Is there any hope for those of us who are so deep in debt that we cannot see a future without bills and worry? how much do our money matter?How can we go about all these debt and monetary issue?
Bob started building his credit file from the age of eighteen. He was always accepted for credit cards and loans and took advantage of all the extra credit available. However, by the time that he reached his thirties, he was over £20,000 in debt.
Bob was desperate, and was seriously considering bankruptcy but he didn’t want to go through the stigma attached with it. In a last ditch attempt to save himself from insolvency, he stopped using all of his cards and wrote a personal letter to each individual creditor explaining his circumstances. To his surprise, his creditors were very understanding and some reduced the balance on his accounts by up to 35%. In order to pay off the remaining balances Bob took out a home equity loan. Fortunately, Bob paid off all of his creditors without declaring bankruptcy, but sadly, he has since started using his credit cards again and it looks as though his life is going to be one long merry go round of debt.
Another indebted scenario!
Sally received her first black mark against her when she fell behind with one of her catalogue repayments. As time went on, a few more missed payments from other creditors started to show up on her file. As a result, Sally was unable to take out any further credit and has to pay for everything in cash. Simply put, if she does not have the money, she cannot afford the item. Although Sally is having difficulties obtaining credit, at least she is not surrounded by a houseful of items that are worth a fraction of what they were worth when she bought them. In comparison to Bob, Sally is happier and free of debt.
The moral of this tale is to look at bad credit as a blessing in disguise rather than something to be ashamed of. Temptation has been taken away from you to free you of the burden of debt and possible bankruptcy.
I agree. Without the ability to obtain credit, you’ll never be able to put yourself into debt. A blessing in disguise, indeed!
My friend Mike has a similar argument as you about bad credit scores maybe being a blessing in disguise. I disagree with that part, but do think people should be more careful with their credit card debt.
I think people should work to improve their scores, but they should be careful about how they do it. It’s better to have less credit card debt than to have a credit rating that is 50 points higher.
However, credit scores are essential for big purchases like homes and cars. If you pay your other bills on time, that is the best way to improve your credit score. Especially car and cash loans.
Some think credit scores are overrated though. Mike made an interesting post today on why he thinks people should worry less about their credit score and more about staying out of debt. You can find his post at: http://current.pic.tv/2008/10/10/why-a-good-credit-score-is-overrated/
Thanks for your post.