The Truth of Credit

I know what you’re thinking, “Not another Top 10 list!”, but I hope this one will be a little eye opening. My experience in the credit industry has given me a heightened capability to recognize the people who are in DEEP debt. Some of these signs are obvious and some more subtle. The fact is I probably don’t need to tell you are in over your head but I hope this may serve as a wake up call for someone out there.

1. You no longer answer the phone – If the phone rings 20 times a day from an 800 number I wouldn’t pick it up either. How many times can you swallow your pride and tell somebody you don’t even know how you failed or what disaster struck in your life. It’s not a negative affirmation you want do daily.

2. You no longer balance your check book – This is all about accountability and may be why you’re in the predicament your in. You refuse to acknowledge the choices you have made. Unless you are a golfer, consider red numbers as never a good thing. If you have this problem I suggest you find someone you trust to do it for you.

3. You open a Post Office Box – This one is hard for me to understand; is it that your don’t want creditor’s knowing where you live or is it your embarrassed by the flood of mail you’re getting? Either way if you’re in debt you should not be able to afford a P.O. Box unless you’re in a town with less than 1,000 people.

4. You’ve run out of people to ask for help – Honestly, most everyone has “someone” they can go to for help. If you don’t have someone you could borrow $100 dollars from, you really need to step back and look at your life and the friends you have.

5. You could care less about the future – I truly believe everyone wants to be wealthy and be able to relax in the Caribbean. However, when you’re in debt all you can think about is when is my next paycheck or how am I going to get my next meal. All these things are extremely important but you have to understand your credit effects the next car, home and job you may have.

6. You’ve lost the ability to think logically – Getting out of debt is like anything else; it takes a plan and execution. That’s all fine and good, but the real problem is people are great generals but bad soldiers. They can always have the best intentions and strategy but one defeat can demoralize them. These defeats come in many forms; from watching your friends go out on a Friday night without you to the next door neighbor buying that new BMW. Stick to the plan, because self-discipline is the only ally you have in this war.

7. You notice no one wants to be around you – Let’s be honest everyone loves a winner. Call it the “vibration of the universe” but I guarantee if people know about your debt issues all they will have is sympathy for you. The problem with sympathy is that it gets old really fast and like radiation no one wants to be exposed to if for any extended period of time. Watch how many people drop off your social calender when you go from successful to filing for bankruptcy. Not many people have recovered from that.

My goal for this list is to make you take an objective view of your situation. If any of the above sound familiar, you need to stop, think, and take a day to get yourself in order. Remember no one cares about your situation like you do. If you need to file bankruptcy do it and do it now! Everyday, you bury your head in the sand will compound itself and make it incrementally worse for you and your family.