I am a father of five (4 biological, 1 guardianship) children. I am currently seeking help with some recent debts and obligations I have acquired. I have acquired these debts mainly due to inflation in order to pay bills and buy basic necessities. I live with my girlfriend (basically wife) of 14 years. We were planning to get married however we have abandoned those plans recently due to our financial situation.
First thank you for your time and consideration into our situation. I am completely embarrassed and feel like I have failed my family being in this situation. However, I thought being able to explain our situation to people who are in better financial positions allows us to receive aid without taking from someone else directly. As the sole provider for our family, we are living off my income alone. I work for Anthem Blue Cross as an entry level collections agent. I have worked here for five years. I recently am starting a second job to help curb some of the financial blow we are seeing from rising prices.
I have borrowed recently all I can borrow. I have also withdrawn everything I could think of. We lost what little savings we had and I have withdrawn all I can withdraw from my 401K. I have also maxed out the number of loans I can have with my employer’s plan. The recent credit card and loans are all high interest and were taken to cover daily expenses, pay bills, and eventually to pay the payments for other high interest debts.
I will admit fault in some bad planning and maybe reactionary impulses in seeking these loans. One debt justified the other or something like “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Short term was exactly that and long-term outlook is unsustainable. We went from a growing 401K and little in savings. We were actually almost in the market to start house shopping. At 37 we were getting ready to give our family a better home. We have overcome many obstacles together and consider ourselves fortunate to this day.
I graduated college in 2013 with a degree I do not use. Originally, I went to teach US History to Jr/Sr High School students (still my dream but maybe lucked out due to the current environment). However, state law changed and I would have to retake almost a full year of classes I had already taken. Being a dad in college I felt I needed to get out ASAP and work. From there I developed an alcohol addiction and when I beat mine our family had been hit by the opioid crisis. During that time, I worked and was sole provider of all five children while working full time. We have overcome and that is not what this is about. Grateful for that.
This is about a family who is trying to salvage what we can of the American dream. Who believes hard work does actually get people places. That you get what you give is an honest statement to live by. I am hopeful still in the kindness of mankind and that evil does not prevail. I can’t stand the fact so much of our progress in related to the lack of money. But I feel it as a necessary gauge for many factors in determining one’s successes or failures, progress in life, social standing or other means of accomplishment. With that we are humbly asking for help with some high interest loans and credit cards. Eliminating these large payments will help us shift our priorities into our own growth and success moving forward. I have listed the debts below including our 401K loans. Student loans are not included in this.
Again, we sincerely thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. It is appreciated very much.
| Debtor | Balance |
| Capital One Credit Card | $ 1,649.67 |
| Capital One Credit Card | $ 296.95 |
| Merrik Bank Credit Card | $ 1,253.13 |
| Netcredit | $ 5,301.06 |
| Opp Loans | $ 1,400.00 |
| 401k Loan 1 | $ 8,903.20 |
| 401K Loan 2 | $ 2,700.17 |
| Personal Loan -Dad | $ 2,500.00 |
| Personal Loan – Mom | $ 3,000.00 |
| Personal Loan – Step Dad | $ 4,500.00 |
| Total Debt | $ 31,504.18 |
