l am trying to make my wife, who has no concept of money, it appears, to understand that the wreck she just had in our new vehicle, which was totaled, and now leaves us upside down on the note, that this is probably the next worst thing next to foreclosure on a home.

We are upside down by $5,000, and we live paycheck to paycheck.

Am l right that, to the average lower-middle class, this type of situation is the next to worst thing that could happen besides a home foreclosure or vehicle reposession?

By the way, we make about $40k a year and live in Texas.
yamalol1-- l agree... l have never had an accident and neither has she and we are in our mid-thirties... just heard about ''gap'' insurance for the first time, the day of the accident.

Did you marry my ex? That is a rough road man good luck.

You r right to say that is going to hard on u & ur family but it not as bad as u think. Imagine if u did not have that new car & had a older car that did not have all of the safety features that u had in the new car & god forbid something had happened to ur wife such as death.
Now since u claim to know money it is ur fault that u & ur family r in the situation that u r in now. You should have bought the GAP insurance when u bought that car so that u would not have to pay the extra money for being up side down,

l have no idea where this ''ranks'' but it does show me that many people are living way above their means. If l were living paycheck to paycheck, l would find ways to cut back on my spending. A cheaper car ? Certainly one where there was no need to spend even more money on gap insurance but maybe one l could pay cash for? No computer and it is related expenses, a second job, ? etc