To save myself major amounts of time with listening to, and deleting, the various collection calls we get, i've taken to speaking Japanese ~ Mushi, mushi?; quacking like a duck ~ you know, they say something, and i go WHACK?!? ; or just picking up the phone and letting them participate in my ultra boring life of living on forums. How do y'all handle these things?
we only have one that calls here for a hospital bill when dilli was stung. its a automated call and comes up on caller id so we just let it ring..
the state of nevada fairly arbitrarily decided I was in debt to them $5000 (they were paying me unemployment and felt that being sexually harassed by my male boss, being in a lab where toxic chemicals were leaking everywhere, and understaffed to hell and back, constantly for a year and a quarter weren't good reasons to quit) So, I have yet to get collection calls, but eventually I might get some, I do not know my best course of action, I just know I'm in a pretty shitty place.
Yeah, i hear that. i haven't been able to work for YEARS and even though we try to make it on what Dear earns, it's awfully close... Oh, and thanx for the Life Lesson y'all bill payers/AFFORDERS chose to share. Like we don't feel crappy enough about our sitch...
On the rare occasion I answer the phone, I tell them how broke I am. Actually, I give them a 10 minute rant on my current financial/health/employment situation. I've gotten people to hang up on me before too, those are the most fun.
And you know what? Let's drop the pretences ~ when we acquired the debt that we are in collections over, BOTH of us were working at jobs that paid GOOD MONEY ~ to the tune of $25/hour. We didn't enter into debt, thinking/knowing that we would have to abscond ~ we could afford ourselves, had savings, and had an actual home. Now, we live in an unfurnished house ~ that's right, we can't afford furniture, so we sleep on the floor, watch a 13" TV (it IS color! ), and eat lots of cheap crap. We pay the bills that recur each month, and which are a part of the Cost of Living: Gas, Water, Electric, Phone/TV/Internet, comprehensive Replacement Value Insurance for our vehicle and what little we own in our rental house, vehicle payment ($16K over 5 years = $300/mo), my oral fixations (Triscuits, herb, cigs and grog), Dear's necessities (Diet Dr. Pepper, Nicotine Gum, Potato chips), our animals food and meds (4 cats, 1 dog, dog gets 1 can of food per day 'cuz she's old, has a broken hip that didn't mend properly and has a hard time using the bathroom; cats get 1/2 can of food, twice per week; everyone gets dry food on demand), our food (we live on sandwiches and cheap-assed victuals, such as Ramen) and fuel for Dear to get to and from work. He makes like $1800/mo. (USD), but once you start subtracting from the net, we're flippin' POOR. (It's sort of funny, 'cuz i don't really feel that way ~ poor. i lend money to folks, with the full realization that i may never see it again ~ $200 this month to my friend in Austin; $6500 to a fellow trucker, to help him save his biz; on and on, blah, blah, blah) Our noses are still above the water line, so to speak, even if it's just barely. Oh, and if y'all would go to our websites and click on ads... :rofl: Not really! i mean, we'd love it, and would get paid for it, but that's pretty blatant advertising, so, nevermind. You know, sometimes, even though you KNOW you're being a "leech," there isn't really another option... But enough about me ~ what was the question, again? :rofl:
tv, internet, and pets can be reduced (ie stop paying for tv & internet, give a couple of hte pets away to good homes, etc) ive received a collection call once in my life, and thats because the stupid companies online billing notification crap didnt work, tis sorted now
