Tuesday

Credit Card Debt and Sacrifices

Asheville Image

The Move to North Carolina

I didn't get into debt overnight, but getting into debt was easy. Surprise! Getting out of debt won't happen overnight either and it will also require sacrifices along the way.

In Summer of 1997 prior to our deciding to eliminate our credit card debt we took the kids to Asheville, NC to do some camping and show the kids where we would be moving to.

I was preparing for a new career and retiring from the Navy the first week of July 98. I had been sending out resumes left and right to the Asheville, NC area (Remember that I was in Maine and had no friends or family in the Asheville area).

I had been scouring the internet for leads and came across one lead that fit me to a tee. The only problem is it was in the central North Carolina area and my wife and I were looking forward to the beautiful mountains. I had a couple of jobs in the western end of the state that I thought would pan out but the pay was the minimum that we thought we needed to make up for my current pay as a senior enlisted member of the Navy. The job in central NC could have been my job description for my Navy job. I had been doing this type of Information Technology management for a over a decade so I sent off an application.

I let my wife know that I applied for a position with a University that was well outside of where we were intending to live. She said she would be willing to sacrifice if the pay was X dollars (which would help us eliminate our debt). Well as luck would have it I was one of the 100+ applicants that got interviewed. They did a phone interview with me in Maine. After the first round I was their choice so they flew me down to North Carolina for a second round of interviews. When I flew back I was reasonably sure they would make me an offer, but what they were talking was $2,000 lower than the X dollars my wife desired to make the sacrifice.

It is now mid June I am about to have my retirement ceremony and would be leaving in less than 3 weeks. Currently all of my moving paperwork with the Navy still says that my stuff will be moved to Asheville. The Navy also said my final chance to change that destination had passed. It was at this point that the HR department of the University called and offered me the position. I accepted the offer and set a start date. I then let my wife know that we weren't going to be living in a box, I did get a job.

Greensboro ImageThe catch however was that we were going to be living in Greensboro, North Carolina. The good news was that I was offered the exact amount my wife stipulated to when I initially applied for the position. My new boss later said she fought to get the amount increased by 2k because she didn't think I would accept the position where it was. She never knew my wife's bottomline, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

We sacrificed the dream of living in the mountains, a place which we had visited and fell in love with to move to a place we didn't know.

How did our sacrifice payoff?

The extra dollars did help us get out from debt easier, we were able to stick to our repayment plan. When one credit card was paid off that amount was rolled over to start paying more on another credit card. If we had not made the sacrifice we would have needed to pull back the money into the family budget when a card was paid off and we would still be paying off our debt.

Greensboro ImageHow did Greensboro turn out?

Well we have been in the Greensboro area now for 7 years and we couldn't have picked a nicer place to live. The people are great and it is a fantastic place to raise a family. Neither of us were from North Carolina but it fit my wife's 5 hour rule. The rule states that we needed to live at least 5 driving hours from either of our parents (how can you not love a woman with this kind of rule). We are now over 10 hours from either parents.

Wait a minute, what happened to my stuff slated to go to Asheville?

I went to the department that said I had missed my last chance to change my destination of my stuff and told them that my stuff needed to be sent to Greensboro not Asheville. The young lad tried to hold the party line and reiterated that it was too late to change. I told him calmly that I have been in for 22 years and that not only could my destination be changed but that it will be changed and to go ask his boss how this was going to take place. He scurried off then came back and said that they could do it and to write on my package the new destination. A week later when the movers came you better believe that I checked their paperwork to make sure they had Greensboro down for the destination. Even then the motto "trust but verify" was applicable.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the first time I have seen this blog. I like the way you right. I am struggling to get out of credit card debt and looking for solutions. I have read a couple books and I am doing a business part time.
Your right you do have to make sacrificies.
Emmett

eliminate credit card debt said...

I'm glad to hear that you've worked to get out of debt. There are so many people that just get stuck and have no where to turn.

credit card debt solutions said...

I really enjoyed reading your story. My brother is currently in a similar situation and he is fighting to get out of credit card debt. He's making a lot of sacrifices. I don't think he's even gone to dinner with a friend in months. Does anyone know of anyone or of any company that could maybe make this situation a little easier on him? What sort of companies can help reduce his debt?

Erica Smith said...

Dear,
I want to make 1 guest post in your site, if you permit me. The post contains 350 words above and it is totally unique as it is written by my content writers.

Please contact me at ericasmith568(at)gmail.com soon. Moreover, I will place your link in one of my finance sites.

regards,
Erica Smith

Anonymous said...

Hello there,

This is Lyda. I enjoyed visiting your blog and was very impressed with the quality of your financial content.

I'm searching for some link exchange partners for my finance and real estate websites. My websites provides information on credit, mortgage, insurance, pay-day loans, real estate, debts and just about anything on Finance (you name it…).

Please do write to me if you feel that a link exchange might be appropriate between our websites.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at lydashmidth25@gmail.com.

Best Regards
Lyda

Unknown said...

Hi Lyda your blog is really very impressive and I am very impress to your financial information, I just first time read this types of nice information so thanks for sharing your amazing tips.

Copyright

The documents distributed here have been presented on this blog in good faith. All Flckr.com photos are presented here via Flckr's "blog this" feature. This feature is enabled by each artist on Flckr. If you find material here that belongs to you and you would like to have it removed or credited please contact me and I will gladly follow your wishes.

Copyright and all rights therein are maintained by the authors or by other copyright holders. It is understood that all persons copying this information will adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.