Living Within Our Means: What We Can All Learn From Dame Dash

Damon Dash with his driver next to a luxury Macbach in 2006. These rides typically go for $400,000.


Music mogul Damon Dash has some serious money issues. How serious you ask? Well, according to The New York Daily News, it's pretty daggone serious. Check it:


* Last week, a Manhattan judge ordered the city to seize Dash's Chevrolet Tahoe, since he wasn't making the $714.99 monthly payment on the leased SUV.

* Eastern Savings Bank foreclosed on the $7.3 million mortgage for two trendy Tribeca condos where the monthly $78,504.26 bill went unpaid for months.

* Dash faces an outstanding $2.1 million tab with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, a $4,500 bill from the state for not paying workers' comp and a suit that says he stiffed the law firm that handled his child-custody case.

* Dash even got dumped by another firm representing him in a $3.5 million suit against accountant-to-the-stars Barry Klarberg, who is accused of bungling his tax returns, costing him millions.

Dang Gina.

Now I know there are folks right now saying (or thinking) that Dame is getting what he deserves. Apparently he hasn't always been the easiest cat to get along with. I can't do that though. Never actually met the dude and he hasn't done anything to me.

But what I can do is remember Dame tossing around all that expensive champagne a few years back in music videos. And I believe I caught some crazy spending on his BET reality show The Ultimate Hustler a couple years ago (Yes I watched it once or twice - forgive me!). Then there was the New York magazine article that quoted him stating he had 1,300 pairs of sneakers.

Hmmm.

Doesn't take a genius to figure this out folks. Dame spent more than he had. And hopefully he will dig himself out of this hole. We've seen this before though - MC Hammer anyone? Truth is, he's still probably not broke. His wife Rachel does have a clothing line which is seemingly doing well but the fashion biz is more gangsta than the music industry so who knows what kind of deal she has. Still, I think broke is sending your kid to bed hungry or wondering if your rented or borrowed furniture will be waiting for you on the sidewalk after you get evicted, again.

My girl E told me the other day that we are all living better than we have to (materialistically speaking) and now I agree. And some really wise person once said that the more we make, the more we spend. Let's all learn from Dame's mistakes people.

Living beyond our means is so not stylish. At all.