HOLLAND -- Carol Wilson is on a mission to save people from themselves, or at least their overuse of credit cards and bad financial habits.
Wilson, who holds a master's degree in business administration from Grand Valley State University, will lead a four-week course, "Bankruptcy Buster," designed to get people to stop spending money they don't have and end the vicious cycle of credit card dependence.
"The typical household right now has $9,000 in credit card debt, probably a mortgage and other looming debts, and they need someone to throw them a lifeline," Wilson said.
The debt reduction course is run by Neighbors Plus, a division of Harderwyk Ministries, which offers classes on money management and finances for people with low to medium incomes.
The workshop is a new course for Neighbors Plus, which received a $4,800 grant from the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area to hold the classes.
"The course is designed to steer people away from bankruptcy and get them to pay off their debts. Our motto is 'No debt is a good debt,' " said Wilson, whose debt-reduction workshop begins Wednesday and runs to May 31. It has room for 20 people.
Wilson is critical of credit card companies that attract people to sign up with low rates and then switch them to rates of 25 percent to 30 percent. She said governments in such states as South Dakota and Delaware that permit those high rates should change their laws.
On the other hand, she also believes people have to stop using credit cards to make up for what they don't earn in salary.
"People use credit cards to buy what they want, like big-screen TVs, and their job to pay for what they need, like food, clothes and rent," she said, noting the formula can lead to a downward spiral where the interest on the credit gets so big it has to be paid, leaving little money for everyday needs.
"And, it's not just low-income people who can get drawn into this. Some people making good salaries are hurting right now. Their cheap home equity loan interest has gone up and the SUV they're still paying for is drinking gas," Wilson said.
The course shows how carelessly debt is accumulated, the stress it puts on individuals and families, and how to begin getting out from under the debt burden. Individuals also are shown how to calculate how much real money credit is costing them annually.
A class session is devoted to acquiring individual credit reports and understanding how a credit score is created. Participants also are shown how to improve their credit rating by paying off bills, closing down credit cards and correcting errors. And how to get rid of high-interest loans.
Wilson's course also demonstrates how to take bills and begin whittling them down one at a time.
"If it takes shutting off cable for a year to help do it, that's what we advise them to do," she said.
Source: www.mlive.com
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