Ok, I would like to hit rewind for just a second. Back to that last moment in 2007 when I said goodbye to that horrible year. I also said how 2008 is going to be awesome. Well, it is not starting off that way but I am trying to remain calm and keep composed.
My father-in-law was in the hospital last night. Nothing too bad but it is amazing how they try to get rid of you as fast as they can when you have no insurance! I am glad that I did take the insurance at work but it was like pulling teeth for me to make my decision. I pay $65 per week for a cheap HMO for myself only. My kids are covered under a different plan here and that is really all that matters. My husband has nothing. If I was to add him, well I would have to just sign over my paycheck to cover the insurance. Yes, it is that much! We decided on me getting the insurance because even though I do not like doctors and never go to them, I seem to have very bad luck and will end up somehow in the hospital uninsured!
So as I wrote in my last post, my husband got paid by that company he was doing work for and cut ties with them. Well, at 6am this morning, he wakes me up with a “do not worry-I will fix this”. I am like OK…what now? The checks they wrote him bounced but luckily the bank covered all the checks and just hit us with a million overdraft fees. Did I need this now? So he calls this owner of the company at 615 am and woke him out of a dead sleep and went off on him. I was impressed. He is usually the very quiet one. See what debt and bills do to ya? 
Well, we will see if they give him the money within the next couple of days. So now, not only do I have hundreds in overdraft fees, we are officially BROKE. He had a minimum due for his credit card today and I just looked at him and asked…you gotta be kidding? He looked at me and said-you know what??? The hell with credit cards. I am over all of them! So I gave my whole debt settlement speech again. This time he really listened. I called the leasing office where we live and asked them (anonymously of course) “if you moved in with good credit but got into some credit issues after and it is time to renew the lease-will you”? I was assured that we can continue living there. That was all he needed to hear. He officially stopped paying today. He is including most of his cards. Not any of his Citi accounts though. Because from what I hear and what I am experiencing with them is no walk in the park.
That leads me to the phone calls. Citi calls me before I go to work, during the day and in the evening. I stopped paying Chase before them and Chase has not called once! Of course I got a pleasant surprise from Chase. My new statement came. My $400 minimum payment is now $1,027. Courtesy of late and overlimit fees. WOW. Oh and as I write this Citi is calling again!
100% of the time, I try to do what is right and if I ever have thoughts of anything else, I am so filled with guilt. I thought not paying my bills was so bad and I thought I would really struggle with this but I found I am not. Look at what is going on in this world? I never stopped to pay attention before like I do now. It is crazy. A couple of forums I belong to, I see new members join every day looking for guidance because they are so in debt and are overwhelmed. People are walking away from their homes….walking away! Just picking up the family and going. It is so freakin normal now it is depressing! I got to a point where I can’t even watch the news because I go to sleep and wake up a few times a night feeling like I can’t breathe. I was reading up on it and read it is anxiety. That happened only once really bad for about 2 hours-I thought I was gonna die. Now so it doesn’t last that long, I calm myself down. It is hard to do. I am pretty sure it is panic attacks but I think they will go away when all this is over. Gosh I hope so. They freak me out.
I have a little more anxiety today because I just found out the company I work for is not doing all that well. They are doing major cutbacks. I now have zero overtime starting next week. That will cut my pay at least $100 a week. So now that 2nd job is really important to find. I am really nervous but luckily I work on the inside so if it does get too bad where I feel I am gonna lose my job, then I will look elsewhere. I should be sad but I am not. Again, if you have read my other posts, I don’t really care for the job all that much but it does pay the bills. They have been good to me, have always paid on time and I have never had any of their checks bounce. So hopefully whatever is going to happen, happens after I settle.
Well I think I wrote enough tonight. I am off to go play some raquetball and relieve some stress!
Hey! Oh I’m so sorry about everything your going through with your husbands check he got and now your overdraft fee’s dang, you should get the company to pay the overdraft fee’s as well since that company’s bounced check caused it. As to the late fee’s, interest etc, I just stopped looking at my statements, it’s to much. I knew I needed time to get the money together so my recommendation is just to file them away, I made a file folder for each credit card and when statements or letters came I put them in the folder. I also used the top of the folder to write my notes, like dates and who I spoke with etc. This helps greatly. Making one folder for each card helps me stay organized and keep all the calls etc straight.
Also – good to hear your husband is on board, both of you working this together I’m sure you’ll get there. Do the same for his cards as well, and maybe keep an excel spreadsheet listing each card and the date you stopped paying. I had all my debts listed not just the CC’s but each time I pay or settle something I cross it off the list. It’s a great visual for me to see accounts getting crossed off and knowing I’m making progress.
So don’t let it get to you! You need to be healthy, getting sleep and focusing on basic needs first and foremost! Don’t let debt cause you that much anxiety!
Jen
Thanks Jen! I am trying. I really am. What I am telling myself is…if you think it is bad, it will be bad. I figure it is going to be rough for a while-at least the next few months but by the holidays this year-we should be in a lot better position. Now that hubby is on board-I am on here working on his #’s-he has a million little cards…ahhhh. I just doubled my #’s on here! Waddaya gonna do???:)
it’s sounds really stressful! I am glad your hubby is on board, it will really make a difference for you,
as jen said, keep records or all the conversations and who said what, I have found that if you ask each caller thier name and how to spell it they smarten up as they realize you are making notes. I did this every time I spoke to someone when I had creditors calling. document everything
the other thing I did is get an answering machine so you don’t have to answer the phone. Then you can return calls when you feel ready to and have had a chance to think how you want to handle it. don’t apologise to creditors either, honestly there is a whole psychology to how they intimidate people… it really p*sses me off@
They are bullying & harrasing you. Report them to a credit watch organization if you can.
and refuse to take calls at work. notifyy them in writing that they are harrassing you and you request they stop calling and commicate in writing.
what you describe at night are panic attacks, and playing racquetball and getting plenty of physical exercise will help. There is a great little book called Living With It by Bev Aisbett which is fantastic, a reall quick read and accurate for anxiety attacks. Exercise is key, later add abdminal but don’t try and learn it while you are anxious, it will not work that way
sorry to go on but I read your post and I know what it’s like, went throught something similar years ago . I ended up very depressed, just do what you have to do to keep your head above water at the minute, remind yourself in the middle of the night that you ARE taking steps to solve the issue, and it will get bettter