1.

Kim
August 7th, 2006 at 9:54 pm

Nothing a little bit of going into debt couldn’t solve. Totalled my first car and then decided to fleece a new one to get a lower payment than traditional financing. If the car hadn’t been totalled, I would have had to pay the deductible with my credit card.

If my parents ever had crises, they kept it well from us kids.

2.

Amberlynn
August 7th, 2006 at 10:46 pm

One summer during college, I had run out of financial aid for that year and my job didn’t quite cover all the bills… I didn’t have anything I could cut back on as I was already living bare minimum, so I used what I called “flirt for food.” Guys would take me out to dinner and I’d save leftovers and turn them into two or three meals, or I’d give (swing) dance lessons in exchange for a meal. It finally did get to the only point in my life where I had to ask to borrow money from my parents.

3.

Mike
August 8th, 2006 at 7:27 am

My parents have never been on solid financial ground, but they’ve always used debt (credit cards, loans, etc.) to stay above water. We shopped at Value City and sometimes even Goodwill or Salvation Army for school or play clothes. I inherited some of their traits (credit cards) through college, but out of college I vowed to never use my credit cards again.

That mostly worked until we got married and didn’t have the savings to pay for the wedding. However, we paid off the additional charges asap, and today, we’re still working on that original college credit card debt (along with student, car and home loans).

As with Kim, I didn’t get in trouble (bankruptcy, collection agencies) because I gave myself the option of debt. My sister, on the other hand, did not fare so well, but she’s working on it now too.

4.

Through a Glass Darkly
August 8th, 2006 at 4:16 pm

I never learned to handle money as a child. At 19, I messed up a little with credit cards, but it doesn’t take much messing up to screw you up long-term when you’re that age. At 21 and 22, I had surgeries for cancer. They threw my life out of any sort of order and left me with large debt, despite having insurance. It’s only been in the last two years that I’ve started making good money decisions. My husband (of five months) and I will be getting rid of our debt, even if it takes extreme measures. (We’re actually selling my car now; we’ll get by on one.) Then we will stay out of debt and save as hard and fast as we can.

It’s funny, though; since we managed to create an emergency fund, we haven’t had any emergencies. I guess Murphy is more likely to leave people alone if they plan.