Do you feel sorry for them?

I feel sorry for anyone finding themselves homeless but they don't seem to have shown much money sense, bearing in mind the salary he was earning. I don't know anything about the benefits system but surely as they are homeless they should be offered emergency accommodation by their local council?

No I don't feel sorry for them it's obvious they have lived beyond their means over the years and now it's caught up on them...

Online donations!!!!! Yea right so would I not! ...

They both get a pension so why can't they find somewhere to live? They aren't destitute ....

Nor me , if they are both getting a pension then they could find something to rent that they could afford. Maybe what they can 'afford' isn't up to their usual standard having lived what sounds quite an affluent life, they just have to lower their sights a bit I think..
I won't be donating thats for sure.

I'm surprised they managed to get a £170,000 mortgage when he was so near to retirement age. Perhaps that wasn't a helpful move on the part of the building society. A lot of people lost their homes back then by being allowed mortgages they couldn't cope with. Nothing new here really. I wonder how all the other people who lost far more modest homes are managing now?

Still, you have to feel a bit sorry for them.

Why didn't they use their £190000 equity on a small property somewhere, rather than pay rent? No wonder he's a failed business man! I wouldn't do business with him!

I have met people like this in the past who live the high life and then moan as they get older, but have made little provision for retirement. X

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943749/They-stay-Middle-class-homeless-couple-forced-sleep-Heathrow-losing-home-overwhelmed-generosity-strangers-offering-spare-rooms.html

After the very heartwarming story of the fundraising for pensioner Alan Barnes, I wonder if the floodgates will now open?

Isn't there a fable by LaFontaine on this subject, based on Aesop's fable?
The Ants and the Grasshopper is its title in English.

it is best to prepare for times of necessity

Not a huge amount. On £1400 pm they can afford a small flat. Just did quick google and they could get 1 bed in Dorset for around £400-less for a studio flat. Maybe not what they were used to but it would be a roof over their heads. 2 bed residential caravans can be very comfortable with central heating etc and are available round about £300pm. There's not really a requirement for sleeping in the airport.

Many are bringing up families on the income they are receiving. and just a touch of envy on my part ,I wish I could afford a haircut as expensive as hers looks. Is that naughty of me?

Do I feel sorry for them? Yes, they're homeless and that's a horrid situation for anyone to be in. However that came to be the case I am sad for the situation they find themselves in now at an age when they might otherwise have been looking forward to retirement.
Will I be paying into their 'home' fund. Not a chance! They currently have a higher income than my son who is managing to live quite adequately and run a home. And really, to say they have had 'misfortune' is a euphemism for overspending when they had plenty of money to plan for this particular rainy day. I hope they get some good debt advice and start to cut their coat according to their cloth. They have a choice to live anywhere in the country as they have no family ties, so they could rent somewhere much cheaper than they have done in the past. In fact, even in my very expensive neck of the woods there is currently a one bedroomed flat for rent at £495, which is much cheaper than others they've rented.

According to the charity donation page that's been set up, 176 people have donated a total of £3000+ in 5 hours!
Given that my monthly income is about the same as theirs, I didn't feel the urge to donate.

Their story is so full of holes, it literally beggars belief.

Well yes, I do feel sorry for them. Would be hard not to- but they do seem to be their worst enemies. With the 190.000 they had from the last house, they could have bought a 1 bed flat for less than 100.000 in many parts of the country- settled down and be able to look for jobs and or state help- etc.

I certainly would not pay into their help fund, I'm afraid.

Just looked for 1 bedroom flats in Lincolnshire, as prices are quite cheap there- and there are many in the 64 to 70.000 range. That would have left them with 110.000 after expensses to pay debts and get back on their feet- and they could manage ok on their income there.

I can find no sympathy for them whatsoever. For my friend whose Equitable Life pension went down the pan so that she was living on her OAP alone -yes; for my cousin whose husband left her and gives her a princely £100 a month maintenance and who is too crippled with arthritis to continue her work as a carer/home help -yes; for young families desperate to provide a secure home for a young family who are scrimping and saving to try to raise a deposit for a house -yes; but for a couple who can run through all that money and who still have a reasonable income but can't take responsibility for their actions?

Not Pygmalion likely!

I guess I feel sorry for them in being so incompetent. Other than that, no I don't.

It would be interesting to know how the Daily Mail caught on to their story and how much they are paying them for it. Any normal person would have too much self respect rather than having their misfortune spread over two pages of the Mail.

What are you suggesting about the DM, granjo?

They pay £300p/m for storage. £400 in b&b charges over a 4 wk. Period. That's £700. They could lower their sights and afford a modest flat. She would then qualify for £70p/w jobseekers allowance. Take into consideration buying food at outlets in Heathrow, thats no cheap undertaking. Do I feel sorry for them? Yes. They're stupid. Will I be donating? No, then I would be stupid.

Feel sorry? More like exasperation when so many are suffering far worse hardship. DM probably paying them several thousand for the story, possibly more.
Profligate behaviour and now they're expecting others to feel sorry for them?
Certainly not contributing to fund!

I don't feel sorry for them at all. Live in an airport when you are paying £300 to store your possessions? Bonkers.

I feel sorry for them because it is obvious neither of them has any common sense or forethought.

They said they don't think the staff at Heathrow realise that they are living there - well they do now!

We do know people who have lost vast sums over the years and thought 'easy come, easy go'. We have never had that much to lose.

It always reminds me of the story of the tortoise and the hare.
DH and I are like a pair of tortoises.

Maybe a nice little fee from the DM too?
Bah humbug!