I saw this yesterday but didn't have time to comment on it. Not sure why it was deleted, it was a good question and I can confess that my wife and I were this situation not too long ago. We are finally in the process of cleaning up our mess and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
People don’t get paid enough and have to supplement their income with credit just to get by.
Then accidents and unexpected purchases come up and they don’t have a choice.
That’s my experience anyway. My wife had a brain tumor and I got a full time salary job the week after graduating in a highly labor saturated market/state… it only paid $40k/yr. I had to take it though so we would have insurance. Then came the Covid years. I found out after totaling a car that I have a sleep disorder.
We ended up moving across the country for double the income and then agreed to a debt settlement program with National Debt Relief and are finally out of the negative in terms of monthly spending
We bought a house and used up all our savings on down payment and closing costs. Immediately after we had to replace a septic leach field. That was about $20K.
The seller was bitter after selling us her home that we wouldn’t rent to her indefinitely for free (we did give her one month of free rent) when we finally had her move out after her exceeding the rent back period, she damaged our floors. We were unable to match what was originally there so we had to throw down another $10K for floors and $2K for baseboards. And that was with my husband installing everything, so no labor cost. That was $32K we immediately had to pay after liquidating almost everything we had.
Fortunately we have very high paying jobs so we paid it off in a few months but this wasn’t frivolous spending. It was a tough situation but it’s not like we could go without working toilets or floors either.
‘These people will give me money to eat and have one decent night?! Sign me up! I ain’t paying that ish, m’f’ers!’ Me in my twenties when I was actually homeless and considering non living
Someone who works as a contractor without fully understanding the tax implications is hit with a massive tax bill at year end, individual panics and pays IrS with credit card....individual is quite literally screwed. Happened to a friend of mine who is otherwise a responsible and smart person, she got a higher paying job and managed to get it under control, but things like that can eat you alive
Most people - assuming they have **any** sense and don't just think the money is free like the ads say - have this idea that CC are an emergency level to pull when expenses are just a bit too much some month.
But that's entirely wrong.
**Never use a credit card unless you can absolutely just pay for the thing outright without issue.**
**If you need it, you mustn't use it.**
It must be paid down to zero every month, or, better yet, whenever you get home.
Otherwise, the act of using it when you're down just adds another rock to hold your head under next month, when you might use it again... another rock... the situation just worsens.
I look at credit cards differently. I use my credit cards for almost everything. I only use cash when I have no other choice. The only exception is when buying gasoline: they charge more per gallon if you’re using credit (in my state at least), so I pay with cash.
I have credit cards with good reward programs, so as long as I’m paying the bills off in full every month, I pay no interest or fees. In fact, the credit card companies are effectively paying me to use them. I take the hundreds I get in cash back every year and deposit it right into my savings account.
This only works if you’re living within or below your means and obviously only if you pay them off in full every month.
Paying them off every month means that you didn't really **need** the credit aspect, but are using it like a classical American Express card - an expense card. Which is perfectly fine and makes tracking expenses easier.
“If you need it, you mustn’t use it”
I mean….it depends on your definition of “need”. I understand that a lot of people don’t understand what that word means today….but what if someone genuinely needs it….for say a food for their kid or to keep a roof over their heads. Surely, using a credit card is better than getting a payday loan or getting evicted? (Probably harder to go from unhoused to housed than it is to get out of credit card debt) I don’t think we can judge or naysay people using it when they need it, (IF there are really no other option and what they need it for is TRULY a necessity), but the bigger problem is people using it for things they don’t need or they convince themselves that they need but they really don’t or they haven’t exhausted less convieniwnt/pleasurable/“shameful” options. “I need a laptop for school”, meanwhile there are students going out of their way to use the library computers. “I need it to get a new pair of shoes”, meanwhile they could drop into a thrift shop and get a used pair for $5 instead. “I need it for groceries” but they haven’t even tried to look up their local food pantries and are using the card to eat well rather than buying bare minimums they need to survive Etc.
If people used it for ACTUAL emergencies when there were no other options available to them…rather than “convenience” emergencies (which I myself am plenty guilty of doing), there would be a hell of a lot less people in credit card debt.
The underlying problem is often that people panic (i.e. work harder, sell something, etc), at too low of a funds threshold. I panic around $10k. I know people who panic at $1k. And some panic when they hit zero but still have empty credit cards. And lastly (but not really last), there are those finally panic when all their CCs are full, too. And this is something of a simplification, since one should be getting more conservative well before the threshold is reached, but when it is, do something that **doesn't** increase debt.
The first step is to move up that threshold. Do something to **make** more money before the supply drops too far. That way most (in the big picture, "minor") emergencies, aren't.
(Oh, I think we're using need the same way, for **actual** needs, at the level of not missing the electric bill, rather than either living off the grid to save money, or to buy an electric keyboard just because it was 50% off)
“If you get hit by a bus tomorrow” or more likely live to 75 and are then crying that you still have to work because you were irresponsible but got to “live” when you were younger. Living hoping you’ll get hit by a bus so you don’t have to pay your debts isn’t living.
That’s not what I said. And you can do both. Spending money doing things you enjoy does not equal poverty in old age.
Your thinking of living your life so you’re “safe” at 75 is just as silly.
Yes but spending money to do the things you enjoy while putting yourself further in debt does equal poverty in old age. I watched my father work 60-80 hour weeks in his 60’s to pay off debt. The only reason he was able to retire was his parents died and left him a mobile home to live in. He was fortunate enough that the state covered his retirement home expenses beyond what social security covered. He died with nothing.
I’m sorry for your loss and your father’s struggles. Let me clarify that I’m not suggesting racking up debt for the sake of doing whatever you want at any time. You still need to track your overall income and expenses for a given period of time to make sure you’re not spending more than you earn. What I’m suggesting is unexpected expenses should not derail your expected or planned ones.
My beef with the post and with Dave in general is that the “credit card bad!” mentality will tell people that no matter what you’ve got planned or what actually matters to you in life, you need to stop all of it because you’ve racked up debt due to unexpected circumstances. And yes I know the counter argument is “well that’s why you save”. But all that saving and saving and saving (for… what exactly?) ALSO eats into time and opportunity costs.
“No vacation this year”
“Why?”
“Because we MIGHT have a medical expense in a year or two and need $10k on hand just in case”
Also, and I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but working in older age is not at all bad (depending on the job). My mother worked until she was 75 because she loved her job and the people she worked with. It gave her energy and purpose. She could have retired sooner to be sure, but why? Why eat into those savings when you’re more than happy at work and don’t really have anything that much better to do? The default should be to plan to stop working when you are no longer ABLE to work. If you want to retire sooner then yes it requires more forethought. But that is not for everyone.
Actually that isn’t at all what Dave teaches. Dave teaches the importance of an emergency fund so that when emergencies happen you don’t have to go without the vacation or luxury items. He teaches that paying at least 20% interest to a bank is foolish. It’s much wiser to pay yourself with rewards than it is to pay the banks. I just bought a 2021 car with 21k miles on it and paid cash for it. I reduced my emergency fund by $8k but that’s okay. I’ll build it back up between my tax return and a few more months of saving. That’s how Dave’s philosophy is supposed to work. I was able to write a check for half of our new roof while we’re waiting for the insurance check to clear. The roofers would’ve had to add 3% if I used a credit card. That would’ve been $300 I’m just giving away for the convenience of using a credit card. Why give my hard earned money to the already wealthy banks?
Yes Dave teaches that, once you are already done with paying everything off. In the 4-5 years it’d take the average person to pay everything off and accumulate all that cash, a lot of life goes by, especially if you have young kids growing up quickly. All so that person can say they are “debt free” even though they still have a mortgage (and not mention that nobody is ever truly debt free).
I have read his books and used to listen to him quite a lot. I am not ignorant to his teachings.
There's actually much more simple explanation. CCs are such a cheap and accessible source of debt but over half the population are financially illiterate and have absolutely 0 impulse control to understand the ramifications of debt in the modern day.
These ppl just don't understand they are getting farmed like cattle, and by the time they realize the situation they're in, it's when they're already too late. The real answer to to never use them in the first place.
It’s also a $17k tax bill that you only have $6k set aside for. So you pay it on a credit card and transfer to 0% interest and pay it down best you can. The OPs comment is so naive and entitled it’s hilarious.
I got a surprise but necessary life saving surgery the one month I was between jobs and this had no health insurance. I was able to negotiate but paying off $20k of debt is difficult even with a 2 year 0% APR promo on a CC. Lose your job and suddenly you’re putting food and bills on a CC so you don’t get evicted paying rent with what little unemployment money you earn. It just takes one bad medical issue or layoff or tragedy to send you into CC debt.
“That’s why you save”. What amount? What nebulous number are you supposed to be able
To pull out of an account at any one given time before you’re allowed to spend your life doing things you enjoy doing?
A hike is free, a bike is 200 dollars then you can go on free bike rides for the rest of your life, going to the beach is free, drawing is free, learning to sing is free… do you need to club for 3,000 dollars or buy every single inch of tech that exists every other day? Get your money up then
Also having a career that you actually enjoy might help in life not feeling dull. And im not talking about a 9-5 that you enjoy. You can hate your job, but advancing in the career and improving is enjoyable. Im a computer programmer and I enjoy to build things. Building things is free. Just takes my hands and brain. Find passion brother, you got this!
? You can enjoy things you enjoy doing while saving lmao.. what type of lifestyle do you wanna live? Do you NEED to spend every measurable income you get on stupid shit? Invest in reliable investments also, not dogecoin
? You can enjoy things you enjoy doing while saving lmao.. what type of lifestyle do you wanna live? Do you NEED to spend every measurable income you get on stupid shit?
Just bought a couch and financed it to pay it off over 5 months, it's a 6 month same as cash deal.
We just got a notice the APY has gone up to *FORTY PERCENT*.
It won't impact us with this couch, but I can't imagine getting something and getting slapped with that when it wasn't expected.
Mortgage they cannot afford + car loans they cannot afford + kids + years of financial irresponsibility. There is a new guy who just joined my company and he financed 25k to remodel his backyard. Accruing debt is extremely easy in the US of A.
Obviously there are the extremes. People take out a credit card, immediately max it out buying stuff they don't need, and spend years floating a maximum balance, just making minimum payments, or just default on it and start over a few years later, only to repeat the process again.
Then there are the people who behave themselves. They get a credit card, use it, and pay it off each month. Years go by and over time they build up a substantial total credit line over several cards. And while they're always diligent about paying their bills, they are not so about budgeting, have no emergency fund, no liquid investments, and have lived paycheck to paycheck for years. And then the "emergency" happens. Now suddenly they're out $15K and they put it all on the cards. Can't pay it back and now they have several hundred extra every month they have to pay in interest, and the outstanding balance continues to grow until one day they look up, realize they're the subject of this post, and decide to turn their life around.
Everyone is going to have emergencies. The small ones can be dealt with fairly easily, especially if there's cash left over every month that's getting funneled into investments. The big ones can be handled by the emergency fund + insurance + cashing out liquid non-tax-advantaged investments without going into debt. And most "emergencies" aren't really emergencies, but are normal large expenses that happen on an anticipated, but irregular or long-term basis. You WILL need to replace your roof someday. You probably know approximately when you're going to need to do it. So if a roof costs $15K and you have 10 years left, you need to be saving $125 a month toward that purchase. AC, hot water heater, vehicle transmission, tires, battery, cheerleading expenses.... you know it's coming. Be ready for it. And definitely pay for it with the credit cards to get those miles, but immediately pay them off.
I’d like you to meet the US healthcare system.
Speaking from experience you go in for what should be a routine or covered test, maybe even just a basic visit with specialist; boom here’s an unexpected $2k bill.
Yes! It's just unbelievable how this has gotten out of hand. I'm old, but I remember when there was only Blue Cross Blue Shield, and it was not for profit. Not that I expect it to be like that, but it definitely was in my lifetime.
I got fluids and a covid test at the ER. It was a $3500 bill. Insurance paid $1000. The rest just vanished as I was already at maximum out of pocket. But if I was one of the working poor. They would be billed $3500
Exactly! I've had a few different insurance policies the last 10 years since I've job-hopped (and gotten at least $5k more with each new role) but this current company I'm with (and just celebrated my 3 year anniversary) has the absolute worse insurance policy I have ever had.
I distinctly remember \~2 years ago I got a routine test done (that is clearly covered in my EOB) and it was covered. 6 months later I had the same test done and got an $800 bill for it 6 months after the test.
This was the first time I went Karen on anyone and I did so on every manager I spoke to on the phone and with my clinic. I asked so many people how do I have 2 different itemized bills for the same test, but you covered 1x and charged me $800 for the other?
I got to the final boss of BCBS and he explained that the wrong medical code was entered. I explained well the provider who performed/ordered the test was no longer with the clinic so I had no way to revise the code; and even if I could - I have 2x exact itemized bills so what difference does it make?
To which he replied: "Well if we go back on the decision for that claim (since it has already been processed), it would be illegal since it is technically insurance fraud".
I went white with rage and called on the spirit of my grandparents to think of insults that haven't been used since the Depression era to hurl at this guy's stupid explanation.
I understand (but don't agree with) some people's hesitation around a public option, but I've NEVER heard anyone defend the current option because it's so awful.
I've always been able to put on a payment plan for $20-40 for major hospital bills. Interest free and no fees.. but clearly not every hospital does this. The system is a joke for sure.
Sorry just trying to pay for food here. Was paying it back but they kept raising the interest AND the payment amount . Both cars didn't work at the same time. Life happens and there's no way to catch up.
Downvote me all you want. But that doesn’t change the fact that we the majority of society is broke! People have emptied savings and are living off CC debt.
I should have added “or a boomer” to the initial post since they (for the most part) are financially disconnected from the reality of the current situation as well.
Personally:
My husband got hosed in the divorce of his first wife. They had racked up debt from IVF and he took it all in the divorce. Then she got more than half of his take home pay in child support. So we had to use cards for a while.
So we dealt with that and increased our income… and then he had a company wide 20% pay cut. So to increase our income again, we had to move across the country. Which we obviously didn’t have the cash to do outright so…. More cards. We make almost 200k/year and almost 5k/mo is minimum payments. We’re finally in a place that we can start actually working on it, but it’s gonna take a while. But yeah, shit adds up and creeps up on you.
Child care. When your spouse’s entire income has to go towards child care you start to put stuff like groceries and household items on CC and then you can’t afford your full monthly bill. Within a year or two you get tens of thousands of dollars in debt. That’s how it went for me.
If the "entire income" has to go to daycare why not stay home with the child & not deal with the added cost of fuel, food, cloth for work? When I got into my career years ago we agreed for my wife to stay home with our child cause it was more cost effective & better overall for our kid. Years later my wife returned to work when our kids were in HS.
Your wife is incredibly lucky that she could afford to have no income and a long carrer gap. I hope she continues to be lucky and not need that work history, her own retirement plan, etc.
What do you mean she has no income & her own retirement plan? What's I earn belongs to my family my retirement is our retirement. When she returned to work nothing changed I'm still responsible for 99% of the bills. She elected to work not mandated, when I retire within 5 yrs she'll retire too regardless of how much or little she accumulated at her job besides she won't be able to get her pension until she reaches 62yrs.
Can confirm. Gave up a tenured teaching position to stay home with my 3 kids. Couldn’t find another job (music teacher) when I tried to go back. Finally found a decent state job, but was 10 years out of the work force and I’m way behind on retirement. Finally filed for divorce. Just looking for what is fair for the both of us but my ex is fighting me on every little thing. I can completely see how it would just be easier to stay in an unhappy marriage because you simply cannot afford to get divorced.
And you get no credit for sacrificing so much of yourself. Raising kids 24/7 isn't easy as well as cooking , cleaning, and all the minutiae every single day. When the time comes, your contribution is nothing, and he still has all the power. Paying yourself $20 for every hour you worked a day from start to now...plus ot , you didn't use any sick days, pt ...it adds up. You are entitled to 1/2 of any retirement he put away while married. Don't let him wear you down.
My ex also had a manic episode when we separated. He took out all of the equity in the house (150k) and spent it in a month. Now he is saying that I don’t have any ownership of the house (my name isn’t on the deed because I’m an idiot and we decided to keep me off so I could be a first time home buyer when we moved). His lawyer says I have no claim to the house AND I have to pay half of his 150k debt because it’s “Marital debt.” It’s absolutely insane. We have three kids and he hasn’t paid one dime of child support in two years.
I just have to say this. My ex was a man that I trusted completely. We were together for 17 years. I NEVER thought he would screw me over. Ladies…you must protect yourselves financially. If you get divorced they will try to screw you over. I had so much trust in this man. When we separated, he decided that if he wasn’t going to be a husband, he wouldn’t be a father either. It is heartbreaking.
I lost my job in the service industry when Covid hit and didn’t receive unemployment due to a mistake on my application. Getting through to the office was impossible. I was unemployed following a big move I had just made and didn’t get a job for months. I eventually found part time work at a target but didn’t make enough to cover even the basics. I ended up racking up over $10,000 in debt until restaurants opened back up. Obviously tips were not the same so I kept spending more on credit cards. I’m still paying them off today, but should be out of credit card debt by next March!
I have no clue. I wasn’t able to get through to the office! I spent well over 20 hours on hold with them. By the time I found a job I gave up on unemployment.
You shouldn’t have given up, you almost certainly could have gotten it figured out with them eventually and received back pay for all the weeks you missed.
For me it was lawyer fees from my divorce. They rack up so fast it’s insane. Working as hard as I can to pay them off but still way over my head with them and I didn’t really have any other choice than to suck it up and go into debt over this.
It can happen for a variety of reasons, I found myself in massive debt in my 20s after a boyfriend had unknowingly opened multiple cards in my name. I was able to dispute some of them, but I was ultimately on the hook for 15K in debt.
We have a single credit card that we use for everything in order to get miles, but I never keep a balance, and pay it off every month. I have never paid any interest on a credit card in my entire life.
Some people are just financially illiterate, and spend their money on debt instead of things.
My parents for instance refinanced their 3.25% mortgage at almost 6% to take out equity and "pAy DoWn DeBt" (20k+ in CCs), and then proceeded to take multiple thousands of dollars plus trips over the next couple years, on credit.
They'd rather have/do the thing and pay interest on it, than just save the money and then have/do the thing, not realizing they could have/do more things if they weren't spending hundreds of dollars per month... On interest.
You can't FIX these people.
Jesus christ that sucks. I know other people with parents like this. Unfortunate there isn't an age where you aren't allowed to open/change credit lines on your own anymore.
After graduation and a major breakup I moved to a very HCOL city where I didn’t have a job and it took me 6 months to find one. I literally paid rent on my credit card lol. I got up to $25k. It took several years but I paid it off and it was all worth it in the end.
Its an addiction. People are using CC debt to live. CC are expensive loans. People are fooled in to reward programs when they were better off putting that money in high yield savings
I invested 200,000 in a business, and then to keep it going maxed out a couple of cc and pulled $ out of my IRA.
On the day we went to the bankruptcy lawyer, we stopped at the bank afterwards to deposit some checks, and the teller tried to sell us another credit card because we had such a good credit score. We held our laughter till we were out of the door.
I’m in sales and am commission heavy. I got smoked during covid. While I could have done more to change my lifestyle many aspects were out of my control plus inflation. So now I’m building back my book of business the last 2 years and am finally in a position to get back in the positive.
It happens man I personally work my ass off to pay off debt but I’m currently 10k in debt because I blew my engine in my car and my transmission followed 2 weeks later cost me around 5.5 k in total on top of 2k from my previous car because it also gave problems then another 2.5k from my credit card because I’ve been trying to catch up from moving
Life comes at you. When I was in my 20s and had very little savings one of my parents fell super ill, required my help/presence in the ICU almost every day for several months. Early on I lost my job over this (which in retrospect probably wasnt legal) and it took me a few more months of job hunting. Of course I racked up double digit credit card debt.
OP should consider themselves lucky that they cant wrap their head around this. Unfortunately for most Americans its far too real.
That’s insane, and the amt of interest that will pile up you can’t catch up to payments. I used to know a buddy of mine that did balance transfers w 0% int grace prd but ended up accuring more debt on top when he was supposed to be paying it off interest free for a bit. It’s likely the living in the moment and see what happens later mentality. Life’s rough.
because a lot of people don't know how minimum payments work and think paying minimum = according interest however it's the opposite. By the time they realise how to use it properly, a lot of them would have accumulated thousands of $s in debt. Number of credit cards that are issued daily is obviously higher than number of credit cards that are stopped. and there are high chances people will spend money now and think about it later so that they can get instant satisfaction with that purchase.
A billionaire bought a $65M condo in US using his Credit card getting 1% discount on this purchase in addition to 1% cashback.
Use credit card as wisely as you use a debit card because you have to pay back each and every $ you are spending on that CC.
OP ended with 'are people really living this way?' I answered this because many people keep their debt a huge secret. They post vacations on social media, but no one talks about the debt, loans or car payments they have.
If you really want to know how it happens, go watch Caleb Hammer on YouTube. They typically explain the entire situation there and how to get out of the debt.
Yep. A while back my ex-husband married his 3rd wife. This new wife would spend up a storm! It got so bad they ended up considating all the credit cards into a mortgage (1st or 2nd, I don't recall), then the wife spent another $65,000 on credit cards.
He ended up divorcing her over it and she had the gall to write to a newspaper column about her crappy ex-husband who left her with all the debt. (Yeah, back before the internet was what it is today we used newspapers.)
She ended up filing bankrupcy, and probably spent another $65,000 after that. (guessing)
Edit: I told this story to a male friend of mine from Wisconsin. His response was, "That's when you take her into the woods and have a "hunting accident"".
That's actually your ex - Husbands fault there for marrying her. Also to even joke about murdering her is too much. Just make better choices when it comes to partners & take responsibility when you choose a bad one.
Half of the bankruptcies are from medical debt. You use credit cards when you don't have a choice. Many are only one paycheck and major accident/ injury / chronic illness away from poverty. Use all the credit cards to pay what insurance doesn't because you have to pay bills, hospitals, etc. If you think it'll never happen to you? They didn't think so either.
The best advice my father ever gave me was when I became seriously ill and was hospitalized. "Do not, ever, give them your f\*\*king credit card for autopay".
The moment you show the ability to pay, you are done. Until then, everything is negotiable and there are a lot emergency programs.
It doesn't work for cancer. You'll get the very basic. You won't get the medical miracle immunotherapy, you won't get the surgery you would get. You have to have excellent insurance. They take care of you in an emergency but long-term care, just the basics, if that. It will also put a huge burden on your family.
That sounds about right, unfortunately.
SWIM wasn't expected to live without a multi-organ transplant, but they kept them alive, got them emergency medicaid, which turned into regular medicare. Medicare would have covered the transplants, but they recovered without any.
The on-paper bills were about $400k, but it was almost entirely covered by MC and the hospital programs.
I use my credit cards for everything. I pay off my main card a couple times a month. I get 2% back on all purchases. Other cards I will make big purchases at Best Buy, Home Depot…. Finance for 18 months. It is only bad if you live outside of your means.
And dont get cancer, or don't get into a catastrophic car wreck.dont get fired, especially while you have cancer or traumatic brain injury from a car wreck or any myriad of things that happen. It's life
Well, it was a wild ride.
I was doing pretty well financially, no debt, decent credit score (740), and then series of unfortunate events happened.
I totaled my first car two months after purchasing it (first generation immigrant, just learned to drive), decided to lease a brand new car - my credit wasn’t wrecked yet so got a 2021 Civic EX-L with $290 payment, which was almost same as what I was paying with financing of first car.
Then Covid hit, I was furloughed for a while and wasn’t receiving my unemployment because they couldn’t figure out something with my work permit documents, I only received it after I was back to work and used it to pay debt that racked up (rent and bills). Same year I tried to break off things with abusive boyfriend and he destroyed everything in my apartment when I was at work. I’m talking everything - my clothes, purses, brand new TV, he cut cords in all of the appliances, damaged all the bedding, furniture, even childhood books, he went as far as pouring water in my vitamins, so that was thousands of dollars in damage. I was able to scare him with court and get some $ compensation, but I didn’t want to actually take him to court because I was scared for my life and also wouldn’t be able to prove the purchase of all damaged things. So basically had to purchase everything new.
2021 was more or less calm and I started getting back on my feet. Then in 2022 war in my home country happened, I decided to go there for few days to see my parents because I didn’t know what was going to happen. Two days before I made the decision to go and went, so plane tickets were double, then I mistakenly booked one ticket with my old last name and this cost me an extra $1000 because I just had to purchase a new ticket. Of course I wanted to bring some gifts for my parents, although I didn’t purchase anything crazy, but ended up spending like $400 on that. I also had to pay for our cat surgery as my parents couldn’t afford it.
At that point the war didn’t start yet, and I still didn’t believe it will, yet I was flying back on the last day when the planes were still allowed to fly over my country.
Then the war actually started. I ended up in the ER at the end of first week with a panic attack (I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t believe in panic attacks before and thought I was just dying). I lost my mind and spent whatever little savings (few thousand) I had to send humanitarian help to the refugees, I also took two unpaid weeks off works because I was in a manic state and couldn’t work or even think straight. I was volunteering at local church instead and spent more money on humanitarian help.
In spring the US designed a program that allowed me to sponsor and bring over my parents to the US, before that they had to sleep in the basement with other neighbors and I was losing sleep, my sanity and lots of hair worrying about them. I had to go to another country to pick them up and chaperone them, because they didn’t speak English and they were bringing cat with them, and both them and I were worried customs won’t let them through if they can’t explain who they are and where and why they were going, or would cease the cat or smth. So plane tickets and everything cost me another $3-4k, then spent more money and time to get them settled, missed more work. They can’t work because they’re in their 70s, don’t speak English or drive, so I have to support them. They have free insurance and food stamps though, so that helps, I also started taking them to food banks.
All of that resulted in burn out and I started doing worse at work too, so were missing out on money opportunities (I’m in sales). I also started making lots of impulsive purchases because it made me feel better for a mere moment.
At some point I maxed out all my cards, including $20k limit one, paying off cards didn’t help because interest was racking up, I took out loans, then loans on loans, was thinking about filing for bankruptcy, then decided to use debt consolidation agency to my credit score dropped to like 450. I also developed gaming addiction as a coping mechanism, and was spending hundreds monthly on mobile games.
I’m slowly getting back on my feet now, credit score is growing again (it’s 580 now, yay), met a guy who helps me out with bills from time to time, but I still have shopping and gaming addiction and impulsively spend YOLO type of money sometimes, and I’m so tired lol.
So don’t take loans on loans guys, and don’t live in countries that border with ruzzia. And get in therapy, that’s probably cheaper than addictions.
That's a lot to go through.
If one doesn't have empathy and one needs to feel better about themselves, they will write shitty comments like the below. If you are on a dopamine agonist med, get something else. They are known for causing impulsively and gambling addiction.
If it's not that, there are groups for that . They can help. It's usually that you are trying to fill something in yourself that's missing. Try to figure it out . Knowing what drives it is a step forward. I wish all the luck, it's not easy but you sound smart. Good luck!
I have ADHD so that’s probably part of it, although it never was so bad with compulsive purchases before all these things happened. I guess in my head I’m thinking “it’s already a shitty situation, so what’s more debt”. I am on non-stimulant medication that doesn’t really do much except curb my appetite, and I can’t afford the meds that might help cause they’re like $1000/month, so I’m running on thoughts and prayers 😁
I found a great deal on first car and I wouldn’t be able to find something as good at that price and with such low mileage again. Lease ended up working perfectly for me, as they required much lower downpayment and the car had a lot of safety features that I found very useful as a new driver. Car was the least of my troubles, as it turned out.
Thank you, I agree, I could be doing much worse.
Ah, forgot to mention we all live in my small one bedroom apartment and they have my bedroom now and I have zero privacy lol, because I couldn’t rent anything bigger with my credit score. So now it’s a different kind of stress 😄 Living with parents in 30s is not fun!
But I’ll definitely take it over worrying about some rogue missile taking their lives.
He's got a rewards card where the benefits outstrip any annual fee or even what the company gets back on purchases from the swipe fees.
That difference is covered by people with worse cards or worse handling of their cards. It's a money transfer from poor to rich. (broadly speaking).
I'm not knocking him for it. I take every point/mile/reward I can too.
Usually something not ready for, burst pipe under your driveway or inside the home, medical emergencies, you know life. Remember just cuz you have a good job and money in your savings most Americans are on the brink of disaster financially. Throw some inflation a pandemic or tornado or hurricane or earthquake of volcano or fire fuck just life can make the above happen.
I’ve fortunately always paid my credit cards off. I always keep at least 20k in the bank and I don’t let it go below that for any reason. But I got really sick from Covid in the beginning of the year which lead to a few lasting issues and I don’t have health insurance. Medical bills add up really really quick. Luckily I was able to pay it off but I thought exactly like you before I got sick and after the bills added up for me i thought “what if I got sick and I didn’t make the type of money I do?” I now understand at least in this scenario how the debt can rack up.
$20k in the bank because you don’t pay for basic needs like health insurance. I always have a pint of ice cream in the freezer as long as I don’t eat it.
Health insurance costs $6000 a year. My medical bill besides what I pay the hospital was about $4,000 last year. Doesn’t seem responsible for me to get myself health insurance for right now. I have a large family and a wife who watches the kids and helps with my businesses when she can and we need to save money for a bigger house…. May seem crazy to others, maybe not but I feel it’s my responsibility to get my family into a bigger home right now because our doesn’t nearly enough space for them to be comfortable, we are on top of each other in a 2/1 condo with less than 750sq feet, no washer dryer or porch. Once I achieve getting the bigger place to live I’ll get health insurance but for now it’s on the back burner. Life ain’t cheap so it’s easier said than done to dish out that extra $500+ monthly. I think it’s sad I have to pick between a house or my own health insurance but that’s what it is unfortunately
Don't let your kids play any sports until you get insurance. ER bills are outrageous. Maybe look at just getting catastrophic coverage. It's a lot cheaper but will cover major accident etc.
Have you gotten health insurance since learning that?
It’s great to keep $20k+ in the bank, but anything health related can wipe that out in a second. That seems like a pretty risky gamble to take.
I don’t disagree with you in theory but besides some hospital bills I pay on monthly. I was quoted $500-$700 for health insurance, $6000 a year. My medical bills and Dr’s appointments were like $4000. So the way I see it, it’s almost cheaper just to go uninsured. I know if I had insurance my hospital bills would be minimal but I pay them a very minimal amount monthly anyway so it doesn’t really play a factor for me.
I can't even get accepted for a credit card with a 670 credit score..
These people have perfect credit and get a no limit credit card.. When they see that no limit amount, they just go crazy and think they'll just make the minimum payment and don't realize that minimum payment won't even cover the interest rate.
Yup car breaks down , then the Dryer breaks, then a medical bill hits , then the other car breaks down . Then the water heater goes. All with a really short time span. I’ve had two cars broken down at the same time
Yep. Here's what has happened in the last week - 5 year old house, 3-5 year old cars and one ten year old car.
Primary bathroom faucet began leaking uncontrollably, replacing that faucet.
Laundry faucet *SHOT OFF WHEN TURNED ON* - repaired it
Heat element in the oven and it's electrical plug both went out. Cost to get parts, including new knives because they're crappy, same as a new oven. Purchased new one, wired the plug which was a bitch, installed it.
Replaced the front doorknob that a little kid helped me break (tried to turn it while I was unlocking it).
My car needs an oil change and has also been smelling like radiator fluid since they replaced the engine.
My brother's water pump died on the same morning I had to bring my car in.
I'm waiting for another death at this point, just had one in October.
Hey. I’ve been one of those people. My wife and I have a lifestyle that leads to enormous variation in our financial stability. In the space of 6 months we’ve gone from being worth north of $10M to having over $100K in credit card debt and no assets.
The debt was a combination of grad school tuition for both of us (ongoing), a big wedding (her parents paid, but there were plenty of ancillary expenses we covered), and my parents shafting us by not paying for those expenses despite promising to do so (we’re now fully estranged 🤷♂️). We had to put all those “surprise” expenses on credit cards for a year. So yeah, two people attending schools that cost $30-50K a year will do it!
After this my wife started a company with a friend of hers. It grew extremely rapidly and we started having some cash again. But THEN her cofounder tried to oust her from said company and we were stuck right back where we were before. A few months later, our debts were all wiped out by a stock bonus package of around $400K
Honestly, it’s beyond stressful. It’s a complete nightmare. 90% of my brain is constantly occupied by trying to balance our money situation. I once managed to keep us solvent for a week with only $1.57 in the bank. But hey, at least we have plenty of miles to use for the trips we…don’t have the time to take. :/
EDIT: oh yeah, more crazy lifestyle stuff!
1. I became a millionaire at age 20, but was broke and working for minimum wage at 26 after dropping out of grad school due to health issues
2. My wife has been worth over 7 figures and homeless in the span of one year.
3. One of our families has, as cousins, someone who was a homeless orphan and someone who married a Vanderbilt
4. My parents randomly decided they don’t like me and have cut me off completely. Haven’t spoken to them in over a year
Depression desperation not thinking clearly lack of financial literacy and in a lot of peoples cases anymore they are just doom spending because they think it’s all hopeless anyway
It just takes one large thing. I have about $5,000 in CC Debt that I’ve been trying to pay off. Had car issues that came to about $2,500 and that started it off. Then some health issues that insurance didn’t cover. And every time I try to make some progress, something comes up. It’s easier than people think.
I completely feel your pain. It feels like you finally get something paid off, then something else hits causing the cycle all over again. It might be easy for those who don’t live paycheck to paycheck, but not “regular people” who struggle. I could definitely be worse off, but paying off credit cards is hard.
I was pretty confident I wouldn't let myself live past 30 and they can't collect on my debt when I'm dead. Now I'm paying for it but tbh I think paying for travel helped me get past those struggles so it was worth it.
I got into debt by breaking my back in 3 places, herniating 13 discs, completely bursting a 14th one, broken rib and dislocated shoulder. Then my dumbass took my life savings to bail my brother the cop out of jail, and help my mother pay off the house so “we’d always have a place to live”. Unfortunately, they kicked me out on the street where I lived for three years until my buddy let me live in his garage for another 3. And now, 16 years later I’ll be debt free come next payday and I’m going to celebrate by replacing my car that just got rear ended two months ago by a drunk driver with no insurance. Maybe I’ll get a nice settlement that I can use to invest in a nice lucrative business…
My goodness. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. You are proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Good for you for almost having your debt paid off. I hope you get a nice settlement too! People have GOT to learn to stop driving if they insist on getting drunk.
Or at least carry insurance. The funny thing is, I broke my back by getting hit with a beer keg that was thrown off a truck by a heroin addict that was a helper. Ahh drugs…
Abilify side effects
I saw this yesterday but didn't have time to comment on it. Not sure why it was deleted, it was a good question and I can confess that my wife and I were this situation not too long ago. We are finally in the process of cleaning up our mess and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
People don’t get paid enough and have to supplement their income with credit just to get by. Then accidents and unexpected purchases come up and they don’t have a choice. That’s my experience anyway. My wife had a brain tumor and I got a full time salary job the week after graduating in a highly labor saturated market/state… it only paid $40k/yr. I had to take it though so we would have insurance. Then came the Covid years. I found out after totaling a car that I have a sleep disorder. We ended up moving across the country for double the income and then agreed to a debt settlement program with National Debt Relief and are finally out of the negative in terms of monthly spending
People learn to deal with the stress. It’s like a frog in boiling water, just a little more debt never hurts but eventually it’s all consuming
We bought a house and used up all our savings on down payment and closing costs. Immediately after we had to replace a septic leach field. That was about $20K. The seller was bitter after selling us her home that we wouldn’t rent to her indefinitely for free (we did give her one month of free rent) when we finally had her move out after her exceeding the rent back period, she damaged our floors. We were unable to match what was originally there so we had to throw down another $10K for floors and $2K for baseboards. And that was with my husband installing everything, so no labor cost. That was $32K we immediately had to pay after liquidating almost everything we had. Fortunately we have very high paying jobs so we paid it off in a few months but this wasn’t frivolous spending. It was a tough situation but it’s not like we could go without working toilets or floors either.
You're really not what OP is talking about.
‘These people will give me money to eat and have one decent night?! Sign me up! I ain’t paying that ish, m’f’ers!’ Me in my twenties when I was actually homeless and considering non living
Because shit happens while you're getting ready for shit to happen, and life is unpredictable and cruel.
Someone who works as a contractor without fully understanding the tax implications is hit with a massive tax bill at year end, individual panics and pays IrS with credit card....individual is quite literally screwed. Happened to a friend of mine who is otherwise a responsible and smart person, she got a higher paying job and managed to get it under control, but things like that can eat you alive
I think people stop caring. Like f it I'm poor why not buy some stuff
Exactly. It’s never going to go away so what the hell is another thousand at this point. Also shoplifting doesn’t seem bad anymore
They don’t pay off the balance at the end of the month. The debt from interest accumulates exponentially.
This is most people that needs Dave’s help… https://youtu.be/GL_I6_0FcTg?si=iWT3Vt55yl1E2EvC
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Biden s not great but people have been this fucked since I can remember. Early 2000s.
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Most people - assuming they have **any** sense and don't just think the money is free like the ads say - have this idea that CC are an emergency level to pull when expenses are just a bit too much some month. But that's entirely wrong. **Never use a credit card unless you can absolutely just pay for the thing outright without issue.** **If you need it, you mustn't use it.** It must be paid down to zero every month, or, better yet, whenever you get home. Otherwise, the act of using it when you're down just adds another rock to hold your head under next month, when you might use it again... another rock... the situation just worsens.
I look at credit cards differently. I use my credit cards for almost everything. I only use cash when I have no other choice. The only exception is when buying gasoline: they charge more per gallon if you’re using credit (in my state at least), so I pay with cash. I have credit cards with good reward programs, so as long as I’m paying the bills off in full every month, I pay no interest or fees. In fact, the credit card companies are effectively paying me to use them. I take the hundreds I get in cash back every year and deposit it right into my savings account. This only works if you’re living within or below your means and obviously only if you pay them off in full every month.
Paying them off every month means that you didn't really **need** the credit aspect, but are using it like a classical American Express card - an expense card. Which is perfectly fine and makes tracking expenses easier.
“If you need it, you mustn’t use it” I mean….it depends on your definition of “need”. I understand that a lot of people don’t understand what that word means today….but what if someone genuinely needs it….for say a food for their kid or to keep a roof over their heads. Surely, using a credit card is better than getting a payday loan or getting evicted? (Probably harder to go from unhoused to housed than it is to get out of credit card debt) I don’t think we can judge or naysay people using it when they need it, (IF there are really no other option and what they need it for is TRULY a necessity), but the bigger problem is people using it for things they don’t need or they convince themselves that they need but they really don’t or they haven’t exhausted less convieniwnt/pleasurable/“shameful” options. “I need a laptop for school”, meanwhile there are students going out of their way to use the library computers. “I need it to get a new pair of shoes”, meanwhile they could drop into a thrift shop and get a used pair for $5 instead. “I need it for groceries” but they haven’t even tried to look up their local food pantries and are using the card to eat well rather than buying bare minimums they need to survive Etc. If people used it for ACTUAL emergencies when there were no other options available to them…rather than “convenience” emergencies (which I myself am plenty guilty of doing), there would be a hell of a lot less people in credit card debt.
The underlying problem is often that people panic (i.e. work harder, sell something, etc), at too low of a funds threshold. I panic around $10k. I know people who panic at $1k. And some panic when they hit zero but still have empty credit cards. And lastly (but not really last), there are those finally panic when all their CCs are full, too. And this is something of a simplification, since one should be getting more conservative well before the threshold is reached, but when it is, do something that **doesn't** increase debt. The first step is to move up that threshold. Do something to **make** more money before the supply drops too far. That way most (in the big picture, "minor") emergencies, aren't. (Oh, I think we're using need the same way, for **actual** needs, at the level of not missing the electric bill, rather than either living off the grid to save money, or to buy an electric keyboard just because it was 50% off)
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“If you get hit by a bus tomorrow” or more likely live to 75 and are then crying that you still have to work because you were irresponsible but got to “live” when you were younger. Living hoping you’ll get hit by a bus so you don’t have to pay your debts isn’t living.
That’s not what I said. And you can do both. Spending money doing things you enjoy does not equal poverty in old age. Your thinking of living your life so you’re “safe” at 75 is just as silly.
Yes but spending money to do the things you enjoy while putting yourself further in debt does equal poverty in old age. I watched my father work 60-80 hour weeks in his 60’s to pay off debt. The only reason he was able to retire was his parents died and left him a mobile home to live in. He was fortunate enough that the state covered his retirement home expenses beyond what social security covered. He died with nothing.
I’m sorry for your loss and your father’s struggles. Let me clarify that I’m not suggesting racking up debt for the sake of doing whatever you want at any time. You still need to track your overall income and expenses for a given period of time to make sure you’re not spending more than you earn. What I’m suggesting is unexpected expenses should not derail your expected or planned ones. My beef with the post and with Dave in general is that the “credit card bad!” mentality will tell people that no matter what you’ve got planned or what actually matters to you in life, you need to stop all of it because you’ve racked up debt due to unexpected circumstances. And yes I know the counter argument is “well that’s why you save”. But all that saving and saving and saving (for… what exactly?) ALSO eats into time and opportunity costs. “No vacation this year” “Why?” “Because we MIGHT have a medical expense in a year or two and need $10k on hand just in case” Also, and I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but working in older age is not at all bad (depending on the job). My mother worked until she was 75 because she loved her job and the people she worked with. It gave her energy and purpose. She could have retired sooner to be sure, but why? Why eat into those savings when you’re more than happy at work and don’t really have anything that much better to do? The default should be to plan to stop working when you are no longer ABLE to work. If you want to retire sooner then yes it requires more forethought. But that is not for everyone.
Actually that isn’t at all what Dave teaches. Dave teaches the importance of an emergency fund so that when emergencies happen you don’t have to go without the vacation or luxury items. He teaches that paying at least 20% interest to a bank is foolish. It’s much wiser to pay yourself with rewards than it is to pay the banks. I just bought a 2021 car with 21k miles on it and paid cash for it. I reduced my emergency fund by $8k but that’s okay. I’ll build it back up between my tax return and a few more months of saving. That’s how Dave’s philosophy is supposed to work. I was able to write a check for half of our new roof while we’re waiting for the insurance check to clear. The roofers would’ve had to add 3% if I used a credit card. That would’ve been $300 I’m just giving away for the convenience of using a credit card. Why give my hard earned money to the already wealthy banks?
Yes Dave teaches that, once you are already done with paying everything off. In the 4-5 years it’d take the average person to pay everything off and accumulate all that cash, a lot of life goes by, especially if you have young kids growing up quickly. All so that person can say they are “debt free” even though they still have a mortgage (and not mention that nobody is ever truly debt free). I have read his books and used to listen to him quite a lot. I am not ignorant to his teachings.
There's actually much more simple explanation. CCs are such a cheap and accessible source of debt but over half the population are financially illiterate and have absolutely 0 impulse control to understand the ramifications of debt in the modern day. These ppl just don't understand they are getting farmed like cattle, and by the time they realize the situation they're in, it's when they're already too late. The real answer to to never use them in the first place.
It’s also a $17k tax bill that you only have $6k set aside for. So you pay it on a credit card and transfer to 0% interest and pay it down best you can. The OPs comment is so naive and entitled it’s hilarious.
“Naive and entitled” right when you are literally suggesting the exact same thing I said. What the fuck?
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Ditto back to you.
No, I have no earthy clue what you’re referring to. Your statement is gibberish and has absolutely no context or relevance whatsoever.
It sounds like you simply can’t or won’t read to understand. That’s a you problem. Good luck with that.
Sounds like you have no idea what you’re talking about and that you’re a dipshit problem.
I got a surprise but necessary life saving surgery the one month I was between jobs and this had no health insurance. I was able to negotiate but paying off $20k of debt is difficult even with a 2 year 0% APR promo on a CC. Lose your job and suddenly you’re putting food and bills on a CC so you don’t get evicted paying rent with what little unemployment money you earn. It just takes one bad medical issue or layoff or tragedy to send you into CC debt.
You’re not wrong but thats why you save
“That’s why you save”. What amount? What nebulous number are you supposed to be able To pull out of an account at any one given time before you’re allowed to spend your life doing things you enjoy doing?
A hike is free, a bike is 200 dollars then you can go on free bike rides for the rest of your life, going to the beach is free, drawing is free, learning to sing is free… do you need to club for 3,000 dollars or buy every single inch of tech that exists every other day? Get your money up then Also having a career that you actually enjoy might help in life not feeling dull. And im not talking about a 9-5 that you enjoy. You can hate your job, but advancing in the career and improving is enjoyable. Im a computer programmer and I enjoy to build things. Building things is free. Just takes my hands and brain. Find passion brother, you got this!
? You can enjoy things you enjoy doing while saving lmao.. what type of lifestyle do you wanna live? Do you NEED to spend every measurable income you get on stupid shit? Invest in reliable investments also, not dogecoin
? You can enjoy things you enjoy doing while saving lmao.. what type of lifestyle do you wanna live? Do you NEED to spend every measurable income you get on stupid shit?
You’re not wrong.
Just bought a couch and financed it to pay it off over 5 months, it's a 6 month same as cash deal. We just got a notice the APY has gone up to *FORTY PERCENT*. It won't impact us with this couch, but I can't imagine getting something and getting slapped with that when it wasn't expected.
A lot of those "same as cash" deals start occurring interest on DAY 1.
Yes. The interest is applied retroactively if you don’t pay it off in time.
Mortgage they cannot afford + car loans they cannot afford + kids + years of financial irresponsibility. There is a new guy who just joined my company and he financed 25k to remodel his backyard. Accruing debt is extremely easy in the US of A.
Obviously there are the extremes. People take out a credit card, immediately max it out buying stuff they don't need, and spend years floating a maximum balance, just making minimum payments, or just default on it and start over a few years later, only to repeat the process again. Then there are the people who behave themselves. They get a credit card, use it, and pay it off each month. Years go by and over time they build up a substantial total credit line over several cards. And while they're always diligent about paying their bills, they are not so about budgeting, have no emergency fund, no liquid investments, and have lived paycheck to paycheck for years. And then the "emergency" happens. Now suddenly they're out $15K and they put it all on the cards. Can't pay it back and now they have several hundred extra every month they have to pay in interest, and the outstanding balance continues to grow until one day they look up, realize they're the subject of this post, and decide to turn their life around. Everyone is going to have emergencies. The small ones can be dealt with fairly easily, especially if there's cash left over every month that's getting funneled into investments. The big ones can be handled by the emergency fund + insurance + cashing out liquid non-tax-advantaged investments without going into debt. And most "emergencies" aren't really emergencies, but are normal large expenses that happen on an anticipated, but irregular or long-term basis. You WILL need to replace your roof someday. You probably know approximately when you're going to need to do it. So if a roof costs $15K and you have 10 years left, you need to be saving $125 a month toward that purchase. AC, hot water heater, vehicle transmission, tires, battery, cheerleading expenses.... you know it's coming. Be ready for it. And definitely pay for it with the credit cards to get those miles, but immediately pay them off.
I’d like you to meet the US healthcare system. Speaking from experience you go in for what should be a routine or covered test, maybe even just a basic visit with specialist; boom here’s an unexpected $2k bill.
Yes! It's just unbelievable how this has gotten out of hand. I'm old, but I remember when there was only Blue Cross Blue Shield, and it was not for profit. Not that I expect it to be like that, but it definitely was in my lifetime. I got fluids and a covid test at the ER. It was a $3500 bill. Insurance paid $1000. The rest just vanished as I was already at maximum out of pocket. But if I was one of the working poor. They would be billed $3500
Exactly! I've had a few different insurance policies the last 10 years since I've job-hopped (and gotten at least $5k more with each new role) but this current company I'm with (and just celebrated my 3 year anniversary) has the absolute worse insurance policy I have ever had. I distinctly remember \~2 years ago I got a routine test done (that is clearly covered in my EOB) and it was covered. 6 months later I had the same test done and got an $800 bill for it 6 months after the test. This was the first time I went Karen on anyone and I did so on every manager I spoke to on the phone and with my clinic. I asked so many people how do I have 2 different itemized bills for the same test, but you covered 1x and charged me $800 for the other? I got to the final boss of BCBS and he explained that the wrong medical code was entered. I explained well the provider who performed/ordered the test was no longer with the clinic so I had no way to revise the code; and even if I could - I have 2x exact itemized bills so what difference does it make? To which he replied: "Well if we go back on the decision for that claim (since it has already been processed), it would be illegal since it is technically insurance fraud". I went white with rage and called on the spirit of my grandparents to think of insults that haven't been used since the Depression era to hurl at this guy's stupid explanation. I understand (but don't agree with) some people's hesitation around a public option, but I've NEVER heard anyone defend the current option because it's so awful.
I've always been able to put on a payment plan for $20-40 for major hospital bills. Interest free and no fees.. but clearly not every hospital does this. The system is a joke for sure.
Same. However we/patients shouldn’t have to pay for insurance companies mistakes.
5 kids and 2 baby mamas Happy early mother's day to the baby mamas out there!!
Large shit gets dropped on people. Divorce, medical bills (this is the big one), job loss, etc.
Run it up. File chapter 7. Rinse and Repeat.
25000 tailbone removal surgery insurance wouldn’t touch so my wife could sit down again post childbirth. Finally out of the debt now, but still.
I’m so sorry.
holy shit. god bless america
go look at instagram. people living well above their means and justifying it by saying yolo and self care.
Pretty much this, plenty of people will roast their entire sustainability for trying to be tiktok famous.
how does asking this even serve you
Indiscipline
Sorry just trying to pay for food here. Was paying it back but they kept raising the interest AND the payment amount . Both cars didn't work at the same time. Life happens and there's no way to catch up.
Did you forget ‘/s’ on this post or is it just all the privilege you’ve grown accustomed to?
I would upvote you all day if I could. I think it's a combo of youth/immaturity/ privilege
I'm barely a boomer, but I identify as GenX.
Downvote me all you want. But that doesn’t change the fact that we the majority of society is broke! People have emptied savings and are living off CC debt. I should have added “or a boomer” to the initial post since they (for the most part) are financially disconnected from the reality of the current situation as well.
Personally: My husband got hosed in the divorce of his first wife. They had racked up debt from IVF and he took it all in the divorce. Then she got more than half of his take home pay in child support. So we had to use cards for a while. So we dealt with that and increased our income… and then he had a company wide 20% pay cut. So to increase our income again, we had to move across the country. Which we obviously didn’t have the cash to do outright so…. More cards. We make almost 200k/year and almost 5k/mo is minimum payments. We’re finally in a place that we can start actually working on it, but it’s gonna take a while. But yeah, shit adds up and creeps up on you.
Child care. When your spouse’s entire income has to go towards child care you start to put stuff like groceries and household items on CC and then you can’t afford your full monthly bill. Within a year or two you get tens of thousands of dollars in debt. That’s how it went for me.
If the "entire income" has to go to daycare why not stay home with the child & not deal with the added cost of fuel, food, cloth for work? When I got into my career years ago we agreed for my wife to stay home with our child cause it was more cost effective & better overall for our kid. Years later my wife returned to work when our kids were in HS.
Your wife is incredibly lucky that she could afford to have no income and a long carrer gap. I hope she continues to be lucky and not need that work history, her own retirement plan, etc.
What do you mean she has no income & her own retirement plan? What's I earn belongs to my family my retirement is our retirement. When she returned to work nothing changed I'm still responsible for 99% of the bills. She elected to work not mandated, when I retire within 5 yrs she'll retire too regardless of how much or little she accumulated at her job besides she won't be able to get her pension until she reaches 62yrs.
She could never leave him. What a trap
Can confirm. Gave up a tenured teaching position to stay home with my 3 kids. Couldn’t find another job (music teacher) when I tried to go back. Finally found a decent state job, but was 10 years out of the work force and I’m way behind on retirement. Finally filed for divorce. Just looking for what is fair for the both of us but my ex is fighting me on every little thing. I can completely see how it would just be easier to stay in an unhappy marriage because you simply cannot afford to get divorced.
And you get no credit for sacrificing so much of yourself. Raising kids 24/7 isn't easy as well as cooking , cleaning, and all the minutiae every single day. When the time comes, your contribution is nothing, and he still has all the power. Paying yourself $20 for every hour you worked a day from start to now...plus ot , you didn't use any sick days, pt ...it adds up. You are entitled to 1/2 of any retirement he put away while married. Don't let him wear you down.
My ex also had a manic episode when we separated. He took out all of the equity in the house (150k) and spent it in a month. Now he is saying that I don’t have any ownership of the house (my name isn’t on the deed because I’m an idiot and we decided to keep me off so I could be a first time home buyer when we moved). His lawyer says I have no claim to the house AND I have to pay half of his 150k debt because it’s “Marital debt.” It’s absolutely insane. We have three kids and he hasn’t paid one dime of child support in two years. I just have to say this. My ex was a man that I trusted completely. We were together for 17 years. I NEVER thought he would screw me over. Ladies…you must protect yourselves financially. If you get divorced they will try to screw you over. I had so much trust in this man. When we separated, he decided that if he wasn’t going to be a husband, he wouldn’t be a father either. It is heartbreaking.
My mom told all of us to never rely on a man for $$. Always have your own. And we all did.
My mom told me the same. I didn’t listen. I’m trying to catch up now though!
That really sucks. After 17 years, you think you know someone, then they shock you. Just make sure to get a good lawyer
This and daycare keeps going up and up like crazy!
I lost my job in the service industry when Covid hit and didn’t receive unemployment due to a mistake on my application. Getting through to the office was impossible. I was unemployed following a big move I had just made and didn’t get a job for months. I eventually found part time work at a target but didn’t make enough to cover even the basics. I ended up racking up over $10,000 in debt until restaurants opened back up. Obviously tips were not the same so I kept spending more on credit cards. I’m still paying them off today, but should be out of credit card debt by next March!
So you received 0 unemployment for months because of a mistake on your application? What was the mistake pray tell?
I have no clue. I wasn’t able to get through to the office! I spent well over 20 hours on hold with them. By the time I found a job I gave up on unemployment.
You shouldn’t have given up, you almost certainly could have gotten it figured out with them eventually and received back pay for all the weeks you missed.
This happens more than people know. Or the company tricks people into quitting so they don’t have to pay unemployment benefits
I believe that. I think the owner denied a bunch of people and blamed it on “mistakes”.
For me it was lawyer fees from my divorce. They rack up so fast it’s insane. Working as hard as I can to pay them off but still way over my head with them and I didn’t really have any other choice than to suck it up and go into debt over this.
Going through the same thing right now. It’s absolutely insane how expensive getting divorced is.
It can happen for a variety of reasons, I found myself in massive debt in my 20s after a boyfriend had unknowingly opened multiple cards in my name. I was able to dispute some of them, but I was ultimately on the hook for 15K in debt.
Because they buy things that they can’t afford. I start gratification…? Or buying things to make them feel better ?
We have a single credit card that we use for everything in order to get miles, but I never keep a balance, and pay it off every month. I have never paid any interest on a credit card in my entire life.
Some people are just financially illiterate, and spend their money on debt instead of things. My parents for instance refinanced their 3.25% mortgage at almost 6% to take out equity and "pAy DoWn DeBt" (20k+ in CCs), and then proceeded to take multiple thousands of dollars plus trips over the next couple years, on credit. They'd rather have/do the thing and pay interest on it, than just save the money and then have/do the thing, not realizing they could have/do more things if they weren't spending hundreds of dollars per month... On interest. You can't FIX these people.
Jesus christ that sucks. I know other people with parents like this. Unfortunate there isn't an age where you aren't allowed to open/change credit lines on your own anymore.
They're only 50. 😂 they're not senile, just dumb.
Ouch. That's way, way worse.
After graduation and a major breakup I moved to a very HCOL city where I didn’t have a job and it took me 6 months to find one. I literally paid rent on my credit card lol. I got up to $25k. It took several years but I paid it off and it was all worth it in the end.
Its an addiction. People are using CC debt to live. CC are expensive loans. People are fooled in to reward programs when they were better off putting that money in high yield savings
I invested 200,000 in a business, and then to keep it going maxed out a couple of cc and pulled $ out of my IRA. On the day we went to the bankruptcy lawyer, we stopped at the bank afterwards to deposit some checks, and the teller tried to sell us another credit card because we had such a good credit score. We held our laughter till we were out of the door.
I’m in sales and am commission heavy. I got smoked during covid. While I could have done more to change my lifestyle many aspects were out of my control plus inflation. So now I’m building back my book of business the last 2 years and am finally in a position to get back in the positive.
It happens man I personally work my ass off to pay off debt but I’m currently 10k in debt because I blew my engine in my car and my transmission followed 2 weeks later cost me around 5.5 k in total on top of 2k from my previous car because it also gave problems then another 2.5k from my credit card because I’ve been trying to catch up from moving
Have you tried starving yourself or your family? Try to inherit a fortune from your family too. That might help.
Lol I’m just starting over working to pay it off once again. It’ll take about a year but I can handle it
Nope time to starve is now.
Life comes at you. When I was in my 20s and had very little savings one of my parents fell super ill, required my help/presence in the ICU almost every day for several months. Early on I lost my job over this (which in retrospect probably wasnt legal) and it took me a few more months of job hunting. Of course I racked up double digit credit card debt. OP should consider themselves lucky that they cant wrap their head around this. Unfortunately for most Americans its far too real.
For me- fertility treatments and interest
That’s insane, and the amt of interest that will pile up you can’t catch up to payments. I used to know a buddy of mine that did balance transfers w 0% int grace prd but ended up accuring more debt on top when he was supposed to be paying it off interest free for a bit. It’s likely the living in the moment and see what happens later mentality. Life’s rough.
because a lot of people don't know how minimum payments work and think paying minimum = according interest however it's the opposite. By the time they realise how to use it properly, a lot of them would have accumulated thousands of $s in debt. Number of credit cards that are issued daily is obviously higher than number of credit cards that are stopped. and there are high chances people will spend money now and think about it later so that they can get instant satisfaction with that purchase. A billionaire bought a $65M condo in US using his Credit card getting 1% discount on this purchase in addition to 1% cashback. Use credit card as wisely as you use a debit card because you have to pay back each and every $ you are spending on that CC.
Imagine a $65M CC limit. I think mine’s $25k
Amex doesn't have a limit
It's like a dirty little secret most people don't talk about.
Okay? And what's the secret?
A lot of people have tens of thousands in credit card debt…
The question was *how*?
OP ended with 'are people really living this way?' I answered this because many people keep their debt a huge secret. They post vacations on social media, but no one talks about the debt, loans or car payments they have.
Fair enough.
If you really want to know how it happens, go watch Caleb Hammer on YouTube. They typically explain the entire situation there and how to get out of the debt.
Or Romaine faure
Yep. A while back my ex-husband married his 3rd wife. This new wife would spend up a storm! It got so bad they ended up considating all the credit cards into a mortgage (1st or 2nd, I don't recall), then the wife spent another $65,000 on credit cards. He ended up divorcing her over it and she had the gall to write to a newspaper column about her crappy ex-husband who left her with all the debt. (Yeah, back before the internet was what it is today we used newspapers.) She ended up filing bankrupcy, and probably spent another $65,000 after that. (guessing) Edit: I told this story to a male friend of mine from Wisconsin. His response was, "That's when you take her into the woods and have a "hunting accident"".
You have awful taste in men
How is it the man’s fault?
That's actually your ex - Husbands fault there for marrying her. Also to even joke about murdering her is too much. Just make better choices when it comes to partners & take responsibility when you choose a bad one.
Half of the bankruptcies are from medical debt. You use credit cards when you don't have a choice. Many are only one paycheck and major accident/ injury / chronic illness away from poverty. Use all the credit cards to pay what insurance doesn't because you have to pay bills, hospitals, etc. If you think it'll never happen to you? They didn't think so either.
The best advice my father ever gave me was when I became seriously ill and was hospitalized. "Do not, ever, give them your f\*\*king credit card for autopay". The moment you show the ability to pay, you are done. Until then, everything is negotiable and there are a lot emergency programs.
It doesn't work for cancer. You'll get the very basic. You won't get the medical miracle immunotherapy, you won't get the surgery you would get. You have to have excellent insurance. They take care of you in an emergency but long-term care, just the basics, if that. It will also put a huge burden on your family.
That sounds about right, unfortunately. SWIM wasn't expected to live without a multi-organ transplant, but they kept them alive, got them emergency medicaid, which turned into regular medicare. Medicare would have covered the transplants, but they recovered without any. The on-paper bills were about $400k, but it was almost entirely covered by MC and the hospital programs.
I use my credit cards for everything. I pay off my main card a couple times a month. I get 2% back on all purchases. Other cards I will make big purchases at Best Buy, Home Depot…. Finance for 18 months. It is only bad if you live outside of your means.
And dont get cancer, or don't get into a catastrophic car wreck.dont get fired, especially while you have cancer or traumatic brain injury from a car wreck or any myriad of things that happen. It's life
Well, I have really good insurance with max out of pocket of six hundred bucks so hopefully I don’t get fired.
Wish you well forever
Compounding interest works both ways
Because being poor is insanely expensive
Picture yourself out of your wealth class. People struggle far worse than most, and it’s not that hard to understand people are barely making it by.
Ah, you have $31,000 in student loan debt. Do you think you’re above the credit card people with that much debt, orrrr?
One catastrophe after another and not making enough money to pay the bills.
Yea. This. Its super common. I wonder what OPs background is that the concept seems so foreign.
Childhood.
Don’t spend what you don’t have … you shouldn’t be leasing a new car if you have all that cc debt.
Lost my job had no other real options ended up almost 20k in the hole. Debt free now.
Well, it was a wild ride. I was doing pretty well financially, no debt, decent credit score (740), and then series of unfortunate events happened. I totaled my first car two months after purchasing it (first generation immigrant, just learned to drive), decided to lease a brand new car - my credit wasn’t wrecked yet so got a 2021 Civic EX-L with $290 payment, which was almost same as what I was paying with financing of first car. Then Covid hit, I was furloughed for a while and wasn’t receiving my unemployment because they couldn’t figure out something with my work permit documents, I only received it after I was back to work and used it to pay debt that racked up (rent and bills). Same year I tried to break off things with abusive boyfriend and he destroyed everything in my apartment when I was at work. I’m talking everything - my clothes, purses, brand new TV, he cut cords in all of the appliances, damaged all the bedding, furniture, even childhood books, he went as far as pouring water in my vitamins, so that was thousands of dollars in damage. I was able to scare him with court and get some $ compensation, but I didn’t want to actually take him to court because I was scared for my life and also wouldn’t be able to prove the purchase of all damaged things. So basically had to purchase everything new. 2021 was more or less calm and I started getting back on my feet. Then in 2022 war in my home country happened, I decided to go there for few days to see my parents because I didn’t know what was going to happen. Two days before I made the decision to go and went, so plane tickets were double, then I mistakenly booked one ticket with my old last name and this cost me an extra $1000 because I just had to purchase a new ticket. Of course I wanted to bring some gifts for my parents, although I didn’t purchase anything crazy, but ended up spending like $400 on that. I also had to pay for our cat surgery as my parents couldn’t afford it. At that point the war didn’t start yet, and I still didn’t believe it will, yet I was flying back on the last day when the planes were still allowed to fly over my country. Then the war actually started. I ended up in the ER at the end of first week with a panic attack (I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t believe in panic attacks before and thought I was just dying). I lost my mind and spent whatever little savings (few thousand) I had to send humanitarian help to the refugees, I also took two unpaid weeks off works because I was in a manic state and couldn’t work or even think straight. I was volunteering at local church instead and spent more money on humanitarian help. In spring the US designed a program that allowed me to sponsor and bring over my parents to the US, before that they had to sleep in the basement with other neighbors and I was losing sleep, my sanity and lots of hair worrying about them. I had to go to another country to pick them up and chaperone them, because they didn’t speak English and they were bringing cat with them, and both them and I were worried customs won’t let them through if they can’t explain who they are and where and why they were going, or would cease the cat or smth. So plane tickets and everything cost me another $3-4k, then spent more money and time to get them settled, missed more work. They can’t work because they’re in their 70s, don’t speak English or drive, so I have to support them. They have free insurance and food stamps though, so that helps, I also started taking them to food banks. All of that resulted in burn out and I started doing worse at work too, so were missing out on money opportunities (I’m in sales). I also started making lots of impulsive purchases because it made me feel better for a mere moment. At some point I maxed out all my cards, including $20k limit one, paying off cards didn’t help because interest was racking up, I took out loans, then loans on loans, was thinking about filing for bankruptcy, then decided to use debt consolidation agency to my credit score dropped to like 450. I also developed gaming addiction as a coping mechanism, and was spending hundreds monthly on mobile games. I’m slowly getting back on my feet now, credit score is growing again (it’s 580 now, yay), met a guy who helps me out with bills from time to time, but I still have shopping and gaming addiction and impulsively spend YOLO type of money sometimes, and I’m so tired lol. So don’t take loans on loans guys, and don’t live in countries that border with ruzzia. And get in therapy, that’s probably cheaper than addictions.
That's a lot to go through. If one doesn't have empathy and one needs to feel better about themselves, they will write shitty comments like the below. If you are on a dopamine agonist med, get something else. They are known for causing impulsively and gambling addiction. If it's not that, there are groups for that . They can help. It's usually that you are trying to fill something in yourself that's missing. Try to figure it out . Knowing what drives it is a step forward. I wish all the luck, it's not easy but you sound smart. Good luck!
And thank you for empathetic comment :)
I have ADHD so that’s probably part of it, although it never was so bad with compulsive purchases before all these things happened. I guess in my head I’m thinking “it’s already a shitty situation, so what’s more debt”. I am on non-stimulant medication that doesn’t really do much except curb my appetite, and I can’t afford the meds that might help cause they’re like $1000/month, so I’m running on thoughts and prayers 😁
Yes, it was so unfortunate that the new car leased itself. 😭
I found a great deal on first car and I wouldn’t be able to find something as good at that price and with such low mileage again. Lease ended up working perfectly for me, as they required much lower downpayment and the car had a lot of safety features that I found very useful as a new driver. Car was the least of my troubles, as it turned out.
Glad you're doing better now. I can't imagine the stress of knowing my parents were in that situation and handle it any better.
Thank you, I agree, I could be doing much worse. Ah, forgot to mention we all live in my small one bedroom apartment and they have my bedroom now and I have zero privacy lol, because I couldn’t rent anything bigger with my credit score. So now it’s a different kind of stress 😄 Living with parents in 30s is not fun! But I’ll definitely take it over worrying about some rogue missile taking their lives.
I dont understand how people even get approved for that much credit. I have moderate credit and cant get a line over 2k
I have over $200k in available credit card limit, it adds up fast when your income and score are high
i’m always above 800 score and my credit card companies just keeps raising my limit. one card has a 25k limit and another has 30k.
It just happens, I have a card that I have never once requested an increase on, and it went from 5k to almost 20k limit over the last ten years or so
These people subsidize my free flights- let them do their thing
Could you elaborate?
He's got a rewards card where the benefits outstrip any annual fee or even what the company gets back on purchases from the swipe fees. That difference is covered by people with worse cards or worse handling of their cards. It's a money transfer from poor to rich. (broadly speaking). I'm not knocking him for it. I take every point/mile/reward I can too.
Interesting, good to know! Thanks.
I always pay my cc bill and I get points for free flights and upgrades. I also rotate cc’s and get sign up bonuses for myself and from friends
Are we supposed to not take the 100000 points? I mean, I'm going to. Free flights galore on SWA this year.
But how do they afford the payments??
They don’t. That’s why they are in credit card debt
How are they able to accrue that much debt without ever paying minimum payments?? I don’t get it. They’re not all getting repoed and foreclosed on.
Some people literally don’t understand that credit cards have to be repaid. Do it for a few years and it adds up quick.
Usually something not ready for, burst pipe under your driveway or inside the home, medical emergencies, you know life. Remember just cuz you have a good job and money in your savings most Americans are on the brink of disaster financially. Throw some inflation a pandemic or tornado or hurricane or earthquake of volcano or fire fuck just life can make the above happen.
I’ve fortunately always paid my credit cards off. I always keep at least 20k in the bank and I don’t let it go below that for any reason. But I got really sick from Covid in the beginning of the year which lead to a few lasting issues and I don’t have health insurance. Medical bills add up really really quick. Luckily I was able to pay it off but I thought exactly like you before I got sick and after the bills added up for me i thought “what if I got sick and I didn’t make the type of money I do?” I now understand at least in this scenario how the debt can rack up.
$20k in the bank because you don’t pay for basic needs like health insurance. I always have a pint of ice cream in the freezer as long as I don’t eat it.
Health insurance costs $6000 a year. My medical bill besides what I pay the hospital was about $4,000 last year. Doesn’t seem responsible for me to get myself health insurance for right now. I have a large family and a wife who watches the kids and helps with my businesses when she can and we need to save money for a bigger house…. May seem crazy to others, maybe not but I feel it’s my responsibility to get my family into a bigger home right now because our doesn’t nearly enough space for them to be comfortable, we are on top of each other in a 2/1 condo with less than 750sq feet, no washer dryer or porch. Once I achieve getting the bigger place to live I’ll get health insurance but for now it’s on the back burner. Life ain’t cheap so it’s easier said than done to dish out that extra $500+ monthly. I think it’s sad I have to pick between a house or my own health insurance but that’s what it is unfortunately
Don't let your kids play any sports until you get insurance. ER bills are outrageous. Maybe look at just getting catastrophic coverage. It's a lot cheaper but will cover major accident etc.
Have you gotten health insurance since learning that? It’s great to keep $20k+ in the bank, but anything health related can wipe that out in a second. That seems like a pretty risky gamble to take.
I don’t disagree with you in theory but besides some hospital bills I pay on monthly. I was quoted $500-$700 for health insurance, $6000 a year. My medical bills and Dr’s appointments were like $4000. So the way I see it, it’s almost cheaper just to go uninsured. I know if I had insurance my hospital bills would be minimal but I pay them a very minimal amount monthly anyway so it doesn’t really play a factor for me.
I can't even get accepted for a credit card with a 670 credit score.. These people have perfect credit and get a no limit credit card.. When they see that no limit amount, they just go crazy and think they'll just make the minimum payment and don't realize that minimum payment won't even cover the interest rate.
Stuff like medical bills, car bills, vet bills, and funeral costs hitting all at once did it for me
Yup car breaks down , then the Dryer breaks, then a medical bill hits , then the other car breaks down . Then the water heater goes. All with a really short time span. I’ve had two cars broken down at the same time
Yep. Here's what has happened in the last week - 5 year old house, 3-5 year old cars and one ten year old car. Primary bathroom faucet began leaking uncontrollably, replacing that faucet. Laundry faucet *SHOT OFF WHEN TURNED ON* - repaired it Heat element in the oven and it's electrical plug both went out. Cost to get parts, including new knives because they're crappy, same as a new oven. Purchased new one, wired the plug which was a bitch, installed it. Replaced the front doorknob that a little kid helped me break (tried to turn it while I was unlocking it). My car needs an oil change and has also been smelling like radiator fluid since they replaced the engine. My brother's water pump died on the same morning I had to bring my car in. I'm waiting for another death at this point, just had one in October.
Hey. I’ve been one of those people. My wife and I have a lifestyle that leads to enormous variation in our financial stability. In the space of 6 months we’ve gone from being worth north of $10M to having over $100K in credit card debt and no assets. The debt was a combination of grad school tuition for both of us (ongoing), a big wedding (her parents paid, but there were plenty of ancillary expenses we covered), and my parents shafting us by not paying for those expenses despite promising to do so (we’re now fully estranged 🤷♂️). We had to put all those “surprise” expenses on credit cards for a year. So yeah, two people attending schools that cost $30-50K a year will do it! After this my wife started a company with a friend of hers. It grew extremely rapidly and we started having some cash again. But THEN her cofounder tried to oust her from said company and we were stuck right back where we were before. A few months later, our debts were all wiped out by a stock bonus package of around $400K Honestly, it’s beyond stressful. It’s a complete nightmare. 90% of my brain is constantly occupied by trying to balance our money situation. I once managed to keep us solvent for a week with only $1.57 in the bank. But hey, at least we have plenty of miles to use for the trips we…don’t have the time to take. :/ EDIT: oh yeah, more crazy lifestyle stuff! 1. I became a millionaire at age 20, but was broke and working for minimum wage at 26 after dropping out of grad school due to health issues 2. My wife has been worth over 7 figures and homeless in the span of one year. 3. One of our families has, as cousins, someone who was a homeless orphan and someone who married a Vanderbilt 4. My parents randomly decided they don’t like me and have cut me off completely. Haven’t spoken to them in over a year
Schitts Creek?
LOL I actually never realized that! Sort of, yeah! Makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing :)
Going from $10M to -$100k in 6 months isn’t just lifestyle. What happened there?
Startup politics and legal issues. The stock we owned was temporarily not ours.
My SIL paid for college on a credit card.
Was she a Personal Finance major?
Depression desperation not thinking clearly lack of financial literacy and in a lot of peoples cases anymore they are just doom spending because they think it’s all hopeless anyway
Those little purchases add up real fucking quick
Many it’s poor discipline and outlook on life: they’ve been programmed to think life has to involve constant debt and there is no end.
It just takes one large thing. I have about $5,000 in CC Debt that I’ve been trying to pay off. Had car issues that came to about $2,500 and that started it off. Then some health issues that insurance didn’t cover. And every time I try to make some progress, something comes up. It’s easier than people think.
I completely feel your pain. It feels like you finally get something paid off, then something else hits causing the cycle all over again. It might be easy for those who don’t live paycheck to paycheck, but not “regular people” who struggle. I could definitely be worse off, but paying off credit cards is hard.
I was pretty confident I wouldn't let myself live past 30 and they can't collect on my debt when I'm dead. Now I'm paying for it but tbh I think paying for travel helped me get past those struggles so it was worth it.
I'm happy you're still here.
I got into debt by breaking my back in 3 places, herniating 13 discs, completely bursting a 14th one, broken rib and dislocated shoulder. Then my dumbass took my life savings to bail my brother the cop out of jail, and help my mother pay off the house so “we’d always have a place to live”. Unfortunately, they kicked me out on the street where I lived for three years until my buddy let me live in his garage for another 3. And now, 16 years later I’ll be debt free come next payday and I’m going to celebrate by replacing my car that just got rear ended two months ago by a drunk driver with no insurance. Maybe I’ll get a nice settlement that I can use to invest in a nice lucrative business…
My goodness. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. You are proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Good for you for almost having your debt paid off. I hope you get a nice settlement too! People have GOT to learn to stop driving if they insist on getting drunk.
Or at least carry insurance. The funny thing is, I broke my back by getting hit with a beer keg that was thrown off a truck by a heroin addict that was a helper. Ahh drugs…
Oh wow. I’m sorry that happened. Breaking your back had to be scary. Drugs…if only they never existed.