How Did Your Debt Problems Start?

Someone was consulting with me about his debt problems recently. He looked completely lost and confused as we sorted through all the credit card statements he plunked on my desk. $65,000! That’s how much the statements said he owed!  How can this be?  He said he paid a lot of these debts off just a few years ago. When I asked him how it was possible for him to owe that much again, he replied: “Honestly, I don’t know. I thought I was doing much better.”
For the vast majority of people, their debt problems usually stem from a series of events or bad financial decisions.  It can be that a lot of people simply don’t keep track of what they charge on their credit cards. So they use their credit cards for everyday purchases without realizing how much debt they are accumulating.
Some use their credit cards for so-called “emergencies”. The problem is that anything could pretty much qualify as an “emergency”. The “emergency” could be new furniture that they don’t even need, a new car or an unplanned family vacation. Months or years go by and before they realize it, their debts have skyrocketed beyond their ability to repay. And unless their income has increased over that period of time, it becomes a struggle to make the debt payments every month.
The truth is that your debt problems didn’t just suddenly appear out of nowhere. At some point, you may have made some bad financial decisions that led to your present situation. But that’s OK and you don’t need to be too hard on yourself. But at least acknowledging responsibility for where you are irrespective of whose fault it may have been can be your big first step in getting out of the financial mess you’re in.
If you need help in figuring out your options, call my Valencia office at RJB Law Offices, 866-477-7772 and request a free initial consultation.