Money Moral Dilemma: = Is it fair for me to scream every time I see yet another fake problem

Do you live in a flat? How loud will the scream be and at what time of the day?
If you scream into a pillow that could help relieve your stress without disturbing people so I'd say it's ok ....

I used to subscribe to a personal finance magazine. On browsing an older copy prior to recycling it, I thought the reader's 'problem' about mortgages looked familiar. On comparing the current edition I found the reader's letter, and reply, was identical to one published over a year ago - even to the extent that numbers quoted in the answer were identical, despite the fact interest rates had changed in the meantime.

I contacted the editor to ask if all the problems were made up (as I'd naively actually submitted a query of my own, obviously never published) but needless to say I got no response. I cancelled my subscription not long after that.

Not related to finance matters, but the most memorable reader's problem I ever saw published online in a national newspaper's website, was one from a gentleman who said he was bisexual. On meeting his new girlfriend's father he realised he'd had a liaison with the father in the past. Now his dilemma was, should he tell the girl of his dreams that he knew her father in the biblical sense. To say there was some scepticism that this was a 'real' problem is putting it mildly.

Berkshire_Beancounter wrote: »

Not related to finance matters, but the most memorable reader's problem I ever saw published online in a national newspaper's website, was one from a gentleman who said he was bisexual. On meeting his new girlfriend's father he realised he'd had a liaison with the father in the past. Now his dilemma was, should he tell the girl of his dreams that he knew her father in the biblical sense. To say there was some scepticism that this was a 'real' problem is putting it mildly.

I think they lifted that from a film or TV programme, I'm sure I've seen that twist in something.

I really loathe the mse originated ones and have complained often. I was assured that people send them in and because they're too busy to respond they post them for us to comment.


Even that response sounds fake to me. Why would someone pose a question to the mse team? Why not start a genuine thread of their own?


It's bad enough when a genuine poster starts a thread and then doesn't return but to just pose a silly question and disappear is pathetic and rather patronising IMO. You'd have thought the mse team would have better things to do with their time.

Pollycat wrote: »

Actually, some aren't fake.


I would have bet anything that the most recent MMD - the one about using a child's premium bond winnings (the winnings are currently non-existent) to pay off the mortgage) was a made-up one.
But apparently not.

I remember this MMD appearing on here as a real thread once, so while it might be slightly adapted the underlying dilemma is entirely real. Unless of course the original poster was a troll, which is possible given the subject matter.

I also remember a similar one where two young siblings both had premium bonds and one of them won a sizeable amount of money, the question was should it be split.