Ahhh…the Stress of Debt Management
When you’ve got what’s known in the business as a “butt load” of debt, managing it can get tricky. I used to be horrible at this – Actually I wasn’t horrible at it, it was more that I didn’t really do it at all. I was slovenly, unorganized. When I decided it was time to address the issue I would scream obscenities at objects like pens, or various other office supplies. I would punch our hot water heater and throw the cat at the dog (okay, not really, I made that last part up).
To get started I first listed everything I owed in an Excel spreadsheet. It was immensely helpful to have all the info in one place. You could write it down and keep it all in a big fat Black Book of Debt if you prefer. Once I laid it all out most of the time it’s smooth sailing; I would simply just update the balances on the spreadsheets and pretty much leave the rest alone. Every now and again there was an opportunities to move around a balance. Occasionally though I’d have to get all FreakShow budget crazy making and start juggling thousands and thousands of dollars. Often these moments in budget anarchy happen for good reasons though sometimes it was due to events like my serious budget busting week or even better the follow up
During moments like this is felt more like I was trying to de-fuse a movie bomb…”is it the red wire or the blue wire? Three seconds left before the end of my financial world. Which is it Financio, the Red or the Blue?” With beads of sweat rolling down my face I would send online payments off via the inter-web while credit card and checking balances were checked and rechecked all the while hoping I didn’t just vaporize my family’s finances by sending every extra penny we had off the to the enemy. Knowing all too well that in another couple weeks I will once again sit down under intense pressure and attempt to diffuse our personal time bomb where all I can hear over the incessant pounding in my temples is the polite question of our progress from my wife and I lovingly respond with….
Iamtryingtopaythestupidbillsheredoyoumind?! Seriously, do you?!
...."so when I got home we had a talk and decided this money situation had to change. I didn’t know how I was going to change it, we were barely making enough money to cover the monthly payments so how the H-E-double-hockey-sticks was I going to fix it?"
I am laughing out loud! I got to be a pro at the month movie bomb diffusion too. That is a *perfect* way to describe the ridiculous money juggling I used to do.
Cheers!
1