"What The Crap Did You Buy?"

[Music] Brought to you by Xander Insurance. Identity theft protection isn't a luxury in today's world. It's a necessity. Get yours at xander.com. I called in to get some financial advice. Um, I'm a single parent. I have about 185,000 in credit card debt, but it's from personal and business combined together. 185,000 in credit card debt. What the crap did you buy, Shondaanda? Okay, so I lost my brother in 2020 and so it was hard for me um to go back to work. So I started also started a business um and starting up the business it started kind of slow and so I was using the money to basically pay for bills. Did the business become successful? It did not. It's still slow. Okay. So, it failed? Yes. Are you still doing it? Yes. And what kind of money is it? What kind of money does it make? Maybe $600 a month. $8,000 a month. No, $600. $600 a month. Yes. Okay. That Yeah, that's different. Okay. What What is What is the business? It's credit repair. And did what how do you spend money on credit repair? I'm spending money on it. I mean, you said like So, you mean you're just you were borrowing money to eat because you weren't making a living? Yes. Yes. And not only that, I was investing in different um things with the money as well. Like basically I try to do the the flipping the homes and I was putting money off the cars to do that. So it was like I was losing money trying to do different investments. What are you doing now for work? Paying my bills with I work in security. And what do you make? 40,000. What's the most money you ever made in your life in a year? Um 60,000. Okay. All right. I have a degree in criminal justice. Okay. All right. Is this all the debt you have, Shondaanda? Are the credit cards? Are there any student loans or car loans? I have student loans and a car loan. Yes. And I have a home. Okay. What do you owe on the car? The car I owe about 25,000. Mhm. Okay. And what do you owe on your student loans? 36,000. Okay. And all this is on top of the 185, correct? Yes. So, my thing was I was thinking about bankruptcy, but I was like, let me get some other, but I don't see no other way. I didn't look for other jobs. That's not I can't really do that because I have a younger daughter that's 10 and I have a older daughter that start college in August. Mhm. So, she wouldn't be able to help as much with my child if I did decide to go and get a second job. So, yeah. Okay. Well, you have a car that you can't afford and student loans are student loans are not bankruptable. Oh, yeah. No, okay. So, they're they're going to stay there no matter what happens. And uh I mean, you can you could turn the car in in the bankruptcy. Um, and if you're going to file bankruptcy, please God, turn the car in. Um, because it's it's just it's you make 40,000, you don't need a $25,000 car. Period. There's no planet that that works on. Um, and so I remember being scared to death 35 years ago when Sharon and I lost everything, Shondaanda. and um and and I was overwhelmed with the debt and the collector's calling and everything else. And um the only thing I did right in that period of time was I really wanted to dig in and figure out um what I had done that set me up for this, what what mistakes I made, what what um philosophies or things I believe that were lies. Okay. And you told me two or three different things that are internet tick tock get rich quick schemes. Even your even your credit repair thing was a get-richqu scheme. It's it's not it's not even a viable business. We don't do it because it's not viable. Can't make enough to pay somebody to do it here or I'd be doing it. Um and the irony is you're doing credit repair. That's an irony. Uh that's ridiculous. And so um the uh um you know so so but you've fallen for these things trying to get um to get ahead rather than developing a steady career path with your criminal justice degree and background that moves you up up up to where you start making some really good money. If during the time that you tried all these things that were get-richqu things, if instead you had taken that same amount of energy and poured it into your career, you'd probably be making 100k right now. Correct? And that that's what I that's if you've got to go through this kind of hell like and I'm sorry you're there for goodness sakes, learn the lessons from the hell. Okay? And that's what Sharon and I said. we're if we're going to go through this, we're going to learn what what was broken in Dave that set us up for this fall. And we looked at that and said, "Okay, what what why did I fall for building a house of carts? What was driving inside of me? What was broken?" And it was a spiritual uh walk in my faith, my my you know, my my my God walk that that, you know, allowed me to repair the insides a as we were um restarting our lives after a bankruptcy. So, if I'm in your shoes, I'm going to talk about selling my car and getting out of that. And I'm going to talk about what I can do in the criminal justice field to add to my income and move up in my career. and just don't pay the credit cards and don't pay the student loans for a while and let's see if you could get your budget set up right. Even if it doesn't look like where you can pay it all today, I don't see how you can pay it with where you are today. But where you are today is not your destiny. Your destiny is to make more. Yeah. And so, um, if you just don't pay them and they don't ever get around to suing you and the student loans just stack up and the credit cards just stack up and go bad, cut them all up. Get rid of the stupid car payment. Get you a hooptie to get back and forth to work and get get out of this dadum $600 car payment because you got ripped off on that thing, too. I'm positive. And then just let your let your stuff just go bad. And then as you start making some money, you could start working, you know, pay off the student loan first and then start Well, usually they'll settle, especially with the credit cards. The credit cards will settle for pennies on the dollar. Y I mean, you could go through and settle these credit cards over the next 5 years and, you know, end up getting completely out of debt for$25 or $30,000. But you got to you're that's a long way from where you are right now. So hang on. We're going to sign you up for Financial Peace University and for every dollar our budgeting. We're going to pay for it to help you get started cuz I remember being scared. A and but you got to start aiming at something steady, steady growth. Be the tortoise, don't be the hair. 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