"My Story", for lack of a better title...

I used to be a medical contractor. As such, my income was very good, and this was reflected in my family's standard of living. New house, 2 new cars, etc. etc. During this time, I was able to clear up previous poor credit by filing bankruptcy and making what I thought were good decisions...

...Then the work dried up. I was forced to take a payroll job (within the same field, but for much lower pay). The bills did not lower, obviously, so we struggled to make ends meet. We were fine so long as NOTHING out of the ordinary happened.

Unfortunately, as life would have it, "out of the ordinary" became the order of the day. Bills got behind, etc. This prevented me from getting normal loans to take care of the problems. I didn't think there was any alternative, so I took out a Payday Loan. Then another, etc. etc. We maintained (due to a lot of luck and a lot of overtime at work) for several months. Eventually, however, the wheels came off, and our checking account was closed.

I am SLOWLY and with a LOT of threats from creditors beginning to dig out from the mountain of bills. I still owe money to Uncle Sam from my contractor days, and am finally getting my mortgage caught up. I have tried to make some payment arrangements with the PDL people, but there are a few with more stringent rules and absolutely rude people (namely CheckSmart) representatives who refuse to negotiate. It's frustrating, but I am determined to get things taken care of and rebuild my credit.

Hopefully, membership in this site will help me achieve that goal.