Iām going to give you the best piece of Adult Life Is Hard advice Iāve ever learned:
Talk to people when things go to shit.
I donāt just mean get it off your chest, although thatās good. I mean: Somethingās wrong with your paycheck/you lost your job/you had unexpected emergency car repairs and now youāre broke so your credit card payment is late. Like, not just 15 days late. Weāre talking, shit got crazy and now youāre 90 days late with compounded interest and late fees and the Minimum Payment Due is, like, $390, and youāve got about $3.90 in your bank account. Call the credit card company.Ā
I know itās scary. I know you feel like youāre going to get in trouble, like youāre gong to get yelled at or scolded for not having your life together. But the credit card company isnāt your parents; theyāre just interested in getting money from you. And you canāt squeeze blood from a stone or money from someone who doesnāt have any. So what you do is you call them. You explain youāre experiencing temporary financial hardships, and youāre currently unable to bring your account up to date, but you donāt want to just let it get worse. Can you maybe talk to someone about a payment plan so you can work something out? Nine times out of ten youāll be able to negotiate something so that at least itās not just taking a constant, giant shit on your credit score.
- Canāt pay your power bill? Call the power company.
- Canāt pay your full rent? Talk to your landlord.
- Had to go to the hospital without insurance and have giant medical bills looming in your place? Call the hospital and ask if they have someone who helps people with financial hardships. Many do.
- Got super sick and missed half a semester of class because flu/pneumonia/auto-immune problems/depressive episode? Talk to your professor. If that doesnāt help, talk to your advisor.
You may not be able to fix everything, but youāll likely be able to make improvements. At the very least, itās possible that they have a list of people you can contact to help you with things. (Also, donāt be afraid to google things like,Ā āI canāt pay my power bill [state you live in]ā because youād be surprised at what turns up on Google!) But the thing is, people in these positions gain nothing if you fail. Thereās no emotional satisfaction for them if your attempts at having your life together completely bite the dust. In fact, they stand to benefit if things work out for you! And chances are, theyāll be completely happy to take $20 a month from you over getting $0 a month from you, your account will be considered current because youāve talked to them and made an agreement, you wonāt get reported to a collections agency, and your credit score wonāt completely tank.
Hereās some helpful tips to keep in mind:
1. Be polite. Donāt demandĀ things; request them. Let me tell you about how customer service people hold your life in their hands and how many extra miles theyāll go for someone who is nice to them.
2. Stick to the facts, and keep them minimal unless asked for them. Chances are theyāre not really interested in the details.Ā āWe had several family emergencies in a row, and now Iām having trouble making the paymentsā is better thanĀ āWell, two months ago my husband wrecked his bike, and then he had a reaction to the muscle relaxer they gave him, and then our dog swallowed a shoestring and we had to take him to the emergency clinic, and just last week MY car broke down, and now my accountās in the negatives and I donāt know how Iām gonna get it back out.ā The person youāre talking to is aware shit happens to everyone; they donāt need the details to prove youāre somehowĀ āworthyā of being helped. They may ask you for details at a certain point if they have to fill out any kind of request form, but let them do that.
3. Ask questions.Ā āIs there anything we can do about X?āĀ āWould it be possible to move my payment date to Y day instead so itās not coming out of the same paycheck as my rent?ā The answer may beĀ āno.ā Thatās not a failure on your part. But a good customer service person may have an alternate solution.Ā
Anyway! I hope that helps! Donāt just assume the answer isĀ ānoā before youāve even begun. There is more help out there than you ever imagined.
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