Beauty

[Jolexi]

On 1/6/2015 steiny3844 said:

On 1/6/2015 Jolexi said:

On 1/6/2015 vickisok said:

Thank you so much for your response Vicki. I think calling the banks is a good idea. I'm going to to stop using any cc for the month of January just to give myself a pat on the back for doing it on my own. Involving the banks at that point sounds like a very good idea. Just thinking proactive after reading this thread has given me a better frame of mind. You guys are great!

Oh I am so glad you saw my response. I really do remember how afraid I was over my cc debt so was hoping you would see my answer.

Here's Hoping You Have a Great New Year

Vicki

Steiny3844, that's great advice from Vicki. I do hope things take a positive turn and all works out for you. As Vicki noted, cc debt can be incredibly overwhelming and in your situation ever more so, but you have lots of support when you need it here, and those of us who are/have been in the same boat; we can all help each other out.

Thank you Jolexi. I enjoy these forums, but have never gotten involved before very much. This thread just spoke to me. Just starting to do something positive has already made me feel better. This thread will keep me moving in the right direction!

I'm glad you are feeling better and that you are being proacive. Let's keep that trend going! :-)

[Irish1210]

Fashion and Style Diva ~ Thank you so much for the suggestions I will certainly check them out ~ I have always liked Joy Mangano. I appreciate you posting these ideas ~ this is what is so great about this thread ~ Happy New Year

DrKelli ~ You made me feel so much better today by saying you didn't get to your entry way yesterday.............I didn't finish my closet which I had planned ~ was feeling guilty about! I needed to "hear" that others are in the same boat ~ certainly not a failure, just a bump in my schedule!

[queendiva]

Using a snowy day today to complete three easy and adjoining rooms: LR, DR and kitchen. Will also do family room while watching TV later. Will continue to chip away at the basement- probably spend about an hour there, pitching stuff and putting away Christmas decor in the area where more space has been created. Lots of boxes going out tonight for early AM recycling pickup tomorrow.

Motivated this week by DS's GF's first visit here on Thursday.

[lavendar]

My last purchase coming today: the only one I can't return because it was reduced from $269 to $69. An Aimee Kestenberg purse, the only leather purse I bought this year. I'm trying to go lighter weight and am using a Travelon I bought this fall. I faltered and looked at Lunchtime specials but didn't buy anything. Will give my mailman two more boxes of returns today and will package two more. Then the hard decisions. One was made for me; the sole on my ankle length boot cracked so I am keeping the Lamos I got as a TSV. Much, much better quality than the fifteen year old boot.

[DrKelli]

Irish1210--I have a lot of stop/starts! The weekends are when I get a lot of blocks of time to work on this stuff. Now mind you--this is my process--but I will share with you--Even if I choose to only work on this project on the weekend, I only set aside 2 hours at a time to work. You can do several 2 hour sessions a day if you want, but the reason I do this is so that I don't go back to work on Monday and say "All I did was clean and organize this weekend". I want to reward myself with some fun things too.

[vicki is ok]

On 1/6/2015 DrKelli said:

Irish1210--I have a lot of stop/starts! The weekends are when I get a lot of blocks of time to work on this stuff. Now mind you--this is my process--but I will share with you--Even if I choose to only work on this project on the weekend, I only set aside 2 hours at a time to work. You can do several 2 hour sessions a day if you want, but the reason I do this is so that I don't go back to work on Monday and say "All I did was clean and organize this weekend". I want to reward myself with some fun things too.

DrKelli I had just read recently that one should not try to tackle any cleanup/declutter job in one fell swoop. They said it could just be too overwhelming and make it such a chore that no one would complete it. I have used that theory for a lot of my organization jobs and it really does help.

Irish no reason to feel guilty. You will eventually get it done. So glad to read of all the progress you have made so far.

Vicki

[Irish1210]

DrKelli & Vicki ~ Appreciate your support and encouragement! I like that 2 hour time limit, that is a great strategy!! Going to tackle that closet and hopefully finish it right now!

**Just another place to de-clutter.......................I spent some time today deleting MANY emails from my computer ~ hadn't realized how many I had kept (some from 2010 ). It felt really nice to "neaten" up my computer.

I'm of the mindset that, "Oh, I might need this sometime!" ~ NOT ANYMORE!

I think because it isn't an area I actually see, that it got away from me ~ glad I did this!

[Tique]

I no longer have huge credit card debt but I did. I didn't work for a number of years and basically lived off my credit cards. When I did get another job, my first priority was paying off my cards. The first thing I forced myself to do was to make twelve spreadsheets, one for each month. I have been updating those spreadsheets monthly since 2007. Up until the time I put my debt in writing, I knew I owed a lot but didn't know how much. It is a sobering thing to face that.

If anyone is interested in doing this, I would be willing to post my template which could be customized.

[AnotherView2]

After reading more posts and seeing a few posters concerned about their level of debt, I felt led to post this...it's about credit counseling. My post deals with only people that have a level of debt that is beginning to overwhelm them. In other words, having trouble making minimum payments or those who may even have recently giving up paying just so they can eat, etc.

I used to supervise the debt management program at a non profit agency that was NFCC certified and was under our local United Way umbrella. It was a non profit agency that served people in two counties. Since NFCC is non profit, the agencies they recommend are typically non profit, too. Meaning you won't get ripped off since they have been vetted by NFCC and all of the counselors there have undergone training through NFCC. Go to NFCC dot org to find them on the web and you can link to an agency in your area if they have one they support.

The agencies typically do simple budget counseling if that is all that is needed, reverse mortgage counseling, debt counseling, bankruptcy counseling if things are too far gone, etc. Some, like the one I worked for, will call your creditors if you are in very deep and try to renegotiate your interest rates or monthly payment for you if you pay through the agency and get on their monthly debt management payment program.

Typically an NFCC certified agency can get negotiation on an interest rate or monthly minimum payment that you might not get on your own since the program they have established that you make your monthly payments through is well recognized by most creditors and they DONT PROMISE THEY WILL BE ABLE TO LOWER THE OUTSTANDING BALANCE YOU OWE. The balance you owe to each creditor is the balance you owe. It's just that they may be able to lower the interest rate and/or the amt you pay monthly.

Just a few words on how ours worked when I managed it. 1) you had to surrender ALL your credit cards and close all your credit accounts since no creditor will allow adjustments to you to lower your monthly payment and/or interest rate with them if you are still out there charging. That is unfair to that creditor. 2) you must place all unsecured debt on the program. no picking or choosing which cards are paid through the program (no holding out any cards "just in case") 3) you can't open any new charge accounts while on the program 4) the plan typically takes 4 years to get completely out of debt depending on how much debt you start with. 5) you must pay the negotiated amount each month through a money order. No checks. 6) you pay a small fee for the initial debt counseling that includes a new budget done for you (ours was $25.00 back in 2004). Then you pay a small monthly monthly fee to us that is built into your monthly payment to your creditors. That pays the agency. Since my mind is a sieve these days, I can't remember how much that was...I think it was $5.00 per creditor. We had our own expenses we had to pay for electric, salaries, etc. and we leased our software from a huge NFCC certified firm in Dallas that handled the electronic processing of the payments for us after we entered the payments that were brought to us.

Obviously, the plan is not for the faint of heart but, it's one of the only ones out there that doesn't rip people off or promise a "quickie" solution and then steal your money.

We used to celebrate with people on their last payment day. They would come in to make their last payment when they became debt free and we would have cake, whoop it up, etc. Most people cry...it was wonderful to see them get the debt monkey off their back.

*****Edited to add: If you can do it on your own, please do it. My suggestion is simply one that adds structure for only certain people who might not have the willpower, don't know where to start, are scared so they do nothing at all and it keeps getting worse, etc.

[vac]

On 1/6/2015 Tique said:

I no longer have huge credit card debt but I did. I didn't work for a number of years and basically lived off my credit cards. When I did get another job, my first priority was paying off my cards. The first thing I forced myself to do was to make twelve spreadsheets, one for each month. I have been updating those spreadsheets monthly since 2007. Up until the time I put my debt in writing, I knew I owed a lot but didn't know how much. It is a sobering thing to face that.

If anyone is interested in doing this, I would be willing to post my template which could be customized.

I would love to see your template. Sounds very helpful.