Today we are talking with Jeremy Vohwinkle, owner of Generation X Finance.
How have you been personally affected by debt?
To say I've been personally affected by debt is an understatement. Back in college and a few years after that, a series of poor decisions left me with around $75,000 in credit card debt. When I think back about that staggering number I still can't believe it. Back in the days of easy credit, I took out a handful of credit cards in college. It started out innocently enough and I used them properly, but it didn't take long before I spent just a little more than I could afford to pay off. After that the finance charges began to snowball and before you know it things were out of control.
The big problem didn't stem from just spending lavishly on credit, but I started a business back in 1999 and essentially financed the entire operation with credit cards and lines of credit with the bank. I justified it to myself by saying the business will eventually become profitable and paying off all the debt would be no big deal. But after borrowing $10,000 here and $15,000 there, and after a few years of just paying the minimums while the business continued to struggle I realized things were out of control.
Things were so bad that I couldn't afford to even keep up with all of the minimum payments so I had to start letting some go unpaid. Then the calls started coming in. Collectors would call me multiple times every day, they would hound me with threatening letters, and the stress that came with that made it one of the most miserable times in my life. This went on for about a year before I finally took action.
How did you manage to get out of debt?
After hitting what felt like rock bottom and not knowing what options I had other thank bankruptcy, I began looking up debt counseling agencies. This was a difficult decision for me because I've never been one to ask for help, but it was probably the best decision I've ever made at the time. Sitting down and talking to someone about my situation not only felt good, but they had the tools and advice to actually help.
They worked with me on creating a budget, contacting creditors and negotiated lower interest rates, and put together a debt management plan that would allow me to make just a single monthly payment while tackling all of the outstanding debts. No, it wasn't magic and my debt didn't disappear overnight, but they put the plan in place that put me on track to pay off all that debt in six years. The best part is I didn't even need the full six years. After seeing how much progress I was making after a while I started to find even more money to throw at the debt to speed the process up. And just a little over four years later I was debt free.
What is your blog about?
My blog discusses all matters of personal finance. There's no real topic that I focus on and instead like to dish out advice that will help as many people as possible. The blog is called Generation X Finance so it's no surprise that I tend to cover topics that are important to the 30 and 40-somethings, but in reality, almost anyone can relate to this generation's financial concerns.
Does your blog give you the opportunity to give back to others dealing with debt?
Having this blog helps tremendously in getting the word out about major financial issues. When I worked as a financial advisor and later a retirement planning counselor, I got to help people, but on such a small scale. I was limited by just the handful of people locally I could reach. Wondering how I could help even more people was what led me to creating the blog in the first place. I knew that after sitting down to talk to someone about their financial concerns, there was probably thousands of others just like them who had the same questions.
So, that's how the blog started. I'd begin to think about the discussions and questions I was having with clients on a daily basis and then would turn that into a blog post. Most of the topics I talk about have some sort of personal story or experience behind them. I've either lived it myself, or I've worked with someone in the past who had some concerns. Because of this I think it has provided a great opportunity to give back to readers because I'm usually writing from the perspective of experience instead of regurgitating some basic facts you'd get from a textbook.
What is your best piece of financial advice?
My best piece of financial advice would be to seek debt help if you need it. This is a hard thing for most of us to do. In general, we like to do things ourselves and when it comes to money, we don't want anybody else knowing the status of our bank accounts. But this is foolish on many levels. If you're struggling with debt and can't seem to get out on your own, ask for help. If you are clueless about how to invest your retirement savings, ask for help. If you hate doing your taxes and think you might be leaving money on the table, ask for help.
You aren't expected to be a master at everything when it comes to money. Sure, the more you know, the better, but nobody is expecting you to be an accountant, attorney, investment manager, and debt relief specialist on top of trying to go about your daily business. Recognize when you can't do the best on your own and get somebody to help. It will alleviate a lot of stress in your life and most likely, put you in an even better financial situation.
At CareOne we believe personal experiences are what make an expert.
Please visit Jeremy at his blog, Generation X Finance for personal finance advice from someone who knows what being in debt is like.
