How Many Of You Are In Debt Right Now?

[Hassan]

[quote name='walburga' post='1767509' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:50 AM']I've mad the decision to enter the monastery 13 years ago, while I was still in graduate school, but couldn't because of debt. At age 28 I had about $150,000 in debt, $140,000 in student loans. I've been working as a teacher for nine years. Six months ago my total debt was $122,000. I don't own a home, I don't have car payments. I have only one change of clothes and eat very simply. I recorded a CD, which I've been selling since October (search In Perfect Charity at cdbaby.com) and I've been working with the Laboure Society. I even did a Pizza Hut night! My debt is now $80,000. At the end of the year, I'm using my retirement to help pay my loan. After selling all the Cd's, plus the Marian cd that is coming out in the spring, I think I will still be $40,000 short. I don't know where it's going to come from, but I think we'll come up with it somehow. After 13 years of waiting and hard work, and thanks to the generosity of my family and benefactors, I will FINALLY be able to enter the monastery. So, no, you are not alone...[/quote]

wow, good luck.

[Brother Adam]

yep, all told we are in for 60k. Wont get better until school is done

[Tinkerlina]

[quote name='Dust's Sister' post='1767476' date='Jan 31 2009, 07:00 AM']I have a $20,000 school loan bill and about $20,000 in credit card bills and I'm about to be 27 in February.

Is anyone else in as bad shape as me? (And I don't own a home). This thread is to just kind of say to myself... "Hey, I'm not the only one!"[/quote]

Oh, I'm in plenty of debt and am looking at at least $40,000 more in the next two years if I decide to get my M.A! -Katie

[Lilllabettt]

I am so, so, so scared of debt. My parents have a ton of it and it has really effected their lives. I am so scared of it that the fear has effected my life. I dropped out of school because I didn't want to have a lot of debt that I couldn't pay off before I entered a convent.

I don't want to ever own a home, and I won't buy a car I can't pay for outright.

One thing though, is we are lucky in America that if our bills get worse than we can handle, we can declare bankruptcy. It is not a cake walk. You can't discharge taxes or student loan money ... and there are a lot of hurdles to get through before you can file for medical bills. But it can get you a clean slate (chapter 7) or a payment structure (chapter 13)

In a lot of European places, the bankruptcy laws are are downright draconian in comparison . France, especially. You are pretty much stuck in whatever hole you've dug.

[Dust's Sister]

[quote name='walburga' post='1767509' date='Jan 31 2009, 09:50 AM']I've mad the decision to enter the monastery 13 years ago, while I was still in graduate school, but couldn't because of debt. At age 28 I had about $150,000 in debt, $140,000 in student loans. I've been working as a teacher for nine years. Six months ago my total debt was $122,000. I don't own a home, I don't have car payments. I have only one change of clothes and eat very simply. I recorded a CD, which I've been selling since October (search In Perfect Charity at cdbaby.com) and I've been working with the Laboure Society. I even did a Pizza Hut night! My debt is now $80,000. At the end of the year, I'm using my retirement to help pay my loan. After selling all the Cd's, plus the Marian cd that is coming out in the spring, I think I will still be $40,000 short. I don't know where it's going to come from, but I think we'll come up with it somehow. After 13 years of waiting and hard work, and thanks to the generosity of my family and benefactors, I will FINALLY be able to enter the monastery. So, no, you are not alone...[/quote]

You inspire me thank you. You know, I have thought about becoming a sister too.. but I'm still not sure. I know the debt is kind of stopping me from looking.. I know that's just an excuse but it seems like it will take 4-5 years to pay off this debt. It's just hard, but thank you for sharing your story. That is so amazing!



[quote name='Lilllabettt' post='1767654' date='Jan 31 2009, 01:01 PM']I am so, so, so scared of debt. My parents have a ton of it and it has really effected their lives. I am so scared of it that the fear has effected my life. I dropped out of school because I didn't want to have a lot of debt that I couldn't pay off before I entered a convent.

I don't want to ever own a home, and I won't buy a car I can't pay for outright.

One thing though, is we are lucky in America that if our bills get worse than we can handle, we can declare bankruptcy. It is not a cake walk. You can't discharge taxes or student loan money ... and there are a lot of hurdles to get through before you can file for medical bills. But it can get you a clean slate (chapter 7) or a payment structure (chapter 13)

In a lot of European places, the bankruptcy laws are are downright draconian in comparison . France, especially. You are pretty much stuck in whatever hole you've dug.[/quote]

I don't like the idea of bankruptcy. I think it's the easy way out for irresponsible people.

[puellapaschalis]

[quote name='Dust's Sister' post='1767664' date='Jan 31 2009, 09:13 PM']You inspire me thank you. You know, I have thought about becoming a sister too.. but I'm still not sure. I know the debt is kind of stopping me from looking.. I know that's just an excuse but it seems like it will take 4-5 years to pay off this debt. It's just hard, but thank you for sharing your story. That is so amazing! [/quote]

A couple of years ago I was letting my debt do that to me too - I had an attitude of "I can't do anything positive or real until my debt is gone." Of course my debt is so huge, I got depressed and thought, "My debt will always be there, I'll never be able to get rid of it, so what's the point in discernment?"

It's a really dangerous trap and one I think the Devil likes to lay for us. Always have hope. God willing, I've found my "home", and once everything's more certain, then I can start storming St. Joseph with help requests, and deal with the money thing then. Keep praying

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Dust's Sister' post='1767664' date='Jan 31 2009, 01:13 PM']I don't like the idea of bankruptcy. I think it's the easy way out for irresponsible people.[/quote]

I did more bankruptcies than I like to think about in my practice. Most of them were due to a medical crisis, a disability, a divorce, or a loss of job. I don't remember any who were irresponsible, they just got socked with something they couldn't get up from. The alternative is debtor's prison, and that one of the things we wanted to get rid of when we fought the Revolutionary War.

[Mari Therese]

I have my student loan debt, when I was done school I owed about $12000. I've managed to get it down to $6000 by aggresively paying it off. I hate having it hang over my head. I keep on watching all these shows about people with huge amounts of debt, I was relieved to find out that student loans are considered a "good" debt, because it helps you get to a job where you can make more money (hopefully, unless you can't find a job in your pokey little town). I try not to get too wrapped up about my debt, because I know that I am good about budgeting and saving. Sometimes I have to remind myself that God is in control, and to not obsess too much about money.

[Dust's Sister]

^^ Yeah also, when I pray joyful mysteries of the rosary and when I meditate on how Jesus was born in a manger, I try to think about living in poverty, because I think I am living in poverty even though I do have a decent house to live, clothes to wear, a car to drive, and a computer to use... but yet.. anything else, I shouldn't really buy till my credit card debt is paid off... I just need to accept the fact that it WILL take a long time to pay off, and if I keep getting depressed about it, then I will be depressed for years. It's just that the last few days I haven't been going to Adoration much lately, and I think that's the reason I was depressed yesterday.... Jesus helps me a lot.

[Galloglasses' Alt]

I can't wait for my school loans!


....

[Lilllabettt]

I don't know anyone who's declared bankruptcy because they were irresponsible with money. Even if people were irresponsible, I don't know if I'd want to punish them for that irresponsibility for their entire lives. People can't declare bankruptcy every time they run up their charge card; there's an 8 year waiting period, at least between chapter 7's. It also ruins your credit for ten years and you always have to check the box "have you ever declared bankruptcy" on loan applications.

If you don't want to declare bankruptcy, don't give up hope. Sometimes the reason people never get out of debt is they have bad spending habits which got them into the mess in the first place. If you don't have that problem, or if you do but you can change your habits, then it can be done.

One thing I'd suggest is, if you haven't negotiated with your credit card companies, do it. It won't hurt your credit if you ask for a lower interest rate. And a lot of them will give it to you, if they think you might declare bankruptcy (in which case they might get nothing.)

[walburga]

Debt can be a terrible thing. I learned the hard way! I left home at 16, thinking I knew everything. I went off to a private, Catholic college when I was 17 and did my undergrad there. I continued right into Grad School at an out of state college. I wanted the best schools and the best teachers for my discipline and that's what I got, but I also ended up with a huge amount of debt I didn't know how to handle. I'd known since I was about 4 that I wanted to be a nun, but so many discouraging things happened, I gave up the idea to go into opera. I was completely focused until I had just about finished graduate school. Then something happened to make me realize I really was called to religious life, but I couldn't make it happen. I lived at a well-known monastery for some years, with the intention to enter when my debt was paid. The Sisters thought if I lived with them it would cut my expenses and I'd get the debt paid off faster. During one of my many low-points regarding this debt, the sister who was 'in charge' of me said that my debt might be there to protect me. Possibly, I was making the wrong decision entering that community. Eventually, I left that house to move back to California and earn a better income. I had planned on returning, but a few years ago got a diagnosis of lupus. There was no way I could enter that community now, especially with that illness. So, there I was, 33 yrs. old, still in debt and with lupus. The odds of my entering the cloister were pretty slim. I gave it up. I began to consider private vows, to write my own rule of life, etc. One day, by chance, I ran into the IHM website. It seemed they were living the ideal I had been seeking. I wrote to them, just to see if they were real - ha! When the sister wrote back she asked about my age. I told her, "I'm 33, in debt, and I have lupus. I don't think I'm a candidate." About three weeks later she wrote back and wanted to know more. After a time I decided to make a retreat there. I was not discerning, I just needed a quiet place to go. So, off I went to Vermont. After being there only a day or so, all the old stirrings came back. I was angry at God. I told Him, "You KNOW I can't do this! Why do you keep giving me this desire that CANNOT be filled?" The response was, "If you could, would you enter?" I turned and looked at the monastery behind me. Papal enclosure, everything in Latin... I didn't even KNOW these people! But I answered, "Yes. If you open the doors, I will walk through them. But, if the door is shut, I'm DONE. I'm too old to hang on to a dream like this." I spoke to the vocation mistress and we continued to email for another year. I consecrated last year to the Blessed Mother, starting on Jan. 1. By Jan. 16, I had begun recording my new CD and made arrangements with the Laboure Society. I made my aspirancy this summer and was accepted on Oct. 7. The doors just keep opening, so I just keep walking through them. Do I like standing outside with a pile of CD's, selling my wares? No! Do I like doing television and newspaper interviews? No! I think it's a very strange way to enter the monastery and I HATE being out there! I gave up performing almost 15 yrs. ago and never intend to do it again. So, all this is really hard. The point is... it's sort of like the Wedding at Cana. You know, the Blessed Mother says to Our Lord, "They don't have any wine." She makes the need known. Then she turns to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you." So, I just do whatever I seem to be led to and that means every single possible thing to fundraise, as uncomfortable as it is. God does all the rest. When the time is right... all things work together.

Avoid debt if you can, but know that if you've already got it, there is a way out, only, you have to be willing to really do the work. It's a kind of purgatory I think...

[BG45]

I have one credit card, it usually gets a work out for my textbooks, I pay it the next month. I graduated undergrad with zero debt through hard work, scholarships, McDonalds pay, and a Smart 529 plan my parents had for me. So far I've paid for a year of grad school (including this semester) completely out of pocket based on my pay at Circuit City and what I've been scrimping and saving. I drive a car that's only 6 years younger than me though, and I don't tend to get the latest flashy toys. I use a tracfone, and I tend to eat on roughly $20-30 a week tops. I also walk if I can instead of drive places. I keep my part of the duplex pretty cool and blanket up. Most of my appliances besides the fridge are unplugged while not in use to save on energy costs. I've not taken a real vacation since Junior Year of high school, although fundraising for conferences has given me sort of working vacations the past two years (usually end up presenting and attending sessions).

[Dust's Sister]

There is a credit card I owe a little over $4,000 to. They charge me 29.99 percent interest. I use to pay $150 a month, but $100 went to interest. I was late last month......They decided to up my min. Payment an extra hundred dollars. So they are asking $255 plus the $150 that I didn't pay last month......

Do they think I'm rich? I have decided not to pay them. The commandment says Pay all your JUST debts. I don't think Bank of America is giving my justice. They're not giving me any chances. I ask them to lower my payments so I CAN pay them.. they wouldn't do it. I asked them to lower my interest rate... They wouldn't do it. .... They're just a hard company to get a long with.. SO.....

My mom said that a company that she didn't pay 7 months to, offered her a settlement for half the money they were asking if she paid it in full then. ----- That's what I'm going to do.

I just don't think me paying the min. of this Bank of America Credit Card is justice on my behalf.



~Darvon

Edited February 3, 2009 by Dust's Sister

[socalscout]

[quote name='Dust's Sister' post='1767476' date='Jan 31 2009, 04:00 AM']I have a $20,000 school loan bill and about $20,000 in credit card bills and I'm about to be 27 in February.

Is anyone else in as bad shape as me? (And I don't own a home). This thread is to just kind of say to myself... "Hey, I'm not the only one!"[/quote]

The school loan is good debt and the interest is deductable on your taxes. Focus on the CC debt and knock that down. Give up lattes for a month and apply that to your cc. The time will pass no matter what so chop away at it and you will see it gone sooner than later.

You are going to be fine.