TRUTH: The truth is, the system is designed to put us in debt. The system relies on us being in debt. Who remembers the stimulus plan? Does anyone also remember the point of the stimulus plan? I can tell you right off the top of my head, the point was NOT to get you to put that money into a savings account for the future. I can tell you right off the top of my head that the point was to get you to spend that money on TVs and cars and clothes and other junks you don’t really need.

I’m not saying it isn’t my fault too. I shouldn’t fall the consumerism crap in America, but I do. And so tens of millions of other Americans. It’s not a coincidence that so many Americans are in such bad debt these days. We’re convinced we need to spend more and more money on junk we don’t need in order to keep the economy from collapsing. Well, it’s neither your nor my responsibility to keep this economy afloat. The best thing I can do for this economy is to get myself out of debt.

The Truth Is Out There

LIE: Credit card debt will destroy my credit rating.

TRUTH: It ain’t helping, but credit ratings aren’t permanently etched in stone. If you focus on paying off your debt. If you close down extraneous accounts that are doing you no good. If you make good, smart, educated decisions about your budget and spend appropriately, your credit rating will come around. The worst thing you can do is think it’s permanently F’d up and just give up. Don’t ever give up.

LIE: Cutting up my credit card means I’ll never have to deal with it again.

TRUTH: Who doesn’t sadly think this is true? God, sometimes calling up the company and canceling the card isn’t enough, so it certainly doesn’t do anything to just cut up that card in your wallet. You have to cancel the account, and you have to demand written verification that the account has been canceled. You want to make absolutely certain that neither you nor some identity thief can go and use that card. And it doesn’t help your credit rating to have a card that is never used. It looks bad. It looks like the card has been maxed out.

LIE: One more card can’t hurt. I’ve been paying off the rest so well.

TRUTH: If you’re paying them off so well, then why do you think another card? Here’s the truth, having all those cards and spending using all the cards is going to kill your credit rating. Stop it right now. Don’t bother with a store card. You don’t need those stupid bonus points. Consider how much you’re probably paying in interest, and you’ll quickly realize those bonus points are at most a tiny, minuscule fraction of the interest and penalty fees you’re paying. Also, you don’t know what the future holds. Maybe you can afford all those cards now, but who says you’ll have your job in a month or two, or who says you won’t be hit with a pay cut? You always want to give yourself enough wiggle room, and you always want to have enough in savings that if you lost your job today, you’d be ok for at least the next six months.

And finally, let me add, Americans already have TOO MANY CREDIT CARDS.

And that’s the truth.

It makes me sick. Why do we live like this? Why do we have a system that relies on us spending all of our money on crap? I don’t need any more crap, but apparently, if I don’t go out and buy more crap, then the market will crash and it will be entirely my fault. No one’s telling me that if I don’t put money in my savings account, then the market will crash. No one’s telling me if I don’t invest in stocks or a retirement plan, then the market will crash.

I guess what it boils down to is despite having no money, a crappy job, and bills up to my eyeballs, if the corporate pigs aren’t making giant profits this holiday season off my credit cards, then they might have to wait another year before they upgrade the yacht, buy that small polynesian country, purchase his 10th home in the Hamptons, and waterski on the bloated corpses of all us poor people who are dying just to get by.

Why don’t these so-called “experts” just be honest and say if there’s not enough spending this holiday season then some CEO might have a slightly smaller golden parachute when he bails out of his failing corporation and that means a bunch of rich folks won’t be happy.

We wouldn’t want that.

WOW!!! Great for them. Wonderful.

I wish I could say the same for me. I’ll probably have to rely on credit though to make any purchases. My debt and student loan situation has become so bad that I have hardly enough money left over for rent, food and other bills. If I don’t turn to plastic to make at least some of my purchases, I won’t be able to buy anything… !!! And I know I shouldn’t, but could I really go a Christmas without getting anyone anything? Even if I go dirt cheap and make people gifts this year, I’m still going to be digging out the plastic because trust me (I’ve looked) there isn’t even any cash between my couch cushions anymore. I think last week I took what quarters I had left between the cushions, and I purchased a sandwich from mcdonalds.

Yes, that’s my life. Not even a quarter to my name.

M.

No, seriously, good luck. You’re going to need it. Take it from someone with personal experience. I have been harassed. My family has been harassed. Even my neighbors have been harassed, all because of my debt. These people lack morals. It’s not like you can easily call the police either. “Excuse me, officer, I keep getting phone calls because I can’t afford to pay my bills.”

So, what are your options? Other than paying your debt, there isn’t a lot you can do. I’ve been looking into this because I have a couple debt collectors that won’t get off my ass. It doesn’t put money in my bank account calling me at all hours of the night. No, at best, it leaves me exhausted and groggy and unable to perform my duties as an employee. Maybe it’ll get me fired.

So, without further ado, here’s what the law says:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from you.

What the Hell does that mean? Well, let’s break it down into a simple question/answer forum here.

Can debt collectors call me at all hours of the day?

No. They cannot. They should not ever contact you before 8am and after 9pm. Other times are considered inconvenient. Damn straight they’re inconvenient. The next time I get a call at 2am, I’m making a note of it. Who called, what time they called, what they called about, what they said. The more information I have, the more ammunition I will have against them.

How can I get that debt collector off my back?

Talk to them.

That’s a novel idea, right? If this isn’t even your debt, see if you can make the collector understand that. If it is your debt, try and work out a payment plan. Maybe you’ll get lucky and the bill collectors will have some sense. Maybe I can’t afford to pay off everything right now, but I could probably pay it slowly over time. I need to talk to these people, one on one…

If talking doesn’t resolve anything, you should write them to desist with the harassing phone calls.

Make a copy of your letter. Send the original by certified mail, and pay for a “return receipt” so you’ll be able to document what the collector received. Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again, with two exceptions: a collector can contact you to tell you there will be no further contact or to let you know that they or the creditor intend to take a specific action, like filing a lawsuit. Sending such a letter to a debt collector you owe money to does not get rid of the debt, but it should stop the contact. The creditor or the debt collector still can sue you to collect the debt.

Is it ok for the debt collector to contact others?

They’re not allowed to discuss your debt with anyone aside from your attorney if you have one. Otherwise, they may call your family members, employer, etc, but only to ask for contact information. If they mention your debt, they have violated the law. Why do I have the feeling they haven’t been calling my family at all hours of the night just to get my phone number…which they ALREADY HAVE!

What if they keep contacting me after I’ve explained it wasn’t my debt?

Unless they have sent you undeniable proof that it truly is your debt, and you truly owe X amount of dollars, then they have absolutely no right to contact you any further. They have broken the law.

Debt collectors may not do the following:

• harass (i.e. repeatedly call you, make threats of violence, use foul language)
• lie (”you have committed a crime!”)
• threats (”you’ll be arrested if you don’t pay this debt!”)
• add interest, surcharges, etc to your debt unless that was part of the original agreement
• if you have multiple debts, they cannot take payments from you and arbitrarily apply those to the debts they want (such as the debts with the lowest interest rates), they must apply them to the debts you choose

What other recourse do I have if a debt collector is harassing me?

You have the right to sue a collector in a state or federal court within one year from the date the law was violated. If you win, the judge can require the collector to pay you for any damages you can prove you suffered because of the illegal collection practices, like lost wages and medical bills. The judge can require the debt collector to pay you up to $1,000, even if you can’t prove that you suffered actual damages. You also can be reimbursed for your attorney’s fees and court costs. A group of people also may sue a debt collector as part of a class action lawsuit and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent of the collector’s net worth, whichever amount is lower. Even if a debt collector violates the FDCPA in trying to collect a debt, the debt does not go away if you owe it.

For more info, visit http://www.ftc.gov/credit

Ok, so I’m counting. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…12. My god. I have 12 credit cards. 1 is a bank card. Does that count? Probably. 3 are legitimate credit cards. One I have for frequent flyer miles (because I can afford to travel, lol). Two are just regular mastercard and visa. And the remaining 8 cards are all store cards. Store cards are the worst offenders: high interest rates, huge late fees. And they suck you in. You don’t really think it’s a credit card when you’re buying it, and you always get that huge discount when you open the card.

I can think of at least five of these cards where I was like, “Well, I don’t really want the card, but that 20% discount is tempting…I’ll just get the card for this one purchase and then…” but then nothing. I end up using the card all the time.

Ok, here’s my promise, every day from now until Christmas, I cut up one of these store cards. Why do I need 8 store cards? I don’t think I even have any money available on any of these cards. I think they’re all maxed out. I’m in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

So, today’s goal: cut up the Victoria’s Secret card, call up the company and cancel the card, sigh a huge sigh of relief. And then have myself a good cry.

M.

I always spend too much money. I don’t know how to say enough is enough.  The average American spends about $900 during the holiday season. I can remember only two or three holidays ago, I spent $3,000. What was I thinking? I honestly can’t even begin to tell you what I spent all of the money on. I doubt anyone could even tell you what presents I bought them that holiday. It’s sad how much money we spend on a holiday, on one day of the year. I always end up spending most of the rest of the year paying off the debt I acquired for one day.

This holiday I have to stand up for myself. I need to say, “Enough is enough”, and I need to give myself a gift. No unfettered spending. I have to reign in those credit cards. I already owe WAY too much money. And I’m already WAY too deep in debt to spend the average $900 this season. Maybe I’ll make everyone gifts this year. That’s a great way to save money. Or maybe I’ll just send everyone a card. It’s the thought that counts right?

M.

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But it isn’t that simple. I didn’t immediately have this job straight out of college. Instead, I had a minimum wage job after I got out of college. It’s not that abnormal for students coming out of college to take a bad job just to get by while they’re looking for something good. While I was looking, I still had to pay those student loans. Those student loans were extremely expensive. My crappy job didn’t cover the loans, not to mention the rent, the car insurance, the car payments, groceries, phone, etc etc etc. The obvious solution was credit.

How I wish I’d look into another solution. Credit has ruined my life. I have borrowed beyond my limits. I have borrowed so much so that now even though I have a very good job, I am spending more in credit card interest each month than my student loans. I am spending so much in credit cards that though I make significantly more with each paycheck than I did just a couple years ago, I’m left exactly where I was. I’m still broke. And I’m still borrowing.

Fixing a hole where the rain comes in

It’s a vicious cycle, and unfortunately, in America, my story is not unique. There are so many young kids fresh out of college that are borrowing themselves into ruin. When my grandfather was my age, he already had a wife, a mortgage (he could afford), and a kid on the way. I can’t reasonably afford to be married. I couldn’t pay for a wedding right now. I doubt I could get a loan for a wedding. I can’t afford to buy my own home; I can barely cover rent each month despite living with three other people in a cramped townhouse. And most of all, there’s no way I could afford a kid.

We have become a country so dependent on shopping and borrowing that we have lost our ability to fulfill the American dream. Many people mistake what the America dream was. It wasn’t to maybe, just maybe if by luck somehow strike it rich or become a Hollywood star. The American dream was owning your own home, living comfortably, maybe owning and running a small business, having kids and sending them off to college. That dream is slowly becoming unattainable in a country where consumerism has become the predominant lifestyle. If I’m lucky, if I consolidate all my borrowing, if I try really hard to save every penny, if I cut back on all needless savings, maybe in ten years I’ll get out of this hole that I’ve dug for myself.

Sadly, it’s a big maybe.

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