[SentraSE-R]

Mike was not wise with his money. He did the same thing that's gotten millions of Americans in trouble. He lived beyond his means, owing on a FSP when he should have been driving a paid-off econobox. All the people upside down on their mortgages also lived beyond their means, buying McMansions instead of affordable homes.

The sad part of the story is he apparently taught his children that living beyond their means is OK ("His sacrifices gave his children many of the things he never had"). Living well on borrowed money is what got got most of the housing meltdown victims in trouble, and it's what got the government in trouble. In short, it's what got the country in trouble.