It all started back in the 80s when my first husband and I got our first credit cards. In the beginning we treated them with great respect, only using them for emergencies and diligently paying them off each month before any payment was due. Before long we were making payments that were more than the minimum but less than what we'd been paying but we paid them on time, faithfully. Then, sometime later, we made only the minimum payments and those would be a day or two late.
Of course, it went downhill from there to the point where all the accounts had been canceled and we owed more than we could pay, even in monthly installments. When we got divorced, nothing about those debts was in the agreement. I don't know if he got notices about those credit cards but I sure did. I paid what I could on them but ended up with several charge offs.
Fast forward to the late 90s. New relationship, different house, and I responded to a credit card offer. Lo and behold, I got the card! In fact, I got two or three for which I applied. (Were they nuts or what?) Apparently I hadn't learned my lesson yet as the same thing happened with those cards. I treated them with great respect at first but that didn't last long.
Eventually, my mother got me a card on one of her accounts and I would use it when I "needed" something and pay it off each August when I got my yearly payment from a lawsuit my first husband and I had been involved in years before. I could sit here and put some of the responsibility on the other half of the 12 year relationship that ended in late July of this year. But I won't. That card was mine and regardless of what he did or didn't do, I wasn't responsible with the card or my mother's trust. And I paid for it, dearly.
Each August I owed a little more than I had the previous August. In truth, the card was often used to pay the electric bill, buy food, and more times than I care to admit, get cash to prevent foreclosure on our home. It was definitely reassuring to know it was there in case of emergency but it was also a crutch and I abused it.
In 2006 I paid almost $6,000 in August. This year it was more than $9,000. After I paid the balance, Mom canceled the card with my wholehearted blessing. I wanted to celebrate after it was done!
My credit is ruined but that's not such a bad thing for me. If I choose to, I can work on improving and rebuilding it.
I do things on a cash basis now and don't have access to any credit cards. Nor do I want access to any. If I can't pay cash for it, I just don't get it.
So, I get a certain amount of cash each month to pay my bills and live on and when it's gone, it's gone. There's no more until the next month. I have money set aside in case of an emergency but getting to it would be deliberately difficult.
Honestly, it's hard at times living this way. I don't like it when I'm out of money for the month and have to make do like I am right now. But I don't know any other way to handle my finances. I have to be fierce with myself about money, almost ruthless. But it's working.
Oh and when I get credit card offers, they immediately go into the trash..unopened.
It is what it is.
Confessions of a person with really suckie credit...
September 27th, 2007 at 02:45 pm
September 27th, 2007 at 02:48 pm 1190900907
September 27th, 2007 at 02:58 pm 1190901537
September 27th, 2007 at 04:41 pm 1190907696
Good luck, Denise...although it's a difficult journey, you sure are in great company here!
September 27th, 2007 at 04:45 pm 1190907959
September 27th, 2007 at 08:37 pm 1190921860
September 27th, 2007 at 11:28 pm 1190932080
moi aussi, I am very close to Kilgore and Longview and Tyler.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:41 pm 1190932889
The thing is, they're not nuts-- they are very very cunning. Credit card companies make money off of people who don't pay their bills in full. That's why they are so willing to open accounts (albeit with sky high interest rates) to people with poor credit ratings.
If you haven't seen the movie Maxed Out, check it out sometime.
Knowledge is power. You know you can't handle credit cards. Kudos to you for acknowledging that.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:03 am 1190934188
September 28th, 2007 at 02:12 am 1190941947
And yep, I do shred the applications as I do almost all of the mail I get and pitch. Can't be too safe....
September 28th, 2007 at 02:18 pm 1190985486
September 28th, 2007 at 02:33 pm 1190986381