My husband and I sit here today with baited breath. What are we waiting for you say. We are waiting for the results of our credit check. See he was offered a job. A good job. After a few months we would be able to catch up living expenses and start working on what to do with the massive amount of debt that hangs around our necks. Without the job we can not do that. We would be needing to worry more about the roof over our heads than debt.
Back in 05 after years of struggling we started a new lower middle class life. A little freedom and breathing room from the poverty that we had been suffering since 01. We lived simply. My husband had a great job that in only 3 years he managed to land over 3K a year in merit raises. Light at the end of the tunnel. We took out a couple of little credit cards to build our credit so that we could buy a house. Paid off every month, these cards had limits of 250 to 500. At most we had about 2K in debt. We started paying them off every 2 months maybe 3. Then the gas highs hit.
My husband's trips to work took over our food money. Prices couldn't stay high was the thought back then. The credit cards became gas cards. Problem pay off for them went from 2 to 3 months to 6 months. Fine I said, my husband had his job. Then the heart issues ensued. Oh ok Minor medical would cover it, right?
Let me tell you a bit about my husband. His IQ is genius level while mine is maybe above average to average, depends on what scale. Now high IQ doesn't mean common sense, I sometimes wonder if it means mule. During his heart issues he would have days where he would say I am going to work and demand to go. Off we would travel to his work. 2 things would happen. 1. His boss would send him home because he looked gray. Or 2. He would have the usual dry heaves, sweating, chest pain, arm pain, dizziness that would have me rushing him to the ER. A overlooked 90 percent blockage would do that to a fellow. Any way. His company cares for its people. They set up a minor medical policy years ago. It gave full pay for months over health issues. There was a limit though. 3 claims a year. Well in my husband's mulish attitude to go in to work he would reset the minor medical. And the claims limit was met. If he had just staid home what happened next would of not happened. 2 months of 600 dollar checks. That pushed us behind on the credit card payments. From 6 months to a year to pay off the cards. That on his expensive meds that kept his new stint from clogging and our share of the medical bills.
Ok, we can handle this. I mean he has a stint and health world was all great now. Then the crash of 08. My husband's company was a mutual fund firm. A good one, no bailout needed. But people panic. They lost control of a good bit of money as people pulled out of even the safer investments that the company invested in. (No housing investments for them, they saw the slippery slope as it was going on and even one of the advisors warned us not to buy the house in 06) They needed to cut a huge cut to expenses. Now this company had never laid off, even in the great depression. They presented the employees with an option. They needed a certain number off pay role. So the choice was leave with a really nice going away present or later on risk being pushed out with a cruddy one.
After talking around to higher ups my husband learned that NO ONE WAS SAFE. Even the VPs where in the same boat. That with all that time missed it would be a red flag. It wouldn't keep him safe. They gave everyone a month to talk about it. We took it. We had time, surely we could find him a job in the time before he uses up his package. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That was Jan 09.
We moved down to my mothers and got one of those debt companies to help us with the now behind credit cards. For the couple of months down there we paid big chucks of money to the company. Funny, that was Mar-May and they said that they wouldn't be able to pay off even one of the cards until Oct. huh? My cards were small and they didn't even have full balances on them. 2K of debt would take years to pay off. See after all the late fees, the fines, and all 2k of debt became 20K. Then the companies cut was high I come to find out. (yes we are idiots, got a bridge to sell us?) Only about 30 to 50 dollars, out of all that money I was paying them, was being put in an account to pay the debt. When I lost my job I couldn't afford the payments to the company and after months of paying them not a single card was paid.
We couldn't pay to live let alone the cards. After a while we got sued by one. They garnished our bank account. Yes that is right. They got close to 2k garnishment (for a 200 card, that I left a 175 balance on) on our bank account since they couldn't garnish our unemployment. That account was only used to make the car payment. So we just had the car payment taken off our unemployment cards instead.
This affects me financially. Like a giant anvil around our necks. Trying to fix the mess. I used the cards and I will pay for them in my mind. I am trying everything to avoid bankruptcy because I am a mule in my own right. When I took out those cards I made a promise. I KEEP MY PROMISES, even to blood suckers. Now like taking a medication, there is a side effect (affect). The garnishment may keep us from getting a job. Credit checks are the norm now. I understand their reasoning. Even someone here made a good argument for them in a comment thread. Yet a credit report doesn't give a good whole picture. On top of that, with out the job to pay it and fix it, people like us will always be stuck in a circle.
We are hoping that this company keeps its promise to give us the benefit of a doubt. I am sitting here praying, and hoping the voodoo curse on us will be lifted. If you guys would, pray for us or not to whoever or whatever you believe in please do.
UPDATE:
They called and said they loved him, but they can't hire him because of the credit score. When he gets it fixed give them a call.
Count down to no money coming in. Dec 22, and Dec 29.