Debt and credit abuse destroys dreams ... and it destroys lives.

There is an offensive term for those who abuse credit.  It was never meant to be nice, nor was it meant to be spoken in the company of those with exceptionally low credit scores.  We refuse to sugar-coat it.  The term is "Credit Criminal".  Certainly, the term should never be applied to those individuals who are victims of circumstance.  "Credit criminal" can, however, apply to those individuals who deliberately rack up mountains of debt with no willingness to repay their creditors.  "Chapter 20s" (a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13), "Chapter 14s" (two Chapter 7s) or "Chapter 26s" (two Chapter 13s) are often tell-tale signs that you are headed down the path to credit criminality.

We have even recently witnessed a "Chapter 39".  One might say that is the signature of a credit felon.

When working with individuals with exceptionally poor credit, we never pass judgment.  As often as not, there may have been extenuating circumstances that placed the person in such an unenviable position (e.g., a death in the family, an accident, an illness, a business failure, identity theft, a difficult divorce, etc.).

We offer only help, words of encouragement, and hope.

We hereby provide for your consideration, a program that will enable those who have exceptionally bad credit the ability to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.  Please note that we deliberately left out all references to God from the text, so as not to offend the Godless amongst us.  (May He have mercy on our souls for doing so.)

Twelve Step Program for "Credit Criminals"

The following 12-Step Program was patterned after that which is used by Alcoholics Anonymous, and the steps are as follows.

1. We admitted we were powerless over our spending addiction, even when we do not have the ability to repay ? that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to personal financial stability.

3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of our "Higher Power" as we understood it.

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. We admitted to our "Higher Power", to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. We were entirely ready to have our "Higher Power" remove all these defects of character.

7. We humbly asked our "Higher Power" to remove our shortcomings.

8. We made a list of all creditors we have harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. We made direct amends to other people we have harmed wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our "Higher Power", as we understood it, praying only for knowledge of our "Higher Power's" will for us, and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other credit abusers, and to practice these principles in all of our affairs.

This twelve-step program is not likely to catch on, but someone had to propose one.  It may as well be us, because we want only to improve people's lives and allow them to become the very best that they can be.  Admitting to the problem is the initial step.  Notice that bankruptcy was never mentioned.  This is probably a good thing now that the laws have made it more difficult for people to file on a whim.

On the other hand, the real criminals lurk within our public education system.  Educators have shirked their duties in teaching our youth the most elementary debt and credit management practices (along with other essential "real world" skills).  It is not too late for the public schools to accept an active role -- to redeem themselves.

Please ask your local school district to establish a debt and credit management program at the high school level.  This course must NEVER be an elective!  Advanced elective courses at the college level must also be encouraged, but only if prerequisite courses had been successfully completed.  Judging by the massive volume of student loans that clutter people's credit reports, it may be necessary to mandate debt and credit management courses as a requirement to enroll in ALL other majors!

Lastly, it is never too late to stop Congress and our State Legislatures from setting such egregiously bad examples for others to follow.  We must put a halt to reckless government spending and pork-barrel politics.  In all of recorded history, no nation on earth has ever succeeded in spending its way into prosperity.  As our beloved nation faces insolvency, America will be no exception to the rule.  Neither has an individual or family ever managed to accomplish this impossible feat. We must all learn to live within our means!

If anyone is offended by this all too painful reference to debt and credit abuse, that is simply too darned bad!  The truth often hurts.  This is, quite possibly, "tough love" at its very finest.

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Here is even more disturbing  news.  Your personal share of the National Debt, and that of every man, woman, and child -- including every newborn baby -- is approximately $28,000.  Please allow us to do the math.  That is $112,000 for a family of four.  Just add that to your current consumer debt load and post-date the check.

You might wish to complain to Congress and your State Legislatures about their insatiable appetite for spending your unborn grandchildren's unearned tax dollars -- while you struggle to reconcile your personal budget.  Incidentally, the Debt Clock below does not considered our Nation's off-budget obligations which dwarf (by several times) our seemingly immense National Debt.  One may be tempted to compare the spending habits of Congress and our State legislatures to that of drunken sailors, except that would only serve to impugn the character of drunken sailors!

National Debt Clock

Debt and credit, when managed responsibly and measured carefully, can be a good thing and will ultimately improve your fiscal reputation in lending circles.  "Good debt" stimulates the economy.  However, when debt and credit are managed irresponsibly, "bad debt" can destroy the reputation of an individual, a family, a State, or an entire nation.  We all must learn when to say "enough is enough", or suffer the consequences of our (in)actions.