Get Out From Under Debt
In these days there are a lot of folks looking for financial education, credit counseling, and debt management. Amoeba says he doesn’t understand why the American system is so backward. We don’t teach our kids about money or s3x until after it is too late and the worst mistakes have already been made.
If you fall in the money category for “worst mistakes” and are struggling with overwhelming credit card debt, you might be an excellent candidate for debt consolidation loans. The Debt Consolidation Connection is a non-profit agency designed to help people manage their debt, and get their financial lives back under control. If you need help, check them out.
I remember when I first got out of college. All my credit cards were maxed, the student loan payments came due, and I still had rent, utilities, groceries, etc. I remember sitting with my bills one day and just crying. Thanks to my education I had a better paying job than ever before, but thanks to my bills I actually had less money to live on at the end of the month than I did when I cleaned toilets for a living.
It is easy to get into debt. Getting out takes a little more work, but I am here to tell you that it can be done. I paid off three credit cards, kept a roof over my head, made my car and insurance payments, and built up a savings account. It wasn’t easy and I often had to do without the “latest and greatest” technical advance, but it was worth it. Not only that, what luxuries I do own were researched and well thought-out purchases and I value them so much more than I ever valued any of my credit card impulse buys.
4 Comments
I went into debt for law school. When I got ready to graduate the US Air Force offered me a) court room time b) a chance to live in Europe and c) deferment on principal and interest for my loans for 3 years, with eligibility to extend it for 1 year further.
I can’t tell you how quickly I said “yes.” Once I was in the Air Force, I had them take the amount of my loan payment out of my paycheck automatically and send it to an interest bearing account. At the end of the loan deferment payment, I was able to pay it all back with one check.
Plus, the intangible reward of serving my country in uniform cannot be expressed in mere words.
Our children are getting close to college age. They do not know that their grandfather left a trust for their education. The one closer to college is working her tail off to get good grades and writing essays for scholarships because it is fun. The other one wants to go the USAF academy and serve his country as a career.
Is this a great country, or what?
Kelley — it is, indeed a great country.
I learned to value budgeting when I worked at Dole Cannery as a pineapple trimmer over the summer months in the heat and smell for $1.25 and hour. I was always careful with my money after that. I also valued an education to get me another kind of job because I didn’t want to do that for my whole life.
Kay — I went from cleaning houses to cooking in a kitchen to college. Peeling potatoes for a couple hundred people isn’t all that much better than scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets.
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