Racing Checks to the Bank - bad credit choices

by Stacey
(Jacksonville, IL, USA)

I used credit cards and cash advances to "catch up" some months that I had overspent because of poor financial choices (just "had" to have a large ticket item or forgot to record a check and over drafted my account) -- it got so bad that I closed the bank account and stopped making payments, because I couldn't make headway.

Now, I am slowly paying down the debt and trying to make ends meet, but have difficulties because I'm still trying to move some bills to the next pay to cover overdraft charges, which then increase my bills (late fees, etc), which then cause overdrafts because I have to pay the larger amounts with no additional income.

One month, we had to cut down our grocery expense to $100 (family of 3) just to catch up!