Cautionary Stories of Credit Card Debt Problems
16 August 2006For those of you who enjoy a more humanized example of why you shouldn’t be financially irresponsible, or if you just like hearing about people who are worse off than you are, BankRate.com has these stories from letters sent in by people who have serious debt problems. Some of the more interesting ones:
I was always good with my money, until I met HIM. It seemed so harmless at first, we’d charge a dinner here and there, a video game for him, and I meant to pay it off next payday. He was a waiter/musician. He would pout and start arguments in public if I refused to charge something for him. Of course, all this was on my credit card, because his were maxed out. He was going to “make it” as a musician.
I couldn’t pay the balances in full every month, so the card carried a balance. It was a small monthly payment, he rationalized. Before I knew it, I had thousands of dollars in debt. He expected huge birthday, Christmas and anniversary presents. He expected to buy his family extravagant gifts for the same holidays.
A perfect example of how it can take two people in a relationship to keep the finances in order. One person can easily destroy what the other is working for. Another person deeply in debt avoided bankruptcy with a last minute settlement with the credit card companies:
I met with three different bankruptcy attorneys for their free initial consultation, and I learned useful information at each session. Ultimately, for $500, I hired a lawyer, but not to pursue bankruptcy.
I hired him to write letters to each of my credit card companies, advising them of my total debt load and that I was considering bankruptcy. All six creditors agreed to a settlement. Surprisingly, the creditor I was most worried about — the one to whom I owed the most money — agreed to settle at the deepest discount, for only 25 cents on the dollar.
Two other credit card companies settled for 30 cents and 33 cents on the dollar.
The final three credit card accounts agreed to settle for just the principal I owed, and forgave the interest and penalties, and I spread the payments over three months.
There are several other interesting ones, so go have a look around.
Discuss this on the Free the Drones Financial Forums.
One Response to “Cautionary Stories of Credit Card Debt Problems”
June 13th, 2007 at 4:23 am
I don’t suppose I could pursuade you to send me a copy of those letters? I am (was)an Inermediate assistant school principal that was severly injured by a violent special ed student, ie fractured neck, five herniated discs and more! I have gone from $70,000.00 A YEAR TO $377.00 A WEEK and cannot meet my obligations.
Thanks, John Uptergrove
johnupt1@aol.com