Ah hem....most of us here are not deadbeats..

I will agree with you Laura....the payday loan companies should be shut down and their activities made illegal. How they escape the usury laws, I will never know.

I wish the US had a comprehensive economic education program for all middle and high schoolers. A program where The first part of the year is a free for all???????..each student is given a checkbook and a simple directive to 'do the best you can'. Then let them see what happens along with the ramifications of it. Have the teacher bring in some rewards but only for the students who could afford them. Let the students who don't manage well learn what being broke feels like.

Then, walk them through the budgeting process, teach them to balance a checkbook, and teach them the perils of debt, and how to invest, save, and give. If you can adhere to a debt free lifestyle from high school, your life will be gangbusters. Instead, we graduate students who can't balance a checkbook and think the path to success and freedom is a payment booklet.

GBD

This is true...the middle school I work for does the balancing checkbook course. However I think the reality of it doesn't sink in. The class goes back to the regular math course and does not continue with budgeting your money. Just like so many of the classes at this level they seem to be incomplete.

I understand that guest and i DO agree with lots of points in ur post. I think in this day and age lots of people live above and beyond their means. My oldest daughter sacrafices so she is able to stay home and raise her children. Yet most of her friends, 25ish, say they HAVE to work. I don't buy it... My daughter and her hubby have been able to buy a home, both have decent although NOT brand new cars, health and life insurance, 401K and savings acct, all this with one income. So see it is possible.
Anyway i'm getting off track here! :lol: Luckily, i have only had one dealing with a CA and it was NOT pleasant at all... it's all worked out now and hope to never be in that position again. I have learned my lesson the hard way. And also learned SO much valuable information from this site, had i known sooner would have helped me tremendously. So now is my turn to give back the knowledge i have to help others in the same boat i was in 3 years ago!
Ang

FYi- how exciting to be getting a home! I am not ashamed of how I got here-it has made me who I am today- a more educated person about debt and choices. I tell my story not to explain to anyone, but to show others that there is help and most of all hope- no matter how you got here..I,like FYI, hope I have learned my lesson-otherwise I get to repeat it like I did in the past :lol:

this page has been so inspiring !but hope all who visited here will watch the documentary MAXED OUT to get a feel on credit industry and collectors and what is currently happening to many peoples from all classes in america

One of the most disturbing things that I saw in maxed out is how the major banks like to target people with limited/no ability to pay back their debt generated by giving them a credit card because that is where they make the most profit. In addition they also see people who have filed bankruptcy as a good group because they will have a hard time filing again due to recent legislation. Very disturbing...

also I would like to say that I agree with many of guest by designs' comments--our society has evolved into an "I want it and want it now and if I can't pay now I'll pay later on the plastic plan"--that being said GBD you referred to mortgage crisis as not resulting from terminal illness etc.--I was recently in a conference with several brokers in my area who informed me that the mis-information they provided and encouraged borrowers to provide on these sub prime loans was allowed and encouraged--and if they didn't do it there were tons of other loan companies who were standing in line waiting to do so--the example given to me was--worker who made $12 hour could simply sign statement that they made $25 an hour with no verification and could quickly receive better interest rate on sub-prime loan-- than loan with verified income--they were encouraged to do this because they could always refinance when loan reset 2 years down the line--and could use the increased price of their home's value to give them leverage--from what I was told-- spanish speaking home buyers here in my state were the one's most taken advantage of--I have purchased three homes in my lifetime--and never had a lawyer present--always trusted and assumed that whoever was telling me to sign this and initial that was following a strict set of laws--in my state there are families living in homeless shelters because they lost their job due to real estate market trickle down (construction workers etc) -- and their sub prime loan reset and got foreclosed on--never pictured themselves in this situation--but who planned for this? Brokers told me they saw it coming for two years but never thought it would hit this hard--I always figured my home equity would be part of my retirement but realize that at least 30% of that is now history--sometimes even the best plans and intentions lead to an inability to pay debts and obligations.

Its true, many people are where they are as a result of their own actions or decisions. I wouldn't exactly say most, but then thats subject to discussions. People make decisions based on information available and presented to them. Sometime out of emotions, such as fear, depression or panic, sometimes out of lack of maturity.

I will even grant that a large number of people "stumble" across this community in their pursuit of ways to escape from their debt by paying as little as possible. However, a large majority of the people who are active in this community , and who continue to be active, are here because they realize they have a responsibility to pay their debt, and actually WANT to pay their debts, but they don't want to OVER PAY their debts. They want to learn how to communicate with their creditors and their collection Agents in a meaningful manner with has beneficial outcomes for both sides. But most importantly , these people are here to help others learn from their experiences, and make the frightening world of debt less hostile to those who otherwise would be ill or uninformed.

IF you were to poll most the active members of this community what would they say if the most important thing they want in their situation? I would wager you would hear an answer something like " I just want the Creditors (Collectors, etc) to Treat me with courtesy and dignity, to work with me to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. To behave ethically and in compliance with established laws and regulations".

VERY WELL SAID LCW!!!!

you are my hero lcw!!!! I absolutely agree with Tina!!!! keep up the good work!!!!!