Spending twenties in Debt

[Capsu78]

I don't think this has been posted but it certainly belongs here!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/what-i-learned-from-spending-my-entire-twenties-in-debt

I thought it might be satire until I peeked at the comments!

[deirdre08]

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but this doesn't seem all that cringe worthy. Having a lot of debt on your hands, especially when you're very young, can be very crippling. Sometimes it takes a lot to take your head out of the sand/your own ass and really assess your situation. It's really easy to downward spiral and make self defeating choices and a little positive encouragement from someone who's been in your shoes can go a long way. Sure she made mistakes, but this seems like a look back on those mistakes and her 1. admitting them and 2. letting other people know that having debt in your twenties isn't the end of the world, that making a financial mistake isn't going to kill you. Yes it'll have long term repercussions depending on the size of the mistake, but you aren't going to die. Just my take on it.

[Capsu78]

I took a second look at it and came away a bit more sympathetic trying to view it through my memories of my 20's.  The biggest sea change from back in my days (other than a lack of stone tablets to jot notes on) is that no bank in their right mind would have ever offered CC's to me and my bunch of knuckle head friends...my first CC as a 21 year old was countersigned by my father and had a $500 limit.

[Syonyk]

That must have been before credit card companies figured out just how profitable deadbeats are

You buy $500 of crap on a card. Cc company pays $485 or so to retailers.

You never pay. Between fees, interest, penalties, etc, the balance goes to $1500 before it goes to collections.

The account is sold to a collections agency for $500. The cc company is, in reasonable terms, up $15. They, however, can write off a $1000 "loss" on that account.

[Sibley]

I know people who are in that situation, or who could very easily get there. It really messes with their heads. That article really would help them. Sometimes hope is the most powerful thing.