Be patient and listen to My Story

I am SOOOOOOO happy now that I'm almost out of debt!!
You see, when I was 19, I was a single mother of two beautiful babies. I went to college and took out a student loan. I didn't think of the consequences at that time, the money was strictly used for childcare and I thought I'd pay it off as soon as I could after graduation.

But when it came to credit and credit reports and things of that nature, I thought "ah, no big deal. you don't need credit to buy a home. etc." So I never really thought about it. I did however care about my student loan. I wanted to pay them off but I didn't graduate and I was working two full time jobs and just barely scraping by. My loan was deferred for awhile, then I began making payments, and then I applied for credit for furniture when I got my new apartment and the financing guy gave me my credit report and said he couldn't do anything for me unless I could prove that the loans were in forebearance or that I am currently paying on them.

So I went home and dug out my letters showing both payment and the recent forbearance letter. He approved my loan for the furniture but after a few days, I decided against it. I then looked at my credit report again and noticed TWO student loans. So I began hunting these companies down and trying to figure out why there are two instead of one. One loan company validated the debt. They didn't have to because I knew I owed it and I was planning on paying again. But the second one was from another college I went to and graduated from. I knew I had two loans but the second college told me while I was signing the papers that they would consolidate both loans for me. They gave me a ton of paperwork to fill out regarding the first loan and the dude said "don't worry. we'll take care of everything and you should receive a letter in the mail soon letting you know how much your payments will be." They never consolidated the loans and by the time I figured all of this out, the second loan was in default. I was pissed. I called the second loan company and let them know that I never received any letters regarding this loan. They said it wasn't their problem. I felt so angry and sooo...gullible? I guess thats the right word. Anywho, I asked them if they would work with me on consolidating the loans. They said "No. Your loan is in default and you don't owe enough to consolidate. It's too late. You have to pay what we tell you to pay." Okay... so I asked.. what's my payment going to be like if I agree to this? She said "Well, you'll have to go to western union IMMEDIATELY and send us $300 then you'll be paying $150 per month until it's paid off." I told her I could not afford $300 immediately. Maybe $50-$100 through western union then $50 a month. She said no we can't work with that. I asked to speak to her supervisor and that sup told me the same thing. They were completely unwilling to work with me. So I said forget it.

I continued on my merry way. I never thought about the loans until recently. I was out looking to buy a home. That fell through. I was then out looking to buy a car...that fell through. I wanted to go back to college to finish up my RN degree a couple years ago and that fell through. They said that because I am in default I cannot attend college. I couldn't afford to pay for all the classes myself either. So I found a fulltime job which pays well and I figured okay, this next year when I file my taxes, maybe I'll have made enough to get a return. So I let the loans go.

Then this past December, another bomb fell on me. I received a letter from Florida dept of children and families saying that I owed them for an overpayment from back in 1996. Total debt was $798 or something like that. I called them to find out what was going on. Apparently, I had gone in and applied for aid back then. I told the guy on the phone.. wait a minute.. I was working at these two jobs. I NEVER applied nor did I ever receive anything. He said "Well, on your case comments the worker said that you were in on December of 1995. You were approved in January and you received aid from January until May. The overpayment was for the months of March through May. I asked if he could send me the paperwork with my signature on it to prove that I was there. He said he couldn't. This debt was at the state level. Then he said "Well, the reason we just got to this overpayment is because we were short staffed." All these years?!? LOL! They sent me the one and only letter I have ever received which was back in December. I haven't lived in FL since 2001. Then he said "Well, we've been trying to find you but you were always moving around. We felt that you were trying to evade this debt." I said uh... okay...first you said you've been trying to contact me since 1996 and could not then you say you were short staffed all these years and are just now getting to this debt. Which is it? He couldn't answer that.

So I figured okay....I'll call the state of FL and find out what's going on. They told me that regardless of whether or not I applied and whether or not I ever received aid, I was responsible for the debt and there was nothing I could do about it. My name and social security # are on the application and that was all they cared about.

Okay fine. So I file my taxes a few weeks ago and surprisingly, I got a tiny bit of it back. Both of the student loans are PAID OFF and so is Florida!

I really couldn't be any happier than I am at this momoment. But I am still waiting for another bomb to drop from somewhere....LOL.

I hope this wasn't too confusing. My brain is faster than my fingers. I just want to say to those out there who have debt, please be patient. It's all worth getting rid of and it will happen!! You'll be so happy you don't have it anymore. You'll be stress and worry free. Now I feel like I've gotten a second chance at my credit and for the life of me, I am NOT going to do this again!! I figure, if I can't pay cash for it at the moment, then I don't need it. If I can't go above my current budget, then I don't want it. It's taken me a long time to learn to budget my money responsibly. It's been a very long process learning to discipline myself and spend my money wisely. It's ALL worth it though. It really is!!