DH and I have two acquaintances (have been demoted from friend status) who started a gofundme account to move. They asked for $3500 for rent and deposits for a new place. I suspect they were being evicted from their current place. They had a sob story about being unemployed.

Both of them are highly educated and employable - but neither have worked at a job in about 5 years as they keep trying to be "independent marketing consultants" - but they don't even know how to market themselves. I wouldn't hire them. They've gone through a pretty substantial inheritance.

They only got about $600. I certainly didn't give them a penny. I so wanted to post GO GET A JOB!

It is a shame that idle, sorry, dishonest individuals are using this process to prey on emotion of others. I know somebody with a worthless daughter doing about the same thing, because she is plain lazy. She is working and wants more money than she earns, but not willing to work any more hours.

A lot of fraud....

I am certain it was not designed for this purpose at all.

I've given to one. It was a family member with a terminally ill child. I personally knew who set up the go-fund me account & it was not mom or dad, although they were struggling financially and everyone knew it. Mom & Dad were very reluctant to accept help.

But in general, no I don't give to these things..

I hate public begging. Seems people try to get their sob stories in the media spotlight to get $$$. Lot of time it's a scam, lazy entitled people looking for a free ride.

A friends ex wife set up a GoFundMe asking for $20,000 for a down payment on house ...*eye roll* . She runs a successful business , she just didn't want to save up the money herself.

It's not all bad. I have no issues with the funds set up to help animal rescues , to help during natural disasters and tragedies. But there are so many looking for money for vacations , rent , weddings , cars etc...when did this type of thinking become ok ?

It is a shame that something well-intentioned is frequently ruined by others whom are not...ughhh.

I have given to them but I only give to people I know very well and know that they are very much in need. I don't give to the frivilous ones who want vacation money or wedding money, etc.

I have given to my friend with severe anorexia that I have blogged about. She's trying to save her own life at this point. I know she is no fraudster. And of course that treatment center doesn't work and she'll try another one and will set up another go fund me and I give to that one. And that one doesn't help and they are about to call in hospice for her and she'll try another treatment center. I care about her and I don't want her to die. I don't have a lot of money but I give $50 to each go fund me each time she tries a different facility and I hope maybe this is the one that will help.

I will give to ill children, sure. Not a wedding or a vacation because most of the time I can't afford these fun things for myself. But If I know the person and I know their need is true and great, I'll give a little money

For unseen medical expenses in SOME cases, I get it. I really do. Doesn't mean I particularly agree with it, but I try to imagine what it must be like to be in said person's shoes to have to reach out to perfect strangers.

The ones to help fund a $5000 and upward funeral because "These things are EXPENSIVE!" Yeah, no shit. That's why I spent a whopping $1200 to have my mother cremated when she passed unexpectedly. It wasn't anyone else's monetary responsibility but mine and mine alone.

Anything outside of that - not a fan. Want elective cosmetic surgery? Need help with moving expenses? Yeah. Welcome to life. It's expensive.

I have never given to anyone via gofundme. Everyone is asking for money for everything...and I realize that some of them are what I would consider valid needs, but I'd rather help people I know directly, or give to local charity directly. I think a lot of people are asking for donations before looking at resources that are already out there and available to people in their situation. And I'm not about to send someone money for their dream vacation/trip/wedding/home--I haven't had those things myself, and I'd never ask other people to fund those things for me.

When my husband had a heart attack, he had really crappy insurance and ended up with a $45,000 hospital bill. It never even occurred to me to ask others to foot that bill.

Vacations, weddings, down payments for houses? WTF?

The acquaintances that I posted about earlier are truly in dire straits - BUT it is all of their own making. They chose to "follow their dream" without having a backup plan to pay the rent.

When you don't work for 5 years (in a job market where they are begging for workers) and then end up virtually homeless one day - well it is all too predictable.

Fortunately there are no children involved.

I'm fine with go fund me accounts. I don't mind people asking, yes it is sad that some will take advantage. I tend to have only given to those where I have some personal knowledge of the situation. I do give to others on a regular basis, sometimes to certain charities and to other causes I believe in including personal giving to a family or situation I feel is deserving. Are there some people that will sucker in money? yes. There is one situation I know of where I feel after the fact the money I gave did not go to the right cause. However, that is always a risk with any kind of giving whether direct giving, to a recognized charity or even to a church. I give for others but I also give for myself as it coincides with my lifeview. I would have no qualms about contributing to a deserving child to participate in a positive activity if I felt led to do so. I also might give them some work to do for money toward said activity.

Sorry but go fund me is no longer used for its true meaningful intent.

Read them some time. You can look on FundRazer too...SCAM artists who prey on kindness of others because GOD is usually somewhere written in the bio area.

As a family who has had a very ill child for many months and still is not 100percent clean bill of health, the nicest thing someone can do is mow your grass OR cook a meal during times of need.

On June 7, 2016, my 25 yr. old DD futureSD 's lost her BM to a accident. I blogged about it right after it happened. She was hit by a car and killed instantly. Someone I don't know set up a go-fund account for the 7 year old girl, who lost her mother. It specifically said the money would go to the little girl. Well I didn't contribute one dime to that thing. I take care of her often, and buy her things on my own because I want. I dont feel obligated to give to that account one bit. Last I saw it was up to $2000.00 I haven't checked on it lately so I don't know what it finished up.

The funny thing is, here it is the end of August, and no money has been turned over for the little girl. I have no idea who has the money but somehow I doubt she will ever see a penny of it. The heck with that. I wouldn't give to those things UNLESS I trust the person starting it and it's for something I think is legitimate cause. Even than I wouldn't give much.

I hate how they are starting them for every and any little thing now. For those Breaking Bad fans out there it's like when Walt Jr. started one for his father's cancer treatment. It was awkward, that whole scene. Even Walt senior, the recipient of the money, felt really awkward and embarrassed about it .

I'm fine with Go Fund Me in certain cases. Medical cases, raising money for the parents to be with sick kids, house fire, etc. If I feel like it's legit then I may give to it. You just never know what can happen and even being prepared you may still find yourself in a bad financial situation. Who am I to judge? For the frivolous ones, no I am not donating at all.

BM started a Go Fund Me for YSD to get new teeth. She had a big gap between her front teeth and got braces. Well the braces adjusted her teeth so that she then had open spaces and no teeth. So BM set up a fund for YSD to get the fake teeth. I think the only person who donated to it was OSD. $10. LOL.

OSD had also set up an account asking for money but it was through a different site. Her story was basically they were a struggling family, can't see her DH's other kids because the BM was a B, they were working hard, blah, blah, blah. They didn't get any money either.

I'm sure that there are some gofundme accounts that are truly a need for people but my experience with them personally has been a big joke. I know of 2 different cases of people who were just ridiculous in their requests... First one was a couple that were both on disability (and should not be, no reason why they can't work) who set one up for honeymoon costs. The second was a girl asking for money because she went through a difficult divorce.. REALLY?!?!?!?