Sara: Financial education is very important. The problem is reaching and making an impression on those folks when they first start into the world of unsecured debt and most of the time, they don’t want to listen at that point. I’m pretty sure that I thought I knew the dangers and figured I wouldn’t have problems with them, but as we know, it turned out differently. Very much an “experience is a great teacher” sort of thing.

I’ve considered taking the $300 and putting it into a savings account or a mutual fund of some sort, but with the change in my circumstances with my job and so forth, I think it will end up going to pay for a 2nd vehicle payment so I can have a fuel-efficient car to drive to work, saving us a lot of money in gas. I have yet to see. At any rate, I’d like to start working on something that will save up some money, as I haven’t had a savings account of any time in YONKS.

RE: getting a prepaid card — that would work if I had several thousand to put on the card right away, but I don’t. Plus, my business will reimburse me for any expenses incurred, it’s just that they don’t have a company credit card and want me to expense it out after the fact, so I have to have one to cover the expenses when they are incurred. I’m not worried at the moment about getting “stuck” with any debt on it. The line of credit isn’t a half-bad idea, however; I’ll have to think about that one.

Chris’s last blog post..Merry Christmas award

It sounds like you’ve learned a lot from the service you used. If you’re interested in more shoot me an email or give me a buzz I’ve got lots of good resources. One thing I’d like to mention as a big tip that’s perfect for your timing….make a direct deposit directly into a savings account starting now. If you use the $300 that you’re not used to having anyway because it’s been going to creditors it shouldn’t need much extra budgeting. And when it really is painful to be not using that $300, remind yourself of how far you’ve come. It’ll help you build a reserve so you never feel like you need the “security” of credit cards, and will make you a better credit risk if you ever do need to request a loan or other new financial transation.

Oh, and about the needing a card for business if it’s your option what kind to have, think about a prepay card similar to a debit card. Your limit is however much you have in the account. With a good payment history after a year it converts to a regular card and the money input during the first year can go back into your pocket. Also you may want to check i nto a personal line of credit accessible by a card. Very simllar to a credit card, but slightly different options. I’m not a banker but I could get you pointed in the right direction. Let me know if you want details.

Again, Congratulations!

I might have to think about this program. I almost had to go back to Waterloo for court over my Veridian CU balance. I managed to work something out with the bank, sending them what I can, to keep from having to fly back to Iowa. I mean if I had the money for a $250 plane ticket to Waterloo, I’d be able to pay my bill in the first place, but I digress. Fortunately I found a job now (after 8 months in Michigan’s shitty economy and 3 jobs that were useless) that can help me pay my monthly fees. I also have a student loan. Do they help with that too, or just credit cards? I still could probably use this company, though. I wonder how much their monthly payment would be. I don’t make very much money and my two credit card’s interest is 13% and I believe 11%. I wonder if they could go lower than that with me I had already talked down one CC to 13% instead of the 21% that it was. One card has $2000 and the other has around nearly $3000, which is a lot lower than what it was.
I’m slowly, very slowly, getting out of CC debt. I will NEVER EVER EVER have one again. I learned my lesson the hard way and I always warn my friends that are my age of the evils and traps they can get you in if you’re not very careful. I’ve gotten by without using them for so long that it’s pretty much natural to pay with cash. I can’t wait till it’s over. I think I have about one to two years left paying them and then goodbye forever. I’ll be in control again and I can actually save money for things I want and places I want to go. If I can make a bit more than it can be sooner.