How did you get into debt?

[chessie21]

i was young and stupid

my debt came from when i graduated in 06 and I ordered 2 credit cards. and then after that
I got really sick and Accumulated about 55 dr bills. wow Now im at 545 .yeah it sucks. But I am still young and can rebuild it.

[electric_mikey]

pretty much the usual. a house, a car, etc etc.

but im working hard to get rid of all that debt. MAYBE SOME DAY!

[wallacengineering]

Hi, my name is Josh and I joined this site to get advice on my debt. How I got into debt, however, is a different story than most.

Thanks to learning from my parents' financial mistakes, I was always EXTREMELY careful with money. I had a single small 3k personal loan I used on a car and even though payments were only 150/mo, I paid 200-300 depending on what I could afford monthly, so over time I got way ahead. I would use my Credit Card only after getting paid, and had a very low limit. I would use it to pay bills, then pay it off the very next day, avoiding any chance of issues. So how did someone like me get into debt? This country, its stupid laws, rediculous police, and thieves are what has caused my hardship.

At the time, I had lost my job due to the company being corrupt and was well known for its rediculous turnover rates. I was asked to resign after about 6 months for literally NO REASON WHATSOEVER, as their reasoning was invalid and was based of lies. This was no big deal, as I was so ahead on my payments that the bank didnt care if I skipped one or two while I found work again. But just 2 weeks after my employment ended, I got into a car wreck. I had yielded, then turned left with a green light and oncomming traffic also having a green light. In the middle of my turn, a Jeep came out of nowhere, speeding, and T-Boned me. I was so badly hurt that I was helicopter-lifted to the hospital, where I learned that because on-comming traffic had a green as well, the police had determined that the accident was somehow my fault, regardless of the Jeep's speed, or the fact they never hit their brakes or honked their horn, as if they weren't paying attention at all.

From here, after being released from a hospital on a shattered right femur, tibia, and fibia that had all been replaced with titanium rods, I could not work for 3 months. I began selling personal items to get by, and all sales were fine until I was given a fake check for two dirtbikes and a motorcycle in the amount of $2500. The bank cleared the check and allowed me to withdraw the cash, so I paid to have the bikes shipped to the buyers house, which costed $1000 (we had agreed on a $1500 purchase price for the bikes). Two days later, the bank called and stated the account number was no good, and took the $2500 out of my checking account, giving me a negative balance of $1200. Now I had no money to pay my loan payment or the $350 charged to my CC Card at the time, and my family is not wealthy and could not help. Even after full recovery, I suffered my share of this country's bad economy and could not find work until 7 months after the accident (Feb 2015). My bank would not work with me despite my perfect history before the accident. Their loss preventio. Specialist keep sending threatning emails saying if I didnt pay they would take me to court, and so I stopped communication with him as of Dec 2014. My bank sent my 2 debt accounts to a collections law infirmary in Denver, CO, and I have made payments on it at the end of Mar and April. However, they have not sent my credit card account. Apparently they are just sitting back and allowing it to collect interest. What started out as $350 is apparently now over $4000. Between living and paying off the two accounts through the collections agency, I am completely broke constantly as I work at Walmart, living paycheck to payckeck. I cant possibly afford to make another seperate payment to the bank, and Im wondering why they think it was ok to not send the credit card debt and yet the other two have been sent. I wasnt even aware of this until I began paying the debt and the collections agency had mentioned I was paying on TWO accounts.

On top of all this the family from the car accident is coming forth with a law suit backed by Frank Azar, the "Strong Arm". My liability insurance apparently covers less than 20% of their hospital bills, and I'm now facing a suit in upwards of $500,000.

I hate my life now, I am constantly stressed and worried that Im going to end up in debt for the rest of my life. Im a happy-go-getter person, any of my friends would tell you, but honestly these days I have been contemplating the possibility of suicide if I loose the lawsit regarding my car accident. I have no idea what to do or where to begin. I feel like the bank is responsible for my debt, and I am not willing to pay them $4000 over a $350 credit card. Im only working part time and am living out of a hotel thanks to my relationship recently ending. I feel like I am not responsible for my car accident either, but who cares what a nobody thinks, right?

I feel like Im a lesser person in this country, like this terrible place wants me to fail, and to follow in the footsteps of my parents and their three bankrupcies.

Im at my ropes end. I need help and I need it now, can anyone help?

[Randomsaver]

Wallaceengineering, I read your story with great sympathy and emphaty. At once I was also the victim of banks schemes. There was a time i issued post-dated checks to a bank for payment good for 3 years but since the amount changed on the second year, the bank started cancelling my checks even if there's money for it and let the debt grew with interest. Since I was working in another country and there's no online account that time for me to check what was happening, i got myself in a big hole like you are. Let's just say when I visited that country for a what should have been a nice vacation, I was shocked to learn all of these and that my total debt doubled. It's not cheap also becasue this is payment for a condo unit on the 12th floor of a 40 story building.

The silver lining about hitting rock bottom is there's no way to go but up from here. There must be something that the government can do to help you out but be mentally strong.

[wallacengineering]

Wallaceengineering, I read your story with great sympathy and emphaty. At once I was also the victim of banks schemes. There was a time i issued post-dated checks to a bank for payment good for 3 years but since the amount changed on the second year, the bank started cancelling my checks even if there's money for it and let the debt grew with interest. Since I was working in another country and there's no online account that time for me to check what was happening, i got myself in a big hole like you are. Let's just say when I visited that country for a what should have been a nice vacation, I was shocked to learn all of these and that my total debt doubled. It's not cheap also becasue this is payment for a condo unit on the 12th floor of a 40 story building.

The silver lining about hitting rock bottom is there's no way to go but up from here. There must be something that the government can do to help you out but be mentally strong.

Thank you so very much for your reply. What exactly do you think the government could do to help? And how exactly would I go about it?

[Randomsaver]

Re your debt care, there's got to be a government court that could help you; also how about NGO Better Business Bureau, they may be of help in terms of getting you in contact who can help on your case.

Maybe you'd also qualify for disability money?

Re your living condition, how about the Projects? $8 monthly rent. Then there's food stamps and coupons for food (but you know that working from Walmart).

Hopefully the savings in costs would help you free up money for other needs.

[veronak]

How did I get into debt?

I never really thought about debt, I can honestly say I got into debt because I wanted things my friends had, particularly cloths. My parents never explained debt, credit cards and how they work. I'm learning and glad I'm back on track

[MotivateMe]

I fall into the buying things I didn't really need, to impress people that I didn't really like with money that I didn't have trap. I will be here on this site for a while as I have a LOT of work to do but needed a site to vent and to learn while sharing small successes and baby steps.