Eric’s debt slowly added up over the years. He hit his breaking point while going through divorce and then financially helping his new girlfriend fight her custody battle. Being overwhelmed with the interest rates on his credit cards was the catalyst for him to finally take action.
As Eric explains, “The interest kept piling up month after month. I could shovel all the money at it I wanted but I owed even more than I did the month before. I got to a point where I could no longer ignore it, that I needed to act in some way, shape, or form.
I had two children, an ex-wife, and I was just sinking. And at some point, you realize if you don’t act, the house, the cars, the things you get for your children, you’re afraid you’re going to lose it all. And so, I started trying to figure out, what do I do?”
Ignorance isn’t bliss
Eric knew his finances were about to implode. As his debt grew, the only way he could deal with it was by pretending it didn’t exist. But this didn’t make the debt go away, or his stress level go down.
“You never know what life is going to throw at you. You could have somebody in your family get really sick and you lose income. Or you could be like me where I’m literally trying to live two different lives and burying myself and ignoring my responsibilities until I could ignore it no more,” exclaims Eric.
Struggling alone
Eric described his debt as crippling. What added to his stress was having to deal with his financial situation on his own. During his five years in the Marine Corps, Eric maintained aircraft. He describes the collaboration this way, “When you are doing that sort of thing, you’ve got the support of all the people that you’re enlisted with.”
But he didn’t share this struggle with anyone – not even his family – which left him feeling isolated and alone. “Most people don’t really talk about their financial burdens. If you’re from an older generation like me, you definitely don’t talk about those things,” explains Eric.
Eric began searching the Internet for possible solutions. He placed call after call but always received the same response. As he says, “I got lots of no’s cause of how the financial markets work, my debt-to-income ratio was severely upside down.”
Initially taking “no” for an answer
Eric began searching high and low for the right solution. He began feeling desperate when he didn’t receive one yes for help. After considering bankruptcy and its ramifications, he changed course and decided to explore debt relief options.
Eric describes his debt relief journey this way, “I called several different organizations that said they specialize in debt relief.
I would talk to them for about 20 minutes and then they’d be like, ‘You’re too far upside down. We can’t help you.’ And I would call the next one that would claim that they could help anybody and nope. And that was probably a week or two of calling different organizations and sitting on the phone and getting no’s.”
Hearing ‘yes’ catches him off guard
When Eric recalled seeing NDR’s commercials, he knew he had nothing to lose. At the last minute, he decided to give them a call.
After hearing so many no’s, Eric wasn’t hoping for the best. He describes his apprehension this way, “I didn’t approach it with any sort of real seriousness because I was used to hearing so many no’s. When I called them and I started talking to them, they started doing all the same things.
And then they said that they could help, which caught me off guard. Initially, I started thinking, okay, what’s the scam? If everybody else I called can’t help me, how can you help me?”
Staying the course
A great feeling of relief washed over Eric— perhaps there was a light at the end of the tunnel. He describes it as, “Such a strange juxtaposition, they say they’re going to help, but nobody else can help me.
And they laid everything out. I was actually going to save money as compared to what I would’ve been throwing out for the last several months. So, I just had no choice but to give it a shot.
There was a whole lot of putting faith into something that I was fairly confident was going to fail. It wasn’t until I got through the first settlement offer. It had chopped that first debt by probably 60% and I’d already had the funds built up at that point.
I agreed and it was gone tomorrow. When I finally understood that you stay the course, this is going to fix my problem. And that was the first time I actually believed.”
Life gets in the way
While he kept his nose to the grindstone to graduate from the program, life got in the way. As he explains, “There were some months where life still hit me, there was still the car broke down. So, there were times where I had to call the company and push off a payment and work double time to get caught up.”
When Eric needed to use his monthly payment to fix his car, his NDR Debt Coach diced the amount up into smaller payments that were due throughout the following months. At the same time, he continued making his monthly deposit. Three months later, he was all caught up.
“There were never threats like you get from those creditors. There was never anybody looking down on me. It was just a positive experience all the way through. I was looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,00 of debt. And now I have none of that being held over my head. It was all renegotiated, it’s all been paid off and now I’m free,” declares Eric.
Keeping the faith
Eric believes, “The real reason that National Debt Relief worked was I placed faith in them, and I followed their instructions. They did all the real work and I just had to place faith and walked the path. They will lay everything out and if you stick to the plan, you will come out the other side.
National Debt Relief did everything that they said that they were going to do and, actually, they did it a little bit faster than we had predicted. And I think a good chunk of that was, once I got that first one out of the way and fully dedicated myself to the program, I think I freed them up to be able to work a little bit better on my behalf.”
Happy days are here again
Since resolving his debt, Eric’s world has turned right side up again. He grins from ear to ear while describing how he feels. “As the weight started to come off my shoulders, the darkness, the clouds parted, and I kind of wanted to go and dance.”
These days, money and debt aren’t the bane of his existence. As Eric explains, “Now I actually have money, I can take the kids out for their birthdays. I can buy new things for myself. I don’t have to stress when the air conditioner breaks or there’s a plumbing emergency. It was the most straightforward, efficient way to get it done when you were as far in the hole as I was.
It’s amazing to come out the other side and not stressing over every single dollar. The electrical bill went up $10 and that’s earth shattering, I no longer have to worry about that. And if you haven’t lived through it, that probably doesn’t sound like much.
But if you’re in the heart of it and thinking about not having to worry about the car payment, not having to worry about putting gas in the car so you can get to work. That’s amazing.”
Words to live by
When asked what he would tell others in the same situation, Eric suggested, “If you can put yourself behind this plan and look at the long-term goal, you’re going to make it through, and things are going to be better. Nobody would do what NDR does.”
Let the people at National Debt Relief help you write your success story. We have supported over 500,000 people nationwide every step of the way to help them resolve their debt, regain financial independence, and adjust their spending habits to remain debt free.
