Debt questionnaire

[pollypurebred39]

DEBT QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Do you regularly pay for groceries with a credit card?
2) Do you spend money now, expecting your income to increase in the
future?
3) Do you hide purchases from your spouse or other family members?
4) Do you have difficulty imagining your life without credit?
5) Are you becoming an expert at juggling each month, deciding which
bills to pay and which ones to let go until the next paycheck?
6) Do you pay off your monthly credit-card bills, but let other bills slide,
such as medical expenses and utilities?
7) Have you taken cash advances on one credit card to pay monthly
payments on other cards?
8) Do you feel anxiety when you think about or discuss your financial
situation?
9) Do you have little or no money in savings?
10) Do you make frequent impulse purchases?
11) Does your installment debt (not including mortgages) amount to
more than 20 percent of your income?
12) Has the stress of your financial situation caused severe turmoil in
your relationship with your spouse, or other family members?
13) Are you at or beyond your credit limits?
14) Do you fail to keep an accurate record of your purchases?
15) Have you started to receive collection letters, notices or phone calls?
16) Are you afraid to answer the phone in case it’s a collection agency?


ANSWERS:

How many times did you answer “Yes,” to the preceding questions?

0 You’re doing great! Full speed ahead!

1-2 You still have a green light. You can probably proceed in relative
safety. Your splurging isn't out of control at this point.

3-4 Slow down! You have a flashing yellow light and have entered
the severe caution zone. You need to start exercising more self-
discipline in the area of finances. It’s time to draw up a budget, pay
off your debts, and reevaluate your spending habits before you find
yourself in over your head.

5-6 Red light! Stop! You seriously need to gain control of your spending
before you proceed any further. Ignoring the problem will not make it
go away. You’d be wise to seek out a credit counselor or financial
planner for immediate help in changing your spending habits. You are
well on the road to financial catastrophe, but there’s still hope. Turn
around now!

7-16 DANGER! You’re careening out of control and emergency
measures are needed. You're about to experience a financial crash
of monumental proportions. You need to slam on your brakes and
come to an immediate stop. The wisest course of action when you
find yourself on the wrong road is to turn around and go back. If you
keep heading the way you are, you’ll only go further away from
financial stability.

If you’re this far down the wrong road, you should cut up all of your
credit cards and close the accounts, now! Don’t spend one more
penny on anything but the most basic necessities until you’ve
called a credit counselor for assistance. (And please don’t run
out and purchase something today, thinking that you’re about to
cut up your credit cards! That’s the type of thinking that brought
you down this road to begin with.)

Remember, you aren't a bad person for being in this situation! But
you’ve made some big mistakes. Now is the time to start making
proper decisions about your finances. You can get off this wild ride,
but if you don’t take immediate steps to fix the problem, you could
soon become another personal bankruptcy statistic.


This quiz was excerpted and adapted from A Simple Choice: A
Practical Guide to Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity by Deborah
Taylor-Hough (SourceBooks).

[Russ]

I scored a 1.

[craftypam]

WoooooooooooooooWoooooooooooooooo




- 0 -

[lisaflex]

DEBT QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Do you regularly pay for groceries with a credit card? NEVER
2) Do you spend money now, expecting your income to increase in the
future? NOPE
3) Do you hide purchases from your spouse or other family members? Sometimes..lol. he knows anyway...
4) Do you have difficulty imagining your life without credit?no CC's in our lives...
5) Are you becoming an expert at juggling each month, deciding which
bills to pay and which ones to let go until the next paycheck? no
6) Do you pay off your monthly credit-card bills, but let other bills slide,
such as medical expenses and utilities?never
7) Have you taken cash advances on one credit card to pay monthly
payments on other cards? uh, no, cash only
8) Do you feel anxiety when you think about or discuss your financial
situation? not in five years! yeah for us
9) Do you have little or no money in savings? have plenty
10) Do you make frequent impulse purchases? sometimes
11) Does your installment debt (not including mortgages) amount to
more than 20 percent of your income? NO
12) Has the stress of your financial situation caused severe turmoil in
your relationship with your spouse, or other family members? NO
13) Are you at or beyond your credit limits? NO
14) Do you fail to keep an accurate record of your purchases? no
15) Have you started to receive collection letters, notices or phone calls? NO
16) Are you afraid to answer the phone in case it’s a collection agency? NO

[Mom2-3]

Hmmmm. I scored a one. We use a credit card for everything and pay it off monthly. Interesting though. Two years ago, I bet I would have one or two more yes answers.

[frugalwarrior2]

See it's a matter of perspective.

I always pay for groc. w/ a CC and go right home and payit off by computer.

I always worry about money and would if i had a million.

We do have more than 20% of income in debt (from DH's accident) and is way less than 5 years ago

I think I have only a little in savings but have an E-fund in place
???????????????????????? I got a 5 and a 1 depends???????

[Libby]

Hmmmm. I scored a one. We use a credit card for everything and pay it off monthly. Interesting though. Two years ago, I bet I would have one or two more yes answers.

Ditto. The only slight difference, I pay the cc weekly or bi weekly.

[01rnmama]

It never ocurred to me to go home and pay the cc purchase off or to do it weekly. I have been bitten by the snakes when I waited til the end of the month and it became this monster. I have been more concious of spending too. Thanks for the tip.

Boun

[Libby]

01rnmama - no problem. Glad to be of help.

I use cc for points and trxfr the $ over weekly b/c (1) I do have the $ and (2) fear of being late on my cc pymts as well. I hope this way works out for you too.

[frugalwarrior2]

They don't want you to realize that. You can make as many as you want. Exxon mobil allow only 4 but CC no limit.
At Kohls -use the credit card to get the 15%-20% off coupons in the mail but pay the balalnce before you leave the store at customer service.

[mauimagic]

Great questionnaire Polly - mahalo for posting it!! Made me realize that we've come far, but still have a way to go and that's okay!! Every step closer helps!!

[Greebo]

Zero

I like Zeros. I especially like them after numbers in my bank account

[leighcat]

8) Do you feel anxiety when you think about or discuss your financial
situation? Yes, I wish I was a billionaire and I hate having to watch my spending lol!
9) Do you have little or no money in savings? I have little, but probably more than some, and I can get by. I really could save more, and I plan on it, starting now!

I can say no to all the others.

[lparker]

At this time last year, I was at about a 15...this year about a 3. This site helped a whole bunch. Next year should be a 2. I will NEVER write down all my expenses...I hate paperwork!

[mamamia]

They don't want you to realize that. You can make as many as you want. Exxon mobil allow only 4 but CC no limit.
At Kohls -use the credit card to get the 15%-20% off coupons in the mail but pay the balalnce before you leave the store at customer service.

This is what I do at Kohl's too, except I wanted to lyk that you can make your payment right there at the register. I'm glad about that because the CS for me here, is at the other end of the store, and this way it leaves me no room for the temptation to come back "tomorrow" and pay it, kwim?

Theresa