I was recently in a really big financial mess. I had credti cards bursting at the seams with no visible way of paying them off. I was making the minimum payment on everything because that was all I could afford in order to not have any of the payments come up as late. Every month the balances were increasing because I was racking up interest on the cards and then I was adding more and more purchases to the cards as well.
I took up selling plasma to be able to cover the bills because I did not really have any other way that I could bring in more money.
I considered a number of things like Debt consolidation so that I could find a way to get rid of my debt but it all seemed hopeless.
I started to read personal finance blogs and when I heard about a few Debt relief programs I thought those might be a solution for me but I was not sure how to go about getting starte with them. I knew that I had to get Debt help and I needed to get it fast.
The first thing I needed to do was to check up on my financial IQ and see what I knew about my finances. I had to seriously think about my plan for my money so that I could work on a budget. Then with my budget in hand I could develop a plan for tackling the mess I was in financially.
When I had all the information down I wrote down all what I spent and tracked my money and then looked for areas I could cut down on the spending. The tips on this site are very helpful so you should check them out.
Good job! As long as your improving those are great steps š I remember I used to do plasma as a broke college student but no way would I do it now..I can’t believe I even did that as I hate needles and blood. I think it was mainly to save up for a really nice car which I loved at that time š
They just did a story in our local paper about plasma donors rising now due to the economy.
I remember one time the guy didn’t hit me in the right place and the blood just squirted everywhere….I still get really sick thinking about it lol.
It’s so so so important that people seek advice if they go overdrawn on their bank accounts as the unauthorised OD charges and late fees just mount up and up. If you speak to the lenders to make them aware of the situation asap, you can avoid most of these charges.
In the UK – go to the CAB for help – they are fab! Not sure what the US version is?
cheers
@ Zombie:
Ouch!!! Oh the days of plasma. I remember feeling sick after some sessions and almost throwing up…but I had to make that grocery money so I was there every Saturday morning.