As a professional financial counselor, I work with many people who are in danger of losing their home or being evicted. I feel for all these people, but some stories break your heart. I’ll never forget one client, named Tonya, who contacted me because she could not afford her debts and expenses. Tonya told me how she never could keep good track of her finances.
“I’m just no good with money,” she said. Tonya had a car loan with an enormous interest rate, and a long commute that cost her $200 a month in gasoline. She owed a lot in credit card debt, and now she was giving her half of the rent to her roommate later and later each month. Spending almost a thousand dollars per month on transportation while working as a cashier is usually not mathematically possible.
Even with a roommate and a used car, Tonya, still couldn’t make her finances work,then she told me her story. The apartment building Tonya was living in, along with a few others in the area, had been built by her father in the 1950s. Both her parents were dead, and she, an only child, inherited all the real estate, which had come with no debt attached, not to mention the rest of her parents’ money.
“After my parents were gone I took out an equity loan on one of the apartment buildings to pay my living expenses when I lost my job,” she said. “But I couldn’t keep up with the payments and everything else, so I mortgaged another one. One by one I lost them all.”This one was a real heart breaker.
Tonya had lost all those buildings her father built with his bare hands. And now she was living in one of them, paying rent to a stranger to do so. “All growing up they gave me everything I asked for,” she said, referring to her parents. “Then I got married and he gave me whatever I needed. I guess I just don’t know how to make it on my own.” Tonya will probably have to declare bankruptcy, but I’m sure she’ll be okay. We went over her finances and put together a budget. We talked about all the things that made money so confusing to her.
If she just makes some changes in her situation, and keeps away from bad debts like her car loan, she’ll be fine. It’s just sad to think that instead of making a monthly rent payment, she could have been collecting them.
Debt Consolidation Affiliate Program has a comprehensive customer service plan providing on-line account access and constant access to personalized debt settlement specialists.
This is a guest post contributed by Nick Raven from http://onthefrontlinesofamericanswarwithdebt.wordpress.com/
“I’m just no good with money,” she said. Tonya had a car loan with an enormous interest rate, and a long commute that cost her $200 a month in gasoline. She owed a lot in credit card debt, and now she was giving her half of the rent to her roommate later and later each month. Spending almost a thousand dollars per month on transportation while working as a cashier is usually not mathematically possible.
Even with a roommate and a used car, Tonya, still couldn’t make her finances work,then she told me her story. The apartment building Tonya was living in, along with a few others in the area, had been built by her father in the 1950s. Both her parents were dead, and she, an only child, inherited all the real estate, which had come with no debt attached, not to mention the rest of her parents’ money.
“After my parents were gone I took out an equity loan on one of the apartment buildings to pay my living expenses when I lost my job,” she said. “But I couldn’t keep up with the payments and everything else, so I mortgaged another one. One by one I lost them all.”This one was a real heart breaker.
Tonya had lost all those buildings her father built with his bare hands. And now she was living in one of them, paying rent to a stranger to do so. “All growing up they gave me everything I asked for,” she said, referring to her parents. “Then I got married and he gave me whatever I needed. I guess I just don’t know how to make it on my own.” Tonya will probably have to declare bankruptcy, but I’m sure she’ll be okay. We went over her finances and put together a budget. We talked about all the things that made money so confusing to her.
If she just makes some changes in her situation, and keeps away from bad debts like her car loan, she’ll be fine. It’s just sad to think that instead of making a monthly rent payment, she could have been collecting them.
Debt Consolidation Affiliate Program has a comprehensive customer service plan providing on-line account access and constant access to personalized debt settlement specialists.
This is a guest post contributed by Nick Raven from http://onthefrontlinesofamericanswarwithdebt.wordpress.com/
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