Knowing How To Get Out of Debt, But Not Having the $5,000 to Do It

Have you ever known someone that's a numbers person, I mean, really a numbers person?

They checkbook is always balanced to the penny.

They can account for every dime they've spent.

Every dollar in their billfold is turned the same way and in order by denomination.

They know the balance owed on every credit card, car loan and mortgage payment.

They know all their passwords by heart and have every family member's social security number and drivers license number memorized.

That's me.

I'm meticulous when it comes to numbers, finances, and accounting. It's no wonder that I have a degree in accounting and work with spreadsheets full of statistical data all day. Numbers run through my veins.

In the early 80s when I was first building my credit, I followed every penny and made sure I read all of the fine print on credit applications. I not only paid everything on time, I paid early and more than was required. I soon began to build a good credit reputation. I was proud of my accomplishment.

As the years went by and as more credit was extended to me, I became annoyingly good at juggling credit and payments, taking advantage of every introductory rate and paying off one card with another to save interest, all while paying them down. Credit card debt was never a concern because I could afford to pay off things fairly easily and keep the flow moving. I just seemed to always have the right mix of debt to income. I was working the system and I was always in control. I was in a position to negotiate my interest rates and cut my own deals with lenders.

I was the queen of credit.

Then, the credit card companies got wise about the way many of us were using the system and began to make it much more difficult to do all that switching around to avoid high interest. The teaser offers had more stipulations. But, I still kept up with the changes.

That was, until a series of unfortunate events changed everything.

I filed for divorce after 22 years of marriage and just three weeks later our son was killed in a go-cart accident.

I found out pretty quick that creditors really didn't care whether any of those things had happened or not, the bottom line was "when can you send the payment?" They also raised all of my interest rates and one delayed payment here or there caused all the rates to go up again. Thanks, that's just what I needed.

I'm not trying to play the victim here, because I made some misjudgments along the way as well. Life wasn't always easy living as a grieving single mom trying to help my young daughter to grieve as well. But, we survived.

Along the way, I met my current husband online. (You can find our story here). With him being from England there were lots of expenses involved with his immigration paperwork for him to come to Texas for us to get married.

With the new husband also came more new costs, insurance, another car, medical discoveries of him having sleep apnea, and A.D.D., etc. He's cost me more than he's worth. (Just kidding, I just wanted to see if you were still paying attention.) Let's just say it hasn't been easy trying to get ahead.

Over the last several years I've been researching the best method to restore my good standing and to be back to where my finances are in better shape. Along the way, I discovered money merge accounts and found an online debt elimination system that works, and I've actually written a hub about it.

Because of the decline of my once perfect credit rating, I haven't been able to get the funding necessary to implement this system. A $5,000 credit line is all that stands between me and financial freedom. Within less than two years I could have everything paid off without making any more money than I make now by properly utilizing this credit line. I have the printouts to show every anticipated transaction for the next two years. I've built in everything I can think of and it works. I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

The problem is, on paper I look too risky. No one wants to take that chance. They put the numbers into a computer, run a credit report, and without listening to my story, the computer spits out a big "we're sorry, you were not approved".

I went to a major banking institute just today. I was told that I'm ineligible for a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) because my ex-husband and I still co-own the home (and he obviously doesn't live there anymore) and since he doesn't live in the house we're disqualified. Then he asked if the land was under agricultural use and that is also an automatic exclusion.

As a last resort, he ran it through his computer to see if I could get approved for a credit card. It was denied. He then jokingly asked me if I had a gun in my purse because he felt my best option was to walk across the floor and hold up one of the tellers. We laughed because I knew he was only joking, but I still found it disheartening. I've worked too hard for it to be down to that. I'm not wanting $5,000 so I can go buy a new yacht.

So, here I sit with all the charts and figures neatly mapped out showing how this will work, but no one wants to look at it. The computer says "no" and that's that.

I just want someone to believe in me as much as I believe in me.

$5,000 for two years, that's all I need.