How did you accumulate all this debt?

[AnonymouslyIndebted]

I am starting this thread with hopes that others will learn from my mistakes and won't be in a similar situation. Hopefully you can share too.

 

I got so much debt because of careless spending. I always use CC instead of cash. I always had the thought that I can cover all those purchases with my next paycheck. Not realizing that I was getting deeper and deeper into debt.

 

Sometimes I wished I didn't get those CC. But I know it is a foolish thing to think because I am the only one responsible for my actions. I didn't use my CC's responsibly.

[Not Given]

We had a few bad years in business so that it got to where we couldn't make all the payments without putting some monthly expenses on the cards. Then finally the minimum payments went up, then interest rates went up and the balance transfer offers stopped coming, then the credit limits came down which made the interest rates and minimum payments go up and so on. We couldn't make the minimums without dipping into savings (inheritance.) We should have filed bk7 10-12 years ago and it would have been a fraction of the debt we have now and way before the inheritance. I just couldn't face the fact that there was no way to catch up, and way back when, I kept making these elaborate spreadsheets, if I pay so much extra on this one and pay it off then apply that amount to this other one, etc. but the numbers never worked out. I was fooling myself thinking we could catch up at some undefined point in the future. I blew several thousand dollars that could have gone to making my bathroom habitable on making these payments. So I am now going bankrupt and my bathroom floor will cave in or the mold will make us sicker before I can get it fixed.

Now we're old and I tried to count up the chronic diseases between us but I kept losing count.

Edited August 29, 2010 by Not Given

[Cactus Flower]

I am starting this thread with hopes that others will learn from my mistakes and won't be in a similar situation. Hopefully you can share too.

 

I got so much debt because of careless spending. I always use CC instead of cash. I always had the thought that I can cover all those purchases with my next paycheck. Not realizing that I was getting deeper and deeper into debt.

 

Sometimes I wished I didn't get those CC. But I know it is a foolish thing to think because I am the only one responsible for my actions. I didn't use my CC's responsibly.

 

 

 

Retail therapy and a new house...(well not new.. but you know)

 

oh well, such is life.... we are only human and not perfect.

[Daddy]

I am starting this thread with hopes that others will learn from my mistakes and won't be in a similar situation. Hopefully you can share too.

 

I got so much debt because of careless spending. I always use CC instead of cash. I always had the thought that I can cover all those purchases with my next paycheck. Not realizing that I was getting deeper and deeper into debt.

 

Sometimes I wished I didn't get those CC. But I know it is a foolish thing to think because I am the only one responsible for my actions. I didn't use my CC's responsibly.

 

Great thread!!!

 

The CC freaks will bash you for not using your cards responsibly.

 

Good luck with getting out of debt!

[AnonymouslyIndebted]

I am starting this thread with hopes that others will learn from my mistakes and won't be in a similar situation. Hopefully you can share too.

 

I got so much debt because of careless spending. I always use CC instead of cash. I always had the thought that I can cover all those purchases with my next paycheck. Not realizing that I was getting deeper and deeper into debt.

 

Sometimes I wished I didn't get those CC. But I know it is a foolish thing to think because I am the only one responsible for my actions. I didn't use my CC's responsibly.

 

Great thread!!!

 

The CC freaks will bash you for not using your cards responsibly.

 

Good luck with getting out of debt!

 

I have already grown used to the bashing. It was really my fault so I am in no position to act like I haven't done anything wrong. Besides, the bashing helps me on keeping on tract.

 

Thank you for wishing me luck. I'm still so much in debt and just starting to climb my way out of it but it will still take a long way to go.

[TroyP]

I am starting this thread with hopes that others will learn from my mistakes and won't be in a similar situation. Hopefully you can share too.

 

I got so much debt because of careless spending. I always use CC instead of cash. I always had the thought that I can cover all those purchases with my next paycheck. Not realizing that I was getting deeper and deeper into debt.

 

Sometimes I wished I didn't get those CC. But I know it is a foolish thing to think because I am the only one responsible for my actions. I didn't use my CC's responsibly.

 

 

 

Retail therapy and a new house...(well not new.. but you know)

 

oh well, such is life.... we are only human and not perfect.

 

Mine was a combination of retail and liquid therapy, all of which went on the CC. A substantial amount was also money that was supposed to be reimbursed that never came through.

 

I'm fortunate in that the debt has all been paid, now only the credit damage remains.

[radi8]

I'm still so much in debt and just starting to climb my way out of it but it will still take a long way to go.

 

Yeah...but you're going in the right direction. You'll get there!

[caffeinekid]

Great thread!!!

 

The CC freaks will bash you for not using your cards responsibly.

 

Good luck with getting out of debt!

 

The relevance of the "credit card freaks" is becoming less and less of an issue by the day.

 

I am going to put something out there that I believe some of you already know, and others might, but most don't take the time to REALLY think through.

 

When you see these articles to the tune of "Studies show that children are smarter than you think", "Studies show that women are better investors than men" or some other such psycho/behavioral analysis being done in some "study", does anyone ever really think about where the funding comes from or why the study is being conducted in the first place? Why one study gets press while the other 1000 are relegated to practical non-existence? And I am speaking to studies involving behaviors. Sure, sometimes the circulated ones solicit a chuckle or even may prove a nice novelty or dinner-time discussion for you and me...and that may be it entirely, but still- what is the purpose and who does it benefit?

 

Perhaps there have been studies funded over the decades determining how segments of the population think and react when it comes to finance or commerce? Perhaps our schools largely have not taught basic finance as a core requirement for YOUNG children for a reason? And perhaps that reason isn't as easily dismissed as the "because its the responsibility of their parents" as some would like you to believe?

 

Bottom line- credit has been issued to very unqualified candidates by very financially qualified and resourceful institutions for a reason-- they knew how you would behave better than YOU do-- so don't even for a moment blame yourselves. Instead, see the system for what it is, learn and then teach your kids how to avoid being bitten. This is a long dark rabbit hole that most prefer not to look down, let alone traverse, but it is imperative that we ALL do it.

Edited August 30, 2010 by caffeinekid

[LBCS]

Great thread!!!

 

The CC freaks will bash you for not using your cards responsibly.

 

Good luck with getting out of debt!

 

The relevance of the "credit card freaks" is becoming less and less of an issue by the day.

 

I am going to put something out there that I believe some of you already know, and others might, but most don't take the time to REALLY think through.

 

When you see these articles to the tune of "Studies show that children are smarter than you think", "Studies show that women are better investors than men" or some other such psycho/behavioral analysis being done in some "study", does anyone ever really think about where the funding comes from or why the study is being conducted in the first place? Why one study gets press while the other 1000 are relegated to practical non-existence? And I am speaking to studies involving behaviors. Sure, sometimes the circulated ones solicit a chuckle or even may prove a nice novelty or dinner-time discussion for you and me...and that may be it entirely, but still- what is the purpose and who does it benefit?

 

Perhaps there have been studies funded over the decades determining how segments of the population think and react when it comes to finance or commerce? Perhaps our schools largely have not taught basic finance as a core requirement for YOUNG children for a reason? And perhaps that reason isn't as easily dismissed as the "because its the responsibility of their parents" as some would like you to believe?

 

Bottom line- credit has been issued to very unqualified candidates by very financially qualified and resourceful institutions for a reason-- they knew how you would behave better than YOU do-- so don't even for a moment blame yourselves. Instead, see the system for what it is, learn and then teach your kids how to avoid being bitten. This is a long dark rabbit hole that most prefer not to look down, let alone traverse, but it is imperative that we ALL do it.

 

LOL. You are always good for a laugh, but this time I actually guffawed.

[caffeinekid]

LOL. You are always good for a laugh, but this time I actually guffawed.

 

Yeah. Laugh all you want. I kinda' feel the same way about people trying in retrospect to rationalize why they swallowed the poison.....and the same goes for those who deny the level of enterprise that goes into making sure that they do, but I don't deride them.

Edited August 31, 2010 by caffeinekid

[athensgaguy]

LOL. You are always good for a laugh, but this time I actually guffawed.

 

Yeah. Laugh all you want. I kinda' feel the same way about people trying in retrospect to rationalize why they swallowed the poison.....and the same goes for those who deny the level of enterprise that goes into making sure that they do, but I don't deride them.

 

I was not taught much of anything about finance in my youth, and I did get in a little CC trouble for a while. I never fell behind, but I did owe more than I was comfortable with. Eventually, I started reading and trying to figure out why and what was wrong. I now do not pay interest on any CC, but I use them for almost every purchase. I still have trouble keeping up with cash, however. I try to keep as little of that on me as possible.

[CreditMcNugget]

Buying cars, living the "fabulous" life when I really couldn't afford it, losing my job and trying to survive...

[skoosh]

When I had my credit problems, it was being young and very very stupid with money. It was ALL my fault. No one else to blame. I 'spent' it thinking I could pay it back over time. Yeah, right. It just snowballed. Anyway, filed bankruptcy and got a fresh start.

 

It's been long enough the the IB's have fallen off. Paid cash for everything for that 10 years (looong before I discovered CB). While I have occassionally, over the years, been in more debt that I was comfortable with, I have been able to catch myself and turn it back around. I do very well as long as I remember the lessons learned from the bankruptcy. It's when I get into the 'I deserve this even though I can't afford it' mindset that I get into trouble.