The Debt Chronicles
The dog days of debt have consumed the nation, and as members of so-called “Generation Debt,” perhaps it’s time to face the facts and peer into the abyss of our bank accounts. Check out these articles from Consumerist to get the ball rolling on a new era of financial self-awareness:
12 Signs You’re Addicted to Debt. Do feel like when you use a credit card at lunch, you’re not actually paying? You may be a debt addict.
Reader Pays Off $14,330 in 20 Months. An inspirational tale for anyone living with suffocating debt and trying to figure out how to reset the balance. Some great tips in here, including a sample script for calling the credit card company to negotiate lower rates.
Confessions of a Shopaholic. I’m pretty excited for this movie to be 2008’s DWP, but I have to admit it glorifies horrible spending habits. Funnily enough, the Consumerist reader who settled her $14,330 actually used the technique of freezing her credit card in a block of ice…but she refrained from hacking it out. Take it as a caveat, or a much-needed hit of escapism.
Via Consumerist
Harassing calls from debt collectors have become a way of life for many as the U.S. economy has faltered and unemployment soared. Debt collection is big business: About $40 billion each year is recovered from consumers by collectors, according to the International 642-901 exam Association of Credit and Collection Professionals. With so much money at stake, aggressive tactics – and outright harassment - are common. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission received 78,000 complaints about debt collectors. In one FTC complaint I’ve read, a consumer describes this harrowing episode. He was threatened by a collector over a $600 medical bill that he couldn’t pay. Out 642-825 exam of spite, the collector managed to break the debt up into nine $70 unpaid bill, just so the consumer would get nine separate dings on his credit report. But you don’t have to put up with dirty tricks. Put one phrase in one letter, and you can stop the harassing 646-363 exam calls and interruptions. The beginning of the end of a debt nightmare is to get debt collectors off your back. Here’s how.