Laurie's Story

“My problems started in 2003. I had a lot of available credit to my name and made regular payments, even though I hardly ever paid my debt down. I had three children in Catholic school and would sometimes make payments using credit cards, all the while promising to pay the cards down when we received our income tax refund each year.

In 2004, my husband’s place of work closed and he was unable to assist with the household debt. Six Months later he found a job making significantly less. During that time, we lived exclusively on credit. We had no savings to fall back on. We struggled to get back on our feet financially.

I went back to school to get my Masters degree in the hopes of finding a better job. In 2006, during my last year of school, I realized I was pregnant. I was devastated! We could hardly afford to feed the three children we had! We had a son in November, 2006, during a terrible ice storm in the Midwest that knocked the power out for weeks.

We refinanced the house, but did not get a fixed interest rate. In December, 2007, our payments went up $200 a month. We struggled monthly. We were always one or two months behind on our mortgage. I was about to default on my student loan and my credit cards were all behind. We unplugged the phone to avoid calls from bill collectors.

Christmas that year was horrible. No money for gifts, no money for our usual special Christmas fare, no tree. My new son’s first Christmas didn't happen. I thank God he is too young to know what he missed. My older children were more understanding, but my husband and I felt awful.

The New Year began, and I wasn't sleeping at night. When you have pressing, gut-wrenching debt, your mind is constantly churning, trying to think of ways to get out of the mess that you have gotten yourself into. I decided to get a payday loan and a title loan. Fortunately, I was turned down because I didn't have the right paper work with me when I applied. The year before, I obtained a loan at a company that took the money from your account. They took $65 dollars from my account biweekly for 15 payperiods on a $700 loan. You do the math.

Finally, at 3 am one morning, I got up to search online for debt counseling. I wanted to pay back my debt. After all, I used the cards, but the interest rates were killing me. Some were at 32%. All the commercials claimed that it would take me 25 years to get myself out of debt if I paid only the minimum monthly. Surfing the web, I came upon ClearPoint’s website. I gathered my 28 credit cards and started filling out my application online. With in days, I was contacted by the company. My counselor first reassured me that I wasn't a complete loser. Then he told me that he has worked with people with more debt than I had, and that they were well on their way to being debt free. He kept in contact with me and also gave me tips on how to budget better.

That night, I slept eight hours straight for the first time in almost a year. The relief was indescribable. At first, I couldn't fathom how I would make the payments. My counselor helped me see that, with my interest rates reduced, I was actually paying less monthly. I was able to start saving money for the first time ever. When I go online, I can see my debt decreasing. I believe I will be free of credit card debt in about four years.

I tell anyone who will listen about this program. My life isn't perfect, but I have food on the table, my kids have clothes on their backs, and we can even plan a vacation now and then, paid for in cash. Thank you ClearPoint, for helping me get control of my life again.

Paid Testimonial. Results may not be typical.