fabsroman
Ultimate Member
OP,
The first thing your friend needs is to realize that there is a problem. Then, and most importantly, he has to realize that reducing debt requires cutting spending habits, which is extremely painful in this circumstance, because unlike keeping spending in check not to go into debt and never having been at the level of spending/consumption he was at to accumulate all the debt, he actually needs to cut back spending so much that not only would he not be incurring any additional debt, but he would actually be saving some money to apply toward the debt he currently has.
I have sat down with several people since 2008 in an attempt to accomplish this and stave off bankruptcy. Only a couple have succeeded. Most come to me thinking that there is some miracle that I can achieve by waiving a magic wand and making all the debt disappear. Bad habits are hard to break, especially when breaking them results in the pain of a reduced lifestyle. Of course, that reduced lifestyle will be coming at one point or another. Either via forced bankruptcy, foreclosure, and/or never being able to retire.
The first thing your friend needs is to realize that there is a problem. Then, and most importantly, he has to realize that reducing debt requires cutting spending habits, which is extremely painful in this circumstance, because unlike keeping spending in check not to go into debt and never having been at the level of spending/consumption he was at to accumulate all the debt, he actually needs to cut back spending so much that not only would he not be incurring any additional debt, but he would actually be saving some money to apply toward the debt he currently has.
I have sat down with several people since 2008 in an attempt to accomplish this and stave off bankruptcy. Only a couple have succeeded. Most come to me thinking that there is some miracle that I can achieve by waiving a magic wand and making all the debt disappear. Bad habits are hard to break, especially when breaking them results in the pain of a reduced lifestyle. Of course, that reduced lifestyle will be coming at one point or another. Either via forced bankruptcy, foreclosure, and/or never being able to retire.
