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Credit Card Blues
Dear Martha Doe, You cannot have your cake and eat it too; you must stop carrying those credit cards around with you and you must cut them up into bits and pieces as a symbol of moving ahead. If you really want to see how smart you have become, take a vow to do this: For one full year, do not use a single credit card. Take 75% of every dollar you make and spread it equally over your credit card debt. From that point on, save and pay cash for everything you purchase -- you’ll be a wealthy woman in 10 years.
Special Note to all of us: It has been suggested that we, the people form a Consumer Protection Council (CPC). The idea arose after credit card companies began adding large fees on accounts where the credit card company stated the payment was received after the due date. Of course, any intelligent mind would object to the credit card company being privileged to arbitrarily add such a fee in any amount. This practice places the consumer in an unprotected and vulnerable position. Formation of the CPC would permit consumers who have already been charged those fees to take an action of recovery or reimbursement or legal action of a class action suit. More about the CPC later, when we, the people, organize an appropriate program. (May, 2008)
"How do I get out of my financial crisis?" That's a question a young man wants answered as he prepares for his marriage in October. The answer he is being given applies to all of us. If you are really serious, follow this 'blueprint' and consider yourself not only debt-free, but also with money in the bank.
Sit down with your future wife and have a heart-to-heart talk about your financial problems. Suggest postponing the wedding for a year. During this year both of you are to take one-third of every dollar you have coming in and deposit it in a savings account (weekly if possible), one-third to cover any and all household expenses, and one-third for all of your personal and social needs. You should find out immediately that you will not be able to go out anywhere or to entertain, that you will be wearing those same old clothes that have been around for ages, and that those extra electronic devices will be set aside. These are the signs that you are serious in your efforts.
Call all of your credit card companies and tell them to close your accounts. Take the cards you have in your possession and cut them into bits and pieces. Use every opportunity you can to make extra money during this year, remembering that each dollar must be divided as already described. During this year you cannot purchase anything new unless it is a necessity and can be paid for with cash from one of your retained funds. A vey important item is, do not make any withdrawals from your savings account.
At the end of six months, go to the bank and apply for a personal loan, using your savings account as collateral. You want the bank to pay off all your creditors, that is the kind of loan you are seeking. Do not be too concerned about the large amount of your bills, just make sure those weekly deposits are on the record. Once you get your loan, you are going to have extra funds that were going to pay all those other bills. You must take those extra funds and use them to purchase any and everything you will need for your upcoming marriage; again remembering, nothing on credit, cash only! If you cannot pay cash, you must wait for another place and time to possess what you wish.
The bottom line is that every dime plus interest that you put in that savings account is there patiently awaiting your smile and your, "I did it!"
*****
What about those new windows for your home? Well, join the club of, "They got you, too?" Many of we, the people walked into that debt as blind as a bat. Of course, the smooth talk of those promotional salespersons served as extra bait, especially such persons who had achieved a notable public image. Here is another example where you simply cannot go around spending your money on items juat because someone with a friendly public image was their spokesperson. Now, to be truthful with you, of the three leading window installers in the area, the one that claims to be the best just might be the worst -- at least, that's the way the complaints have been flying around. Poor service or no service leads the list of complaints following a customer's call for replacement of defective parts. It would appear that cost would head the complaint list. Or, maybe customers have not had time to figure out yet that if they pay the full amount of the terms from the financer of those windows, they will have paid three times the original cost! Thus, if you bought $10,000 worth of windows, you could end up paying $30,000 or more before paying off that debt.
My answer to your questions are, go to a bank, credit union, or a friend and have that debt to the window financer paid off. If you are not getting the service you signed for, see a lawyer and try to have the debt reduced or erased. For your information, you would have gotten a much less expensive window from one of the other two window companies and your debt would have been financed by a more community-concerned agency.
Incidentally, you might want to consider the fact that for each of those windows that the installer claimed to be the best you're paying extra money to heat your home. This is because air is entering every window, which you have perhaps already been able to determine. If not, just put your hand at the bottom of the window and feel the breeze of those dollars having a flying-away party.
*****
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