My Blog

More now than ever, it seems people are struggling with bill consolidation. Constantly, there are reports how this issue is becoming an epidemic in the United States. Credit cards have become one of the biggest contributors to this problem because people are spending money that they do not have. Some people spend their entire lives trying to get out of debt. Rather than putting up the money at the time of purchase, people are able to buy an item and then make monthly payments. The issue that results from here is the interest on having these credit cards. People pay more than the item is worth because they do not have all of the money at the original time of purchase. Credit card companies make money because you need to borrow from them since you do not have the necessary money ready in full at the start. You have to pay over an extended period of time. In past times, people only had a couple of bills. It was a mortgage, a car payment and maybe some other expensive item that had payments. Yet, people now abuse credit cards and find themselves with hundreds and thousands of dollars in bills. So not only do people struggle with bill consolidation, the bills in general are more costly. People are inundated with credit card bills which they are trying to catch up on. It is a cycle that never ends until people make the decision to limit on spending and manage their money more effectively. Homes, cars and everything in between have increased incredibly in value and cost. Mainly, it is young adults who do have guidance who get themselves in trouble and it does not take very long to get into debt. However, it could take years to recover from poor financial decisions. It is better to just get rid of credit cards all together. This way you can only purchase things you have the money to buy. People usually live well outside of their means. Status is one of the greatest problems for people in financial limbo. It is important for people to have more than their neighbor, even if this means they technically can not afford the cost of those items.

My best friend has gotten himself into quite a financial dilemma. He has not been very smart with credit card purchases. He is over five thousand dollars in debt just in credit cards. The interest alone is killing him. Recently, he was in the process of transferring jobs when the whole thing fell apart. It put him in even more of a difficult situation. His employer obviously did not like his decision to look for a new job. As a result, my best friend lost his job. Here he is in major debt and now he does not even have a job. That was a tough few days to be around him. Right now he is out searching for a more long term and better paying job, but for the time being he is working at the local office supply store to make some money. To help him get a hold of the problem and obtain some debt consolidation, I have let him move in with me. For the first couple of months, I am going to let him live with me for free. I hope the idea does not backfire on me. This way he can save about nine hundred a month on rent payments. The studio apartment he was living in is an unnecessary cost at this point. We sat down the other night and went over his finances. It will take him four or five months to pay off the credit cards and be debt free. First, he needs to find a new job. The temporary office supply job is not going to provide him with any stability. I am happy to see he is out making money rather than sitting around unemployed, but he needs to get going on another full-time job. The debt consolidation is only going to help him if he starts to save money after paying off his bills. Unfortunately, the money he is making now is not enough to start saving. Everything will go to bills. He has a job interview with a local sports marketing company on Thursday, so I am hoping it goes well and he gets the job.

When I first came to States seven years ago, I had a very vague impression as to what debt consolidation was. I am originally from Eastern Europe, and there, the notion of debt is rather something that people generally do not accept, although, now, it is starting to be more and more popular to use credit (loans) on things like cars, condos, houses, electronics, etc. However, there, people do not live on credit cards. If they have the money, they will spend it, if not, then not. However, here, I notice bill consolidation on credit cards and other line of credit is very common. Apparently, the notion of consumption is very widespread. I understand it, as, personally, I sometimes feel drawn in by the attractive and vivid images of publicity, ads, and so forth. Sometimes it just feels that it is impossible to resist the temptation of consuming, more, and more, and more, and more. However, since, apparently, there is never enough money, consuming more and more and more and more leads to more and more and more and more debt – as sometimes there are not enough hours in a day to get everything done, so here there is just sometimes not enough money to cover all the desired expenses. What’s worse, for me, at least, is that once I start spending more, I start to see that there is much more to spend on – just like the vicious circle. For example, once I realized that sometimes I can afford to spend a bit of money on this and that home essential (like, buying nicer towels, decorating the apartment a bit more, etc), I soon realized that once our apartment looks a bit better, we, ourselves, deserve to rest a bit more, go out a bit more – the list goes on and on and on. These “bits” accumulate – so do the debts. Sometimes I start wondering if there is a certain job that will take care of all these expenses…and sometimes I find that there just is not one. It’s difficult, though, since once you start spending, you need more and more debt help, and the circle continues…