Question: Dear Steve, My son receives Social Security for Disability when Social Security was awarded, $600 was assigned to his daughters. A few months ago the office of Child Support in Florida, garnished her Social Security Benefits for $700 more. They said that if he does not provide evidence of the $600 previously assigned to … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, The TX AG is taking half of my social security check and half of my disability unemployment check, leaving Me with not nearly enough to pay rent, utilities, insurance and other debts. Mike Answer: Dear Mike, Unfortunately, Texas is one of those states where the state has the authority to request the … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I have been a struggling single mom for over 10 years. I recently started to get child support and now my ex-husband has stopped paying half because my son turned 18 and went into the Navy. I have been using credit cards and got a personal loan to help support the kids … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My children’s Deadbeat Dad was $27,000 in debt with two college degrees, then got in trouble with the law, and continued to work part-time in construction while our family accumulated further debt. We’ve been separated (not legally) for nearly five years, and while I have supported our two children, he moved in … Read more
Getting a mortgage will probably be the largest transaction of your life — no doubt, it will have an impact on your finances for the next 30 years. With that in mind, when it comes to how much you can borrow for that big transaction, any debts you have now will reduce that amount. And … Read more
“Dear Steve, I have a child support collection on my trans Union report dating back to 2001 (date opened) and showing date closed as Nov 2007. As it’s more than 7 years old can’t that be deleted? Also, the state recently added the same collection to my Equifax with the same dates. Can’t that be … Read more
“Dear Steve, I was divorced 6 years ago and did not received child support for 4 and 1/2 years and gave my ex $25,000 as part of the equity in my home. I accumulated credit card debt trying to maintain the lifestyle of my kids and take care of them. I filed chapter 13 14 … Read more
“Dear Steve, I am 60 years old, divorced for 7 years, with two kids. I have not gotten child support from my ex and he has not helped with the boys financially or physically. Though the government has finally caught up with him and I am now receiving 1,000 a month back support. I make … Read more
“Dear Steve, Recently divorced and left with about $40,000 in credit card debt due to helping my ex-husband start his now lucrative company. I’m not bitter! I am drowning here now, however. It’s about ten credit cards with APRs spanning from 14% all the way up to 29.9%. I can only barely afford the minimum … Read more
“Dear Steve, Struggled throught the last few years after attending a trade school which flooded the job market with similarly trained people so finding a job and maintaining my household became nearly impossible so I could not repay my student loans and defaulted on a few utility bills. All of which are now in collections. … Read more
“Dear Steve, I am a single parent, sort of an empty nester, but not quite. I have always worked low wage jobs because I don’t know the right people. I thought my brains and work ethic would get me past that. Long story short, I finally graduated college at 40, but I am still working … Read more
Chapter 2 – What Your Money is Trying to Tell You The truth about money is that money is a thing. The leaves left in your gutters could have more value and worth if we all agreed they do. Money is just paper, metal or virtual credit in a computer. The truth about money is … Read more
“Dear Steve, My husband and I have been married for almost 9 years. About eight years ago we took my ex husband to court for custody issues involving my children. This took about 6 and half years and thousands of dollars. We paid for the court cost and attorney fees by getting cash advances on … Read more
I am sure you have heard this all before, but life went a bit out of control after lung surgery being slammed down w/ medical bills etc., needless to say, I am in over my head w/ credit cards. Already have an second mortgage (equity) loan I can barely afford and to top all off … Read more
The following guest post was contributed by Mary Reed, coauthor of Debt Collection Answers: How to Use Debt Collection Laws to Protect Your Rights. She answers questions about how debt collection laws can protect you against abusive debt collectors. If you would like to contribute a guest post, click here. Q: When I marry my … Read more