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Credit Card Debt
Submitted by: The Egizianos
Lititz, PAWe are a 30-something couple. I am an HR Consultant for 60+ small businesses, and he is in the technical field. We've been married the lion's share of 4+ years and are generally happy. Just a few more things to bring into line and we will be "living the life".
My husband and I met 6 years ago while we were both living in NY. We were friends instantly. He was recently out of the military and I was trying to make it on my own post-911 in a very expensive area of NY. Our friendship quickly turned romantic, and a few months after we met he stopped going home and stayed for good.
He had the opportunity to go to college full time which meant that the large debts we were carrying from living in that area of NY were only going to get bigger. I was also in school full time but my specific program allowed me to keep working full time. We were “robbing Peter to pay Paul” often, and to add to it, I had never been shy to put myself out there financially. I had some psychological pain stemming from a poor childhood. So while most of the time our credit use was living and survival based, I know that a nice chunk of that credit card debt stemmed from irresponsible use as well. Unfortunately, all the debt was pushing us into a paycheck to paycheck, penny to penny position, that was painful and depressing.
Fast forward a few years. We move to PA because that is where I am from, it is cheaper to live, and I have a great job opportunity. The husband finishes college but jobs in his field are difficult to find, so he picks up “some job” just to help make ends meet. Because of the cost of living change we hoped to be able to pay down credit cards.
We live in an apartment because we are so in debt we can’t see past that. We have 13 credit cards, most of which are maxed and stay maxed, and despite the fact that we pay everything on time, our interest rates climb and climb, even up to 30% in some cases. How can anyone get on top of debt like that with huge interest rates? How can a young couple afford a house or even to have a child at this rate????
Then comes The Secret. My job requires A LOT of time on the road. I love it because I can listen to music and enjoy being out on the road. Last year in August I came across The Secret, and bought a copy to put on my iPod.
I have always been a fairly positive person, and I use it to teach and support my clients. I am also goal oriented, but there are a few areas of my life that just seem to be out of control. Money is the first and my weight is the second. Listening to The Secret reminded me that all the positive thinking I do and speaking I do for work needs to be used on myself as well.
I listened and I even forced my husband to listen along to some sections as well. And we started practicing. It takes practice, and I firmly believe you need to listen to the CDs more than once. Anytime your belief system wains you should pop in a CD and freshen up on The Secret.
So… I thought the whole writing a check from the universe thing was a little bit silly. I got the concept and I wrote out a check for the amount of credit card bills we had, which amounted to about 25K. I posted it near my desk and for a few months I really tried to make sure I focused on it every day. But then… I lost focus. Or so I thought.
I started listening to some other books on tape, Suze Orman is one of them. I was hoping that at some point in my life I would be able to buy a house and not have so many credit card bills. I had heard good things about Ms. Orman so I listened to her.
A few weeks later I decided that even though we couldn’t probably afford a house, we should start looking so that when we can, we know what we want in a house. A realtor started taking us around and showing us homes. Some within our potential range if we didn’t have credit card debt, and some out of our range.
In March of this year I had kind of pushed the house looking aside a little, and I also completely forgot about that silly check written out from the universe to pay off our credit cards. In fact the check was still in my office, but I had it in a pile of paperwork to be shredded.
Then my mom blind-sides me by saying that she’ll sell her house to us for 140K. The only problems are that we have no down money, no closing costs, and we still have all of that credit card debt.
But then I did some research. It ends up the house is worth more like 200+K! What does that mean? Built in equity!!!! So we start looking into things and by the time the mortgage broker lays out our options, it becomes clear that we not only will be able to not lay out a penny for closing or for down money, but that there will also be 25K left over… to pay off our credit cards!
Now I know what you are thinking, we still have debt, and you are right. But that debt and the interest we pay are now tax deductible items and completely secure debt, which runs circles around 30% interest rates and unsecured debt any day.
This has freed up approximately $700-$1000/month for us. This is a huge relief as it provides us with the opportunity to invest in our new house, create a nest egg, and to save up for the things we want or need instead of relying on those hateful credit cards.
So in less than a year, not only do we now have a house, but we also have very little unsecured debt. For the first time in my adult life I feel in control of our dollars instead of chasing after them.
And that check that was in the shred pile? Yep, I am going to put it in a scrap book to remind myself that positive focus on the things you want and need, and what you ask of the world, will come to you, even if it takes a few months.
Thank you.