How I Overcame Debt On A Small Budget

     One of the things that I had to overcome is living within a small budget.
It is not easy to do and it takes practice and know how. It took me years and
some bills decades to pay back, but I paid the creditors back while avoiding
bankruptcy.
    First, avoid having bills (that is a step). Opening accounts seem thrilling
and fun like winning the lottery, but you also win interest and credit fees.
Second, if you cannot afford to buy it outright, well, you cannot afford it.
Third, keep in mind that if you borrow a dime you pay a dime, someone is
not going to pay it for you. These steps are for when you are already managing
your budget.
    If you already have bills to pay, and you are getting bogged down, take a
deep breath and look at them realistically. How do you know which ones to
keep paying while you pay off others? That is a loaded question, because there
are people with varying degrees of opinions on the subject and some bills
whether you are disabled or not, cannot be disbursed in any form of bankruptcy.
One of those bills that are exempt from bankruptcy are student loans. They
seem to never go away. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I had a
student loan too, and I finally paid it in full a couple of years ago.
    Not all credit counselors are going to help you, other than helping you
out of your money. My mother (rest her soul) was a bankruptcy specialist
and she was always telling me that she saved people's houses. She also was
the one who told me that having social security exempted me from certain
wage garnishments. But, it was my step-dad who taught me about money,
because my mom lived off of credit. That is a cycle he helped me avoid.
The cycle of living off of credit.
    Yes, my mother helped people keep their houses, but she could never
seem to live within her means. That makes her credit advice hypocritical
because her opinions she did not do herself. So, if looking for advice in
bankruptcy, your attorney might not know the best way to organize your
bills for payment, but they can help you with an expensive bankruptcy.
     I had about 10 bills to pay. I had high interest ones and I had high balance
ones. I had some that were long-term and others quite a short time. My
student loan was the last to be paid off, because I could work with my
creditor and post-pone payments. I owed the bank about 30,000dollars in
about 5 accounts and then there were healthcare credit cards, and furniture
credit cards as well as check cash lending before getting paid (for a fee) and
of course my student loan.
    What I did with all of that, well, is that I paid it back. I started with the
highest interest payment. Not the one with the highest interest rate, but
the one with the highest interest charge. Say I have a 100 bill at 10% interest
and that I have another bill that is 100 at a 7.5% interest, but the one with
the higher interest payment is the one that is 7.5% because (hypothetically)
it is maxed out while the one that is 10% is a lesser bill at half full making the
one with the 7.5% interest the one you want to pay first avoiding a high
interest payment.
     One of the things to take into consideration is work with your bank. Let
them know you are struggling. They just might help you. But, what you win
by paying the bank loans first is you get to keep your bank accounts in good
standing. Without an account, things get harder. Another strategy is to work
with your creditors. Negotiate. Let them also know you are struggling. They
might lower your charge or even adjust your interest rate.
    So, pay your bills, but don't make yourself broke (because that is not fun).
Determine the order of who and when to pay. Work with your bank and
creditors, but if your house is involved I highly suggest seeking out a
bankruptcy attorney. Just remember that not everything can be included in
a bankruptcy (such as a student loan).  Also, if you are on social security,
some loans can be forgiven. So, keep in mind that if you borrow a dime you
pay a dime and also, if you can't afford it outright you can't afford it. Good luck.
Remember, digging out of debt takes a while, so for now-breathe. It took me
at least two years once I had my strategy, but I did it. You can do it too.

Vocabulary ABC's in Mental Health

How I Overcame Conservatorship

    Before you can overcome Conservatorship, there are a few things that need to be overcome first. I have in a previous article discussed overcoming denial. It is essential to good mental health if you have an understanding of why and what you are being treated for. As long as you deny having an illness, then your treatment team lumps you in a group of deniers who show no progress because they cannot get past denial. Overcoming denial is an essential step. Once you accept your illness, you can start the next step of sending your illness into remission.
 
    If you are under Conservatorship, it has been decided by the court that you are unfit to care for yourself and the court orders that certain services be handled for you. If you are having difficulty showering on a daily basis, you wear the same clothes all week, if you are having trouble staying “lucid”, if you have poor eating habits, if you spend rent money on things other than rent, if you cannot prove that you take your medicine, if you hold verbal conversations with others unseen, if you have trouble staying awake, if you have trouble going to sleep; any and all of these factors (there may be more examples) are things that the court takes into consideration when someone is on, being placed on, or continued to be under Conservatorship.
 
    Going off conservatorship is a long and difficult process. There are things that you have to prove to the court and your Conservator. Once a year, a hearing is held to see if you need continued services or if you are fit enough to go it alone again. It is a long and tedious process and there are milestones along the way. You cannot prove in a week that you are of sound mind and body. You cannot prove this in a month, but, you might be able to go the program and prove after one year that you are capable of handling your affairs and activities again.
 
    I understand the feeling of autonomy. It was instilled in every child in school, preparing us for the world (so to speak). We, in society expect that after a certain age a person should be able to care for themselves and sometimes others too. Under Conservatorship a person might know how to care for themselves or they might know how to pay bills, but the actions of the Conservatee are random and irregular. One of the clues is to be consistent. Another would be stick to a routine. This could mean going to a day treatment program. This could mean seeing your doctors regularly and being on time avoiding no shows. Try to get the doctor on your side. Participate in your treatment. Ask questions. Ask many questions, the more the better. Ask what you have to do to reach the next step.
 
    Sometimes the next step seems obsurd. You tell yourself that you already do such a thing. But, if that is the next step, do it. Show your treatment team of counselors and doctors that you are listening. Doing the next step shows that you care and you want to get better.
 
    One of the wrong things to do is to use your symptoms as a description of how you are doing. For example, if you have someone out of body that visits you and has gone away or has changed communication, if you use your symptom's identity to explain your stability you are just going to get more medicine and those caring for you will tell your Conservator that you are not stable yet. This gets to your doctor and your treatment team. This can keep you from going off Conservatorship.
 
    Another tip would be learning how to utilize what you have available to you. This can be things such as the patient advocate or requesting one on one therapy so you can get better faster. This puts people in your corner when the time comes to see the justice about your recertification of Conservatorship. Also, utilize peer to peer counselors. Learn from someone who has been there and got through it.
 
    So, take a deep breath. Calm your worries. Tuck your chin while touching your toes (this stretches the bottom of your neck releasing unknown tension). Then, realize it is going to take a while and that others have been there too and are in your corner, supporting your independence.

Here is a good service and they can 
help you with many things. 
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 Jewish Family Services