York Times my mind is temporarily unmade.

This is a gut-and-heart wrenching story. Andrews is a financial reporter for the NYT and writes an article about how he fell into credit crisis. It just proves that normal, everyday Americans, even ones who know they should know better, have fallen prey to mortgage lenders. It's sad.

I joined millions of otherwise-sane Americans in what we now know was a catastrophic binge on overpriced real estate and reckless mortgages. Nobody duped or hypnotized me. Like so many others — borrowers, lenders and the Wall Street dealmakers behind them — I just thought I could beat the odds.

I've never had a lot of money so when I have to make a big decision like going to graduate school, buying a car, or buying a house, I don't take the decision making process lightly. I don't have credit card debt and refuse to live beyond my means. Heck, I even have a roommate to help alleviate the costs of living!

I guess when you're used to not having such luxuries like an expensive car, renting a vacation house in another country, and top-of-the-line clothes and furniture it's easier to live without.

Here's to living broke!