In which I’d forgotten I’m a second-class citizen.
Today I went to a local bank and tried to open a checking account. I was denied (thanks, TeleCheck) because the many bills from my marriage haven’t been paid and they’re all in my name. I never did deal with my financial issues… mainly because I haven’t had a real job until now.
I’ll be getting a post office box (to keep my bills from filling up Gramma’s mailbox, once my new location is known to my diverse creditors and they start harassing me), requesting a report from chexhelp.com, and then contacting one of those places that helps you get your bills reduced by working with your creditors. I’ll spend the winter and spring paying back my family (for the move and upcoming surgery), and then I’ll spend the next ten years paying off all the credit card and cell phone companies I owe.
Although, if The Ex sells the farm property and he sends me some money, it may only take five or six.
Years.
To get out of utter, abject debt.
Today’s moral is this: no matter how deeply in love you think you are, do not put all the bills of any relationship into your own name, spend more than you earn, allow your partner to quit working, let the relationship fail, and then spend a year depressed and not making any money.
Because while it all sounds really super double-plus fun, it totally fucks up your credit score. For real.
There are plenty of ways to get ahead. The first is so basic I’m almost embarrassed to say it: spend less than you earn.” – Paul Clitheroe
“The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied…but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing.” – John Berger
“Poor and content is rich, and rich enough.” – William Shakespeare
“The only man who sticks closer to you in adversity than a friend is a creditor.” – Author Unknown
Until I get my finances sorted, I am unable to open even a savings account. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to pay all these bills when I can’t get a checking account and debit card… I’ll be standing in line at the post office buying money orders ad infinitum, I suppose.
Sometimes it occurs to me that I have made a bit of a hash of certain aspects of my life. *sigh*
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You can go to one of those payday loan places and buy a prepaid, reloadable visa. See if they have one that has a slightly higher fee but no limits on the number of your transactions. I had to do it for a while, and was even able to direct-deposit my paycheck there. It’s not a bank and you won’t earn interest, and it will probably cost you a little bit, but you won’t have to do money orders nearly as often.
Good idea. Thanks! -m
Oh. Suckage. I’m just now peeking my head out of the debt-hole. A youth spent thinking I wouldn’t actually be around to worry about stuff like credit scores took it’s toll for sure. Deep breaths.
Yeah. No shit. 😉 -m
Concentrate on any arrearages from your previous bank(s) first. That would clear up the telecheck thingy, and you would probably be able to open an account.
That way, you can at least chip away on the debt with a checkbook instead of having to wait in line for a money order.
Is that a word? Arrearages? Because I *heart* it.
I had that thing on my checking account at CVB, but I wrote the creditor shitty letters and they took it off and then the account was closed with a zero balance… or so I thought. Hmm. Thanks for the tip. -m
i don’t bank for just that reason. always hated banks. i use the prepaid thing too. netspend is the one i use: allaccesscard.com
Dude. Sweet. And free direct deposit. I’m gettin’ one. Living cardless in these here modern times fuckin’ sux0r. (Add my name and gmail.com email address to your account and you’ll get $5 for referring me, it says.) -m
live and learn. see a credit counsellor and see if they can help you work out something that might be workable for you.
Yeah. I just have to get all my bills together and make the call now that I’ve got income. *sigh* -m
Sux bein’ poor, that’s for sure. And I’m not trying to be a wet blanket, but NEVER go to a payday loan place!! It’s better to stand in line and get a money order than pay for the right to spend your own damn money. Those places should be rubbed off the face of the planet.
Yeah, I’m managed thus far to stay the hell away from those places. -m
Get thee to a CREDIT UNION. Stay away from banks forever.
They use TeleCheck too, I bet. *sigh* -m
You will not know if you do not check! Duh.
Just walk into your gamma’s CU and open an account. Done deal.
But Gramma uses a bank, not a CU. -m
Hey! I got an invite to Ravelry! So excited! Any advice?
Yes!: rock on! -m
It does suck. Big time. May I recommend Woodforest at WalMart as TGF was able to get an account despite a less than stellar record. Also as whathisname suggests, try a credit union. I have no idea whether I will be able to get a local account because of my history. Paying debt forever, I know that future well.