A few years ago, a woman I know who has a lengthy history of poor financial choices inherited a decent sum of money.

She proceeded to buy a large house for just herself (she's an unmarried woman with no children) in 2008 when the housing market was still tanking. She bought this house in a city she had never before lived in. She had only visited it a handful of times.

Family told her to rent there first to be sure she liked it. Nope. She didn't listen. She bought that big, expensive house.

Of course, she had to buy brand new everything for the brand new house.

Turns out, she hated the city where she bought the house, so she sold it around 2010, when real estate prices had fallen even lower than when she purchased.

Ever the impatient woman, she just couldn't stick it out until the market recovered a bit, so she sold the home at a nearly $100k loss.

Fast forward to 2012 - only four years from when she inherited all that money. She was totally broke in four years. She still is. Hundreds of thousands of dollars GONE.

She now lives in low-income housing, gets food from a food bank and rolls her own cigarettes. Although she is a senior citizen, she's not getting a monthly Social Security check, because an employee union she was in opted to not pay into it many years ago.

She never saved a penny in her life, and lives off a very meager pension... meager because she didn't feel like working anymore when she was in her forties and got some type of early retirement deal.

Now she blames everyone else for her predicament, saying they should have helped her manage her inheritance.

Life's tough when you're stupid, selfish and impulsive.