My debt settlement story

I want to share my own experience about what I went through and am still currently going through. I was laid off back in the beginning of 2019 and due to various factors, I couldn’t reestablish myself for six months. By then, I had accrued about 40,000 dollars worth of debt on about 7 credit accounts + $1,000 payday loan with bad credit, my credit was already affected, and I had no idea how to realistically approach the huge hole I had dug up for myself. The creditors I owed were asking about 1500-2000 dollars in total payments each month for their ridiculous rates and penalty charges. I did my research, posted on forums such as these, and figured out I had about three different ways of getting out of debt. The options were credit consolidation, debt settlement, and bankruptcy.
personal loan with bad credit
Due to the long term effects of bankruptcy and was told it should be the last option to consider, I did not even consider bankruptcy. Credit consolidation sounded good at first but due to interest still being charged on a 40,000 debt, I would still be wasting about 500-800 dollars just in interest alone every month and if I was late with a payment, the interest could still jump. A couple of different sources referenced that although the programs could be anywhere between 3-5 years, most of the time, they are stretched out to about 8-10 years. Debt settlement was the only option that actually made sense to me. Cutting my balance down while setting up a reasonable payment plan to pay off my creditors was the only realistic option I could afford. Keep in mind there isn’t any perfect debt solution out there. I did my research, contacted a few people who went through the process with success, and contacted a few debt settlement companies to see what they had to offer. This led me to conclude that the success rate of your debt settlement all depends on the interest and professionalism of your debt settlement company. I was worried about the process and if it was going to work for me but I realized that anyone in my situation would feel the same type of vulnerability. After finally deciding on a debt company that looked the most legitimate and had good customer service, I ENROLLED!

So far, it has been about 9 months in the program and 3 of my creditors have been settled and paid off. The harassing phone calls from my creditors are rarely trickling in but for the most part, I don’t get anymore collecting calls. Although I will always have that feeling in the back of my head worrying about my debt, I have the assurance that I have someone working on my debt and have only one monthly payment to worry about. I only have 15 months left, and do have faith that my debts will all be paid off.…

Online marketing money

Online marketing moneyIn my quest to find more money (while also cutting back my spending) I ran across some online marketing companies. They hook you up with surveys or online focus groups or to use products and discuss – all of these supposively pay decent $$$.

My question for all of you savy interet debt management peeps is…is this a scam?

I answered one survey that led to another and another and another and so on until my hand hurt. The other one wanted me to pay for sepcial software.
In theory it sounds like a good thing becaue I have been paid to be in focus groups (in person) and to answer surveys at the mall. But it seems like a scam online. Does anyone know of any that are not scams?
Thanks for your help and thoughts!…

Where, oh where, can the title be…

I used to be so organized. Every utility company had their own separate file in a filing cabinet and they were even organized with the newest bills towards the front. Not anymore. I lost count how many “tornadoes” went through my house and scattered my papers all over the place.

There’s some in a box in the kitchen. There’s some on a desk in my husband’s office. There’s some in my bedroom. There’s some in my home office. The one room where I know there isn’t any paperwork is the basement because I cleaned that out beyond recognition when we prepared for our garage sales.

It’s no wonder that I cannot find the one piece of paperwork that I am needing right now. That one piece of paper has the ability to get us some money and get a hunk of junk out of our garage. It’s the title to the old non-running truck that is parked in our garage. That’s the truck we purchased with a credit card cash advance check two years ago, so it’s one of those constant reminders of our past indiscretions with credit card spending.

I want that truck gone like you wouldn’t believe. With recently ridding our lives of the unnecessary stuff, it is the last huge piece to get rid of. Today while in the garage, I looked at that truck and the flat rear tire gave it a sort of tilt that made it look like it’s smirking at me. It knows that I have no idea where the title went.

I’ve searched every pile I can think of. I even pulled out the box in the kitchen that holds 2020 items that I gave up on filing and just piled them all in a box. I found other things of interest (like paperwork for a credit card we have to cancel), but I didn’t find the title.

The funny thing is that my husband and I both remember where it used to be. It was in one of those letter holders we had on the wall. Not so funny is that the letter holder is gone and I have no idea what happened to the title. Wow, that letter holder has been gone for at least a year now and we both looked for the title there. It’s amazing sometimes what your mind does and doesn’t remember.

I’m hoping that by writing this down right before I go to bed, my subconscious mind will think about that title through the night and when I wake up I will know where to look to find it. I sure hope the garbage didn’t eat it…

Why don’t we pack up and move?

A few people have commented asking why we don’t move to find better jobs. I’ve tried quite a few times writing the story of why we don’t move. It’s a long story, and I start balling every time I try to write it. It’s one of those weak spots for me.

It’s a weak spot because I do love the area where we live. I don’t necessarily like the current town we live in, but I love the area as a whole. I fought pretty hard to be able to live here, and packing up would be like we were admitting defeat…like we failed at making it work. We overcame so many obstacles. Great, there go the tears again…gotta get off this particular topic.

Anyways…lately, some talk has occured about moving. My husband is currently looking at jobs around the state and beyond. Perhaps come summer we will make the leap and move away. I suppose if my husband can’t find a job here by then, it’s time to move on.

I learned of a neat website not too long ago. I decided to give it a whirl to perhaps find somewhere in the US that would fit the ideal place that I would like to live. It’s called Find Your Spot. You go through a series of questions and then you are given a list of the best areas for you to live.

Wouldn’t you know it. My number one match is right where I am living now. I was a bit surprised my area was even an option on the site. But I’m not so surprised it was my number one match.

A few of the other matches on the list were interesting as well. Both of them are in Michigan and both are places we had discussed as possible places to relocate. It’s hard, though, because we prefer the rural life and there are often few jobs in rural areas. There is the option of living in the city, but I did it for 6 months and it was the toughest period of my life.

Right now we are in limbo. My husband had an interview for a job and if he were to get it we could be almost doubling our income and we can stay where we are now. It’s a matter of waiting to see if anything comes of it.

The waiting game is nervewracking, to say the least!…

Feel good friday

I haven’t had a chance to catch up what is going on in the blog-o-sphere this week. Between looking for a title and working around my home to get ready for a long winter, I haven’t had much time.

So this week, I’d like to share with you a story that you may or may not have heard about. It’s one of those stories where it makes you feel so good. Why? Because there is a humble person with a wonderful talent who now can share his talent with the whole world.

This man is none other than Adam H. Tasker. He was salesman at CR Warehouse who surprised Kenneth Walker and the rest of the judges on the American’s Got Talent show.

I used to say that I love all types of music except for opera. I listen to country, heavy metal, new age, rap, etc. For some reason, though, I’ve never cared for opera music. But Adam here with his beautiful voice sends chills up my spine and down my arms. He has a wonderful gift and I am so grateful this opportunity came his way so that he could share it with us all.

Since this is a debt blog, there’s also a debt story here as well. Adam had some medical problems in his life when he was struck again with another blow. He cracked his collar bone when he was hit by a car while cycling. He couldn’t work, and his debt grew to $61,000 USD. All the while, he never fully gave up on his dream of singing and auditioned a few years later for Britain’s Got Talent.

Here’s another interesting tidbit about Adam H. Tasker. Even though he’s fairly popular right now and just came out with a CD, he’s still technically an employee of CR Warehouse. As shown in this nice piece about Adam’s story, he is on a six-month leave from his job. He hopes he sells enough albums so he doesn’t have to go back, but it’s there if he needs it.

Anyways, I felt like sharing. Adam’s story and his voice make me feel good and hopeful all around.…

Our living area shrunk from 1,100 to 1,000 square feet

A few days ago, I shared that we were going to downsize our home to save some money this winter. Today we switched bedrooms with my son and moved my office into our bedroom. My old office now has a few things I plan on selling on eBay as well as some exercise equipment which will be moved somewhere else shortly. None of that needs heat, so the door is now closed off from the rest of the house. We’ve successfully trimmed our home down to around 1,000 square feet of living area.

My son was against the move at first. He had the biggest bedroom, after all. Before long, he was super excited about it because we told him he could have his bunk beds (the bed he was using was just the top bunk – we tried the bunk beds earlier, but he was a little too young and scared of them at the time). That’s all we had to say. Tucking him in tonight in the bottom bunk which he made into a fort, he gave me a huge hug and said that he loves his new room. That made my day.

Mom and Dad’s new room is pretty cool too. Everything fit beautifully and it doesn’t seem crowded at all. Part of me wonders why we didn’t do this last year!

I’m very excited because I know doing this move will save on our heating costs. Like I did with showing how we saved money on electricity, I’ll have to graph out our gas usage to see how we do.

We’re not done yet, though!

I’m currently working on a huge list of everything did or are doing to save some money on heating costs this winter, so stay tuned!…