Mood of the Nation: Set back by the housing bust

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A home in foreclosure. Damaged credit. Vanished savings.

This isn't exactly how the Folks envisioned life would be like in 2012.

Until about five years ago, the Folks were living comfortably with their two children, now 6 and 9, outside Boise, Idaho. They owned a home. Chris made a good living as a self-employed flooring installer. Weekend trips out of town were a pleasurable routine.

Once Boise-area home prices collapsed, though, the Folks' lifestyle did, too. Work dried up for Chris. Amanda quit college. And they moved to Montana to be closer to her family.

An oil boom was boosting the eastern Montana economy, and Chris slowly rebuilt his flooring business. Amanda took a job as a nurse's assistant.

But during the transition, the family's income sank. They could no longer keep up with mortgage payments on their Idaho home. So for the past three years, the house has languished in foreclosure.

The family's credit is shot. They blew through nearly $30,000 in savings, mainly on mortgage payments. Attorneys tell them their only way out is bankruptcy protection.

"Everything I worked so hard for is just slipping away," Chris Folk says. "It just feels so far away to get back to where we were."

The Folks can't afford to save for retirement. They struggle to cover $1,280 in monthly rent. Gasoline expenses sometimes hit $600 a month to fuel Chris' van, so he can reach out-of-town flooring jobs.