How to Escape From Debt

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To those who fail to see the addictive elements of compulsive spending-----no different than alcohol or drug addiction--------I must enlighten you. As someone who is gradually recovering from the addiction to compulsively spend----I ask you to please take off your "logical thinking" hats. This has nothing to do with education, intelligence or even "self control".
I encourage those who do suffer from spending and debting addictions to look into-----Debtors Anonymous, Spenders Anonymous, Underearners Anonymous. You can find them on the website. they are based on the 12-step principles of Alcoholics Anonymous------a spiritual program to recover from addiction to alcohol.
And to those of you who find it necessary to judge what you don't understand, please learn to "not judge what others cannot control". If we could control our spending, we would control our spending. And, "When you know better, you do better". The 12-step recovery programs give us the tools and support to know better and eventually do better.
Lastly, you might consider starting a group yourself, "Negaholics Anonymous". This nation and this world needs more compassion and less judgement. "Don't criticize your neighbor until you've walked a mile in his shoes".

Susan of CA 3:55PM June 29, 2010

Well done...admirably well done. Text book well done.

g o of TX 6:12PM May 24, 2010

The author got herself into a financial tough spot. The author took responsibility for her problems and is working her way out. I think Bruce is missing that point. She didn't embark on a letter writing campaign to make creditors go away. She cut her spending, altered her lifestyle to live within her means, and paid them back what she owed.
Part of our current economic mess is that people are not taking responsibility for their actions. They are spending or have spent to their hearts content and now are walking away from it. When they walk away, they aren't just ripping off some anonymous large corporation or bank somewhere, they are dumping their debt on everyone else around them.
Kudos to Nancy for doing the right thing.

Mark of PA 12:41PM April 23, 2010

I'm sorry, I'm having a really hard time sympathizing with someone who was smart enough to go to Georgetown, but not smart enough to realize it was a bad idea to spend more than you make.
My DH and I had nearly no financial education, at home or in school, but by the time we graduated from college we knew we needed to know more about managing our money. (This was two years before we met -- guess we were lucky we ultimately found each other.)
By the time we were 23, we had each read several books on personal finance. My favorites were by Andrew Tobias. I was an ENGLISH MAJOR and even I could understand his common sense approach to managing my money.
We're in our early 60s now. We've had good jobs over the years but never earned more than $200,000 combined in any year. Our net worth now is about $5 million. That includes $1.5 million in real estate (primary home and more valuable rental beach block property).
How did we do it? We always always always lived below our means. Always always always paid every credit card bill in full every month. Thought about every purchase over $50. Researched and delayed decisions about purchases over $500. Paid attention to the advice about building up a 6-month emergency fund. Learned about investing in the stock market so we weren't at the mercy of a full-service, high-fee broker. Put most of our money in 4 or 5-star mutual funds (Morningstar ratings) from Vanguard (lowest cost funds around).
It's pretty simple, folks. Every month, DECIDE HOW MUCH TO SAVE. SAVE IT. Retirement first, because the earlier you start the less you'll have to set aside over the years (miracle of compounding -- learn it!) NEVER TOUCH your savings, UNLESS IT'S IN AN ACCOUNT EARMARKED FOR HOUSE, VACATION, REMODEL, WHATEVER.
Once you've saved what you've agreed on, you can spend the rest. Simple!
Oh and yeah, I know some of you will be sayin' "Well, easy for her to say, who earns that kind of money?" Ummmm, college grads with focus and drive and ambition who take every opportunity to improve their skills and broaden their experience so they keep moving up in their careers.

enna of PA 10:56PM April 20, 2010

Thanks for an encouraging article! I too have made lots of mistakes. Heres' a great site offering free sample letters you can send to creditors and collection agencies to stop them from calling. http://www.StopThemFromCalling.com

Bruce of FL 4:51PM April 20, 2010