Debt Consolidation Vancouver

The blogs were a nice introduction to the debt consolidation process. The variety of entries and the personal accounts helped me put together a clearer picture of the services Full Circle offered.

One interesting point I learned was that the service was not in the business to offer a consolidation loan. I would be paying my creditors, through the Full Circle Company. This was reassuring. I already had enough creditors; I didn’t need one more.

It was also nice to know, that once in the program, my creditors would not be permitted to contact me. No more voice messages, angry letters or threatening emails.

The best news was that my credit score would enter a different category. The new rating would be R7, a rating reserved for individuals who ‘voluntarily’ enter a debt consolidation process. As I continued to work on my debt, my rating would improve towards the goal: an R1 rating.

The blog was actually a really interesting read.

And now look at me. I’m writing on the very same blog that inspired me to start a repayment program.

So, if you have been enjoying my story, make sure to scroll down and read the personal debt tales from the other four writers who have produced for this blog.

Thank you Scarlett, Ben, Eve and Julia. Your work has shed light on a service that many Canadians should learn about.

This may seem like an odd forum to discuss shopping, but this week I thought I would give a little mention to a company in Victoria that helped my mom purchase her first new mattress in over twenty years.

My mom, after years of putting up with a springy old bed, finally told me last week that she was considering buying a new mattress set. I told her she needed a new one back in the late 90′s, but you know mothers, sometimes they like to stick it out until the bitter end.

So to help her, I thought I would find her a mattress company. I googled ‘Mattress’ and ‘Victoria’ and came up with a small, locally owned company called Mattress Choice. I called ahead and told them to be on the lookout for a grouchy pensioner.

She finally went to visit the showroom on Sunday afternoon. After spending an hour discussing the different brands, she went with a Sealy Posturepedic mattress.

Later she told me she smooth talked them into delivering it for free, but I checked out their website and they offer free delivery to any customer in the Greater Victoria area.

After her first night on the new mattress, she called me at 9:30. She told me she just got out of bed. She said it was the first time in years that she hadn’t woken up at 6:30 am. I mumbled a ‘you’re welcome.’

What I really meant to say was, ‘well I could also use some help me with my debt.’ Guess we share that stubborn gene.

Sealy Posturepedic Mattress

It’s not bad being a single guy in this town. Vancouver is the ultimate cultural and culinary melting pot, which means beautiful women everywhere and plenty of amazing restaurants to take them out to. When I started working at the accounting firm, and stopped being a broke college student, I took full advantage of what our wonderful city had to offer. But now that I’m job-less, broke (yet again), and in debt (no less), it’s back to Subway and ESPN companionship.

Every lonely night I spend sitting on my couch, eating store-brand popcorn and throwing back Colts is depressing. The only way I get through it is by reminding myself over and over again that I have to save money, and get rid of my debt, if I ever want to get my business off the ground.

I’m not proud of it or anything, but I was what they called, a “super senior” in university. Not because I was the star basketball player or anything of that nature; rather, because it took me 6 years to graduate instead of the usual 4. Now let me explain myself… I’m not a dumb guy, nor am I a slacker. I am, however, extremely indecisive. I started out undecided as a first year, and then after a summer abroad in Rome, I decided that my life calling was to be an art curator. One Art History class later, I realized how wrong I was. Third year, it was journalism because I figured I’d be a great news anchor – after all, it’s like being an actor but without having to memorize lines. You can imagine how that went. Finally during fourth year, when all my friends were scrambling to complete their requirements and score internships, I found my calling. Business. And more specifically, accounting. Surprising even myself, it came quite naturally to me, and I liked the feeling of being good at something (for once!). Only problem was, I figured this out kind of late, and had to spend 2 extra years to get my degree. Great news for my career, but not-so-great news for my student loan debt.

It’s my second week of chronicling my journey here, and I’ve been playing around the blog a bit. I did some reading up on my predecessor Scarlett and even checked out Full Circle’s site, to see what they’re all about.

I know Scarlett had great results working with FC and everything, but I don’t know if I’m ready to take that leap yet. After all, I’m just getting comfortable with admitting the serious $H!# I’m in… You might think that it’s bull-headed stubbornness or even delusions that make me want to go it alone, but a guy’s got to try right?

I will say, though, I was glad to see that the process is pretty painless if I decide to get some professional help to manage my debt. It doesn’t leave the lazy-guy-in-me with any excuse to not sign up when all I have to do is fill out my name and contact info.

I was out having beers with my buddy Mac from university last week, catching up on what was new in our lives. He was regaling me with stories of how sick his trip to Cabo was, and I was getting him up to speed on how my business venture was going.

Somehow the conversation moved onto Twitter, and personal techniques on Twit-flirting, and he mentioned one of the Tweets that he had received that day. It was basically a casting call from a debt solution company for someone who would be interested in sharing their debt story.

First, let me note that Mac has always been the type of guy who did homework assignments a week before they were due, and who painstakingly took the most detailed notes in class. He was obviously pretty concerned with my current financial state and my seeming lack of initiative to get it under control. So he suggested that I volunteer myself to document my story for their blog.

“Hey man, just think of it as your financial journal. If you write this stuff down, you won’t be able to avoid the problem anymore,” he said, trying to convince me.

My hesitation must have been apparent because he quickly added, “Comon, it’ll help you start your business. Once your own debt’s taken care of…”

And long story short, ladies and gentlemen, here I am – revealing all the blood, guts, and gore that I experience on my way to financial freedom. End goal? Starting my own business.

sneaky little bird

I have something to admit. I forgot to mention one little detail in my last post. And that’s that I am deep in debt. And when I say deep, I mean like 69-days-to-rescue-the-Chilean-miners-deep. I’m still trying to pay off my student loans, and my credit card bills are piled as high as that rescue shaft was deep. I really don’t know why my personal finances always trip me up, considering the fact that I help people balance their checkbooks all day. I really have to get it together soon, god forbid one of my future clients finds out.

So my debt poses a problem for my entrepreneurial aspirations. How am I supposed to pay my web programmer and graphic designer if I’m struggling to make ends meet? At the very least, I know I need to have a solid website if I want this business to succeed…

Hey guys, since this is my first blog post, I guess I should probably introduce myself. My name is Ben and I’m a 29 year-old guy living in Vancouver. After I graduated from UBC, I jumped right into a job at one of the Big Fours in accounting (I won’t name which), and ended up staying there for 3 years, working my way up from being a lowly auditor. Like my fellow number-crunching minions, I was also trying to get my CA certificate so that I could eventually move up the corporate ladder. Endless nights and forsaken weekends later, I passed the test and became a chartered accountant. However, the corporate ladder proved too slippery for me to climb.

So I left my job, and everything that was safe and steady behind, to start my own boutique accounting firm. Sure, it’s going to be hard as hell, but I’ve got time – that’s where the ‘boutique’ comes in handy. My grand plan is this. I’ll start off small, build my brand, and once the customers start coming, all I’ll have to do is expand, right?