Spending lessons to me came the hard way. At one point in time I had acquired 4 major credit cards to prestigious banks. These cards gave me a total of $22,500 credit and I spent it assuming I was going to be able to pay it off. I needed help from Dad as well as explanations, receipts and bills. That was a big blow to my ego! After these bills got paid off I was free...to spend again, and did just that.
The next time I went into great debt I was in my mid 30s and moved home with my parents. I ended up staying there longer than I thought I ever would and was embarrased by the fact that I ever moved back home. I lost toucj with all of my friends over this. It wasn't that they were going to be judgemental about this, but I didn't want to be around anyone because of this embarrased.
When I moved out of their home 6 years later I was still in debt, but I had turned to a consolidation agency to help me, and they did. It took me, however, close to 10 years to get everything paid off due to the times I had to negotiate a monthly payment reduction. Now they limit pay off plans to 5 years. I am the longest-lasting client they ever had and the one who caused the 5 year limit to take hold.
Having low-paying jobs never helps, even if you have 2 at the same time, and that has been me for several years. At least I never had to worry about having no income, even if limited, whenever I lost a job. It doesn't help, either, if you have periods of unemployment, even if you're receiving unemployment compensation benefits, since the time gap between jobs only works against you in the eyes of employers during your new job search, which I'm doing now. I keep getting extensions on my unemployment compensation and still am finding it difficult to find work. It sucks!
On What I Learned from My Mother's Overspending
Spending lessons to me came the hard way. At one point in time I had acquired 4 major credit cards to prestigious banks. These cards gave me a total of $22,500 credit and I spent it assuming I was going to be able to pay it off. I needed help from Dad as well as explanations, receipts and bills. That was a big blow to my ego! After these bills got paid off I was free...to spend again, and did just that. The next time I went into great debt I was in my mid 30s and moved home with my parents. I ended up staying there longer than I thought I ever would and was embarrased by the fact that I ever moved back home. I lost toucj with all of my friends over this. It wasn't that they were going to be judgemental about this, but I didn't want to be around anyone because of this embarrased. When I moved out of their home 6 years later I was still in debt, but I had turned to a consolidation agency to help me, and they did. It took me, however, close to 10 years to get everything paid off due to the times I had to negotiate a monthly payment reduction. Now they limit pay off plans to 5 years. I am the longest-lasting client they ever had and the one who caused the 5 year limit to take hold. Having low-paying jobs never helps, even if you have 2 at the same time, and that has been me for several years. At least I never had to worry about having no income, even if limited, whenever I lost a job. It doesn't help, either, if you have periods of unemployment, even if you're receiving unemployment compensation benefits, since the time gap between jobs only works against you in the eyes of employers during your new job search, which I'm doing now. I keep getting extensions on my unemployment compensation and still am finding it difficult to find work. It sucks!