How many people when they got their first credit card jumped up and down for joy? Come on now, I see you all raising your hands!

The following story may sound all to familiar to some:

You have a good decent paying job, finally. Now it is time to trade in that old clunker of a car that barely gets you to work and back. You go to the car dealership and find the car of your dreams! You talk to the salesman and he works the numbers. He can give you $1000.00 for your old clunker car. He will use the $1000.00 cash back as your down payment. He checks your credit (You have no credit history that you know of.), he comes back and tries to get you to pay more of a down payment. You tell him you can just go down the street to another dealer. He says no, he will go talk to someone. Well you are now driving away with your new car! You can hardly believe it. You can afford the $300.00 per month no sweat!

I know I know I am getting to the point soon!

A few months go by and everything is going great. The job is going good, and you love your new car.

Then you come home from work one day and check the mail. There is an envelope from a credit card company. You open it up and they are inviting you to apply for their credit card. You think "no way can I get this". But you fill it out anyway and send it in. 6 weeks you check the mail and here it is! You have a shiny new credit card with a $500.00 limit! You can hardly contain yourself! You think WOW! They sent me this credit card, and now my will be even life will be better! It is just like having free money! Who's the big shot now?

(Finally you have something on your credit report, and the credit card companies see it.)

You think of the things you need. Clothes and that weekend trip to the beach. You buy your clothes and take your trip. Within the first month you are at your $500.00 limit. But it is ok, you can make the payment.

A few months go by and you check the mail. There is an R.S.V.P for a credit card. And you are pre-approved! Life is good! You eagerly mail it back. 2 weeks later it arrives. Your limit is $1000.00! 2 months later you get another R.S.V.P for a credit card. Can you believe this? you say to yourself.

You once again fill out the form and send it in. This time you have a $2000.00 limit. The R.S.V.P's kept coming, and you kept biting. You now have between 5 and 8 credit cards with varying limits.

(There is a lot on your credit report now, so the credit card companies jump on it!)

3 years have gone by and you have been able to keep up with the credit card payments, even tho all the cards have been maxed out for 2 years. You had to use the cash on the cards sometimes to make payments on the other cards. Those darn interest rates are so high! You think as your payments barely make a dent in the balances!

Then the news: You have been LAID OFF your job! Panic sets in. How am I going to pay my bills, let alone those credit card bills? Your unemployment will cover the basics and your car payment until you can find another job. And you need the car to look for work.

8 months have gone by. You have barely made this far. You found a job that pays about half of your last one. But you have not made any credit card payments in months. Your phone is ringing off the hook. You are grateful to have an answering machine. You are so stressed out now. When the phone rings you feel ill. You are considering Bankruptcy. Yes the Bankruptcy word. !!BANKRUPTCY!! Ugh! But you haven