My Debt Blog

Back in July I had came across a show called Secret Lives of Women: Shopaholic and found it very interesting. There was not a future episode of this coming up any time soon. This weekend I happen to come across this show and on Tuesday, November 6th at noon (Central time) on WE this particular episode will be on again. So if you’re curious about the three women and their spending habits, be sure to catch or record this show.

I want my wife to watch this too without being too obvious about it. The whole point of this particular episode is that these women spend money they don’t have. Some resort to going deeply into credit card debt to continue the habit. Its sad how quickly some people consider bankruptcy to get out of the mess they created. My wife once thought bankruptcy was a credit reset button until I explained that her student loan debt not even considered and must be paid at some point. That put an end to that idea quickly.

When my wife is done with school here in December, the whole college thing will be behind us. I have no desire to go back to school right now mainly because I want to clear the debt first. Her student loans are on deferment right now and I am concerned as to what the payments will be come July next year. We may try to sell the house again in the spring depending on how the market is trending. That is all stuff to worry about next year though. Christmas is coming soon.

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Here’s a simple video that most college students should probably watch. When you’re only 18 or 19 years old and heading off to college, the credit card companies can’t wait to get you to sign up for their card. On average, most students rack up debt by eating out, buying clothes, and then use the money they do have to pay the minimum on the account. Recent statistics say that 20% of college students graduate with 7k of high interest credit card debt.

I wish I knew what I pretended to own through my credit cards. All I know now is that these things don’t make your life better. If I just used the money I make to buy things, it only costs me what I paid for it and I don’t owe anyone for it. I like owning things rather than hoping I can pay for them. This video is simple but good.

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Based on a book of the same name, The Ultimate Gift is an amazing film. My wife and I watched this together and weren’t really sure what to expect because neither of us had even heard of the story before. The story itself is very simple and I think that is why it kept our attention the entire time. The film is simple, amazing, and sad at times. Here’s the synopsis of the film:

When his wealthy grandfather dies, trust fund baby Jason Stevens anticipates a big inheritance. Instead, his grandfather has devised a crash course on life with twelve tasks – or “gifts” – designed to challenge Jason in improbable ways, sending him on a journey of self-discovery and forcing him to determine what is most important in life: money or happiness.

This young guy who felt money was the only thing that matters in life has his world shaken up. He has no idea what he is agreeing to or if he will even be able to succeed. At the same time he realizes there is more to life than money. Not that this really spoils the movie, the 12 gifts are as follows: The Gift of Work, the Gift of Money, The Gift of Friends, The Gift of Learning, The Gift of Problems, The Gift of Family, The Gift of Laughter, The Gift of Dreams, The Gift of Giving, The Gift of Gratitude, The Gift of a Day, The Gift of Love, and at the end is The Ultimate Gift.

I encourage everyone to see this movie. There is much more to life than money. It is hard to explain things like this to people who cannot understand it. Some things must be experienced in order to learn something about it. I think movies like this should be seen by as many people as possible, including children.

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I don’t have much of an update on my financial situation. In light of just wanting to post something, check out this video of a guy using a Judge Judy voice soundboard on a collector. Her voice is very known I am surprised this idiot was not able to pick up on what was going on.

When these people call to try and get you to pay your debt, having fun with them may be tempting. The best thing to do is to let them know any further contact should be in writing. There is no reason to let them call you 20 times a day trying to get money out of you. Annoy them first and often until they stop calling and contact you in writing. Even better, just pay bills accordingly and not deal with collections. Best of all is to never borrow money and you’ll never have a problem.

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I was channel surfing last night and came across a show called the Secret Lives of Women. Why in the world would I be watching a show on the Women’s Entertainment (WE) network? This particular episode caught me because it featured women who ran up massive amounts of debt due to shopping. Here’s the short on this:

“Secret Lives of Women: Shopaholic” (WE)
For Lisa Thompson (a personal concierge and mother of two), Sari Kaplin (a marketing executive), and Mandy Rabelais (a wife and mother), shopping isn’t just a day at the mall; it’s an addiction. Can these ladies come to terms with their dependencies, or will the mall get the best of them?

I am amazed at the amounts of stuff these people buy day to day and know they should not be doing it. The massive amount of credit cards and opening new ones just to spend more is beyond me. A stay at home mom frequently buying bed sets on her husband’s teaching salary and they’re paying on her Lexus, does she realize that is excessive? My wife loves to shop and get ideas for what she would like to do to the house, but they’re just ideas. I ask that she makes sure that when we buy something for a room it is necessary and needed. Our down filled comforter went flat and became completely useless. After about three months of watching the stores, looking around, waiting for sales, we got a great deal on a new bed set with about 60% markdown and paid for it. I think two years ago it would be a need to have it now must have and put it on a credit card.

I don’t consider my wife a shopaholic because she is able to go into stores, look around, and not buy anything. There is a big difference in shopping and spending. Every now and then she will get something at a store, but typically there is a purpose or reason she needs it. I have the hardest time buying clothes for myself and wear the same things over and over, which drives her nuts. Sometimes she will pick me up a new polo at Old Navy if they’re on sale, which I don’t mind. What drives me crazy is when she picks out a bunch of stuff to try on and only keeps one thing to buy. The other is buying two things with the intention of returning one of them later. Seems like a big waste of time that other things could be done.

At any rate, if any of my readers even have cable and I’m not sure when this particular episode will air again. I checked out the future dates for the show and did not see it in the next two weeks. The network website did not have much regarding this particular episode so I think it is probably an old one from a previous season. Shopping as an addiction though? I think not. When it comes down to it, spending money you don’t have on things you don’t need is debt, the true addiction.

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Not sure how many have seen this video. This is a standup comedian Louis CK discussing his financial situation. He does have a somewhat valid point that banks charge you money if you don’t have enough money, how is this possible. Then there’s a rant about what happens when he has a negative balance in his account and someone wants to give him something for free. If he needs 10 bucks to be broke, he can’t even afford the free item. Then he goes on and rants about rich people. If you have a lot of money they give you more money, true. This is just funny to me for some reason.

Viewer warning, the video uses strong language and is probably not work safe (unless you have headphones). Here’s the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GKOqdr0-e8

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I have wanted to watch this documentary for some time now. There was even a post about Debt Documentaries awhile back when I started this blog. Well I have seen it and this could be considered a review from my perspective.

This documentary is emotional because not only do you see what debt does to people, but that you see what it does to people. Blogs make it easy to hide behind a veil of being relatively anonymous on the internet. If we passed each other on the street you would not know who I am and I wouldn’t know anything about you. I think it is the people that make the documentary so powerful.

Part of this documentary focuses on people who buy up the bad debt people defaulted on. They operate out of a small office where their collectors are busy calling (harassing?) people through the phone to get money out of them. There is a whiteboard and they make the comparison that it is a game and it is all about making a touchdown or scoring. What bothers me more is they feel it is legit to call up neighbors and family members of the individual they are collecting on. There are laws out there called Fair Debt Collection Practices Act which their victims don’t seem to know much about.

One story with an older lady having a garage sale to come up with enough money to keep her house is very sad. I don’t know much about the background of her situation, but the reality is she needs to be selling her house and not trying to hold on to it. There are also stories of two other ladies and the financial happenings of their children which was very powerful.

Then there is the political side of this in that the government is making it more and more difficult for people. Credit card companies don’t have regulations in place to prevent giving a college student with no income a credit card. President Bush signed a new bankruptcy law into place but the bill was funded by MBNA. The debt that I have got myself into is my debt and I have nobody to blame but myself. I’m not going to pretend the government is going to fix my problems with credit card debt. Our own government is in so much debt and the problem is not going to correct itself over night, but one day it could blow up on us all.

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