The Lovers, The Dreamers and The Debt Therein (Blog)

If there is one thing in this world that binds us all together, it’s that we have all had, at one time or another, a secret love affair. We don’t talk about with our husbands, wives, friends or family. We keep it on the down low. We tell ourselves that we can manage it because deep inside we want to believe that we are more disciplined and responsible than we really are.

But, once you set eyes on those shoes that you swear will complete your wardrobe or once you see that new piece of technology that, you swear, will change game day weekends forever, the affair takes over. And so, you find yourself at the checkout counter pulling out your credit card.

Yes, we all have, or still do, secretly love that little piece of plastic and we do, sometimes, dream of the things it can bring us.

But, there’s one little secret that your love affair is keeping from you, it’s setting you up for scandal.

You don’t notice it a first. You’ll use you card and make the monthly minimum payments and then, before you know it, you’ll have gone through about half your line of credit. You may start thinking to yourself that maybe it’s time to cut back, although one more purchase won’t hurt. However, it’s that one purchase that has sunk your credit score.

You see, about 30% of credit score comes from your debt to credit ratio (see how your credit score is determined here). So now, you’re credit card has put in a high risk category for future loans. Some of us choose to stop there and pay off the amount, whereas some of us will continue using the card and keep making the minimum amount because we “can” stop ourselves later.

What’s more, what if life, like it always does, throws you a curve ball that you weren’t ready for? And, you find yourself using your credit card more than you’d like. You might think that you can control it at a later time, since this an emergency after all, but then you miss one monthly payment and then another and another.

Now the scandal’s gotten juicer.

Moreover, if you are applying for a new job, some companies have decided that looking at your credit score is a means by which to determine if you are a good fit or not. Unfair as it seems, companies see credit scores as how responsible you are. If you are applying for a job that involves handling money in any way, a bad credit score will hinder your ability to get the job.

There is, however, a silver lining and you can stop the scandal, whether you realize it’s there or not. If you have found yourself knee-deep, waist-deep or drowning in debt, a debt consolidation service might be the right course of action for you. If you have caught yourself using your credit cards to a point where there about half spent, you can stop now and take some self imposed disciplinary action to reduce the debt. And, more than anything, you can begin to have new love and new dreams. The dream of being debt free and the love of never having to worry about debt again!

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