The Hustle of Sistah Ant

Good news!  My best friend and I were talking last night and she has decided to clean up her credit!  She wants to bring all her current bills to zero balances, rehabilitate her overdrawn credit union account, and then set about the task of combing through and resolving the accounts in her credit report.  I am so very happy for her!  My friend says that with a budget, she should be able to make it happen.  She told me it’s not just about having lost a job because of bad credit.  It’s also about wanting to move on with her life and "be an adult," as she says.  She doesn’t want to keep staying in a one-bedroom apartment forever.  It’s harder to do anything - find a new apartment, turn on utilities, make plans to replace her degenerating car - without good credit.  I am happy she is seeing the light.  I encouraged her, suggested that she build an emergency fund as soon as possible (so that she’ll have money to use in a pinch without derailing her plans), and told her that she needs to just keep going even when it gets rough.  I told her about my own issues with debt repayment: how things started to get better once I was able to not have to use a credit card to get me out of a jam, how saving reserves made all the difference, how small successes keep me going.  I told her I remembered how well she was doing before the baby came, and how I used to cheer her on - I know she can do this!  And I know she’ll be OK with some tenacity and hard work.  Just like I will be.  I’ll be there for her - we’ll be there for each other.

So I’m giving her a name on my blog - "Sistah Beginner," since she’s starting all over again.  As I get updates, you will too.  I’m going to give her her very own category, so her story will be in one place, and in fact, if you’re not familiar with the parts of her story I’ve told so far, those are are in her category.  Maybe, if she’s not mad that I’m anonymously putting all her business on the internet, I can get her to guest blog?  We’ll see.