Anna and Phil - Success Story 1

Budget Consulting Was All It Took

Anna and Phil were married on a shoestring budget and with very little money to their name. Both were recently out of college and deeply in love and they did not consider that the financial habits that they had picked up individually would combine to create a super-storm of financial difficulty within just a few years.

Financial problems and fighting is cited as being the primary reason for divorce more than fifty percent of the time in the first five years. After just six months, Anna and Phil found themselves arguing over each others spending habits. Many sleepless nights were spent by both of them mad at the other and worried about how they were going to meet their regular monthly payments. After several years of this with no apparent progress in site toward paying off their two cars, her student loans and their numerous credit cards, Anna told Phil that she wanted a divorce.

It was as if I woke up one morning and just realized that I could probably handle my financial situation much better if I were on my own, so I told him I wanted out. Anna reports. Unwilling to give up so easily, Phil struck a deal with Anna and convinced her to hold off on seeing an attorney until after the two of them had spoken with a debt management service.
A Comprehensive Interview

After spending a few days and hours on the phone with their professional debt management counselor, Anna and Phil had bared their finances and financial situation and all of their financial records and hoped for the best. Much to their surprise, their debt counselor was professional, courteous, and completely unsurprised by their debt or situation. I had been worried that she was going to be floored by all the debt we had once we put it all out there, but she didn't laugh or act surprised at all. She actually said that our situation wasn't nearly as bad as we probably thought it was, Phil says of his debt counselor.
A Change in Habits

After going over their debt situation and their finances, Anna and Phil were surprised when their debt counselor called them and told them that her recommendation for them was a simple budget counseling session with her. By setting up a budget, she explained, the two of them would come to see that their income was sufficient to handle all of their monthly bills with a fair amount of money left over. Adding a few cuts and changes to their lifestyle would allow them to pay off their debts very quickly, in fact and bring them to a level of financial peace that neither of them had likely experienced since years before they were married or had even met.

Phil was skeptical at first but he agreed to work with the counselor and his wife and after only one week of following the advice that was presented to them, he and Anna got on a budget and learned to keep it. In no time at all they were able to see what their counselor had seen from the beginning - that they had plenty of income, but just had to control the way they spent their money better in order to have a good financial outcome. One year later they had paid off their last credit card and were starting to seriously cut into the student loan debt. They still ate out on occasion, but far less than before, and only when their budget allowed for it. Their credit counseling session had been a great and timely boon to them and Anna credits it not only with saving their finances, but also with saving their marriage as well.


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