Letters to the Editor
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Eat Top Romen. Formulate a plan. Get out of debt. It's worth it.
I used to be poor. I was living paycheck to paycheck. It sucked. Every little expense HURT. Getting a speeding ticket for $75 was cause for a week of severe depression. Friends would invite me to join them for dinner at expensive restaurants, and I'd go and eat an appetizer, bread and water. Taking women out on dates was dicey -- if I ended up spending over $50 I felt resentful of the whole thing (not the woman's fault).
I developed really strong financial discipline. Some people refer to this as being "cheap," a word that I hate. I made lunches instead of buying them. I limited all impulse buys to $20. I bought clothing and furniture at thrift stores and estate sales. I found things at thrift stores and re-sold them on eBay for incredible profit. I walked whenever I could instead of using my car -- a compact with excellent gas mileage.
In short, I made it *work*. I worked my way up my job and got raise after raise. I built a career and made money! I paid off all my debts, slowly but surely, a fantastic feeling.
My paycheck automatically dumps a lot of money into both my 401k and my savings account. My checking account only gets as much money as I need to pay my expenses and have the usual amount of fun. I save up for vacations. For birthday and Christmas gifts, I get people carefully chosen, thoughtful gifts that they end up appreciating in spite of not being big-ticket items.
I don't eat dinner out at restaurants very often, and when I do, I have favorite restaurants that have reasonable prices. I select modestly priced meals but tip well. That's my philosophy -- spend little, but be generous wherever possible and appropriate. I still manage to donate money to a few choice charities that I respect. But mostly I save my money.
I've learned to cook, and it's hella fun. I can cook a couple dozen really tasty meals now, without breaking the bank. I can make a kick-ass vegetarian lasagna for $45 that will feed me for a week. Women love being cooked for and it has made some dates turn out really well. I used to eat Top Ramen all the time....I'm doing a lot better now (and avoiding MSG and other lousy foods). I learned to steam vegetables. I make lots of good, healthy food. You should too, it's fun.
I drink alcohol but I find good deals on liquor. I love a good modestly priced bottle of wine. Going to bars is expensive, a money trap, so I host nice little parties where I supply some good drinks and people bring some too. There is a balance between being cheap and being idiotically spendy, and I try to find it.
I only use one credit card, to build up airline-mile points. I pay it off religiously each month. I never want to pay the late fees and interest charges, ever, and with any discipline, I won't. I am completely against ever spending money I don't have. It's downright un-American. My philosophy is: earn it, then spend it. Not the other way around. I would only make an exception for a truly useful and well-thought-out investment, like buying a home or starting a business with a strong business plan.
Money is not something to fuck around with. Sure it's a lot of numbers, but it is a measure of all of the work that you do, and all of the goods and services you consume. It is a transactional digestive indicator. You should always have more coming in than going out, and you should always be cognizant and fierce about taking control of the entire process. Why? Because that's part of being an adult.
People who are smart with money become rich. People who are lousy with money become hand-to-mouthers. Money is not about status or greed, it's about taking intelligent control of your resources and work.
Pay off all your credit-card debts. You don't want to be the faceless credit-card company's investment. You don't want to be their trust fund. You don't want to be their serf. You want to be the one in control. Pay them off and stop being flaky with your money. Feeling guilty? Good -- take action. Don't wallow in it but don't blow it off either.
Just because we're the slacker, Generation X or Gen-Y group, who grew up as latch-key kids, with single parents, and a load of other excuses, doesn't mean it's okay for us never to grow up and take control. That excuse is ugly. We're better than that.
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Lots wont agree with this
Look, your problem sounds exactly like what I went through a few years ago.
I tried debt consolidation, and tried to keep paying the minimum, and at the end, it seemed like a vicious circle. All the minimum payment keeps you broke for 15 years to keep a good credit score, for what to get more credit and be broke in your 30s. They don't give credit to anyone with less than pretty good credit anymore. So forget trying to pay min. fees for the next 10 years and then be debt free when you're 43. Mine happened when I was 23, and the mistake I made was to start lowering my interest and paying min payments.
My advice, is to default, and start saving money and settling with these companies as you acculumate money for each separate card. It will stop the min payment that goes dierctly to your interest, and not much principle.
In fact one of mine took so long that it reached the statute of limitation status (varies per state), and the debt collector couldn't do nothing and I settled it at 10 cents on a dollar.
You can settle all of these on principle only and start paying them off like that. Also, you can negotiate with them so they wont report your settlement as a settlement but paid in full. When the banks cant get anything from you they sell them to collectors for 10 cents on a dollar, they make their money back on tax breaks, so they are not losing a penny on you. Settle with them at 15. If it goes to a debt collecting company, don't be imitated by them, collectors talk a lot of shit to scare you but if you do some research you can shut them up because if you know your right when you talk to them you are pretty immune, but you got to play dumb with them a little too.
Look your credit is already fucked, think about the numbers, and keep some money in your own pocket to live a life.
Do some research on this, find out what happens when you default and they cant do nothing to you. How the debt collection works and how they sell and trade you balance between different collectors and your federal and state rights so you can stay sane. I can go on for ever.