How I Became Homeless After Earning More Than $180K A Year

Rafie was earning five figures a month, but things took a turn for the worse and he soon found himself homeless and unemployed. Learn how he overcame those struggles.


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[jimmylee]

Hi Rafie, thanks for sharing your story. I’m 80 years old. The lessons I leaned in my life are:
1. Don’t waste - especially time & money. The time we lost will never come back. We earn good money now so we must save for when we are out of a job or save for our old age & retirement.
2. Life is full of ups & downs. When we are down, we must get up, brush off the dirt & keep going. Learn why we fell down & not repeat the mistake.
3 We need to eat to stay alive. We don’t need to eat expensive meals to stay alive. We just need nutritious food. We eat to live but not live to eat.
4. Live a simple life. Be thankful if we have good health, 3 meals a day & a roof over our head. Enjoy everyday - doing things that make us happy, help the less fortunate people, make positive contributions to society, our communities, humanity etc
5. Health- this is most important. We must maintain our health & ensure we have good health. We cannot enjoy life if we have poor health. There’s a story about a young man who worked very hard working long hours to accumulate wealth. He became very wealthy. When he was about 60 years old he suffered bad health & spend his wealth to regain his health. The moral of this story is : Health is more important than Wealth. No money can buy back your good health.
Good luck Rafie, plan your steps to regain your good life. God bless you. Best wishes from Australia 🇦🇺

[mrcoco]

Rafie ur not alone!
I use to earn 9k per month but after i was diagnosed with Crohn disease everything fall so bad and i still recovering from depression adhd, let stand together and hope everything goes well for us

[muhammadfirdaus]

This tells us to lead a frugal lifestyle. Doesnt matter how much u earn. Important to save up. We dont have to impress others but when we are down, we should remember that no one is going to help us except for ourselves. A reminder to myself and everyone as well.

[U.s.e.r.]

Great story. 51? He looks 37yo at most. Keep going brother 💪

[gca]

I really like what he said in the end. His name is Rafie, he is 51 years old and he's doing his best in life. Yes!!! That is definitely something we should celebrate! Not everyone does that. Not everyone can do that. I wish him the best in life. Well done, Rafie!

[someshsalunke]

he is 51 but he looks like a 35-40 year old guy. His positivity is infectious and i could feel it through the video. Hope I can also learn a bit about perseverance and making th best out of whatever situation I'm in from him.

[JeremyThompson]

I'm an American living in the USA. I don't know how this Singaporean story ended up in my YouTube feed. I do know that I am overwhelmingly thankful to hear Rafie's story. He lets me know that it is possible to climb out of the holes of life. I truly needed to be reminded of this truth. Thank you Rafie and thank you OGS!

[loleeloleelol]

I'm only in my early 20s now and I think it's so easy to forget yourself when you're young... You go out, spend money and do stupid things but forget that time lost is something you never get back. I think Rafie's story is a great reminder to all of us youngins to live a measured life. Life can be as beautiful and adventurous without having to sacrifice on the future. And his spirit should be an inspiration to us all. I wish you all the best Rafie and thank you for letting us be inspired by you and your story!!

[KodaKya]

I absolutely bawled my eyes out while happily laughing, when he said, "My name is Rafie, I'm 51, and *I'm doing my best* "
I finally just got back on my feet from the Coronavirus at 27. I was disabled, and terminated from my job due to tearing a ligament in my shoulder during that time. I was living in my car, and have seen alot of things in the streets in LA that I was sheltered from the majority of my life. I feel for anyone who has to do the tent-style.
I finally just got back on my feet with a one-bedroom apartment, and a Head-Chef job. I'm so tired, and always stressed about money. But, hey, *I'm doing my best*, and I want to see my accomplishments.

[araisannanoda]

I'm currently in my late 20's and finally landed my first job with extended probation, I can feel what Rafie is facing and still doing my best to achieve.

[ymk]

Noel’s kindness and optimism makes me feel better just watching this video. I can imagine how Noel’s kindness must have helped Rafie. Thank you Noel!

[grey]

Literally, this is my life now. I hope I can also get thru this.

Thanks Sir Rafie

[rvijayala]

I respect Rafie so much. Tough times come and go but tough people last for ever

[Casey-summer]

In my opinion, a housing market crash is imminent due to the high number of individuals who purchased homes above the asking price despite the low interest rates. These buyers find themselves in precarious situations as housing prices decline, leaving them without any equity. If they become unable to afford their homes, foreclosure becomes a likely outcome. Even attempting to sell would not yield any profits. This scenario is expected to impact a significant number of people, particularly in light of the anticipated surge in layoffs and the rapid increase in the cost of living.

[leslieclaire]

“I’m doing my best in life” what an inspiration! Keep enjoying your life!

[pragmatist]

This was a heartwarming story. The sad reality is most people are one major illness or misfortune away from being out on the street. Treat ever dollar you earn like it's your last to build that safety net.

[duckygonecrazy]

“And I’m doing my best in life.” What a simple yet wonderfully peaceful statement ❤

[meloon]

Rafie, I am so proud of u. Pls help others get up ! God bless you.

[pyt]

Thank you for coming out and sharing your story 👍🏻

[keikairin]

I was the absolute reverse of your story. I lived frugally my entire life. I saved every penny, bought a condo put ever dollar into paying down a mortgage did everything right. I only earned 60k a year. Made all my own food, wore used clothing. Only bought luxury stuff for birthday's and Christmas. After 8 years living like this I was let go without cause when a peer poisoned me (workplace bullying). Won't go into details...but long story short unemployment can happen to anyone.

I was lucky enough to only hold mortgage debt. I couldn't pay it so I sold the condo to pay that debt off. Lost 200k on the value of it. If I had been able to hold onto it until the COVID crisis it would have been worth a lot more. I had nowhere to go. No job, no rental lease. I had to move back to my parents. Lucky they had a room for me or I would be right where you are. I struggled for 5 years to find alternate work barely making ends meet to pay for food.

I did EVERYTHING right...and I'm not much better off then you are. I'm only living in a room because I had a relative to take me in. Society is cruel to folks. I think we need to find the happy balance between spending money and fueling our economy so those jobs are out there, and living buying only what we need to survive physically and for mental health enjoyment.