Archive results for “January 2008f 2008”

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CNBC Television Documentary is Looking for Someone To Interview

I received an email the other day, asking if I would post a little announcement on here. CNBC is looking for an someone to interview for a debt-related television documentary:

DROWNING IN DEBT? CNBC WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU

CNBC Business Television is looking for someone who is, or was, in debt (about $30,000 or more) and is interested in being interviewed for a documentary that will address consumer spending and debt. We specifically need someone who can speak about their own personal experience with overspending associated with credit cards, home equity lines, etc. as opposed to debt due to student loans, job loss or major life events.

The documentary is being produced by the same team that created the Peabody and duPont award-winning “The Age of Wal-Mart,” and will air on CNBC prime-time this spring.

Please contact Lauren Kesner at CNBC- (201) 735-2370 – if you are interested in possibly participating. You can also send an email to lauren.kesner[at]nbcuni[dot]com.

I do not get CNBC (I only have basic cable), so if one of you happen to do this…please let me know so I can try to watch it somewhere

Posted by Tricia on January 31, 2008 at 11:54 PM in General Debt | 5 Comments »
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How Long Did It Take Me To Max Out My First Credit Card

Yesterday, I shared what was the first charge on my first credit card. That first month, I charged about $125.

According to the next month’s statement, I paid $80. Not quite paying the balance in full, but not paying the minimum payment ($20), either. But I turned around and charged an additional $215 on the card. By the end of December 1995, the card was basically maxed out with $22 left in available credit.

Three months was all it took.

Oh…what I would tell my 18 year-old self if I had a chance. I’m not sure it would have done much good, though. I should have known better. I like math – I should have realized what an 18.15% interest rate meant.

Anyways, what’s done is done. I never want to max out another credit card again.

Posted by Tricia on January 29, 2008 at 11:10 PM in Credit Cards | 9 Comments »
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What Charge Started $37,000 in Credit Card Debt?

My relationship with credit cards started when I was a freshman in college and I completed an application in return for a candy bar. Not too long after getting that shiny credit card in the mail, I used it.

I don’t remember what that first charge was, but with a little digging I was able to find a copy of my very first credit card bill. In all, during that first month I charged $125 and my card had a $500 limit.

So what was that very first charge? Did I go bonkers and treat my friends to Pizza Hut? Did I go on a clothes shopping spree?

I…paid…a…bill! My telephone bill at the dorm!

I thought for sure my first purchase would have been something very irresponsible for an 18 year-old with a new credit card. I have to admit – I am very surprised.

But wait – eight days later, the shopping spree began. The next two charges were to a local card shop. I know exactly what those charges were for…Magic the Gathering cards. I spent quite a bit of money on those cards and so did the people I played the game with.

The next charge was for a little over $30.00 and was made at K-Mart. I probably bought some clothes. Another charge for my telephone bill and a charge to the campus bookstore for some supplies rounded out the rest of my very first credit card bill.

I plan on digging up more old statements and taking more trips down debt memory lane. As I come across interesting tidbits, I’ll share them here. I think Cleverdude is right about writing your autobiography through spending.

In a way, I’m a little nervous to look through the old statements. I often think that you need to let go of your past mistakes and move forward. But I have a strong urge to dig into our past spending. I almost wonder if it is because we are getting closer to paying off our debt and I want to make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself once our cards are paid off.

Posted by Tricia on January 28, 2008 at 9:37 PM in Credit Cards | 24 Comments »
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Owes $54,000 and Spends Nearly $2,000 More Than He Earns Each Month

Reader Chris sent me a link to an LA Times article about a guy who is drowning in debt.

Nathan Drake, who lives in California, is in a very dire financial situation:

All of it added up. Drake carries $29,000 in debt on six credit cards. He owes an additional $16,000 at his bank. And he has borrowed $9,000 from his 401(k) retirement plan, which is worth $14,000 and was his only unencumbered asset.

Each month, he spends nearly $2,000 more than he earns. Any financial mishap and he’s further in the hole. Recently, Jodi (his wife) needed a root canal, forcing him to put $900 more on plastic.

[Via LA Times article]

Things are so bad that he is considering bankruptcy. As part of sharing his financial story with the paper, Drake was counciled by a certified financial planner, Linda Barlow. Barlow recognized that Drake was in a terrible situation, but she knows that if Drake worked at it, he could pay off the debts himself and be out of debt in about three years.

How?

Cut his spending and earn more income! Because Drake was spending nearly $2,000 more a month than he earned, he was constantly adding more debt. That is a recipe for disaster. Barlow gave some suggestions relevant to Drake’s situation in the article and he appears to be on board with her advice:

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said, “but the pieces are falling into place.”

[Via LA Times article]

It sounds like Barlow will be checking up on Drake in 6 months. I hope the LA Times gives a follow-up to Drake’s story. I believe he can turn it around if he listends to Barlow’s advice.

Thanks, Chris for sending me the article!

Posted by Tricia on January 27, 2008 at 11:21 AM in General Debt | 16 Comments »
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From ING Direct – Bank Fees are Like Financial Wedgies

I was snooping around the ING Direct website a little bit today, and I came across the page that lists their current outdoor advertising. I got a kick out of some of the slogans they are using for their savings account so I thought I would share my favorites:

“Bank fees are like financial wedgies.”

“Bank fees. Like a screen door on a submarine.”

You can click here to see all of them.

We’ve been fortunate because our current banking institutions do not charge fees for normal everyday use. But in the past we did have a savings account that earned interest, but would charge us a fee when the account dropped below a certain balance (which it sometimes did). Needless to say, we no longer bank with them.

No more financial wedgies for us LOL

Posted by Tricia on January 26, 2008 at 12:15 PM in Saving Money | 7 Comments »
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Time To Attack Our Debt Again

For a while there, we were concentrating on beefing up our savings account. As it sits today, we now have over $3,000 in our savings account. We’ve contributed some, and we’ve also received some help from others opening ING savings accounts using our referral links (thank you!). I feel good about having that much in there. That is more than enough to get us through a month of expenses.

I’ve been reading lately about credit cards magically raising their rates. That makes me nervous, because one of the reasons given by the companies is that the card holder had too much debt. We still have a large balance on our credit card and it’s at 0% right now. If it raised, well, that would be very, very bad (to put it lightly). It’s time to get back to attacking our debt.

We’ve had some money sitting in our checking account waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I’ve been pretty busy lately, so I set our finances on autopilot last week. I dug my nose in there today, and saw that we could pay $600 more to our credit card. Our credit card debt is now at $16,362.

I hope to be able to pay a little bit more before the end of the month, but we’ll see. I’m expecting a few checks in the mail, but I never count on them and I don’t “spend” them until I see them safely deposited into our bank account. Doing it like that keeps us out of trouble

Posted by Tricia on January 26, 2008 at 11:59 AM in Debt Updates | 6 Comments »
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The Debt Blues, Credit Card Emergency Fund, Spending Autobiography, Diamonds and 30s Finance

Another Friday is here and it’s time for a round-up of a few articles that caught my eye this week:

DebtKid shares how he deals with the debt blues.

We’re In Debt is wondering what you were in a tough time financially. Would you use your credit card as an emergency fund?

CleverDude had an interesting article on writing your autobiography through spending. One of my goals in the next few months is to dig up some old credit card receipts and take a look at how we spent money.

If you have bought a diamond in the last 12 years, you may want to check out MyMoneyBlog’s post on diamond class action lawsuit. We only have a small diamond in my engagement ring, and I’m pretty sure I threw out the receipt already.

Lastly, David gives some personal finance advice for your 30s. It’s part of a project for a network that he belongs to, so make sure you scroll to the bottom of the article to read the other entries.

That’s it for this week.Â I’m looking forward to sticking my nose into our finances this weekend to pay some debt or beef up our savings account. So expect some updated numbers shortly

Posted by Tricia on January 25, 2008 at 8:06 AM in Blogging Buddies | 3 Comments »
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