I keep on watching and hoping for some kind of compromise, or well thought out way to care for our nation. I have studied the issues and watched the Senate. I hear the comments “Somethings got to give”, “Entitlements must go”, “obvious and provable corruption” at least at the level of campaign contributions, in the voices of a few senators, I hear the heartfelt and murderous statements of many, I see that we are all probably taking part in a process in which one way OR the other we ALLwill probably be duped. Of course we must get out of debt. No one denies that. So who is going to stand up and say, you know this is partly my fault, so I am going to quit taking money under the table, and support the programs which give the best support to our people AND the budget. No where do I hear a humble voice, saying maybe the people have a few ideas we could use, as this Is their country, except for a very few Democrats, unless they are born of total hysterical and senseless anger. I am a bit discouraged at this point, because it isn’t dying that scares me. If I don’t do it to myself, I will go in peace. It is living that is difficult. We the living must edure, hopefully with joy and happiness. I am tired of the banners of the parties waving in my face. I want to have a life to live. That is why it has always been important to me to be a citizen of the country our forefathers left to us. I’ve worked since I was 9 years old babysitting to buy my own school lunches and clothes. When I was old enough for a real job I started paying taxes along with everyone else. while other kids were given the things they needed.  I have done everything from bagging groceries to in home care for the elderly and disabled. I am in a position now in which I need help. I feel sucker punched! I raised 4 children without a dime of government money and sacrificed plenty. I sent my kids to school with home made biscuits and cornstarch jam sandwiches for thier lunch, and hand me down clothes, and was dragged through interrogation of my motherhood by the school because my husband and I didn’t believe our kids should have lunch on taxpayer dollars. We all made it. I am still proceeding by the “skin of my teeth”.My deceased husband was a laboratory technician, trained in the Navy, and after two and a half hitches found out it was a supplemental wage job. Now THAT was a real crime huh? The accusation “if you can’t feed em, don’t breed em” , was with me long before it was stated here. But we did our level best with what we could do, and had unfortunate and rude surprizes, as do many. Did I whine and complain? H— no! I went by the statement “Use it up, wear it out, Make it do or do without!” The meals I cooked were less than yummy a lot, and still are. Wouldn’t I love a menu in which I could actually buy ALL the ingredients I need. But I do not take what is not due to me. I am happy to have enough to get by. I don’t want to depend on anyone except myself, but at this stage, when I can no longer do physical labor, I need help. So crucify me. Just hurry up about it?Who wants to endure more nausea from stress than I ever had with four preganancies? Who wants to be kicked in the teeth for tireless service from my family, while my husband served our country? People these days feel persecuted if they don’t get to have an I POD. I wouldn’t know how to use one, because it is totally out of my budget, as is school, medical care, and a decent diet. Whoop and holler all you want, in whatever direction you want. WE are responsible for what happens to every soul who lives in the US. I paid in just as everyone else. Want to nail me to a cross because I’m old and disabled? That would be a typical ignorant of what IS happening in our government action. LOOK HARD AT EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn’t it possible that this hornets nest was stirred up, just to get our attention diverted long enough to make slaves out of all of us, outside of party, and inside of GREED? How much of our legislation is bought and paid for, instead of initiated by public awareness? This could be the LAST wake up call. I am not as angry as I am just plain tired, after 60 plus years. What about you?
Try to keep this short, but I was trying to clear up my last fe baddies and got tired of the results I was getting from disputing with the credit CA’s so I did ALOT of reading here and was very careful of my verbage, and just called them.
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Two were old medical bills and one was an old TU electric bill.
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I started with the medical the woman started off being a snob, but through some kind words and respect, I turned her around, and she was talking about her kids before it was over.
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She looked and looked and could not find my records. I gave her the fin report and poof, she said they would remove them.
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Next up TU, again not a very pleasant individual, but refered me to the CU. So I called again and got a snobby guy, and again, I was able to win him over stating that my ex ole lady ran the bill up after I left the house and was divorced. (Which is the truth). He went on to say how bad he had been taken to the cleaners after his divorce LOL
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Anyways he said that it was due to fall off in 2 months and that if I would pay $10.00 he would settle the account in full, incase I ever wanted to to get a mortage for over $150,000 grand.
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So all in all, I would say a good day with the collection guys, as unusual as it seems 
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Maybe the leason to be learned is try and leave your anger off the phone and treat these poor schmucks like human beings, it tends to work most of the time
Well, I have a long history of bad credit, beginning with the first credit card I was issued in college (20 years ago). That was actually the first and only credit card I’ve ever had (besides Visa debit cards).  I know some folks have credit problems due to living beyond their means, but my situation was more due to lack of money management skills and desperation. Not trying to make excuses, I accept full responsibility for my credit history, but I wasn’t taking trips to the Bahamas, I was buying groceries and diapers. Anyhow, a few years back, I went completely ‘off the grid’ financially. I turned in my car (making it a voluntary repo), my bank accounts were closed due to my mismanagement. For the last 4-5 years I have lived without credit cards, bank accounts, auto loans, etc. All of our bills have been in my boyfriend’s name. In a way this has been a blessing, because I have learned to live without relying on credit. I have pretty much never really cared about my credit, because I thought it was impossible for *me* to ever have good credit. Seven years seemed like an eternity and I just never imagined life without horrible credit.
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Well, last year I was able to qualify for a T Mobile cell phone, which I had never been able to do before. I figured maybe my credit was starting to improve, but didn’t necessarily try to apply for anything else. In January, I randomly applied online for an auto loan, and never heard from the dealership so I assumed my credit was still bad and didn’t pursue it. Then a few weeks ago we were thinking about switching from Comcast to Uverse. I was tod that I qualify, but that I needed a credit card. Since I don’t have one, we applied in my boyfriend’s name (he has a prepaid Visa), and were told he would require a $450 deposit. I figured maybe my credit really was improving. Last week I was researching hotels to take the kids on a weekend trip and use some of my hotel points, and an offer for a hotel credit card popped up. I figured what the hell, apply. Well I immediately got a message that my application would require ‘further analysis’ or something like that, so I naturally assumed I was denied.
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The very next day after I applied for that card, I found myself with no functioning car. Over the last week, I’ve been car shopping at a few different dealers. They seemed to all say that I have ‘no credit’, but I was still approved, but with a horrendous interest rate and about $2000 down. This is actually still better than what I expected. So looks like I’ll ending having to take one of these auto loans, though not ideal I need a car. But I would like to refinance as soon as I can (assuming I’ve made my payments on time, and that my credit has improved).
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(Continued below)
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Okay..I have been working at this for a couple of months now and have had great success in removing baddies. I have one unpaid collection account that I am not sure what to do with. It is from 2003 and was to my kids pediatrican. I cannot figure out how I owe them $600 as we have phenomal health insurance and never have had any big medical crisis put us over our limits. I swear..we never pay a thing except office visits. Anyway, it is now with a CA called MG credit. It is due to fall off in November…but I need to buy a car before then.The account has been validated thru the CRA’s.
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1. How much is this hurting me? Its my last collection on tu and eventually will be on EX and EQ once they catch up with deletes
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2. Should I PFD it? Partial pay for delete? The money will come out of my car downpayment
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3. Cant HIPPA b/c unpaid,right?
My credit score for all 3 agencies is hovering right around 617. A few months ago I was at 672. My husband and I refinanced our house and for some reason that’s when my score took such a hit. Anyway…I have about $16k in cc debt. Nothing negative on my credit history except two 30 day late payments from about 2 years ago. During the birth of my 2nd child we moved to a new house while our current house was being built. I completely forgot to pay bills one month and got two 30 day late payment hits. I’ve tried to get them removed but Chase won’t budge. So all my cc’s I’m current on. Three are with chase and have $6k, & $3,500 balances with (gulp) 17.99% interest! I have tried to get them to drop it but they won’t (I hate CHASE!). I have Discover which has $5k on it at 6.99% APR and then a Kohls card with $1k and a JC Penney card with $650 on it.   The house we built is WAY expensive and is more than 60% of our combined income of over $200k/year. I give my husband 90% of my paychecks and he takes care of our combined bills and the kids daycare and mortgage, cars, insurance, etc. So how should I tackle this stupid cc debt of my own with limited funds to pay it off? We racked up the bills after moving into our new home because our spare income was so limited. I know you should not buy a house more than 30% of your take home pay but we were taking a chance and then we were able to refi last year so that cut our mortgage down by over $1k/month. When our 2 daughters are done with daycare next year we will have an extra $25k/year back in our pockets too. So we knew the mortgage would become easier to handle and we wanted our dream home.Â
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Should I pay off the highest interest cards first and make minimum payments on all the other cards? Should I borrow money to pay off the high interest CCs? I do not intend to use them again and have already cut them up.
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Thanks!
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Questions about medical bills and medical collections get asked so often I figured that I needed to assembled a canned response.
Medical Bills
If you’re not yet in collections, but the threats are coming, or even if you suddenly owe a large medical bill, call the medical providers and see if they will accept payments to avoid collections. Even if they charge interest on the account, it’s likely they will charge far less than a CA.
I tend to ask about setting up payment arrangements and let them come up with a number, even on small bills. I have generally found that medical providers are far less demanding than the timeline on which I was willing to pay the bill. For example, I just set up payments on a bill that was about $260 and they offered $52 a month for five months and no interest charges. I accepted, said I’d likely pay it off sooner, and I set up BillPay payments to PIF in four months.
The important thing is to call, talk with someone in the billing department or business office, and arrange payment. I’ve never asked for written terms, and I don’t advise it. They aren’t looking so much to sue, I believe, as they are to settle and balance their books, make payroll, and establish some cashflow from your payment arrangements. Just calling and talking to someone can mean the difference between amicable payment arrangements and a collection.
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If they ask how much can you pay, then always have a number in mind and be realistic and reasonable. If it’s a $1,000 bill, they likely won’t accept $10 a month.
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Credit From Your Doctor?
Providers, patients and insurance companies make mistakes. As such, sometimes you the consumer underpays what you owe for a doctor’s visit so you get a bill. However, sometimes you overpay, and medical providers I’ve found aren’t always forthcoming about ensuring you get your refund.
It’s a good idea, from time to time, when you visit the doctor and they ask about the copay to respond, “Do I have a credit on my account?” A credit on your account means that you overpaid the provider, and they owe you that money. Sometimes they act as though you’ve spoken a foreign language, but in general they understand exactly what you are saying. When they check, if they discover indeed you do have a credit, ask that the credit be applied to your copayment.
When you have medical bills, and you’re setting up payment arrangements, the provider will usually determine if there is a credit and ask about applying the credit to your bill. If they don’t, be sure to ask about a credit on your account.
If you, your spouse, your kids, or other household members also see the same provider, it’s possible that one of your kids might have a credit on THEIR account so be sure to ask about a credit on the account of anyone in the household. Providers sometimes maintain a different account for each person. Other times they lump the household together on one account.
I am a single father of three children, and healthy looking for my family / dental insurance vision /. Not really go to doctors, but does not want a decent coverage, I have to. Any ideas? The morning in Southern California.
A period of years in my goal is to net income of 60,000 U.S. dollars and work 30 hours a week, taking advantage of two interns throughout the year free of charge.