“Dollar Buy Dollar” Archive
Feb
24
Over the past few months I haven’t been nearly as enthusiastic about or inspired by my blog. This has been reflected in the lack of regular posting and somewhat more practical, dry posts. So I’ve been trying to revisit what initially inspired me to blog about my debt, particularly Tricia’s Blogging Away Debt.
In retrospect, my desire to blog came from my desire to feel a little bit better about my own situation. I hoped to find others in the same situation and try and gain some strength from knowing that it is possible to dig your way out of tremendous debt. In the months leading up to the start of my blog I felt very alone, having just gone through a divorce, struggling with bipolar and having to face a seemingly insurmountable amount of debt. For me the blog was a way to anonymously connect with others, at least that is what I had hoped.
I think I have strayed from my mission a bit. While I have had some very useful posts over the course of the past 6 months or so, there have been many posts that are more of a play-by-play of my daily struggles with creditors, particularly AMEX. To those readers who have found some of my advice and resources useful for your own situations, I thank you for that. I feel that I have become somewhat disconnected with my readers, however.
When I started reading other personal finance and debt blogs, one of the things I remember thinking was that the good ones had a nice conversational tone with the readers. These blogs give practical advice on some days, emotional reactions on others and reported the simple ‘meat & potatoes’ of life on others. This is exactly what drew me to these blogs in the first place.
Somewhere along the way, probably shortly after getting a lawyer involved to handle the AMEX negotiations, the tones of my posts became somewhat bitter, dry in tone, and in some cases simply a restatement of the facts, leaving nothing for my readers to actually connect with. I recognize this and for the few people who left me feedback on this, I’m here to tell you I hear you.
Being in debt isn’t fun and frankly blogging about the debt–at least specifically–ALL the time isn’t much fun either. I think again, this is why I haven’t been posting regularly to the blog. It simply hasn’t been fun.
Well, going forward I plan to take on a much more conversational tone with the readers. I won’t constantly offer up ways to negotiate with creditors, ask for payment plans or report on what I’m trying to offer AMEX in terms of a debt settlement. What I will do is tell you more about the day to day life or someone living in debt. What is it like to date while in debt? Save for retirement while in debt? Save my daughter’s college while in debt? What does debt do to me emotionally?
CALL TO READERS: What topics would you like to hear more about? Please make your suggestions by commenting here or contacting me through my feedback form. I really want some solid user input.
Feb
1
Last week, I was contacted by a documentary photographer named Kelly Shimoda asked if I were willing to post some information about an upcoming project she is working on related to debt. I agreed and without further ado, here is some more detail in Kelly’s own words:
I am a documentary photographer and am doing a project on debt in this country to try to shed light on the difficulties of living on today’s working and middle class salaries - as well as to shed light on some of the problems with the credit card/lending industry. I am looking to connect with middle class people and families who find it difficult to live without debt - whether they need the help of credit cards or whether they are in debt from medical bills, paying for school, etc.
I know from personal experience that debt isn’t always something you want to share with the world so anyone who participates in the project can remain anonymous. I am very sensitive to the privacy concerns that people may have when they talk to me about their debt situations. In fact, my idea is to photograph things that represent people’s debt - but not necessarily the people themselves (e.g. groceries, cars, medical bills, school loans, clothes, etc… anything you have gone into debt to pay for).As I am based in New York City, I am particularly looking to meet people in the NYC metro area; although I’d love to hear from you wherever you are. If you would like to see more of my work to get an idea of my style, you can look at my website: www.kellyshimoda.com If you think you might be interested in participating - or just hearing more about the project - please email me at: debtphotoproject “at” gmail “dot” com Thanks very much!
Given Kelly’s idea to focus more on the things that represent their debt, i.e. the purchases made on maxed out credit cards, I hope many of you in the NYC area will participate. I plan on telling Kelly I’m willing to participate, but given my location on the left coast, this may make things difficult.
Dec
11
Well, I added some new posts and updates to the site and also made some changes to my hosting Control Panel. It appears I effectively disabled my site and I didn’t notice until this afternoon. Everything appears to be fixed and I will have an update to the Debt-O-Meter tonight; one more call to make.
Dec
10
I’m fully prepared for a comment from Jim over at MyDebtBlog, telling me how I cant be taken seriously etc., because I didn’t return from my hiatus when I said I was back a few weeks ago. Okay, fair enough.
I did indeed need a little more time to fully deal with some health issues I was having before I felt I’d be in a position to do the blog justice again. I’m happy to report my health issues are finally resolving themselves and I am finally interested in blogging about my journey again. Yes, I realize the proof will come in the form of regular postings and updates.
On the subject of updates, I’ve been having some problems with the websites of several of my credit card issuers, so the Debt-O-Meter will likely be updated tomorrow. Apparently some issuers aren’t allowing me to access my account on the web since entering into the negotiated ‘pay-down’ agreements. I’m calling all of my card issuers tonight to get the latest balances; I tend to shred my paper statements prematurely.
As for other events, here is a list of major happenings, all of which will be followed by one or more posts:
- I’m Now Car Free! - Turned in the car last week and have been happily taking the bus around Seattle
- Job Search Progressing Slowly
- AMEX Accounts Still Being Handled with the Lawyer
- 2005 Taxes were Audited - It looks like I will have some liability resulting from a 1099 that I never received and thus never factored into my taxes
- Going to combine PoundBuyPound with DollarBuyDollar
- Have gained about 10 pounds back due to medication issues and lack of regular exercise resulting from my illness
Again, I owe a HUGE thanks to all those readers who have remained loyal, even throughout my hiatus. I realize that many of you derive great pleasure and inspiration from the blog and in that respect I have absolutely let you folks down. My goal for 2008 is to do a MUCH better job at blogging. It has proven theraputic for me as well and I need to take advantage of that fact.
Nov
26
I owe my readers an apology. I absolutely fell off the radar for the past two months or so. My current job has been extremely hectic and has sent me on numerous business related trips. In addition, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have been struggling with my bipolar disorder over the past two months.
The effects on my debt have been minor, translated as I didn’t go on a huge shopping spree or anything like that. What has happened is my motivation to keep blogging all but disappeared. I am finally feeling better so look for some regular activity again.
I’ll have more time for an update later this evening. Look for an updated Debt-O-Meter and some developments on the job search front.
Sep
12
Well I am finally back from Singapore and as promised I am back to posting, including a long awaited update to the Debt-O-Meter. I have now paid off $4,788 of my debt, a good start but not as much as I had hoped for. I only have myself to blame. As some of my critics have pointed out (particular a reader nicknamed JJay) in my last post, taking a vacation was absolutely a sidetrack to my debt repayment. That said, it was a much needed break and has provided me with a lot of personal growth and clarity about my path in life. I’ll talk more about some of the negative reaction to my actions in another post.
Additionally, I have managed to get the nearly $6,500 debt I owe to Chase locked in at a 6% interest rate with very little negotiation. So, I have a very substantial portion of my debt locked in at either 0% interest or 6% interest. I will be re-posting the details of my accounts shortly as I have gotten the okay from my attorneys to do so.
On the AMEX front, the negotiations are continuing but all roads appear to be heading toward a settlement of 40% of the original debt. Getting these two accounts settled, would knock nearly 20K off my debt total, which would be a very substantial kickstart to my debt repayment overall. I hope to have some final news on the AMEX situation before the month is out.
I am still continuing with my plans to go car-free when my lease is up in April of 2008. I have been taking the bus to work more and more and have been making use of Flexcar to run some errands, all to preview what life will be like without the car. The extra $650-$700 per month that car payment, insurance and gas spending that will be “freed up” will ALL go to debt repayment.
I’ll be posting some more thoughtful responses to some of the recent criticisms I have seen in the comments section in separate posts. I want to ensure I give myself a fair chance to look at some of these comments constructively, even if the language and content is a little off.
Thanks to everyone who stuck around during the recent months where I have not been all that engaged with the blog. I assure you it will be worth the wait and some exciting progress and changes will soon follow. For those who have chose to remove me from their favorites, I ask you give me a second look. I think you will find the quality and frequency of the content to be better than ever!
Aug
21
A few folks have asked what happened to me as my last post was over two weeks ago. Well, let me explain what has been going on.
About three weeks ago, I was contemplating stopping the blog for a while and going on a hiatus. It wasn’t fun for me anymore to focus so much energy around my debt repayment. I was missing the things in life that were happening around me so I needed to take a time out.
I went on a ‘personal retreat’ for 10 days in the Redwood forests of southern Oregon and northern California. I did lots of hiking and spent lots of time in my own head ‘figuring things out’.
So I’m happy to say I’ve decided to keep blogging away and get back into a more regular posting schedule like I had been doing the first few months.
I’ve got some significant updates to share, including an update to the Debt-O-Meter so stay tuned for the news later today.
Thanks to all my loyal readers for hanging in there with me. My Feedburner stats have dropped off a bit but not too far.
Also, LUCY, if you are out there, please contact me so I can send you your prize. I sent you a note, but haven’t heard back yet.
Aug
3
As my loyal readers have noticed, I have not been posting for quite a few days now. I am sad to report that my ex-wife’s father passed away about 10 days ago and I have been trying to focus on being there for her as best I can as well as spending some quality time with my own family including my daughter. In so doing, I realized I needed a brief break from blogging and focusing on my debt repayment so I could spend some time reflecting on what means the most to me in life.
Family and friends are clearly the things that matter to me the most. My father and I have had a very rocky relationship over the past few years as my parents divorced and I hope we are able to repair things over time. Being a great parent is also of paramount importance to me. I want to be the best parent I can possibly be as my daughter grows up.
That said, I’m coming back to both blogs as they have served as a wonderful outlet for me, particularly when I have been feeling down about the debt.
To that end, I will be putting a survey on the site over the weekend to see what things my readers want to hear about. I often feel like I am ranting about things, but I want to ensure that I’m giving my readers what they want; good, usefel content and advice.
Finally, I will be announcing the winner of the Vista Home Premium giveaway. I’m in the process of tabulating the entries and I will be using a random number generator to determine the winner. Stay tuned for the winner!
Again, I want to thank all my readers for the great comments and incredible support. My Feedburner numbers haven’t changed much during the hiatus so I want to thank everyone for being patient with me and sticking around.
Jul
15
I apologize to my readers as I promised some new postings. I was trying to be slick and utilize the “Set Publish Date” feature in Windows Live Writer but I apparently didn’t use this feature correctly as posts haven’t appeared on the site in days. I unfortunately was only able to recover drafts of my posts but I’m working as we speak to get a new one up in the next hour. So much for trying to be a power user of new technology. Thanks for staying tuned in everyone. I’m also having some technical issues with YPN (Yahoo Publisher Network) but that is frankly secondary.
Jun
30
For the most part, the comments I receive on this site are positive comments, not filled with sympathy or pity, but just kind words of support or encouragement. This blog was intended to chronicle MY journey to repay my debt, and wasn’t designed to mirror the way anyone else dealt or is dealing with their debts. I am a very resourceful person who understands my rights as a consumer and I am using all the resources available to me in order to conquer this debt.
The situation with AMEX seems to have stirred up the pot a bit for some people. Some folks see my negotiations with the collection agencies who are handling my AMEX accounts as an attempt to ’screw my creditors’. Here I must disagree, as I made a good faith attempt to work with AMEX in order to repay the entire amount owed. AMEX gracefully declined and their own collection folks advised me to wait until the account went to collections as I would then have more room for negotiation, INCLUDING a settlement offer.
One commenter in particularsees this tactic as an attempt to ’screw my creditors’. Again, I made several attempt to work out a payment arrangement whereby AMEX would be paid in full over a period of 5 years. They showed no interest in this arrangement so I proceeded to work with my attorney and the collection agencies on a settlement. A lump-sum settlement for less than the total amount owed would seem to make no sense given my offers to repay in full, but when you consider the time-value of money it does indeed make sense from the perspective of AMEX.
Now, where I do take issue with this commenter is his attack on my character and the mention of my daughter. As I stated in my Privacy Policy I will never censor any of the comments posted here unless the comment promotes hate, uses foul language or promotes something illegal because I want to promote healthy debate on the site. None of my readers know anything about my character, my skills as a parent, the love I have for my daughter or my interactions with my family, other than what I mention here, so I was a little surprised at this reader’s reaction. What matters is that I know I am a caring, loving parent who will show my daughter how to avoid some of the mistakes I have made in life. If that isn’t ‘honorable’ so be it, but that is my plan as a parent.
