Fully 90% of the homes that I've inspected this year have been foreclosures or short sales, and about half of those have been vacant, and about 25% of them have been virtually destroyed inside.

What puzzles me, though, is that at almost every house where someone is still living, here's the extent of their furnishings:

• 60-inch plasma television mounted on the family room wall
• 48-inch plasma television mounted on the master bedroom wall
• 36-inch plasma television mounted in bedroom one
• 36-inch plasma television mounted in bedroom two
• 36-inch plasma television mounted in bedroom three
• 24-inch plasma television mounted in the kitchen
• 24-inch plasma television mounted in the laundry room
• iPods, cell phones, stereo systems, computers, and color laser printers in every room

Now I'm not exactly hurting financially, but the only plasma television I've been able to afford so far is the little 18-inch one that sits in my office. I'm sure most readers know how much those televisions listed above cost, and to find them so often, too often, all in the same house....

This past January I was in a foreclosure in an upscale neighborhood of million-dollar homes when the husband and wife, still moving out, arrived in their matching BMW 760i vehicles.

I'm always sad when someone loses their home, but in some of these cases, I think it actually is deserved, although I hope they will learn from their experience and become stronger because of it.

I just have to wonder who taught them the fine art of budgeting; weighing one's wants against one's needs; and the like.