Collection Call Harassment

DEBT – We hear the word all the time because it has become a way of life for many. It is more unusual to see someone who is debt free than someone who has a mountain of debt attached to their life. But, along with the bills comes a mindset that has to be dealt with to remain free of debt forever.

Over the past ten or twenty years, debt consolidation loans have become the norm for those who want to get out from under credit card debt. Paying one bill is better than paying ten but what is truly the outcome? Those same people are back in a high debt situation within five or ten years. Why is that the case?

There are actually two different emotions we go through with debt: chronic denial and the blinder syndrome. The former is what you have when you go through the debt cycle. One year you are consolidating loans and the next you are running those credit cards back up again. Instead of cutting them up, you hide them away (in a place that only you know, of course) and dig them out when you get bitten by the shopping bug.

For these people, getting a debt consolidation loan is like putting a bandage on a broken leg. You are being given a get out of jail free card without having to face the situation you got yourself into. Unless there is some financial counseling done, history is doomed to repeat itself. The mindset here is that the debt really was not as bad as all that the first time and you can control your spending when you want to.

The second situation is just as bad. Horses wear blinders so they will not get distracted by whatever else is out there. They look straight ahead and nowhere else. When you have debt blinders on, you actually do not see all the debt trouble you are in.

This drives people to check the caller ID every time the telephone rings. If it is a credit card company, they let it go to voicemail. Placing bills you can not pay in a drawer is a part of this syndrome. If you do not see it, it is not happening. Finally, you decide not to open your mail or answer your telephone again.

There is a solution: face the situation and release yourself. It could require an intervention from family and friends. There is freedom in the truth.

Talking to a debt counselor about options and fiscal responsibility helps with both situations. You don