The Day My Relationship With Money Changed

About 8 years ago when I was starting out in my human resources career, I ran into a drugstore before work to buy some deodorant, I’ll never forget it. I picked up a stick of deodorant, walked towards the register and handed the cashier my debit card. She swiped. DECLINED, the register said. Of course I assume it’s a mistake. She swipes again. DECLINED. At this moment, my heart drops to my stomach. This doesn’t look good. If any of you have ever experienced that you know that it’s the worst feeling and panic soon sets in.

I was confused. I had just been paid a few days before, how could this be? I immediately walked over to my bank, which, thankfully, was located a short distance away. The 5 minutes I had to wait for an associate were agonizing. When she looked at my account the only information she was able to give me was the number of the lawyer who had requested the lien on my account. Yes, a lien. I had no idea what a lien was but when I finally did speak to the lawyer and asked what was going on, he told me, “They’re from your school, St. John’s University.” Huh? I was even more confused. I didn’t owe the school any money. Sure, I owed a small fortune in student loans but those were being paid (sadly, the minimums only) through Ed Financial so nice try, guy. He, very rudely, told me that they had to be for student loans (in a “Duh!” sort of way. Once I thought about it some more, I remembered the debt I had incurred with the school. I told him that I knew what they were for and that until HE told me what they were for, I couldn’t agree to pay the debt. After researching, he called back. “They’re for parking tickets.” Yes, parking tickets. Talk about a stupid tax! I had owed about $3,000 in parking tickets that I somehow forgot about and somehow thought they would disappear. Well, here they were, five years later, haunting me. It took me a long summer to pay that debt off but when I finished paying it off I felt compelled to pay off everything else. At the time, I also had about $6,000 in credit card debt. The 6k had never weighed on me but having gone through that major embarrassing moment at the drugstore was enough for me to get fed up.

I didn’t want to have debt any more. Then and there I decided that I would bang it out. I made a spreadsheet of everything I owed, who I owed it to, the interest rate and the contact person handling my account. Paying off that 6k became my part-time job and I handled it. I would track my progress weekly. With each debt that was paid off, I would request a letter stating it was “paid in full.” I filed those letters, after sending them to the credit bureaus so they could update their records. I spoke with my reps weekly, asking them to reduce my interest rates or, when it wasn’t possible to make a payment, if I could work something else out. I hustled. When I finally paid every last cent, I told myself, NEVER AGAIN. I don’t think that I would’ve been so diligent about paying off my debt if I hadn’t had that lien. What can I say, I learned the hard way. But I’m glad I learned at an early age. I haven’t had any credit cards since I was 24 years old. More importantly, I’m not even tempted to get one. I get offers in the mail all the time, and I just throw them away. It’s a great feeling knowing that I can get a credit card but it’s even better knowing that I don’t need it.

And yes, that was the most expensive deodorant I ever got.

Have you ever been declined? What has made you change your money habits?