Are you/have you been in debt?

How did you cope, if you did?

just dont think about it, i used to cringe whenever i received bills from my university saying that i owed 40,000; but, now i know that i will pay it off eventually. If you make your debt seem like nothing, then it will hardly affect your personal life

I am a debt counselor and there IS help. A good website is www.moneymanagement.org, there you can find tips and budgets, recipes for food--all sorts of things. If you want one-on-one advice absolutlely for free, you can call 800-308-2227 and speak with a certified credit counselor who can advise you on the best solution for your situation.

I went through a few years where the companies I worked for went under so I kept losing my job. Every time that happened, I had to get a new job and start over at the bottom of the payscale. I had to use my paychecks to cover rent and bills and ended up putting things like groceries, car insurance, and cell phone on my credit card. I'd pay a little and spend a little each month so the balances kept creeping up each month.

To break this cycle, I had to go back to school to finish my degree. This meant taking on student loan debt as well. I didn't qualify for grants, only loans and they didn't cover all of the tuition so that went on the credit cards as well.

To cope, I had to sit down one day with all of my bills, money, and expenses. It was horrible and scary to look at the totals. Then I looked at the things that could be slashed from my budget. I had satellite tv with a lot of movie channels and cable internet. By switching to a cable tv/internet bundle with no movie channels, I saved $50 per month. I cancelled my landline since I was mainly using my cell phone anyway. I don't run the AC or heat if I can avoid it. I started clipping coupons. I write grocery lists and stick to them. I learned to cook and sew. Before making a purchase, I take a hard look at it and decide if it is a "need" or a "want". I kept all my receipts for a month and totaled the amount I was spending on cokes from the vending machine, lunches with friends, toll roads I could have avoided, etc. I was wasting a couple hundred dollars a month on nothing purchases.

Even though I had high balances, I still had a good credit score. I had a couple of fleeting thoughts about bankruptcy when I saw how high my balances actually were but knew that would destroy my credit. Cutting expenses and working overtime was a better option for me.

One of my credit card companies wouldn't negotiate on the interest rate and I was unable to transfer the balance to a better card. I had balances on three credit cards. I paid the minimum on two and put every possible extra penny towards the one with the highest interest rate. I made partial payments throughout the month since interest is compounded daily instead of making one big payment on the due date.

Once that card was paid off, I added that payment amount to the minimum I was already paying on the 2nd card to pay it off.

It sucked for a while. I knew I was finally bringing in decent money but I was living like I was broke because the amount I was paying in interest on credit cards was disgusting. I kept a spreadsheet that calculated my payments and interest and it was nice to see those balances going down each month. That kept me going with my plan. However, the end is in sight and I have a "debt free" date on my calendar.

My only regret is that I didn't have that little talk with myself sooner. If I could save the amount I pay on debt each month, I'd have a nice down payment on a house built up.

Just remember: when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you have to do is stop digging! (I remind myself of that every time I am tempted to make a non-necessary purchase. If I can't pay cash, I won't buy it. But everything I buy with cash, means taking money away from my credit card payments. Until those are completely gone, I'm not doing much shopping.)

Wait it out if you have to or go bankrupt.

I have been as much as $1mil in debt (three failing restaurants). I simply put a plan into place and each day woke up and visualized myself executing each step of the plan. It took a long time, and I am not out of the woods yet, but I am so much closer. I also think if you are religious that that can help take some of stress off. Some things are out of your control and you can only do your best. Occasional nights required some Niquil to get to sleep. I ultimately had to file bankruptcy, but it was worth it.

If your problems are coming from Credit Card debt, you MUST deal with it immediately. Being overwhelmed and ignoring will not help. Assess ALL your debts, write them on a paper (it will be overwhelming, but necessary) and just start working towards knocking them off. Stop your bad spending habits too. Nothing is worth the stress of being in debt!

If you start getting creditor calls, just try to ignore the hateful things they say and DO NOT give them any more information (names, other phone numbers, addresses, etc).

Now this is a bizarre question.

The huge majority of people who have ever bought a house or a new car are or were in debt.

Not to mention 99% of all college students.

I'm in debt! Just make payments every month, as much as I can & hope to get out shortly! (within the year).
Most of the population is in debt, that's why we over-work ourselves! It causes stress to be in debt, and often times- a sense of overwhelmed feelings (like- ahh! I owe too much!)
and also, you may feel like you'll never be able to pay what you owe, back- in this case, many people decide to just go in more debt. It's a sad... vicious cycle.
Good luck!

I believe I was born in debt and looks like I'm gonna stay that way.

yeah it sucks, I have been working on a budget. I write down all my bills and budget out my paychecks to pay the bills I have and to pay the past bills. it takes time but it is really worth.

Yes, most of america is. I think the average dollar amount is around 10 grand in credit card alone.

Depending on how much you are in dept, me personally i had to file bankruptcy, now if your not in that much of dept where that is not necessary, you don't have to endanger your basic needs and even some of the finances you use to your own rewards of recreational use after a work week or hard day and etc, just as long as your paying something on your bills the collectors cant do a whole lot, but on the same token you really should focus on getting it out of the way so you can go back to enjoying your hard earned money and eventually start accomplishing knew financial goals, financing money is all about patience and discipline, it will not happened over night and remember it will make you feel allot better when its over with.

We are, and we are trying to pay it off. It hurts a marriage though.

Debt is something that almost everyone will deal with. It is not always bad, some debt helps you build your credit score, if you make your payments on time.

If you ever plan on buying a car, house or going to get a college education, you can plan on having debt. Get a good job and you can pay it off.

Debt is very normal.

There are the few that are wealthy enough to avoid it, but it is only a small percent of the population.

THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, YOU'RE ALWAYS GONNA OWE SOMEBODY MONEY, WHETHER IT'S 10,000 OR 100,000. I'M GONNA HAVE BILLS FOR THE REST OF MY FRICKIN LIFE TILL THEY PUT ME IN THE GROUND. SO WHY SPEND EVERYDAY STRESSING OVER IT. IT WON'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER. JUST DO THE BEST YOU CAN WITH WHAT YOU GOT.

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