My Life With Debt
By Drew Johnson on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 :: 11:03 amCategory: Drew's Corner
Most of us realize, at one time or another, that we spend beyond our means. We buy stuff we don’t really need and regret it later once we realize the money could have been better spent elsewhere. This article will examine ways to reduce spending without affecting your quality of life. I will share experiences from my own life about how I got into debt and struggled to get out.
First Credit Card
The first credit card is a revelation. Free money, it seems. I vaguely remember my mother saying she hadn’t had a credit card in years. I thought it was because she wanted to avoid the trouble of consumer debt. She later told me when I was very young her and my dad had filed bankruptcy. She couldn’t get a credit card, but she had kept me oblivious to the dangers of consumer debt.
Amazingly, credit card lenders were more than willing to give me, a financially inept 20-year-old, a credit card. I used it without thought of consequences. I didn’t really need most of the stuff I bought and, before I knew it, I had brand new stuff and a small mountain of debt. I genuinely didn’t realize that I would have to pay it back. I didn’t understand interest rates or late payments. I didn’t worry much, as long as I paid the minimum balance, I was OK.
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September 2nd, 2007 at 10:19 pm
Hi Drew,
My name is Bee Lee, I’m only 22 years of age and I am from St. Paul, Minnesota.
Just wanted to say congratulations on having a new lifestyle and stay debt free.
Wow, I thought I was the only one whose having a simular situation like you do but I was wrong. Right now I am in the same spot as you because I have made a big mistake by using my cards while it wasn’t important and have not paid off my credits in like 7-8 months now because I lost my job.
I have like three credit cards that I was using last year, but have not touch the credit cards since the first of Jan 2007 of this year. Cut one in half and threw a couple away.
My total bills from all three cards are around $6,000-$7,000. I can not pay them off because my creditors wanted me to pay off in full since I miss so many payments. One credit card is around $4,000 and the other two are around $1,000.
My creditors are sending me letters from the mails now and I am very worried about my situation. I need all the help I can get now a days and any advice or solutions would be very welcome.
Thank You,
Bee
September 4th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Bee,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I sympathize greatly with your story, and I know how frustrating and scary it is to fall so far behind on credit card payments.
First, take a breath and realize you are not alone. This situation, as difficult as it is, is not un-fixable. Many people have overcome much worse debt problems than yours.
We offer a lot of free tips on our site for ways to save money and slow your accumulation of debt. It is important to begin learning how to moderate your spending and better manage your debt to keep from getting into a situation like this again.
I also recommend you call the number at the top of this page and get a free consultation with one of our debt experts. Our company has years of experience negotiating with creditors on debtors’ behalf, and our experts can fully explain the process of reducing debt. Many of our clients are able to reduce their debt by as much as 50 percent.
Best of luck, and please don’t hesitate to write with another question!
-Drew
October 6th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Thank you for sharing!