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I know what it's like to be in debt and not be able to sleep at night. I think that between my plan, the motivation to be able to sleep again and a little bit of luck I was able to do it. In my experience I was a shopaholic without a job and a lot of credit. Of course I have no credentials to offer you like fancy degrees and I'm not a councilor. I just have been there and made it. Scroll down until you find something that can help you like saving money to pay more bills, dealing with credit companies, and generic tips, or read it all. It's here for you. In the future I hope to organize it better because it is generic for all debt I have seen and it's a work in progress.
Discover your krypton
Firstly, I think you must figure out what is going on:
Depression (from lonely relationships, abusive relationships, strangely enough debt, boredom etc.) Mine was from an unfulfilling life. There is always something to look forward to with shopping, but it doesn't sustain you that long. It lasts a few days and then you need more. I wonder if you are kind of lucky in a way it isn't drugs or alcohol that you're addicted to, but realistically being a shopaholic of course can affect your relationships from how you spend money that isn't there to spend, stress from debt affects your health, stress has been linked to weight gain, and weight gain alone leads to dozens of health problems like diabetes and heart disease. Of course it also leads to sleeplessness. That sucks. And of course being dependent on something like shopping means your missing something from your life.
Coping devise- It is easy for m to see this one. Just recently I had a lapse of shopping because of a divorce and how the sleazy ex is going after money my Grandma left me. It's hard because it's never been in his name but I started spending it subconsciously because I didn't want him to have the money I worked so hard not to spend for 4 years. (we have been married for 2 including a year split) Of course I have seen the same coping style from people who owe money for medical bills and student loans. Since interest is being charged it is easy to feel like someone is trying to take your hard earned money and I agree isn't fair. Time to so something about it.
Unluckiness Medical bills are the most common. I have some tips at the bottom for preventing this in the future. Also, things happening where you can no longer pay your bills like getting laid off, divorce, or a victim of a scam or identity theft. I have more advice at the bottom on how to cut back bills, for those who are struggling in every aspect.
Evil credit card companies and lenders- Also, when you take credit knowing (or hoping) that the future has financial security. A 0% interest loan for a set amount of months is the most common normal credit mistake. In my experience I never ending up with financial security, you can stop this from happening in the future. I also think it is completely unreasonable to expect people to pay their mortgage with a fluctuating rate. I honestly believe you are a victim in that manner because the only reason you were given a variable rate was because you didn't apply for a good one because of your income. I think they should be ashamed and once again I have more tips for you on the bottom.
Credit Card company tips- How to deal with the people who want your money
Here is the good news:
1. Call your company(ies) and ask for some money back. If you didn't pay your bill on time ask for them to reverse the charges from the late fee, the over the limit fee if the interest knocked your balance over your limit, and some interest charges. They will resist, and resist bck. Tell them that your other companies do, because I know they did it for me. Insist and if not ask to be transfered to the account canceling departmnt.
2. Cancel your account. You don't have to have a zero balance to cancel your account, but ou still need to pay it of course. Honestly the only people that gave me a hard time about canceling my account was this one particular company. They are just like the pilagers in their commercial. it took me several phone calls to cancel with them, after being screamed at and having my credit score threatened, this is how I did it. When they ask if this is your first card, say no, no matter what the real answer. Canceling your account only improves your credit in reality. When they ask why tell them you are applying for a mortgage. I sighed a lot, and finally he gave up and canceled my account and I was free!!
3. Ask for your interest rate decreased. Your interest could be as high as 25%. That means for every $400 you have on your card they add $100! How dare they! I have heard of interest being as low as 3.5%. try all you like to get it reduced, it can only help.
4. Don't look at your cash and say to yourself "if I give this to my credit card company then I won't be able to spend it" Not true!! If you put all of your cash to your card you can use your card again. Now this is a compromise, the real goal is to not use cards. I would be a hypacrite if I told you to never use cards. I use them now, but differently. I pay it off each month and start charging again. Even my own loved ones choose to spend their cash than pay off the balance because they want to buy something new or go out to eat. Nothing wrong with that, per ce, but really it would be exactly the same if they used that cash to pay off the balance, you wouldn't have your cash, you would have your dinner, but you would have no debt. See what I'm saying. I only ask because it was hard to explain. It was a revalation I had when I was reintroduced to credit cards as something like fire. It could help you survive or it could kill you, the difference is caused by caution and knowledge.
5. If you read number 5, read it all and not just segments! Now I honetly paid very little interest even though I had thousands in debt. I'm afraid that the way I did it was by using a 0% interest card for 6 months again and again. I never missed a payment and every penny I had went to paying my debt. I'm not kidding I actually rolled my coins and returned the bottles I found in my neighborhood. What can I say, I was determined. I think that 0% interest cards are the hugest scam in the world, but I was a lucky one because I knew the evil part. If you don't pay off your 0% interest card by the date they say you will be charged interest on the entire balance as many times as months you had 0% interest. Like if you have a "no interest for 6 months loan or card" and you have $2,000 balance on your card at the date your 2,000 will muliply your 20% interest one at a time multiplied by the amount of months. see below:
2,000 + (2,000 x .2) = 2,400 + (2,400 x .2) = 2,880 o.k. I'm tired of typing it I'll just do it really fast. So you're 2,000 dollars in one day will become $5,971.29.
So be weary. Don't let that happen to you!! I know it worked for me and of course it could work for you too, but only if you are extremely cautious. I actually am not giving this way as advice, I just want to warn you of it if you were to do it already or run into it in the future. If you must, I think it would be the best for people who are motivated and truely believe you can pay off your balance and not for the shopaholics! Even though I was one, I knew I wasn' going to spend any more becasue it made me sick to my stomach about the disaster I was in.
6. If you pay your credit card before the end of your billing statement to get a head start, they won't send you a bill if they got the minimum payment. The scary part about that is anything you acrued since the date you paid your bill you will be charged interest on it.
Advice for all debt problems
1. Firstly it is free to put a fraud alert on your credit cards. Now, this will put an alert on your account and you will get an e-mail or phone call whenever yo or ayone else trys to open a new card. Even greater than that, you will no longer get credit card applications for three months! Can't get into more debt, well that's the theory anyway.
2. Figure out what your money is going to, it could be a sign of a real problem. Where is your money going? This can be painful if you are a victim of identity theft, but if you are the one that is responsible, chances are they are little purchases adding up. Within the people I know their principle comes from coffee on the go. Wouldn't it be funny if your coffe addiction is because you can't sleep which is from your debt which is from coffee? Funny in a non-funny way anyway. I was more of a caffeine junky than now because I was sooooo tired. It turned out I was tired because I was dehydrated, which was from the caffeine in the first place. The biggest symptom of dehydration is sluggishness, headaches, and irritability. Drink water and you will feel better to deal with the task at hand. If your debt is from things like shopping, dates, traveling etc, just remember too much of a good thing is bad and it is time to let go. If you can't stop shopping you must first try to figure out why! Just like any addiction you have to experience withdrawl symptoms before you are free from it. People can be addicted to anything. If you need help to stop shopping or buying other things like alcohol or drugs don't hesitate to get it! Psycologists will not laugh at you. There could be a serious underlying problem, like bi-polar disorder, depression, OCD and even over compensation for things like abuse, loss, or even that you are subconsciously sabatoging yourself because of fear of moving on to a new chapter of your life, to name a few. Of course I am not a doctor, but I have experienced shopping to overcompensate for real life problems specifically depression and lonliness.
3. be weary of financial help that charges- I am not sure of any legitamite agencies. I know that if you own a house some companies put a lein on your home, real stressful stuff. I also don't believe in asking for money from friends. It ruins things. There are low interest loans that you can get from a bnk. Don't pay more that 5% in interest. Bad people are creative and this seems like a niche to take advantage of the millions of American's with serious debt.
4. Sometimes the temptation or problem can be removed. For example if you go wild at walmart, don't go, send someone else for the necessities. If you stay a home and find it hard not to watch a shopping channel or search auction sites, chances are you are just bored. Try to leave the home more often like joining a group or finally getting around to starting that graden. It isn't long before things become habbits, so just hang in there for a week. Money flys out the door with cigarettes and alcohol. It's expensive and they can charge it because it's addictive. Cigarette tax is on the rise it's a good time to quit.
5. Always check your bills to make sure they are correct. I don't want to point fingers at any companies but check your credit card bill, your cell phone, cable, home phone, and electric bills. Basically my cell phone bill would have roaming chrages on it even with my "no roaming" plan, and the strangest charges that the company couldn't varify. Chances are you have some money waiting for you. As for the cable company I noticed you are charged for each cable box that they demand you have. I bet you can get that waived, or you can part with a box or two. There is normal boxless cable you can consider.
6. Be aware that when you sign up for the freecreditreport .com or other credit reports you will be charged once a month if you do not cancel right after you have signed up.
7. Don't be persuaded by urgency when you have already missed a payment deadline. There is no need to send an overnight payment, to wire money, pay by phone with a charge etc. if it's already late. There is no urgency when your bills have already been charged the late fee.
8. Interest makes it nearly impossible to pay off cards when you have a high balance. Try to transfer the balance to a low or no interest into-rate card. Of course more cards are dangerous if you have a problem with spending, but if you are truley ready to get out of debt these can be life savers.
9. Saving money in normal bills will help you have extra to pay off your cards.
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