A $2,000 Magazine Subscription

Internet scams, phone scams, any kind of scam can be very detrimental to your wallet and your financial situation. About six years ago, My other half learned this the hard way, when he found out that he had been scammed into buying a subscription for magazines over the telephone, that he didnʻt even know he was being billed for and later sent to collections for.

When trying to clear up his credit profile, we discovered that this hadnʻt happened only once but twice. He was now being sent to collections for over $2,000.00. For an undergrad college student who worked a part-time job at a grocery store and was relying on student loans to pay rent, this was a lot of money. We werenʻt sure how we were ever going to get him out of this situation. (Even though it was HIS financial debt, as his significant other it was my job to support him and help him find a way to clean up his credit).

About two years after being sent to collections, he was able to pay off his account and clear his credit. Meanwhile, we were and STILL are receiving about 10 different magazines. Anything from ESPN Magazine, RollingStone, Car and Driver, and yes even Penthouse. Almost every other day another magazine comes in the mail and I throw it into a box, which has been piling up after all these years.  Each magazine that arrives is a reminder to him (and I) of this difficult financial burden that the scam put us in.

However to turn a negative in to a positive, I just dropped off 45 unread magazines to the NFL YET Boys & Girls Club in Nanakuli. I figure the kids could read the magazines or use them to cut out pictures for their schoolwork. And donʻt worry I made sure not to include the RollingStone or Penthouse Magazines in the mix. I still have a couple more boxes to sort through, which I will probably take to the Waiʻanae Boys and Girls Club sometime next week.

So what are the Financial Lessons to be learned through our story:

1. Donʻt get scammed! Be cautious of anyone who calls and collects personal information such as credit card or social security numbers.

2. Check your Credit. Obtain your annual free credit report and look it over to make sure you donʻt have any accounts on there that donʻt belong. Rule of thumb is to check your credit report every 6 months, unless you have had fraudulent accounts, then you want to check more often.

3. If you have been sent to collections, negotiate with the creditor to remove the account from your credit if you pay off the account. Make sure to get this in writing BEFORE you make the payment.

4. In a relationship, Finances should not be a taboo topic. Talk about it. Support each other. Itʻll reduce arguments over money.

5. Turn a negative into a positive as much as possible. Give back to the community and share your story with others so that they wonʻt make the same mistakes.

6. Donate unused items, you can itemize these as deductions when you file your taxes. I use www.itsdeductible.com to track our donations. (The retail value of the magazines I donated today was over $200.00, however the value that I can claim for these magazines is $30.00, which is about a $4.50 savings for our 2013 taxes. Hey, every penny counts!)