Has anyone in the forum ever experience debt problems? As a banker it is difficult to admit this. I have worked in banks and finance companies to see far many more people worse off than I am. Ratiowise I am a good credit risk. I have recognized that I am tired having debt and have been working towards paying off all debt but have experienced setbacks along the way.

Despite being a banker I do not want to finance anything or pay interest again! It gets a little daunting and tiring consistently living like this. I could divert the extra funds I am paying towards bills to improve my livestyle, but I realize that the sacrafice I make now will improve my lifestyle later.

Please excuse my semi-rant, I just want affirmation that other people are working towards this goal or have reached this goal. Thanks!

I went through a divorce about 8 years ago and both my ex and I had some serious debt that we had accumulated through the years we were married. While we were still together we discussed our options and mentioned bankruptcy once and only once. Given my career choice in banking and the level I was working at, it was not an option. I did not want that to haunt me throughout my life. When we split, I had over $15K in credit card debt alone. It was very bleak. However, I got a consolidation loan and the max term my bank let me have is 4 years. Yes the interest was huge BUT I was debt free within 3 years and feeling was awesome!!! I now have only 2 credit cards and no running balance on either (my current husband would kill me, he hates debt ). My point, it is frusturating but once you're debt free it's awesome. The key is moderation and to live within the boundaries in which your salary affords.

I'll bet that every banker with few exceptions has gone through or is going through the same scenario as you are, especially if credit card debt is involved. I was on the loan committee a few years back and the credit card debt that some people had was staggering, including bankers, attorneys (especially attorneys), and doctors.

You somehow have to get back to cash, not credit, as it's way too easy to pay the minimum each month.

With that said, life gets a hold on you and sort of jerks you around, especially when your family needs something or think they need something or you think you need something and possibly everyone you know already has something that you want or need.

I go by the motto: I can afford anything I want, but not everything I want. I works for me, ending up with a few nice things, but not everything.

Just because you are a banker doesn't make you immune to financial problems. Eleven years ago I thought I had the world by the tail. I was 32 years old and a vice president of commercial lending in a community bank, then BAM, I was out of a job. I was out of work for 4 months and then when I did find a job it was for 1/3 less pay. My wife had lost her job just 6 months prior to mine when her company was sold and her position eliminated. My debt ratios were fine until my income went through the floor. Worse time of my life, when you go from $35,000 a year (not to mention my wife's income)to $176 a week unemployment with a $900 a month house payment and two small children to feed.
The phone calls, the threating letters, been there, got the t-shirt. Luckily, I was able to finally sell our dream house and use the equity to pay off most other debts except for the car. I had to start over from stratch. I had used all my retirement to try and stay afloat. It took a year to get my income back above what I was making before.

However, God is faithful. I have been more than restored. My wife and I both have good jobs and a very good income. The house we have now is bigger and has a better layout than our "dream house". My credit score has never been higher but I keep my debt ratio low and working on getting it to $0. Our retirement savings have been restored to the point we may be able to retire at 59 or 60 and live very well off the interest. I have two great kids, terrific friends, and a belong to a church family that is changing our town.

I truly believe that God allowed that situation to happen to teach me a lesson to depend on Him and not myself and also for me to teach people and I needed to know the despair that financial problems cause. I teach a personal finance class at church and counsel people who are going through financial problems.

In the past year I have experienced something that I hadn't in my 22 years of banking. The bank had one customer hang himself over family financial problems and another who killed his wife then himself.

Some books that I use for my class are by Dave Ramsey. Financial Peace and Total Money Makeover. www.financialpeace.com or www.daveramsey.com He is a great resource. Make a plan and stick with it. In the long run, you will be better off.

Talk to anyone in banking in the 80's in the southwest, especially Texas, and you are probably talking to someone who has personal nightmares from those times. At one point after dragging my family all over the southwest in the 80's, I was the proud owner of two vacant houses (one in New Mexico and one in Texas) and trying to establish a household in a third house. It took me 2 years to get out of the mess. Goodnight, I still have nightmares.

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Some books that I use for my class are by Dave Ramsey. Financial Peace and Total Money Makeover. www.financialpeace.com or www.daveramsey.com He is a great resource. Make a plan and stick with it. In the long run, you will be better off.

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I was going to suggest those as well. Dave Ramsey makes a lot of sense!