Having a Positive Attitude When Dealing with Negative Credit

Written by Brett Bruce

Getting a credit card is easy. Maintaining your credit for 50 years? That’s the hard part. When it comes to credit, it takes ten minutes to fall down the ladder and ten years to crawl back up it. What most people don’t think about is that you pay a price emotionally as well as financially.

If you have terrible credit, you aren’t alone. Lending companies across America are lowering their credit lending standards to accommodate for the lack of credit in this country. Those of us that grew up in the 1980s remember when the credit card companies used to send you a credit card in the mail. All you had to do was activate it.

The one thing that so many ignore is how it makes you feel to be a successful adult in every part of your life except this one. You have a good job, a good relationship, and horrible credit. It can be embarrassing, and a lot of people would just rather sweep that under the rug than try to fix it.

The truth about the debt is scary. They say that after seven years, the debt goes away. But with lending companies selling your debt to other companies over and over, your one $3,000 credit card can last for many more years.

It’s a weight on your shoulders. It’s easy to forget about debt when the creditors aren’t calling. Or when you move and they haven’t found your new telephone number. Sometimes it can feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle.

One of the best lessons you can learn can be attributed to not having any credit. When you’re in debt, your credit cards are maxed out, and no company will give you another, that is the time to learn to live without credit. Then, you can rebuild. It’s easier than you think.

It is possible to live only on what you earn. It can also allow you to slowly rebuild your credit rating over a comfortable period of time. This will also allow you to feel truly independent and not so far in debt that you are unable to get out.

For some of us, by the time we decided to attempt to deal with our horrible credit, it was too far gone to bother to try to fix it. Cut up those credit cards, and call the company to make a deal.

What is important to remember is this: you don’t have to listen to someone brow beat you on the telephone about your credit and how it’s your responsibility to pay it and fix it.

You already know that you spent the money and that you are required to pay it back. Don’t let a stranger make you feel like a bad person because of your bad credit. It is very difficult to deal with credit collectors because they can tend to be mean, judgmental and simply won’t accept the terms that you can afford.

The next time you talk to a creditor, remember this: for some creditor employees, part of their pay is reliant upon getting money out of you. They are taught tactics to make you feel as though the world will collapse if you don’t give them all of your money right now. It can take a large emotional toll on you and make you not want to call back and deal with anybody.

If you feel as though the credit collector is being rude or unreasonable, you can call back and speak to someone else. It’s that easy. And if the second person is just as bad, call back and speak to another person.

You can do this until you find some one who will listen and understand that you are making this effort and don’t need to feel any worse about the situation. You can also request to speak with a manager or supervisor.

This tactic can sometimes work successfully, but not always. It’s best to try to deal with the phone employee first before you complain to a manager. Remember, these are employees of a company. If they cross the line, hang up and do all of your communication via snail mail. Don’t subject yourself to unfair credit practices.

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