Throughout Financial Literacy Month, the blog will give voice to consumers who have overcome financial challenges. Through their own words, these consumers will tell you about what it was like to be in and repay unmanageable debt. They will also share inspiring words about the many ways their lives have changed as a result of their debt repayment efforts.
Following is Rod’s personal debt story.
Since I first entered the program sponsored by “MMI,” I cleared all my credit card debts in 2008. During the time I was in the program I also changed jobs, relocated to another city and met my wife of 3 years. Together we worked together to pay down some of the credit debt early.
Now I have control of my consumer debt, with being a home owner instead of renting, use of credit cards in a responsible manner and flexible household budget to fit our needs. Long term plan was to finish my working career within the next (5) years. However, due to the economy being in the tank, I am currently unemployed. But, I am confident that our retirement years will be free of credit card debt, because of what I learned from your debt management program. We see others who are struggling to pay their mortgage payments, along with credit cards maxed to their limits with high interest rates. It gives us much satisfaction for the wife and I to “be on the same page,” when it comes to our living expenses. I am always recommending to family and friends to [get help with] to money matters before it is too late to get the help to get out of that vicious cycle of debt.
Thank you for all your help in getting me back to the basics of responsible debt management and to take control of my life for the future decisions on money matters. To give another example of responsible spending, I recently received our property tax notice for some retirement property. Being I have not been working for the past six months, I was able to withdraw from my retirement investment account to pay the property taxes owed and not to use my credit card. It was such a relief to tell my wife not to worry about where we could get the money to pay our property taxes.
Thank-you,
Rod
Check back often for more stories about real people who have overcome the burden of debt. And don’t forget to visit FinancialLiteracyMonth.com for a wealth of information about improving your own financial situation.