Same old story

[Snoopy2645]

Re: Same old story

Well as for coupons I myself use tons & rarely go towards food I use them on HBA products I havent paid for shampoo & deodarnts & body soap or hair styling things or dish soap in years!!!

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: Same old story

Hypersion, often times "$50 for food" and "$25 for cell phones" add up to $1000 missing money. Let's see:

$50 unnecessary food
$25 unnecessary cell phone
$50 Kid's haircuts
$23 dog groomer
$25 co-pay at the doctor
$60 kid's needed new shoes
$15 on neighbor kid's birthday
$50 on grandpa's birthday
$17 quick trip to Target for toothpaste but found dishrags on sale to replace tattered ones
$20 oops, overdrew the bank account
$120 curtains for the living room after 5 years of living without
$40 membership to Costco/Sam's Club
$50 oil change
$160 to sign two kids up for soccer
$60 printer ran out of ink
$60 cell phone battery died
$25 had some film developed
$5.00 kid's tooth fell out and the toothfairy owes him
$70 unexpected visit from good friends so an expensive dinner at home
$40 babysitter
$50 night out/ date night
Total: $1075

All those expenses are possible pop-ups for one month's time. If they are unplanned for, they really mess with a budget. I completely made up all the expenses listed, but that is a look at my life prior to coming here. So it isn't fair to say someone should worry about the small expenses. Sometimes it's those small expenses that really catch up to us. This is why the best advice given is to write down every purchase! That $1.25 pop purchased while filling up the gas tank can put someone in the red by $1000 every month.

[Snoopy2645]

Re: Same old story

Kris you hit the nail on the head that is exactly how it goes to when you have kids & families ya know a little here & thier & it all adds up to ALOT!!!

[Great to be Debt Free]

Re: Same old story

Bless your heart, dear one. I just came across this thread, and boy has a lot been thrown at you -- and a lot of it is really good advice. Let me just encourage you to take a deep breath and actually smile, because you are on the road to recovery -- and you WILL make it.

I made stupid young mistakes to the tune of $22,000 in credit card debt alone. I almost lost my car to repo and I had a student loan that isn't included in the previous figure. Bills would come, and I would stick them in a drawer and ignore them. I dind't have the money to pay them, so why not? Well, one day it just hit me as I asked for a personal loan from an ex-boyfriend to keep from losing my car. This was not living. Fear of collections. Hardly able to sleep for feeling like a stupid failure. Afraid to go to the mailbox. UGH!

So, like you, I took charge. I pulled out those bills and called to get my total balances. I creid after every call. I wrote down on a simple ledger the total amount due, interest rates, phone numbers, minimum payments, etc. After a day or two of crunching numbers, I called them all back. I remained calm even when some were VERY rude. I wrote down their names and extension numbers so I could try to build relationships with them. I copied my check stub from work and attached it to a letter that included my budget (which I struggled to develop as I had never done that before.).

Basically, I determined what the least I could live on was, and I divvied up the leftover (not much, really, maybe $750 to start against all that debt). I didn't think to portion it out depending on how much of my debt each card accounted for, I just divided it evenly. 8 credit cards, the student loan, and the car. That's $75.00 each. I called to let the "representatives" know I was sending this and a few gave me fax numbers so I faxed it from work.

4 of the eight cards put me on plans that either completely eliminated interest and over limit fees as long as they received a payment of at least $25 by the due date. or reduced the interest to about 7% (A Lot better than 28%).

2 didn't respond at all, but I did't get overlimit fees from them. And the other 2 limited the interest down to about 12% (still better than 24-28%) and closed the accounts. Actually, all but one closed the accounts.

The car folks didn't like it at all and were the least helpful, and the student loan gave me a 6 month break.

My last late payment that showed up on my credit report once I started making those $75 payments was in July 2001. It will still be on my credit report for a little longer, but I am so much closer. And my budgeting and taking a second job (I know, not an option for everyone), I was out of debt (yes, everything!) by January 2003. No credit consolidation, no more loans, just hard work. But the collection calls stopped. The reps. got to know me, and after 3 months of $75 payments, one credit card (Chase) gave me a credit of $1000 just because I had proved my efforts and so they forgave that amount.

You can do it. Every time you pay off an account, frame that final bill that says $0 balance and put it where you can see it. Be proud of yourself for working so hard to free yourself from debt. I am very proud of you.

And I would love to send you a copy of Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey -- free, because it is sound advice, and it is concise and quick to read. I'll see if I can email you to get an address to send it. I really am excited for you!

Keep us posted!

[greedy4chips]

Re: Same old story

Great to be Debt Free,
Great story!

And I would love to send you a copy of Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey -- free, because it is sound advice, and it is concise and quick to read. I'll see if I can email you to get an address to send it. I really am excited for you!

I will help you with the book too if you want I will go in half with you just let me know where to PayPal the money too and how much.

I can put that into my budget!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Re: Same old story

Great to be Debt Free, your story is tremendous, very motivating.

[Great to be Debt Free]

Re: Same old story

I just figured it would be good to show the light at the end of the tunnel.

I've done pretty well managing our (I got married in Feb. 2003) finances,but after reading the book I mentioned I found that there was a lot more I could do. And so I got started and recently found this site.

This sure is a group of wise folks, and I can't wait to bank on some of the great ideas I've seen! Pun intended!

Good luck to all of us, I say!

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: Same old story

Hey Timetosave, what happened? I hope we didn't scare you off.

[Ima saver]

Re: Same old story

I had a strong feeling that she would not be back. Sorry, but her story did not hold water with me!

[greedy4chips]

Re: Same old story

I hope she comes back. Give her a couple days, I am sure things were overwhelming her. We tossed alot of questions at her and some harsh comments.

I want to see the numbers and get her through the debt.





PS 100 Posts woohoo!

[Homebody]

Re: Same old story

I had a strong feeling that she would not be back. Sorry, but her story did not hold water with me!

What do you mean?

[Great to be Debt Free]

Re: Same old story

I wonder what's meant by that as well. It seems to me she was very open and revealing. With a disabled husband and autistic child it may be that she hasn't had time to do the spreadsheet yet; but I, too, hope we see her back.

[scrava]

Re: Same old story

I hope she'll come back too! It's hard to get started.
Plus, it seems like she has a lot on her plate.

[Ima saver]

Re: Same old story

I just meant that a lot of things she said, did not make sense to me. She had a lot of money unaccounted for. She said the kids were adopted, then she said they were her husband's. She was wanting to borrow money. She said she bought very few clothes, but all the charge offs were clothing stores. I don't mean her any harm, I just didn't believe her. Sorry, I worked with a girl like that, always telling stories so people would give her money. I almost gave her all my tips one week to help her pay her bills. Then she showed me the $100 worth of portraits she had made that week, but her power was going to be turned off in 3 days!

[Thrifty Ray]

Re: Same old story

I just read this thread and I think I can clear up the bad check questions.

There is a huge problem with this type of crime over the internet.

Let's say I am the bad guy. I have in my possession a check that Ima Saver wrote to me for $10 for something I sold to her door to door.

I have all of her banking information, including her signature...and I can now turn that check into as many new checks as I want.

So, I buy something off the internet and have it delivered to bogus address using a ficticious name...that i will close as soon as my 'purchase' arrives.

In the meantime, the person who sold me the item deposits my check, thinking I am Ima Saver. The check wont come back until Ima Saver realizes what has happened...which can take several weeks...In the meantime, the person who received the bogus check has paid bills and now has a big ol check that came back...and starts bouncing lots of checks...

Ima Saver also has some bounced checks to deal with...

or, I could have gotten Ima's # by stealing her mail....or maybe I stole her purse and her checkbook was in it...etc, etc..

Now, imagine that I didnt get that check from Ima...but rather a large, well known company...A trusted company who wont notice a much larger check..

This type of crime happens alot. And the person accepting the check is the one responsible for it....they are the one who is presumed (by law) to know the person who wrote the check and will be the one who takes the loss.

Ima would not be responsible for the check, as it is counterfeit. and the person who created the counterfeit is long gone...