OT: Just settled a debt

brightonalex · Post by **brightonalex** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:51 am

jamief wrote: It allows me to buy a house in a relaxed crime free area with the officially the best school in the country two nice cars holidays etc etc.

You're sending your children to Eton!?

jamief · Post by **jamief** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:59 am

brightonalex wrote:
jamief wrote: It allows me to buy a house in a relaxed crime free area with the officially the best school in the country two nice cars holidays etc etc.
You're sending your children to Eton!?

No Oxford actually

Jekblad · Post by **Jekblad** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:10 am

i'm hoping the financial crisis will call me up and just call it even

radimast · Post by **radimast** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:46 am

I had a good friend who worked at a collection agency.

Collection agencies will almost always agree to a smaller payout than the actual value of the debt. Collection agencies don't pay the original creditor full value of the debt.

There is a hierarchy of agencies, top agencies get "fresh" debts, agencies lower down on the scale get older debts. The older your debt is, the less you can get away with paying off in order to clear the debt.

If you pay off a debt, make sure you get lots of paperwork showing that you did so, then check your credit report in a couple of months. You might have to do some extra legwork to get your credit report updated.

Almost as bad on your credit report as bad credit is no credit history .

Landser · Post by **Landser** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:14 am

Who is in debt is not free.
Wer in Schuld ist, ist nicht frei.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 1:54 pm

"Galleries might turn art into a commodity but banks turn creativity into feces and debt."

(the TAZ, H. Bey)

Crash · Post by **Crash** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:19 pm

Pure Feng Shui in this thread! Grats on getting rid of that burden!

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:39 pm

Tone Deft wrote:man, in contrast to your 'how do people sleep at night with debt' thread, this is crazy... congrats!

No doubt. That thread was more about active debt that is growing in the tens of thousands or more and tied to large ticket items like cars, houses, etc. that could potentially be taken away if you stop making payments.

I considered this a dead debt, small by comparison, that I just needed to pay off if/when it became important. Right now it's not immediately important but I was thrilled I could take care of it before it became so.

The only bad marks I have left on report are an unpaid phone and electric bill from a place I moved out of years ago, both under $100 each and I should have those paid by the end of December. Those generally don't collect interest because they know someday you will probably move into a new place and will need those things turned on and will have to pay the old amount before they do so.

As kind of a one-two punch I got a prepaid secured credit card last month that I plan to hardly use aside from a few small things a few times a month which I will pay the full amount every month on time.

So I'm taking care of the bad marks while building new credit. I figure in six months to a year I should be looking pretty good.

4ace · Post by **4ace** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:02 pm

jamief wrote:i had a bad credit score also. Defaulted on loans missed payments being late etc etc a general disregard for my own financial welfare. Ended up having a really bad credit rating which resulting in all sorts of differnt hassles as you can imagine.
That was back in 97 ish.
Role on today n. I have a 100 precent clear credit rating and i am very carefull about maintaing that - i reckon youve got to be.
It allows me to buy a house in a relaxed crime free area with the officially the best school in the country two nice cars holidays etc etc.

yes i,m showing off a bit there - but i,m very proud of myself for changing it all around. In fact 5 years ago i was still in quite alot of debt and going nowwhere fast it seemed. It was really only in the last 3-4 years has the situation reversed and i got my head screwed on and with that new philiophy came a big increase in earning potiental which i grasped with both hands.

Get your debt paid off and move forward.

Incidently my wife who i mariied last year also had developed a bad personal financial oulook. I have been coachhing her over the last 3- 4 years being really on her back when its appropriate to get it cleared up and she has just about finished paying them all off. Her credit rating will resume to a non default status next year.

Hope this helps

That's not showing off thats called being damn proud of taking care of your business!
Cheers to that!

This coming year( '09 ) will be my year of financial freedom. I've been in debt since '01 and the shite hit the fan so to speak in 2005.

Debt really does = Slavery!

jamief · Post by **jamief** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:33 pm

4ace wrote:
jamief wrote:i had a bad credit score also. Defaulted on loans missed payments being late etc etc a general disregard for my own financial welfare. Ended up having a really bad credit rating which resulting in all sorts of differnt hassles as you can imagine.
That was back in 97 ish.
Role on today n. I have a 100 precent clear credit rating and i am very carefull about maintaing that - i reckon youve got to be.
It allows me to buy a house in a relaxed crime free area with the officially the best school in the country two nice cars holidays etc etc.

yes i,m showing off a bit there - but i,m very proud of myself for changing it all around. In fact 5 years ago i was still in quite alot of debt and going nowwhere fast it seemed. It was really only in the last 3-4 years has the situation reversed and i got my head screwed on and with that new philiophy came a big increase in earning potiental which i grasped with both hands.

Get your debt paid off and move forward.

Incidently my wife who i mariied last year also had developed a bad personal financial oulook. I have been coachhing her over the last 3- 4 years being really on her back when its appropriate to get it cleared up and she has just about finished paying them all off. Her credit rating will resume to a non default status next year.

Hope this helps
That's not showing off thats called being damn proud of taking care of your business!
Cheers to that!

This coming year( '09 ) will be my year of financial freedom. I've been in debt since '01 and the shite hit the fan so to speak in 2005.

Debt really does = Slavery!

Thanks 4 ace,
gonna through this into the pot which some may appreciate and others it might seem a rather cold and distanced belief for those who are currently struggling financially.

Being in debt is albout your pyschology not about your bank balance. What i mean to say is being in debt is down to mindset and outlook if you will and a person will always be in a position debt until the change there pyschology into gaining wealth - perhaps freeing their mind to or gaining having what is necessary for them to feel happy and comfortable with there life's.
i like having a nice house and the other stuff that goes along with it ,it makes me feel good about myself gives me confidence in life and myself. And this really brings me to what i was saying above in essence being confident in yourself and also equally importantly in life the world can transform you from riches to poorness and vice versa. It sounds simple but for me its takin a long time to understand and get it working and i,m only just playing at really. I am develpoing making it work to a higher level and that takes clarity of mind and once i can get that and find my starting point i can chart my path again - which is what i am doing even writing this.
Its important to be happy and scrimping and saving just doesnt cut it for me anymore

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:56 pm

jamief wrote:
4ace wrote:
jamief wrote:i had a bad credit score also. Defaulted on loans missed payments being late etc etc a general disregard for my own financial welfare. Ended up having a really bad credit rating which resulting in all sorts of differnt hassles as you can imagine.
That was back in 97 ish.
Role on today n. I have a 100 precent clear credit rating and i am very carefull about maintaing that - i reckon youve got to be.
It allows me to buy a house in a relaxed crime free area with the officially the best school in the country two nice cars holidays etc etc.

yes i,m showing off a bit there - but i,m very proud of myself for changing it all around. In fact 5 years ago i was still in quite alot of debt and going nowwhere fast it seemed. It was really only in the last 3-4 years has the situation reversed and i got my head screwed on and with that new philiophy came a big increase in earning potiental which i grasped with both hands.

Get your debt paid off and move forward.

Incidently my wife who i mariied last year also had developed a bad personal financial oulook. I have been coachhing her over the last 3- 4 years being really on her back when its appropriate to get it cleared up and she has just about finished paying them all off. Her credit rating will resume to a non default status next year.

Hope this helps
That's not showing off thats called being damn proud of taking care of your business!
Cheers to that!

This coming year( '09 ) will be my year of financial freedom. I've been in debt since '01 and the shite hit the fan so to speak in 2005.

Debt really does = Slavery!
Thanks 4 ace,
gonna through this into the pot which some may appreciate and others it might seem a rather cold and distanced belief for those who are currently struggling financially.

Being in debt is albout your pyschology not about your bank balance. What i mean to say is being in debt is down to mindset and outlook if you will and a person will always be in a position debt until the change there pyschology into gaining wealth - perhaps freeing their mind to or gaining having what is necessary for them to feel happy and comfortable with there life's.
i like having a nice house and the other stuff that goes along with it ,it makes me feel good about myself gives me confidence in life and myself. And this really brings me to what i was saying above in essence being confident in yourself and also equally importantly in life the world can transform you from riches to poorness and vice versa. It sounds simple but for me its takin a long time to understand and get it working and i,m only just playing at really. I am develpoing making it work to a higher level and that takes clarity of mind and once i can get that and find my starting point i can chart my path again - which is what i am doing even writing this.
Its important to be happy and scrimping and saving just doesnt cut it for me anymore

Having good credit is potentially the easiest thing in the world with some discipline and living within your means. Granted, most people can't buy a house or car completely with cash paid in full, but having monthly expenses that wouldn't be possible without credit cards is, well, stupid.

Part of the reason I didn't take care of these blemishes before was because I didn't want shiny new offers arriving in the mail. I didn't trust myself given my history, but now that I've gone 5+ years of no credit being available to me I think I have the experience and discipline to not get stupid with credit.

The card I just got is sitting in a drawer never to be carried on me unless for something specific like gas and then right back it goes. That may not make a lot of sense when you can buy and pay for everything now on the internet, but it does make perfect sense when you throw in scenarios like binge drinking with friends on the weekend.

But as I mentioned there are other important circumstances where having good credit is important and is not about buying things you can't afford, having a roof over your head in a safe neighborhood is one of those things. And although I've never run into this yet, in some circumstances credit can even keep you from getting a new job.

jamief · Post by **jamief** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 4:05 pm

Beat me i agree, being in debt or having access to good credit is essential. Its the way of the world and is 100% necessary for an established soceity to grow advance and function. And its all built on trust. Soceity formed through the trust of barter or credit

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:14 pm

beats me wrote:
Tone Deft wrote:man, in contrast to your 'how do people sleep at night with debt' thread, this is crazy... congrats!
No doubt. That thread was more about active debt that is growing in the tens of thousands or more and tied to large ticket items like cars, houses, etc. that could potentially be taken away if you stop making payments.

I considered this a dead debt, small by comparison, that I just needed to pay off if/when it became important. Right now it's not immediately important but I was thrilled I could take care of it before it became so.

The only bad marks I have left on report are an unpaid phone and electric bill from a place I moved out of years ago, both under $100 each and I should have those paid by the end of December. Those generally don't collect interest because they know someday you will probably move into a new place and will need those things turned on and will have to pay the old amount before they do so.

As kind of a one-two punch I got a prepaid secured credit card last month that I plan to hardly use aside from a few small things a few times a month which I will pay the full amount every month on time.

So I'm taking care of the bad marks while building new credit. I figure in six months to a year I should be looking pretty good.

I totally disagree with your judgment.

to each their own, good luck!

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:28 pm

Tone Deft wrote:
beats me wrote:
Tone Deft wrote:man, in contrast to your 'how do people sleep at night with debt' thread, this is crazy... congrats!
No doubt. That thread was more about active debt that is growing in the tens of thousands or more and tied to large ticket items like cars, houses, etc. that could potentially be taken away if you stop making payments.

I considered this a dead debt, small by comparison, that I just needed to pay off if/when it became important. Right now it's not immediately important but I was thrilled I could take care of it before it became so.

The only bad marks I have left on report are an unpaid phone and electric bill from a place I moved out of years ago, both under $100 each and I should have those paid by the end of December. Those generally don't collect interest because they know someday you will probably move into a new place and will need those things turned on and will have to pay the old amount before they do so.

As kind of a one-two punch I got a prepaid secured credit card last month that I plan to hardly use aside from a few small things a few times a month which I will pay the full amount every month on time.

So I'm taking care of the bad marks while building new credit. I figure in six months to a year I should be looking pretty good.
I totally disagree with your judgment.

to each their own, good luck!

Judgement on what? Are we going back to "is a house a good investment?" because this doesn't have anything to do with that.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:49 pm

the labels you put on the debt and ignoring them.

my advice to anyone including myself is to live as cheap as you can until all your debt is paid off, especially missed payments. student loans and low interest stuff, just pay off and don't miss payments. I have ONE of those my entire life, just a $50 credit card payment, it didn't automatically go off my record, I asked, they took it off, my credit score went up. even then activity into people looking at your credit report is bad, let alone missed payments.

but like I wrote, to each their own, if it's been working and the 'worst case scenarios' aren't happening and it's all cool and the gang, no worries.