Debt Free Living

Debt Free Living Is Not A Mystery

This is the story of Cindy, an average college student, struggling on a student's income. Little did she know that she was about to learn a lesson about debt free living. One day on the way home from one of her classes, Cindy saw a table set up where students could apply for a credit card. "What could it hurt?" she naively thought as she signed up, thinking she would only use the card in the event of emergencies. Besides, they were giving away free t-shirts to all students who applied! Little did Cindy know that she was crossing into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. She had just crossed over to the Debt Zone.

Contrary to Debt-Free Living....

Cindy soon received her card in the mail with a $2,000 credit limit. Shortly after that, Cindy's first "emergency" arose - a party at the Delta Epsilon Tau (DET) house. After frantically searching her closet for the perfect outfit, she decided to make a trip to the mall. Cindy was careful with her spending, thinking she'd have to pay the balance in full when her bill came. However, when the bill arrived, she was pleasantly surprised to see that she was only required to pay $10 by the due date in 30 days. Suddenly, her trips to the mall became more frequent, and her definition of an emergency expanded. Cindy didn't know it then, but she was not exactly on the fast track to debt free living.

By spring break, Cindy had learned that she could get cash from her credit card. It wasn't long before her monthly minimum creeped up, and before she knew it, she had maxed the card out. When it was time to go home for the summer, she did not yet have a summer job and did not pay her minimum. She was in need of a debt free solution. Fortunately, her parents were her debt free solution. They bailed her out and made her cut her credit card up and close the account. During the next semester at school, she opened another credit card, but she learned her lesson and remembered what her parents explained about how to live debt free. She was very careful and managed successful debt free living. She didn't think much about the little "blip" in her credit until two years later when she graduated from college. When she had her first apartment, car payments, car insurance and utility bills, and she needed to buy career clothes, her old credit card habits began again. Soon she found herself with a mountain of debt. She remembered what her parents told her about debt free living:

• Only use your credit card for emergencies
• If you must use your credit card for something else, be sure you only charge what you can pay off when the bill comes

That was great for her parents, who made a lot more money than she did and who didn't have to use credit cards. But what about someone trying to survive on her salary? Now she knew she was not on the road to debt free living. Looking for a way out, she searched the Internet for advice. Besides the obvious advice about paying the correct amount and paying on time, she learned that she could get back on the road to debt free living by contacting a debt management company. She learned about debt consolidation and its benefits which included:

• Consolidating credit card debts into one manageable monthly payment
• Possible elimination of late fees
• Stopping collection calls
• Lower interest rates
• Bankruptcy avoidance

Soon after Cindy spoke to the credit counselor and followed the prescribed course of action, she spent her financial future in the debt-free zone.

There is Help

Many people have a story about credit that's similar to Cindy's, and they think debt free living is out of reach. Most of us aspire to debt free living, but circumstances such as layoffs and higher prices for basic needs (gas, milk, health insurance) make it seem impossible not to use credit cards. Just remember--there is hope. Debt free solutions are available to you. Find one and you can once again resume debt free living.

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