In 2000, I took out a
debt consolidation loan to pay off all of my bills, loans and credit cards.
I had racked up my debts bad, and was just 21 years old.
After the colsolidation, the only thing I needed to worry about was my new loan payment for the consolidation, and my car payment. Doable.
Well, the newly paid off credit cards made my pockets burn, and soon enough everything was racked up again.
I found myself using credit card checks to pay bills, buy gas-- whatever I needed. It got worse.
I lived paycheck to paycheck for about 4 years, fighting off bill collectors, judgements, and once almost had my truck empounded.
In 2004, I declared bankruptcy. It was the best thing I could have done for me. Luckily, I didn't have any assets to lose-- and i was still young.
Now it's 2007-- my bankruptcy has been discharged and I just refinananced my house in my own name. I have no credit cards, and really dont have a desire to have any. We pay our bills with money made-- and not with credit advances.
Me and my husband have made a better start for us. My husband does have one emergency credit card in his name that we hardly use, but it's there in case we need it.
I just wanted to share my story and hopefully I can help someone out in the process.