Thursday, January 29, 2009

$pend right now, People! Tips from someone with BAD CREDIT!

ok, no don't! Not in excess. I am IN NO WAY a financial advisor. I can however advise you how to NOT spend your $$$.
I believe that I have shared with you all that I have a rather large mouth. Not that I tell others secrets, because anyone who knows me knows that is not the case. But my mouth is rather large when it comes to my own personal business. Just big enough to place my foot in it. It rarely comes out.
I will tell you what is in my medicine cabinets,how many (although not details and who) people I have slept with, and what I think about ANYTHING, within knowing you for a very short time. Do I say it inappropriate settings?No. But, I am upfront and honest. Love me FOR ALL OF WHO I AM, or hate me for it. At least there are no uncertainties. Life is full of them, I try not to be.
One things I have felt rather embarrassed talking about has been my credit. I made some terrible mistakes when I was younger, and lived by the "out of sight, out of mind" rule. I didnt look at the bills, so they werent there.
Interest did NOT SEEM FAIR to me, so I refused to pay it! And when the bills kept coming, I quit paying.
I was not careful in the least.
My Mother was the same way. She was an impulse shopper, who wrote bad checks, and my father always came to her rescue.

I got ONE credit card at the ripe age of 18, and totally screwed it up! I was warned not to get one by my parents so I hid the bills.After that I never got another credit card. EVER!
I have medical bills that need to be payed off, from when I waited tables.
Besides that, I have a student loan that I let go into DEFAULT.Can you BELIEVE IT???? UGH!
I was overwhelmed and thought, "out of sight, out of mind". I paid for what I needed THEN. Clothes , Cash! Car, Cash! Furniture,CASH! I paid my rent and electricity on time.
I had NO debt in my own eyes, oh but boy did I! I tried to get a car, and got turned down. I then realized that this was a problem!
But there are some GREAT THINGS about having bad credit. Really!!! And I will explain.
See, while my friends have excellent credit, they also have more credit cards and more STRESS! As the economy gets worse, and people are losing their jobs, this is ONE MORE THING to feel AWFUL about.
I couldnt get a $40,000 car if I wanted one.
I was happy with my car, and not having a payment made it easier for me to go out and buy all of the clothes that I wanted. Here recently my car started to act up, and I have to budget if I have another monthly payment.
I started to work things out with creditors and repair my credit. The student loan in a few months will show up POSITIVE on my credit and will actually NEVER SHOW THAT I WAS EVER IN THE DEFAULT. They have already done this with MOST of it, I have a few more monthly payments to make.
I am working something out with this credit card company also.
I have NO other credit cards to worry about.
My job seems stable enough. While many other people are getting laid off, I see my Boss as a great businessman.
He told me that during the Great Depression one of the BIGGEST problems was FEAR in itself. He asked me to read up on Irving Fisher, and so I did.
"Irving Fisher was an American Economist, health campaigner, and one of the earliest American neoclassical economists and, although he was perhaps the first celebrity economist, his reputation today is probably higher than it was in his lifetime. Several concepts are named after him, including the Fisher equation, Fisher hypothesis and Fisher separation theorem.

He then outlined 9 factors interacting with one another under conditions of debt and deflation to create the mechanics of boom to bust. The chain of events proceeded as follows:

  1. Debt liquidation and distress selling


Contraction of the money supply as bank loans are paid off


A fall in the level of asset prices


A still greater fall in the net worths of business, precipitating bankruptcies


A fall in profits


A reduction in output, in trade and in employment.


Pessimism and loss of confidence


Hoarding of money

When I qualified for credit cards, my income wasnt high enough. If my credit would have been higher, I would not have been as responsible as I am, and would not only not have the $ to pay them off, but also not had the discipline, and repairing my credit would not have been as easy.

I also would not be able to purchase a home at such a low cost right now, because my debt wouldnt have allowed me too. I wouldnt really HAVE as much money, as my credit cards said I did, and it would be a never ending cycle.

While my credit DOES show how I once was, it is getting much better and is showing where I am NOW! And I am GRATEFUL that The Lord allowed me to make the mistakes that I made with my credit, that I am able to negotiate and pay people back without it negatively effecting me, and when it does that it is not holding me back from getting what I can AFFORD. I am also grateful that The Lord showed me the importance of NOT BORROWING from everyone. When all you have is cash, you learn to spend is more wisely when no one is going to bail you out.

And now I can take advantage of that lesson and these blessings .


4 comments:

  1. I think my comment went into oblivion because the page just randomly reloaded. Let me try again.

    I got my first credit card at the age of 16. What moron would send a 16 year old a credit card? The first thing I did was go out and buy a Super Nintendo!

    Your post is so honest and funny. I love that. My in-laws don't even know about my student loans. It's a long story and so not worth the time! :)

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  2. That was so incredibly brave of you to share that. The best part of it is that you took it and made it a life lesson and that is so refreshing!

    I stopped charging a little over 2 years ago and learning to live within our means was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. It will be a long haul to get completely out of the old debt but since there is no new debt, we're actually making good progress.

    I'm in awe of you!

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  3. I like to vomit my entire life on people when I meet them, that way there is no skeletons that may fall out later in the relationship.

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  4. I love your honest posts! Nobody is perfect...that's for sure. A little bad crdit never killed anybody! :) Congrats on changes for the better!

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