Always Keep Track of Everything - Update!

It's super important to keep track of everything.  Whenever you make a payment, it is always best to either write on the bill when you paid it, how you paid it, and if you spoke to anyone about your bill, the person's name.  It's also super important that anything you pay online, you get a copy of your payment, print it out, make sure it says how you paid it, and again: if you spoke to anyone, their name.  And it's always important to file everything - from your bills to your bank statements - and have it filed in a way that you can easily find things.

I have had collectors call me in the past and try to convince me that I did not pay a bill.  All I had to do was go into that file, find the bill, and I could tell them "I paid it on this day, with this check/credit card, and I spoke to Joe on this other date." They would fumble and say, "we'll note this on your file!"  If I didn't have that, they would probably try to persuade me into paying extra.

One collector in the past tried to tell me that I didn't pay a bill.  I did.  The debt was 100% paid off.  They kept calling, kept harassing me, and I kept telling them no.  For months, they bothered me.  AND, they continued to hit my credit.  Then, they sent me a letter saying that if I didn't pay a certain amount, they were taking me to court on December 4, 2011.  Needless to say, I paid them.  It is terrible to get summoned for a collection debt.  That will hit your credit super hard.  They were wrong.  In 2012, they were audited.  They had to fix my credit score from the damage they did to it, and they were required to give me back the extra amount I paid.
Which reminds me that I need to send a copy of the letter to Kari....

Always keep track of everything.  It is so easy now with online payments and automatic withdraws for companies and collectors to get sticky fingers.  Which is what I experienced today!

I have not been late on my student loan payments.  I have always paid on time.  Since we are trying to boost our credit, we never wanted to run the risk of being late on a payment.  I set up automatic withdraws for my monthly payments.  I thought that my bills would be paid on time.... Apparently not.

Last Thursday, I checked my student loans online.  I owed $283.  I noticed that there were no pending payments listed.  Worried, I tried to pay the bill anyways.  A notice came up saying that since I was signed up for automatic withdraws, any amount I paid would be ADDITIONAL.  Currently, I do not want to pay anything additional.  So I assumed that the payment would go through on it's due date (today).

I went back to the online bill pay for my student loans to find a lovely notice saying I was past due!

Say What??

HOW can someone on automatic payment withdraws be past due??  I tried to pay it, but again, I got a notice saying that since I am currently set up with automatic withdraws, it would be additional.  Now, how in the world am I supposed to pay this bill?  I decided what the heck, I'll just ask to be reimbursed the additional amount.  Then I was presented with this lovely message:

Oh, well that's convenient.

I checked my online bank account.  Sure enough, there was the student loan company's name in all capital letters.  They took out the payment from my bank account!  Not only did they take out a payment, they took out $357.06.  That's $73.20 more than my monthly payment.

Well look at that!

I will be updating this post after I speak to customer service.  This cannot hit my credit!  I am freaking out a little bit.  This is criminal.  They have to fix it - and they have to guarantee that it will not touch my credit!  Saying I'm mad is an understatement right now.  However, if they don't fix it, a friend of mine told me that his family (who own a law firm) will have no problem speaking on my behalf.  If it has to go further, his family will represent me pro bono (aka, free).  Hopefully it won't have to go to that extent, but just in case, it is nice to know I have that leverage.

*~*~*~*~*~* UPDATE *~*~*~*~*~*

So I called customer service this morning first thing.  I was so mad and confused.  The Customer Service Rep (CSR) did not make matters any better.  Travis had to take the phone away from me and talk to her.  What can I say, I was more than frustrated!

We'll go back a little ways.  Usually, when I think of "Due Date" for bills, I assume that is the day the payment is due.  I'm never a day late on payments.  Because Travis and I live paycheck to paycheck, we budget hardcore.  Each week, I have it planned to pay a little bit towards all of my bills - based on priority.  That way, my bills are paid BEFORE the due date.  It also helps us to live our lives on a week to week basis without fear that our bills won't be paid.  It's all planned out and we do our best to follow our plans.  On top of that, it's always best to pay the bills with the highest interest rate early because a greater percentage of the payment will pay towards the principle balance - not interest.  By the time the bill is due, majority of the payment will go towards interest.

On January 3rd, I paid $75 towards my student loan bill.  On Friday, January 4th, I called the company and spoke to a CSR about lowering my monthly payments.  It's not that we can't afford it, necessarily, but we'd rather use that money at this time to purchase a home.  That way, we can always pay more when we can or when we want to.  The CSR gave me a few options, and we worked out a plan.  He told me that my next bill will be $282 (and some odd cents - I always round up).  I asked him about my $75 - and he said it would be applied towards my bill of $282.

On January 15th, I did the dumb thing and signed up for automatic payments.  I should not have done that.  Once I signed up for automatic payments - that $75 became an "additional" amount.  I did not know this.  On January 24th, I checked my online account to see if the payment had gone through yet.  It didn't.  There were no pending payments.  However, it said my monthly payment was $282 (and some odd cents).  Because the loan company recently changed their website, I could not find a statement anywhere saying what amount was paid or not.  Because the CSR told me that my monthly payments would be $282, I assumed the amount listed was the total bill.  I figured the $75 would be applied, because that's what he said!

Sunday was the due date.  I checked my online loan account, and you all know what I found.  So this morning, bright and early, I called the company and the CSR got an earful.  She would not give me a straight answer.  I was so confused, that I just lost it.  It sounded like no one there knew what in the world I even owed!  Once Travis got on the phone, and I calmed down, things started to become clear between us.

Turns out, the previous CSR did not change my monthly payment plan and never made a note on the account.  So technically, I owed $357.06.  The balance that was showing up online was the amount after the $75 had been applied.  HOWEVER, because I signed up for automatic payment withdraws, those automatic payments take out the full amount.  So this company not only took out $357.06 - they also took out an additional $75.  Basically, we "lost" $150 this month.  I asked if, because of the confusion, they could reimburse $75 or apply it towards my next bill, and they said no.  There was nothing they could do.  We are just out that money.

We set up a new payment plan with this CSR.  I have her name, and I recorded our conversation.  I won't let that happen to me again.  Once she knew she was being recorded, she certainly changed her tune.  Now, we're back to what we were originally paying in December:  $303.  Whatever.  Now I have to update our budget again.

This has me super upset.  I could have used that $75 towards our House Fund.  Here's why:  Travis and I have been working with credit advisors and what not to boost our credit.  Our credit advisor suggested that since I paid off my credit card completely, I should put $100 on it and pay it down to $10-$20 to develop a consistent history of revolving credit.  I followed their advice and put $110 on my credit card.  I WAS going to use $75 for paying down my credit card - but it looks like we're going to have to pull $75 from our House Fund savings account to pay the credit card.  Thanks student loan company! **obviously sarcasm**

Why Did My Credit Score Drop?

I have been doing very well with my budget.  My bills are being paid on time with a little extra.  Our debt is gradually dropping.  I checked my credit score, and I was shocked by what I saw... My credit score DROPPED!

Immediately, I began searching for any bills that I had not paid.  I couldn't figure it out.  Why did my credit score drop?  I found nothing!  I felt like crying.  All that hard work for absolutely nothing positive!  Travis had no idea what happened.  Let's just say, I freaked out.  I began thinking that nothing good is going to happen for us.  I began thinking that we'll never own a home.  I began thinking what's the point in even trying to pay off my debt - it won't help me anyways.

A few friends of mine know a lot about credit scores, mortgages, loans, and business-y stuff.  One night, while we were all hanging out having a few drinks, I brought it up to them.  I asked them, "How do people do it anymore?  Why is it my credit score drops when I do everything right?"  They started asking me a few really smart questions that I would have never thought of.

The greatest debt I have is student loans.  The credit cards are really nothing.  When I confessed to my friends how much I owe each month to student loans, it was roughly 60% of our net income.  Yup, that's right.  We pay 60% of our take home pay to student loans.  Because our credit card debt is so low, it's actually not a negative thing since we pay it off each month with a little bit of roll-over.

Your credit score is actually affected by your income to debt ratio.  I did not know that!  While we sat here thinking that if we paid off my student loans within 10 years, it would be better for us and that my credit score would improve.  Nope, it sure doesn't.  Your debt needs to be AT THE MOST 40% of your net income.  To qualify for better interest rates, your debt needs to be about 30% of your net income.  If your debt is over 40% of your net income, it reflects negatively on your credit score.  So even though we are paying off my student loans at the lowest current rates they offer for a 10-year repayment plan and paying off the principle, it doesn't increase my credit score.  Sure, we'd be saving more money in the long run... but it isn't helping us now get our footing in the real world.

If I increase my repayment plan to 20 or 30 years, it will boost my credit score and give us lower monthly payments.  It could possibly boost my credit score enough to qualify for a mortgage.  I brought up consolidating my loans... is that a good thing or a bad thing?  In my situation, it would be bad.

Because I am pretty well organized with my student loans, consolidating would not do me any justice.  It would negatively affect my credit score.  I have a variety of different student loans - some at low interest rates and some at high interest rates.  Consolidating would give me a higher interest rate than majority of my student loans.  The best decision for me is to keep them separate, pay the minimum balance, and then use what I have left to pay off the principle on my highest interest rate loans.  Consolidating would cause me to pay about the same or significantly more than if I just keep them separate and first pay off the higher interest rates in comparison to the principle balance for each.

So there you have it.  To help your credit score and prevent it from dropping, you must keep your debt at or below 40% of your net income.  If that means pushing my student loans off to a 20 or 30 year plan, then so be it.  It will definitely benefit us more than paying off the student loans right away.  After all, we still have our 10 year plan to paying them off - it just shows on paper that we plan to have it paid off in 20-30 years, showing that we are more financially responsible and trustworthy with our credit.

Boosting Credit

I've basically come to the conclusion that I should not take credit advice from anyone that does not handle credit on a daily basis.  We had been struggling to boost our credit for a long time.  See, the reason why we chose to seek out a professional to review our credit report is because we didn't know a single thing about how credit actually works.  Because everyone's credit is different, rules change.  What would boost my credit may not boost your credit... in fact, it could potentially hurt it.  However, something I do that hurts my credit score could be exactly what you could use to boost yours.  Plus, there are a million grey areas when it comes to credit scores.  How much does getting an Old Navy credit card actually affect your credit?  When applying for a job that asks to see your credit report, does it affect your credit positively, negatively, or does it stay stagnant?  Does a Victoria's Secret credit card affect your credit score more than a mortgage?  If you pay off your debt entirely, is that actually going to boost your score?  The answers are always different depending on your own credit history.

For example, I was trying to figure out how to quickly boost my credit score.  I was at a mid-500 range.  I couldn't figure out why it was not going up when I was paying my bills on time!  A friend suggested I get a small retail credit card to boost my score.  Sure enough, when I applied for a credit card at NY & Co., I got denied.  AND it didn't help my credit score at all!

I decided to get a free trial through Score Sense.  For one week, I gave the online credit checker a try!  And to my surprise, I really liked it.  Score Sense shows you how your credit score changes over time on a very simple and easy to read graph.

It sends you an e-mail when there is a new alert  -  which is great for preventing identity theft.  It tells you the moment there are any changes on your credit report.  My first alert was on August 1st.  It told me that my credit score improved because I paid off medical debt.  It also told me that out of the three credit agencies (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax), TransUnion was the one to update this first.

There is a ScoreCast, which allows you to see how your current score will be affected.  For example, if I paid off all of my credit cards completely, my credit will increase dramatically.  However, if I paid off my student loans completely, my credit score will increase the same amount as if I paid off my credit card debt entirely.  It helps you prioritize what areas you need to focus on to improve your credit score.

And there is a Dispute Center which helps you dispute errors on your credit report.

To top it off, Score Sense has a help line that you can call to ask questions about things you do not understand on your credit report.

As a couple striving to own a home some day, Travis and I are really thankful to have total access 24/7 to our credit report and credit score.  I highly recommend it.

I still believed that I needed assistance in understanding and monitoring my credit score.  Travis and I want a home of our own.  I turned to Kari Peters, who is a mortgage loan originator here in town.  She knows her stuff.  She has given us so many tips and constructive advice that has helped Travis and I boost our credit score in hopes of owning a home.  She is the person helping us get to a point where we can actually buy a house.  Did you know that there are free forms that you can fill out and mail that WILL boost your credit score?  I didn't either!  Kari started a new blog just to offer tips, crack credit report myths, and give advice to anyone needing home-buying/home-owning advice.  Check out her blog for exclusive tips and tricks to boost your credit, too!  Her blog is Ft. Wayne's Mortgage Minder.

I hope these resources help you just as much as they have helped me!  If you have any other sources that you use that have helped you understand and boost your credit score, feel free to share them in the comments!  I'd love to know where these hidden gems are!

Bumps in the Road

Trying to become established in this kind of job market and economy has really proven to me to be a vicious circle.  I feel so stuck sometimes.  Here I am, working full time for no benefits - but with a chance to move up in the company.  I don't really have any idea where this is going to take me and for how long I will have to work before I get advanced.  I know two women in the company have been waiting to retire, but they have been so short-staffed and overworked, that the possibility to retire is not available to them.... That is until I arrived.  So I am being trained for their jobs.  But with my previous work experience and with my degree, I have no idea where I am going since other opportunities are arriving every day.  I'd hate to say it because I love everyone I work with, but all of my coworkers have told me this regularly:  I'm over-qualified for all the jobs in this company.  I have to agree.  However, I'll do whatever I need to in this economy to build my experience for a better future for my family.

Travis is working hard in school.  He finished his math class 2 weeks early, which is no surprise to me. He loves math.  It's his Art History class that he can't seem to grasp.  I guess that is the engineer in him. Luckily, his fall semester is mostly math and science.  Travis also got a manager position part-time to work around his school schedule at a place that specializes in kayaking, boating, hiking, and extreme sports (mostly water sports).  Throughout the summer, they have a variety of sporting events.  I know Travis will love this.

I cannot lie and say that I'm extremely happy with where we are.  My student loans are going to get more expensive and I am not sure we can afford it.  Paying off the credit cards has become an endless feat.  We still have one more medical bill to pay off, granted it is only $500.  Some people may think we are careless with money because my credit isn't that great.  My credit has been hit multiple times for multiple reasons.  First, when I was sick, the medical debt almost destroyed my 680 credit score.  I have only had 1 credit card my entire life, and the max amount on it was $500.  I had to use it to pay rent one month, so it maxed out.  I tried to get another credit card to use only for gas so that I could increase my credit... but I was denied.  Travis only has one credit card, and it's debt is only $200.  When Travis and I were seeing opportunities with his company and he was promised a promotion, we began house hunting because Travis's credit score was great.  Due to my student loans and our limited income, we qualified for $70,000.  Not long after that, Travis was laid off.  So, needless to say, we didn't buy a house.  When I graduated, we moved in with family in Fort Wayne.  As I job searched, majority of companies were hitting my credit score even more.  It seemed like every time I applied for a job, I had to agree to a credit check.  When asked if I could print off a copy as to not hit my credit score, I was told no.  We wanted to get an apartment or a house or some place to live, but out of fear for being denied based on our credit scores, we don't want to risk more hits to our credit.  I've heard many people say that bad credit is better than no credit.  While that may be true, having bad or no credit still feels impossible to get established.  It looks like our goals of buying a home this year are not going to happen.  Next year, when my student loan payments rise, I'm afraid that we still are not going to be able to buy a house, especially with the income we both produce.  And to look for a new job, I'm afraid my credit will only get beaten up more just for applying.

But on a brighter note, Travis was able to sell his old car!  It only sold for $350, but it sure helped.  We hadn't gone on a date, so we used the money for a nice dinner, movie, and because I absolutely love fairs and festivals, we spent about $20 towards a day at the Three Rivers Festival.  At the festival, Travis gave me a brilliant idea!  I should start a blog about sweet stuff.  I love sweets!  I have a horrible sweet tooth.  So I am going to give it a try.  When I put the blog together, I will definitely post a link when it is ready for its debut.  So keep a look out for the Sweetest Blog on the Block!

Baby Step #1: Accomplished.

After quite a hectic run around with my financial aid, I finally received my grant refund.  With that money, the Hubster and I put $1000 directly into our Emergency Fund.  That fulfills Baby Step #1 from Dave Ramsey's Seven Baby Steps.  We are now working towards paying off our credit card debt.  Our credit card debt is very small.  It isn't even $1000, which is why we decided to pay these off.   That shouldn't take long at all!

After we pay off the credit cards, we need to get another car.  Some may say that is a ridiculous idea, but we cannot keep juggling one car.  Having that single car run constantly between the both of us is adding miles to the car and wearing down on it.  Already, we need to put some maintenance into it just to keep it running so much.  So, with the remaining amount after paying bills is going straight into fixing the car.  It's a great car.  It's been amazing.  But the poor car has been working way more than it should be.  And it's showing.

WOO HOO!  We made it through Baby Step #1!  On to Baby Step #2....

Time Got Away from Me.

So much is going on!  I am so sorry I left ya'll behind!  I'm going to update you on EVERYTHING! :)

My husband received a promotion at his job!  It is now a typical 9-5 job.  He has more responsibility at the business.  I am so proud of him!  On top of this 9-5 job, he is also working with me at a burger joint called Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  That's right.  We both picked up a second job and are working together!  It's a lot of fun, and our bosses like us.  Hard work pays off.

As for me, I am pulling 18 credit hours this semester.  I was able to receive grants and aid to cover my education costs.  I will be walking in the graduation ceremony this December, however I won't actually be finished with my degree until May 2012.  Since I am doing 18 credit hours this semester, I barely have time for fun.  But the sacrifice is so worth it.  I only have 4 credit hours once this semester is over - and those 4 credits are dedicated to an internship.  It seems absolutely crazy, and honestly, my life is so hectic.  However, in the long run, it is going to be cheaper than doing 12 credit hours this semester and 10 credit hours next.  Plus, next semester, I'll only be doing 20 hours a week for the internship.  The rest of my time will be dedicated to a work study position that is 10 hours a week, and a remaining 10-20 hours a week for my part-time job at Five Guys.  It's doable.  It's stressful, but it's going to be so worth it.

Right now, I'm always doing homework, I'm always in class or at work, and I have to say "no" to many of the invitations friends give me.  So many friends and family members will beg, guilt trip me, or try to persuade me into thinking I deserve time off.  My only response is, "my time off will be paid back to me in due time."  Right now, looking at all the bills and having graduation so close I can taste it, I don't want "time off."  I want to push harder.  I have more drive, more motivation.  I'll get up some days and dread being busy for 13-15 hours.  But I look at how much all this work is going to pay me back in due time.  I'll drag my feet to make it to class or to whine about writing papers every week, but in the end, I do it with vigor and passion.  I don't half-ass (excuse the language) anything because this is not just what I need, I have everything I really need; this is what I want, and that's what makes the difference.

Unfortunately, we were not able to sell the car.  We still have it with a "For Sale" sign on it, but no one is interested.  Husband turned the car on and found out the brake line had broken.  We've still put up a Craigslist ad for it, but no one has been interested in it.  If no one buys it, we're selling it for scrap parts.

GOOD NEWS THOUGH!

We're paying off our debts completely!  Woo hoo!!  I am super excited about it!  We've also paid off the remaining amount required for my student loans.  It is now officially in deferment until 3 months after graduation.  So far, as it looks, we should have 2 more debts completely paid off by 2012!  We have also added to our emergency fund!  This gives me such motivation to keep on keepin' on!

So right now:
- Emergency fund $123.91
- Husband's Promptcare Lab bill Paid off as of Sept. 1, 2011
- Sallie Mae $150 bill for deferment Paid off as of Sept. 1, 2011
- Direct Loans $323.74 bill Paid off as of Sept. 14, 2011
- Unity Physician's bill Currently $904 remaining
- Dr. Greene bill Currently $540 remaining
- SIRA radiology bill Currently $325 remaining
- Capital One credit card Currently $492.12 remaining
- Credit One credit card Currently $306 remaining

Where We Were...

Just to give a few people an idea of where we are coming from, I decided I would fill you in on the number crunch.  I'm not lying when I say we used all of our money to pay debt.  I've had a few people come up to me and say, "Oh, you think you have it bad..." and then proceed to tell me their negative numbers.  I'm not trying to belittle anyone.  I know this economy is really hurting people.  But we didn't just blow our money like I've seen some people do.  I know this sounds harsh, but I don't want to hear woe-me stories about debt when those people are doing literally nothing about it (other than blowing their paychecks on videogames, booze, strip clubs, and night clubs).  Then, they want to come up to me and tell me how I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to finances.  So, kiddos, I'm going to lay it out there and show you the numbers.

I'm only going to focus on medical bills and credit cards.  You'll get the picture.  Our rent is average, our utilities are very conservative (especially since water/sewage/trash/recycling is all included in our rent), and the only reason why we are in debt in the first place was because of medical expenses.  Our medical expenses forced us to use credit cards (which is stupid, don't do it unless you know you can pay off the credit card!).  I'm not going to include my student loans.  Why?  Because I believe you can't put a price on education.  Yes, I'll be paying it back - but paying back my student loans won't be nearly as difficult if we take care of our current debt.

Currently, these are the medical bills we're paying off:

• IU Health (when hubby had meningitis, it's the final bill):  min. $50/month = $175 remaining
• Radiologists (SIRA):  min. $20/mon = $405 total
• Dr. Greene's office:  min. $20/mon = $620 remaining
• Unity Physicians:  min. $120/mon = $2707 total

Currently, these are our credit cards (GASP - we only have 2!):

• Credit One:  min. $25/mon = $306 total
• Capital One:  min. $15/mon = $500 total

We are currently LOW income.  When I say low, I mean $1600/month income.  But this is me going to school full time, working only 16 hours a week (because that's all they can give right now), and my husband literally just got his job back after being laid off and is starting back this week.  I'm currently getting everything situated for my senior year in college, and I am looking into work study as well.  I'm still looking for a second part-time job, too.  

So, with our current expenses and our current income - it sounds doable, right?  We should be saving money!  No.  That's not correct.  We just started this income this week!  My husband was laid off for about 4 months!  I couldn't work up until April.  And when I could work, I spent the next 3 months looking for a job.  Economy is tough, ya'll.  So, you can imagine with no income, how hard that was.  Luckily, there were food pantries, generous family members willing to help because they understood our situation, and we used ALL of the money we ever saved to survive that difficult time.  Saving what we did prior was our emergency fund.  An emergency fund goes quickly.  I'm glad we had it when we needed it.

But here's something else.  We paid off a lot of debt.  How much?

• IU Health grand total:  $21,507.87
• Unity Physicians total: $1803.00
• Radiologists (SIRA) total:  $1065.00
• Pathologists total:  $165.00 (and we are expecting reimbursement of $27.50)

We paid off a total of $24,155.87 in 2 years.  Before I got ill, I worked.  I would work as many shifts as I could and I even pulled overtime.  But from November 22, 2010 until April 15, 2011, I could not because doctor's ordered me not to and for 3 months of that time, I was strictly bedridden - only permission to use the restroom.  And my husband worked a lot, pulled overtime, and did whatever he could.  We struggled for 2 years to pay off that amount.  That is not even including the bills family members contributed towards.  It costs a lot of money to save your life - and not all treatments are covered under insurance plans.

Paying off debt is possible.  We've done it - and we know there are sacrifices to be made.  But I definitely don't like someone telling me that I don't know what I'm doing, or that I'm following a cult because we're following Dave Ramsey's plan.  Maybe why so many people follow him is because it freaking works.

For all the other penny pinchers out there - stand your ground.  You aren't crazy!  I know it is possible.  We survived... literally.

Introduction

Hello!

Today begins the day that my husband and I are starting over.  We've had a very rough patch in life.  This blog is mainly for us to track where we've been and where we are going.  It's to monitor our success, a place to vent our worries, to praise our hard efforts, and get us motivated to get where we are going.  I'd glad you have come here to join us!  The work it takes to get on your feet again after a hard time is agonizing.  Sometimes, it feels impossible.  But to stand up and face the impossible makes anyone brave.  Everything in life comes back to money.  It's a shame.  It shouldn't.  There's an amazing quote that I always think of when I hear people talk about money.

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money."

- Cree Indian Proverb

It makes you think.  But unfortunately, you cannot survive without some kind of currency.  

I was never taught how to manage money or how to budget.  Sometimes, I found balancing money very confusing.  I figured out a system real quick when I had to move out on my own.  I never lived out of my means and I worked hard for every penny that I earned.  When my husband (fiance at the time) became ill and almost died of bacterial meningitis, his medical bills really put him in debt because he didn't have health insurance.  Luckily, the hospital offered financial assistance for those who honestly could not afford the bills.  Unfortunately, it didn't cover all the bills.  I was also experiencing health issues (which were misdiagnosed as endometriosis).  I had been dropped from my parents' insurance, and I myself quickly racked up medical bills for treatments.  I wasted my money on a health benefits plan that didn't pay for anything.  Our medical bills combined became overwhelming.  We took money out of our savings accounts including our wedding fund to pay off the bills.  With my health becoming a risk, my husband and I married at the Justice of the Peace because we couldn't qualify for any assistance as independents (unless I had a child, which was not in our plans at the time).  We gave up hope for a wedding because it was not in the cards we were dealt.  

My health got worse, and I had a insurance plan (even though it wasn't anything great, it was better than nothing).  I had a heart attack at 24 years old due to a congenial birth defect called intestinal malrotation. My health continued to get worse, and medical bills piled up again.  I was forced to withdraw from college and quit my job - leaving us on a single income and more debt than we could afford.  If it wasn't for local food pantries and the generosity of our family members, we wouldn't have survived when my husband was laid off from his job.

I found out I had become pregnant, and my health continued to decline.  It wasn't until I was pregnant that I found out I had struggled with E. coli for months.  I was treated for it, and Hoosier Healthwise paid for my pregnancy.  Unfortunately, we lost our daughter on April 5, 2011.  I had complications from the miscarriage, and I hemorrhaged.  My ER visit for the hemorrhaging was not covered under my pregnancy plan because I had miscarried 3 days prior and the doctor decided to not put the medical code saying my visit was pregnancy related.  I fought for months, even got a patient's advocate, but the doctor still wouldn't budge.  Without that code, my pregnancy insurance would not cover my visit.  My mother graciously helped me pay off some of the medical bills that acquired during this difficult year.  

My husband and I struggled to find decent jobs to get by.  I set up payment plans for all the medical bills.  My husband waited for three months for unemployment to approve his status.  We are still waiting, one month later, to receive his unemployment.  By the grace of God, the company my husband worked for was sold to new management, and he got his job back.  I found a job, working part-time at a burger joint.  They couldn't hire me as full-time.  

I am going back to college for my senior year.  I qualified for many grants and financial aid to cover my final year in college.  I am still waiting to hear whether or not I qualify for work-study.  If so, I have a possible work-study position available to me at the Career Center on campus.  I also signed up for tuition reimbursement for the semester I had to withdraw from college.  I won't find out if my appeal is approved until after September 6, 2011.  If I do receive reimbursement, I will have to wait another 45 days to actually get my money back.  

The economy is rough.  It's rough for everyone right now.  We are in a crunch, living paycheck to paycheck.  We're even behind on some bills.  We literally have about $50 in our bank accounts.  Once my husband receives his unemployment, we should be caught up on our bills that are behind.  

Now that we are working our way out of our current quicksand of financial stress, we are setting up budgets and working towards building our little nest.  We have so many things that we need to pay off, and many things that we need to save up for.  We are literally starting here with nothing.  So now is the best time to get a plan put into action.  This is what this blog is for.

We are following guidelines from Dave Ramsey currently.  We plan to follow the Baby Step program and see what happens.  It couldn't hurt.  So, this blog is dedicated towards our nest egg.  This blog is dedicated to building our nest so that we can officially live our lives.  I hope readers will find this blog as a useful tool to getting out of those difficult times.