debts and credit (introduction)

Hello everybody!  It's been a few days since I've posted.  I've missed you!  Have you missed me?  I've definitely missed you!

Before I begin my next financial confessional, I would like to announce that you are currently reading the words of District 181's finest newly employed substitute teacher.  Yup, that's right!  I've already worked two jobs as a sub, with a third scheduled for tomorrow (teaching middle school P.E.!) and I am simply pleased as punch!  NOT to mention the fact that district subs in our area get paid $84.10 per day-- currently more than three times the amount I have in my wallet!  WOO HOO HOO!  Thank you, universe!  Thank you, Mary T. (superintendent that hired me)!  Thank you everybody for reading my blog and hoping on my behalf!  I am absolutely thrilled. 

So.  Next up on the agenda is for me to size up my debts and credit.  But to begin, I figured I'd give you a little personal history:

About six years ago, I somehow managed to rack up almost $15,000 in unpaid university bills and unsecured credit card debt.  "Geez, melissalynne," you may ask, "How the hell did you manage to do that?" 

Well, I will tell you.  It's actually not that hard.  It's actually, in fact, pretty easy to do.

All throughout college and the year after, I always worked restaurant jobs.  (I graduated in 2005.)  In case you don't know, working at restaurants is an awesome way to feel rich when you are in your early 20s.  You have tons of energy and tons of money to blow.  Then, in 2006, I decided to "grow up" and start working a "professional job".  At the time, I was considering going back to school for something in medicine-- so I decided to start working at a private Women's Health practice.

I got hired at a really great place-- they were willing to take me on without any prior experience and give me medical training starting from the bottom up.  Just one little problem-- when I first started working, I was only getting paid $10/hour.  Ten measly dollars an hour, for a girl who was used to bringing home hundreds of dollars in cash every night!  This was hardly enough to live on in the one of the country's most expensive cities-- not to mention my relentless addiction to the local music scene (and the coiffed, sultry boys I loved so diehardly) and the copious amounts of alcohol I was consuming to self-medicate my social anxiety.  No way!

So, what did I do?  What any pragmatic and resourceful girl in her twenties is wont to do, of course-- I started "supplementing" my income!  First, with my Bank of America charge card, and then when I maxed out that card, with an American Express, and then, when that was maxed out too, another....

When I finally did manage to get a couple raises and put myself on budget sometime in 2007, it was not before I had "necessarily" racked up about $15,000 in credit card debt.  Yikes.

I learned to live on the money I was making; however, my salary didn't provide enough for me to get by AND make the minimum payments on the debt I already owed.  What happened next was a financial nightmare.  It started slowly at first, and then faster and more and more.  First came the envelopes-- large, unfriendly envelopes in black and red font and letters in all caps.  Then came the phone calls from unknown 1-800 numbers, and muddled voicemails bearing threats of lawyers and bankruptcy and god knows what else.  I ignored the phone calls and threw away all the unopened bills-- what else was I supposed to do?  I was totally fucked, and couldn't pay them anyways!  Might as well pretend they don't exist, and get back to making out with my talent and awesome hipster boyfriend.  

I lived this way, vacillating between these semi-permanent states of denial and fear, until a series of unfortunate events caused a number of elements in my life to come spinning out of control.  I realized that I needed to take charge of my life.  I had goals and dreams and something needed a change.

In the spring of 2008, I drew upon all the courage I could muster and began to open all the horrible and nasty envelopes I had been avoiding.  I looked at my credit report for the first time in my life, and though I didn't really come clean to anybody I  knew at the time, I did take a good look at myself.  I started working a second job; I downsized my apartment and severely curtailed my profuse drinking habits (I was working so much, I didn't really have a choice).  And slowly but surely, I paid down a large chunk of my debt.  Around $12,000 worth.   

And that, my friends, is where I stand more or less today.  There are still some outstanding debts, but how much?  And where are they?  And, at this point, are they really worth paying off?  And if so, how should I go about doing it?  These questions and more will be revealed and plodded through in the next blog entry.  TBC...