Banker Getting Out of Debt

I felt reasonably better today just knowing that yesterday I told you I was going to do something.  I’m feeling a little pressure to actually do something, though. The easy start was to get on the internet and splash my resume on Monster.com, Jobing.com and CareerBuilders.com. I posted for both a commercial loan officer job, because I’m concerned I might be laid off, and I also posted for a part time anything job—because I need to pay bills that exceed my monthly take home base salary.  I thought about selling my rusty bike but decided to postpone a yard sale.

I saw an ad for Debt Relief America and got a return call from Cindy 800-470-8155 x140. It’s a debt settlement company. The way debt settlements work is that you have a certain lump sum of cash—usually $5,000 to $30,000 or more.  You give it to them with all of the credit card and unsecured loan statements you have. They will then call each of the creditors and try to negotiate a settlement.  The settlement is usually 45-55% of what is owed. The debt settlement company adds on their 5-10% fee so you end up paying 50-65% of your debt.  The company that gave you the credit card or loan writes off or “charges off” the difference. It hurts your credit, but you don’t have to deal with the mean-old credit collectors any more.  You can negotiate these settlements yourself, but it’s difficult to do if you cry a lot like I do. It also helps when the person negotiating on your behalf is an impersonal settlement officer just trying to make a living. It shouldn’t make a difference, but debt collectors are pros and they will have even the hardest-hearted debtor in the fetal position within 5 minutes. They’ll threaten wage garnishments, lawsuits—they’ll call your family, friends and employers.  It makes me weak in the knees just thinking about it. How do I know? Guess.

I’ve been there guys. That’s why you keep reading my blog. I know, generally, what I’m talking about.  Now, I’m not a technical expert. Different settlement companies probably operate differently, but I’m describing MY experience with a large debt settlement company. At a time when I had $60,000 in unsecured debt and $20,000 in cash from the sale of my house, it was well worth paying them. They settled 3 out of 5 credit cards for $20,000.  I still owed $20,000 when it was all done.  But that’s for another entry.  Debt settlement can be an option if you have some, but not all, of the cash you need to get out of debt.  Try the debt relief company noted above. The one I used is no longer in business, but Cindy at Debt Relief American seems nice—a welcome change when you are used to the mean voice of debt collectors.

Today, take one action that will improve your monthly income.  That’s it. Just one.  You see, once you get used to taking one action each day to improve your income, it becomes a habit.  After 30 days, you’ll have taken 30 actions in a month to improve your income. It could be as small as posting a resume on the web, calling a friend for a job referral, having a yard sale, getting a part time job.  Think income. Income. INCOME. Take your hobby and make $10 teaching someone else about it. That’s it! $10. Start there and make it a habit. Don’t log in again until you’ve taken that one simple step–and no whining.

Best,

Your New Banker

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