HOW Much Longer???!!!

Although the title of this blog entry COULD be directed at this INTERMINABLY long, bleak, cold, miserable Minnesota winter (seriously....winters here last about TEN MONTHS, and it's only January!), I'm actually referring to the long, bleak, TEDIOUS duration of the debt management program I'm currently trying to survive...

I have FIVE MONTHS left, and I'm not sure I'm going to make it. FIVE years ago, I was DROWNING in credit card debt. It only took me EIGHT years (and several vacations, trips to buy groceries, mail orders, shopping sprees, etc.) to wrack up $48,000.00 on FIVE cards. I did an okay job of paying those "minimum monthly" charges, but wasn't GETTING anywhere with them.

Eventually, I topped out on TWO of the cards, made a few late payments, ended up paying SEVERAL "over limit" charges, and ended up with ONE card on which the interest was 24%!! I TRIED to stay on top of things. I TRIED to get the companies to lower the rates. I TRIED to transfer balances, but ended up in a complete, and UTTER mess.

After hitting ROCK BOTTOM, and spending MANY NIGHTS lying awake, tossing and turning, worrying about how I was going to pay my bills, I decided that I HAD to do something. LUCKILY, I had read about a company called Consumer Credit Counseling Services (a division of FamilyMeans) in "Good Housekeeping", or "McCall's" several years earlier, and did some searching on the internet to see if I could find them.

I called CCCS, and made an appointment to find out more. Duane went with me to the interview, and I remember him saying "don't commit to ANYTHING at the initial appointment, until we've had a chance to discuss this" (he's a cautious guy). By the end of the appointment, having asked a list of questions (including "what are your credentials?" and "what is your client success rate?"), he was sold on the program, and so was I (please...the counselor had ME at hello...).

Anyway...HUGE amounts have been taken out of my monthly paycheck for the last four and a half years, CCCS has been able to convince the credit card companies that my interest on all cards should be lowered (the 24% card was knocked down to 1%!!!), and that HORRENDOUS balance of $48,000.00 is now down to $4,000.00!

The HOW MUCH LONGER title now refers to the DIFFICULTY in staying within that HORRID budget for another five months...light at the end of the tunnel...and all that...yeah, yeah... I KNOW that I need to be more conscious than EVER about budgeting, so that I NEVER get into this mess again, but I'm having SUCH a hard time, knowing that I'll soon have it a little easier in the "monthly income" category!!!

Besides the fact that everything is falling apart (because I haven't been able to use a credit card for four years, and have had to pay CASH for everything), now I just want to BUY things! I NEED a new television set, since I'm now watching programs BETWEEN the wavy lines that are now PART of the picture that I see, whenever I turn it on. I NEED DSL because "dial up" on this computer is turning me into a CRAZY MAN. I NEED a new sofa, since I'm practically sitting on the floor in the current one (the cushions have sunk that low!).

The PROBLEM is that I don't just want ANY television set...I want a really big plasma one AND I want ALL of the cable channels AND I want TiVo! ALSO, if I get DSL, I want a really spiffy computer to use it with. AND, a new sofa could be JUST the beginning...what about a new chair, and a new desk, and a new bookcase...one on which you CAN'T see the "fiberboard" underneath the peeling fake woodgrain laminate...??!!

Ugh! Wish me luck. I REALLY am going to try to be more "budget conscious" after this ordeal is over... I DO still remember the COMPLETELY helpless/hopeless feeling I had when I didn't know WHAT to do next, and had exhausted all of my options...

If YOU are having financial issues, and think CCCS might be for you, check out their website:
http://www.familymeans.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={1DBA86E0-5F63-4942-BB37-0015F2BCF6A0}. This link is for the organization here in Minnesota, but they have offices all over the country, and can direct you to where you need to go.

If this IS for you...good luck! It SUCKS to be in the program, but I'm only STARTING to get an idea of how AMAZING it's going to be to have a credit card balance of $0.00!!!

Now if my student loans from grad school would just GO AWAY...