Parenting magazine paired up three financial advisors with three families that have serious financial troubles. They’ve all been blogging about the experience since October. There’s plenty of good advice to be gathered from the posts, but what’s most fascinating is that these stories are really real.
An example from a post by Natasha, a mother of two who had more than $15,000 in credit card debt when the boot camp began:
I feel very lost. I feel like I’m a sinking ship. We got the eviction notice last week, I’m gonna pay the cable bill this week and the kids’ school fees are due. With the issues in my personal life, finals, and wondering how and when I’ll resolve my money issues, I cannot breathe!!! If something happens tomorrow, I have no cushion whatsoever. It’s no one’s fault but my own, but I need an out and I seriously feel like I need one as of yesterday. I’m exhausted and maybe I have too much on my plate but I don’t see anything in my life that I can shed.
And from another post:
Last week, I wrote the editors at Parenting and said that honestly, I thought I was leaning towards the bankruptcy. I appreciate everyone’s help, but I just think I need something easy to follow.
As I typed, I was crying. Even though I have my kids as my bright spots, I honestly think I’m depressed. Zak is here, but his work schedule doesn’t allow for him to really offer me any help with the kids except for Saturdays and Thursday nights. It makes me feel like I’m in this by myself, a single parent. I’m tired and time is not something I have a lot of. It’s easy to say that if I found time, I could devote it to my money problems, but there’s a lot of things that I need to do with the time I have now.
From the other side, here’s a post by Gerry, Natasha’s financial advisor:
I read Natasha’s posts and I feel the hurt she is experiencing. I am very concerned about her emotional distress, and this makes me want to help her even more. (Financial planners usually get into this line of work because they want to help people more so than for the money.) But when I speak with her, I sense none of the same anxiety or panic that is so obvious in her writing. Instead she answers my questions calmly, without much elaboration — unless I pull it out of her.
For instance, last week she mentioned that she received an eviction notice. I advised that we try to get some expert help in dealing with this, and she said that she would call the “Citizen’s Advice Bureau” for help with their Rent Court hearing this week. The exchange was surprisingly easy-going and the complete opposite of what I was maybe expecting based on her blog entries. I feel that if I don’t ask the exact right question, I won’t find out anything about what’s going on with her.
I am not used to, and certainly don’t like, having to read a public forum to learn firsthand accounts of my client’s trouble and concerns.
Read more from the beginning of the Boot Camp project.