Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 135,000 members

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:41 pm Subject: My Story

This is kind of long, so I'm going to apologize in advance. My second semester into college, I got a job. As soon as I got a job, the credit card offers started rolling in. I tried to be smart about it but by the end of the semester, I had one card with a $1000 credit limit maxed out. My dad found out and made me close the account and pay it off. I did and thought it was over until the next semester. By the end of that semester, I had 6 credit cards with a combined total credit limit of about $4000, all maxed out. I figured it wasn't a big deal because I wasn't paying for school or my car or my car insurance, so I started paying them off. Long story short, I had to leave school at the end of that semester for personal reasons and find an apartment. Well, suddenly I had bills--bills that took up most of my paycheck. I put my credit cards on the back burner with the intentions of paying them off when I got the chance. Well, we all know what happens when you have maxed out credit cards that you're not paying on; overlimit fees, late fees, and of course the interest, which had increased to 34.99% on most of them! My $4000 worth of credit cards soared to about $10000 worth within a year. I called about 5 different banks about getting a consolidation loan to pay off my credit cards, but apparently the debts have to be 2 years old, mine were only a little over a year old. I was turned away time after time. I found a debt consolidation company, or so I thought, but ended up in a scam there. After losing almost $500 dollars to that, I was in even worse condition that I was before. I got evicted from my apartment and moved in with a friend. Then around Christmas, I had some unexpected bills and decided to take out a payday loan. After realizing that I wasn't going to have enough money to pay my rent, I took out another, and another, and another, and another. Then one day, I was trying to figure out what I had to pay on the approaching payday. I soon realized that I owed $400 dollars in finance fees alone to the seven payday loans that I had taken out. I felt kind of stupid everytime they debited money from my account and was ashamed to tell anyone. Reality hit like a ton of bricks. After realizing I'd only have enough money left for my car payment and not rent, I decided to do research. I found out that payday loans are illegal in my state and that therefore, the only option I had was to close my bank account. I went to the bank to talk to the manager and explain what happened. She said that they were having a lot of customers come in with the same problem and it'd be no problem to close my account and open a new one. I realized I wasn't the only 'stupid' person out there and so that's what I did. That was almost 3 months ago and I'm finally back on my feet. I have another apartment that I can actually afford, a new-to-me car with a low monthly payment and I am finally in a place where I can start paying off my credit cards. Finding this website has helped me because I was still scared of the payday loan companies, but I am now armed with information and know how to handle them if I ever hear from them. Plus, I learned alot of stuff about collection agencies, so I'm ready for them too! Oh, for anyone interested, I'm only 22.

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:53 pm Subject:

Your story is kind of similiar to mine, only I didn't have payday loans in the equation, just credit cards and more credit cards. I charged everything, not unnecessary things-- but nonetheless I racked it up. I declared bankruptcy in 2004 because things were just so out of hand and I was about to have liens and judgements against me. I want to say all together it was nearly 40K that I owed. Unbelieveable.
Now it's 2007 and things are so much better for me. I have 1 small loan in my name for when I had to buy my truck a transmission, and just recently (before our last refinance) had my house in my name.
Once you hit rock botton-- and you have a strong desire to fix yourself, things normally work out.
I"m sorry you had to go through all of that, but if you are like me you probably will not make the same mistakes twice.
This board has been great for me because they show me how to deal with creditors, and know that I'm not the only one that's been in bad situations.

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:56 pm Subject:

I was so naive, that I honestly thought I was the only person who got in that deep that fast. But more than half the people I work with said they did made the same mistakes. It's just nice to know I'm not alone. I currently have one active credit card--one of those for people with bad credit. It's for emergencies ONLY!! I will NEVER make that mistake again. I'm just hoping that all the charge-offs will be off my credit report by the time I turn 30 so maybe I can get a house Smile

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:16 am Subject:

thatkindofday -

Thanks for posting your story - you are definitely not alone. Unfortunately, our society makes it way too easy for young people just out on their own to get into debt quickly, and they find themselves in over their heads.

Regarding the charge-off's on your credit report - take a look at your reports from all three bureaus again - (annualcreditreport.com is free once per year, or when you've been denied credit) - there should be a date on every entry showing when it will drop off your report. That will give you an idea of when things will improve on your report.

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 5:31 pm Subject:

sue you are right! I was one of those people... turned 18 and thought it was so cool to have those credit cards in my wallet. I felt so "COOL" because I could walk in a store, get what I wanted and walk out. No cash needed. HAH! Then the bills rolled in, and at first it was great, no big deal. After years, and charging college, and books, and gas.... well it got to be too much.
I'm glad I learned from my mistake. I know people that have had financial hardships, but they never learn.

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:14 pm Subject:

I also had a similar situation and, like sullivana, I had so many credit cards i could seemingly play a game of cards with them. The worst are retail cards!! I think i've had a Sears credit card that i'm still paying off and in about 5 years it's still over the credit limit and i pay more than the minimum on time! God knows when that will be paid off Sad

I used to teach at a university and my first year there, credit card companies would target us young folks by saying 'oh sign up get a free tee shirt' or some other offering. well i did and got the tshirt then got the cards in the mail. problem was I didn't have a job in the summer time. Teaching is only a 9 month committment and any job i got in the summer didn't pay what i needed to manage 10 cards! I got in over my head and finally had to consolidate my consumer debt and that took me 4 years to pay off. Still in some hot water with charge offs.
So yes, credit cards especially are evil and from what i'm reading in these forums so are pay day loans.
The main thing here is learning from our mistakes. You guys may shoot me here, but there was a time that I couldn't even get a credit card (even the ones with outrageous yearly fees!!) my credit was so bad. Good thing is I now have a credit card (which i use very responsibly now) that is steadily raising the credit limit and my FICO score has gone up considerably in the past 2 years. I now pay my credit cards off every month (when they're used) so there is hope out there.I never thought I would get a card again. I like having one for emergencies. There was a time I couldn't afford gas or food and had to cancel all my cards! Good luck thatkindofday, you are very young and will discover that things aren't as bad as they seem sometimes. You may be surprised at how quickly things resolve for you. this forum leads you to so many helpful people!

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:19 pm Subject:

Thanks to everyone who shared. Your stories really made a difference to me. I am still working through my almost 20K debt from credit cards, but I know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Smile

(I just can't wait to find it!!)

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:21 pm Subject:

I'm right there with you Eleroo (i'm about $15,500 in debt from cards)! Its hard and scary to work through this much debt, but together we can do it...and these stories just make me feel 100x better!

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:25 pm Subject:

Me too.

I just want to get something in place before someone sues me! Hopefully I can last a little while longer and start making settlement offers. That will definitely be a load off of my mind!

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:28 pm Subject:

honey, chalk it up as a learning experience. I am 47 years young, and i am still learning. you will make mistakes but try to learn from them and not make those mistakes again. I feel that you have a good head on you and hope you succeed in life. here one of my Community Hug

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