Holidays
Holiday Story Contest Winners
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc.
Even before my husband died we had money problems. My husband was sick and we had just mortgaged our house to rebuild the kitchen and we were going to do the bathroom.
At that time my husband was 73 years old and the place where we got the mortgage said that the payments would be $400 a month. They lied to us and the payments kept going up each month. We were both on Social Security at that time. My husband became very ill and required to be in the hospital. Not much longer after that he had died. He had a small insurance policy that paid for his burial - nothing was left from it.
After that, I couldn't pay the mortgage or very little else. When he died I received his Social Security and they took mine away. So less money in meant I couldn't pay the house payments. So they took my house and the extra lot. I had lived in that house thirty years, and just like that it was gone.
I had many bills and less money coming in and I cried a lot but that didn't help. I had to go live with one of my daughters. I stayed for seven years. Where she lived there were many stairs and, being sick myself, I couldn't handle those stairs. I went to live with my granddaughter. I had no money and lots of bills; I couldn't even help to buy food. She kept me and her family. Do you know how I felt? My medical bills were very high. I had two back operations and four heart operations. Now, I'm on dialysis every other day because my kidneys failed.
My life is at a stand still. I'm going to be 80 years old on December 29 and I'll die in debt. Not as much debt as I would have, because of your help. My bills are getting smaller and very soon some are going to be paid. Then I'll be out of debt and it's through your hard work in getting things to even out. You took the time to get each company to take less payment so now each company is getting paid.
My bills show your plan is working and I still have a little extra for personal needs. Your company works hard to get things in proportion and still keep my pride. You make people feel important to themselves. Knowing you are trying to help people have a better life, your kindness when you hear our problems. I have a lot of faith and I'll soon see a great change.
You know, living on a fixed income is not a joy. I want to do more, but my money is gone. So Christmas is coming and there are grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even great great grandchildren. They believe in Santa just like I did when I was young. I don't have money to buy for all of them, so what to do? You make the small ones a quilt for their bed and cookies for the bigger ones. It's not what you give, is how you give it.
As for the grown children, they get a hug and a kiss. My life is much better since I trusted Consolidated to solve my problems. I can truly say I put my problems in the hands of caring people and I live a better life without worrying how am I going to pay my bills.
So to each of you who helped an old lady in her eighties feel better about herself:
GOD BLESS!!!
Ruth D.
Stroudsburg, PA
I got my very first credit card when I was nineteen, and it had a $600.00 limit. I was so proud of myself. I had taken a course in Economics, so I knew all about the importance of being a financially responsible person--at least I thought that I did. I was very careful to never charge more than I could afford to pay off the next month. I managed to do that for nearly two years. So, how did I end up being almost $17,000.00 in debt? To this day, I am still not exactly sure.
It all started when I turned twenty-one. I got a new car, a new job, a new boyfriend and my own apartment. I used a cash advance from my credit card to make the down payment for my car. That was my first mistake. My new job required new clothes because I went from a drug store cashier to a switchboard operator at a bank. Blue jeans and tee shirts were no longer acceptable attire. From time to time I would even get cash advances to make ends meet. Being independent was more expensive than I had realized.
I got married the following year. My husband's income was limited, so I found myself turning to the credit card to buy groceries and put gas in my car to take us to work. He did not have his own car at the time. I was using the credit cards more, but I was still only making minimum payments.
About three months into our marriage, my husband began to get abusive. It did not take long to realize that I had made another mistake. We separated, and I later found out that I was expecting. The abuse continued, so I had to pursue a divorce for my safety as well as the safety of my unborn child.
My life took a greater downward spin after my marriage ended. I signed divorce papers about a month after my daughter was born. My job did not offer maternity leave, so I had to use my vacation time as well as most of my sick leave. To speed the divorce proceedings along, I agreed to less child support than she was entitled, and I agreed to supply her insurance. The cost of her insurance was nearly a third of my monthly income. A new baby meant new expenses, and unfortunately child support did not start for several months.
I struggled to survive on my own for about a year before I concluded that I absolutely had to have some help. I was getting cash advances to make minimum payments, and I was taking turns making credit card payments while trying to maintain a household. There was no way that I could keep that up.
My mother told me about a commercial that she had seen for a debt management program. I swallowed my pride and made the call only to find out that I had too much debt for them to help me. I got discouraged. The creditors were calling all the time--at home and even at work. It was so embarrassing to discuss my personal business at work and hope that no one was listening.
I was just about to lose hope when I saw an advertisement for Consolidated. The telephone number 1-800-SAVE-ME2 made me optimistic. I certainly felt like I needed someone to save me. I convinced myself that I had nothing to lose, so I gave them a call. The representative immediately put me at ease with kind words and a little light humor. Mr. Perlman assured me that Consolidated could help me become debt free. He sent me a package in the mail and told me to review and get back with him.
I had a choice to make. I could keep my apartment and make minimum payments for the rest of my life, or I could move back home and fulfill my obligations. I decided to give up my apartment so that I could join the program. The idea of being debt free in 3-5 years sounded really good to me.
That was the best decision that I ever made. They worked for me when one collection agency claimed that they would not accept payments from a Credit Counseling Service. Being a Consolidated client has taught me the true meaning of budget. I have learned the difference between want and need! I have priorities now, and shopping for myself is no longer one of them. It feels wonderful to see my balances going down.
I have been in the program for the past three years. I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not a train! I feel good about myself again. I am teaching my daughter that she cannot have everything that she wants. I want to keep her from making the financial mistakes that I made.
My dream is to own my own home someday. Consolidated is helping me to pay off my credit card balances and reestablish my credit. I have learned invaluable lessons over the past years about how to manage my finances and how to save money. With their help, I believe that dream will become a reality. Thank you for saving me, too.
Kimberly R
Muscle Shoals, AL
I don't remember the first credit card application that was handed to me in college. I don't remember filling it out or the seven I filled out after that. I remember thinking to myself that I would only use it for books and other essentials. Soon, books turned into groceries, nights out with friends, and extravagant gifts and trips.
What I remember most is how connected to everything it allowed me to feel. I could bond with my girls over countless hours of shopping. I could suddenly buy a plane ticket to visit home on a whim or spend the summer traveling with friends. It's strange how something that once made me feel so connected to everyone I loved could become the greatest factor in separating me from them. After graduating college and facing the reality of rent, electric bills, car payments and insurance, the minimum payment that was once so easy to make on my credit cards became my greatest struggle to keep up with.
I remember thinking that this wasn't supposed to be what life was like after college. College was supposed to give me a better job with more money. In reality my poor decisions had just given me more bills than I could handle. I no longer had time to spend with family or friends because I was working constantly and just barely making ends meet. I avoided having my parents visit me because I didn't want them to see the stack of bills in the mailbox or the incessant ring of my telephone as bill collector's called looking for a payment. I had resigned myself to the fact that my credit was ruined and I didn't see a way out of this other than to just keep my head above water by paying the monthly minimums.
The last straw came when my best friend John, an officer in the Army, deployed to Iraq. I received a letter from him asking me why I don't ever answer my phone, "I'm 6000 miles away and need to hear my best friend's voice and you aren't ever home." I felt horrible. He had to wait in line sometimes for close to an hour to use a phone only to have his call wasted on someone who had turned off the ringer and answering machine on her phone because she couldn't stand the relentless calls from bill collectors.
Filled with anger and disappointment at the poor choices that had put me in this position, I sat down and cut up all of my credit cards. As I sat there looking at the pile of small plastic pieces I suddenly felt such a sense of freedom. After searching around online I came across Consolidated's web page and submitted my information. Three weeks later I had signed the papers and officially become a client and four weeks after that the calls abruptly stopped.
This is my first holiday season in a long time without credit cards. I've had to become a little more creative with gift giving and it's better than I ever thought possible. Instead of buying my mom an expensive piece of clothing I framed a beautiful photo of her two daughters. Instead of sending some sort of hi-tech gadget to help John pass the long days in Iraq I made him a calendar to countdown the days until he comes home filled with pictures and stories of all the ones he loves here in the U.S. He already received it and opened it early. I've never felt happier than when I heard the phone ring and ran to answer it because I am no longer afraid to hear it ring. I got to hear his voice, 6000 miles away, as he told me it was the most perfect gift he's ever received, and that is something that I wouldn't trade for all of the money in the world.
Michelle H.
Burlington, NC
