Seattle Debt Group
Several years ago (gosh, maybe seven!), I decided to start a debt support group. I put out a couple of ads and got about twelve people to meet at my house and talk about their money problems. Within three or four months, the “Seattle Debt Group” dwindled to three interested parties: Gordon, Christina and Susan (that would be me). After about four years of monthly meetings, I convinced my co-worker, Heather, to join.
We meet generally on the first Saturday of every month. We used to meet at my house, but now we just meet for breakfast somewhere. I’m totally dedicated to this meeting and really make an effort to attend. I’m happy to say that everyone in the group feels the same way. I don’t think I would be where I am today (financially and emotionally) if I did not have this relatively objective group in my life.
This all started because I realized I really had a credit card problem, but couldn’t seem to get it under control. I shopped, ate and partied at the same places as my friends, but I was charging SO MUCH. I didn’t understand it because I made more money than almost all of them. So then I started talking about it. Letting my friends know that I needed to curtail my spending. But I didn’t understand how THEY could afford it. I thought that maybe I was the stupid or undisciplined one. I made budgets and couldn’t keep them. I would buy spontaneously and emotionally. I floated checks.
Then little by little, my buddies started to admit that they all had major amounts of debt. That’s when I realized something: if the math doesn’t add up, it’s because I don’t have all the facts. So now, I just presume people my age have lots of credit card debt. I base this on the things they say, their behavior and frankly, what the own. I’m almost never wrong. I’m Generation X and apparently we all want it and we all want it now.
I now consider myself a “student of consumer debt”. I may seem obsessed to people, but I’m retiring a millionaire. That’s something I know.
Back to Debt Group. One of the coolest things about Debt Group is the dichotomy of it’s members. We have Christina & Gordon who are disciplined budgeters. They are both incredibly smart and politically minded. Luckily, if one says a slightly esoteric joke, the other one can laugh – or else they would face the blank stares of me and Heather.
Heather and I are still emotional spenders. Unlike Christina & Gordon who chose budgeting as a way to pay off debt, Heather and I chose working our asses off (although Gordon did work a 2nd job and paid off $5000 in 6 months). We both really struggled with paying off our debt. I’ve been going down steadily for years, Heather would go up and down and up and down*… She declared bankruptcy earlier this year. It was a good thing. She has three kids and she was feeling guilty about not being home for them. I do think it was a good thing that she struggled for so long before paying it off, or else she would be back in debt already. She told me that in bankruptcy court, out of the 80 or so people, only about 10 were there for a first bankruptcy.
More specifically for this month’s meeting, we had some great news and some bad news. Christina found a job (she has been out of work for several months). She had a pretty decent emergency fund before her contract ended and her husband has a good job, so her issue was emotional, even more than financial (that’s MY opinion, perhaps not hers). Gordon on the other hand, practically lost all sources of revenue in the last four weeks. He’s a self-employed Karaoke host and lost almost every contract. I really admire his entrepreneurship. It really takes dedication and tenacity to be self-employed. I also admire his choice to live a life of his choosing as opposed to working for “the man”. That really takes sacrifice and a certain degree of self-knowledge to go down a different path.
Right now, I have about $6100 in credit card debt. I plan on making my last payment in April 2006. That’s basically $1000/month. I’m not sure I can do it. But I will kick some major debt-butt trying.
If you live in the Greater Seattle Metro area and are interested in joining Debt Group, please let me know.
- Susan in Seattle
*I just want to point out here that Heather is really good at giving head, so this is natural for her.
We meet generally on the first Saturday of every month. We used to meet at my house, but now we just meet for breakfast somewhere. I’m totally dedicated to this meeting and really make an effort to attend. I’m happy to say that everyone in the group feels the same way. I don’t think I would be where I am today (financially and emotionally) if I did not have this relatively objective group in my life.
This all started because I realized I really had a credit card problem, but couldn’t seem to get it under control. I shopped, ate and partied at the same places as my friends, but I was charging SO MUCH. I didn’t understand it because I made more money than almost all of them. So then I started talking about it. Letting my friends know that I needed to curtail my spending. But I didn’t understand how THEY could afford it. I thought that maybe I was the stupid or undisciplined one. I made budgets and couldn’t keep them. I would buy spontaneously and emotionally. I floated checks.
Then little by little, my buddies started to admit that they all had major amounts of debt. That’s when I realized something: if the math doesn’t add up, it’s because I don’t have all the facts. So now, I just presume people my age have lots of credit card debt. I base this on the things they say, their behavior and frankly, what the own. I’m almost never wrong. I’m Generation X and apparently we all want it and we all want it now.
I now consider myself a “student of consumer debt”. I may seem obsessed to people, but I’m retiring a millionaire. That’s something I know.
Back to Debt Group. One of the coolest things about Debt Group is the dichotomy of it’s members. We have Christina & Gordon who are disciplined budgeters. They are both incredibly smart and politically minded. Luckily, if one says a slightly esoteric joke, the other one can laugh – or else they would face the blank stares of me and Heather.
Heather and I are still emotional spenders. Unlike Christina & Gordon who chose budgeting as a way to pay off debt, Heather and I chose working our asses off (although Gordon did work a 2nd job and paid off $5000 in 6 months). We both really struggled with paying off our debt. I’ve been going down steadily for years, Heather would go up and down and up and down*… She declared bankruptcy earlier this year. It was a good thing. She has three kids and she was feeling guilty about not being home for them. I do think it was a good thing that she struggled for so long before paying it off, or else she would be back in debt already. She told me that in bankruptcy court, out of the 80 or so people, only about 10 were there for a first bankruptcy.
More specifically for this month’s meeting, we had some great news and some bad news. Christina found a job (she has been out of work for several months). She had a pretty decent emergency fund before her contract ended and her husband has a good job, so her issue was emotional, even more than financial (that’s MY opinion, perhaps not hers). Gordon on the other hand, practically lost all sources of revenue in the last four weeks. He’s a self-employed Karaoke host and lost almost every contract. I really admire his entrepreneurship. It really takes dedication and tenacity to be self-employed. I also admire his choice to live a life of his choosing as opposed to working for “the man”. That really takes sacrifice and a certain degree of self-knowledge to go down a different path.
Right now, I have about $6100 in credit card debt. I plan on making my last payment in April 2006. That’s basically $1000/month. I’m not sure I can do it. But I will kick some major debt-butt trying.
If you live in the Greater Seattle Metro area and are interested in joining Debt Group, please let me know.
- Susan in Seattle
*I just want to point out here that Heather is really good at giving head, so this is natural for her.
posted by Susan at 4:47 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks Susan! And now if anyone reads MY blog - they will know my talent :)
What Susan didn't mention in this entry is that she saved my life. I'm not joking. Everyone seems to be in denial about their debt. I know I was. When I first started talking to Susan about my money issues (it's evident there's a problem when you work 2 jobs - "either you need the money, or you don't want to go home" - quote courtesy of Susan - she always says cool stuff like that) anyway she asked me how much I owed and I said 8 or 9 thousand. Mmm hmmm.... I filed bankruptcy 2 years later after paying off nearly $5,000 and my bankruptcy total was $39,000. The harsh reality is that many people don't realize how much money they truly owe. I absolutely know today that I'm not the only one out there that was doing this. If you ever want a real eye opener - go to bankruptcy court one day. It's an open forum where a surprisingly large collection of people gather and go before a mediator one-by-one (sometimes with an Attorney, sometimes without) and because it's open you can hear everything. Above all else - you can hear the truth about debt.
There are a million reasons to be in debt, but there is no reason not to realize the truth about how much you owe. I am technically debt-free at this time in my life and I still attend the debt group meetings. I'm a spender by nature and that isn't going to change. What has changed is I found a group of truly supportive people who help me hold myself accountable for my spending and encourage me to be brutally honest about my money. If you think talking about your debt would be too uncomfortable or if people knowing your situation would be too embarrassing -well, I used to feel that way too. But I have to tell you - once I started talking about it, and realized I wasn't alone and sharing other members of the group's successes and setbacks, I gotta tell ya.... there's nothing more freeing than that. I too will retire a millionaire now - thanks to Susan.
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