Graduate Exclusive! Melissa L. Drives a New Car, Treats Her Sister, and Tells Others to Ask for Help
We interviewed Melissa — executive assistant, grandmother of eight, and hobbyist painter — to learn how little things added up to over $34,000 across 16 credit cards, and how one phone call to Beyond Finance ended her years of suffering in silence.
- Debt Amount: $34,013
- Started: February 2023
- Graduated: December 2024
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I live in Pennsylvania. I work at a university here — I’m the executive assistant for the vice provost. I’m married with three kids and eight grandkids, and I like to read and write. I also paint! I started about 10 years ago. I have sold some commissioned pieces.
I did some giraffes for my son when they had their first baby. I painted those giraffes probably a hundred times. I hated them every single time, but I’m like, “You know what? I’m done with those darn giraffes.” They love it, though! I get a lot of compliments. People are like, “Oh, did you paint that?” So I guess it was good.
How did you find yourself in debt?
For me, it happened gradually. There wasn’t one big purchase, just little by little, just bad decisions. Little things just kept adding up. And before I knew it, I was $34,000 in debt across 16 credit cards.
I grew up poor. I didn’t have money. So then you have credit cards and it’s like free money — but it’s not.
Every month, juggling the rent, the electric, and the propane, then you have 16 credit cards that you’re literally using one card to pay another. You’re making the minimum payments and you’re never paying anything off. I was drowning and I was so stressed.
I felt like this huge weight was off my chest. I didn’t have to rob Peter to pay Paul. I was able to pay my bills.
At some point it was like, “I’ve got to fix this. I’ve got to get it together.” Because I do have kids, I have grandkids. I wanted to be able to buy them gifts without worrying how I was going to buy them. There’s so many birthdays and holidays and I didn’t have any money for that kind of stuff because the money was always going back to all the bills.
Did you tell anyone what you were going through?
No. In my marriage, we have separate accounts, so it was like these were MY bills. I didn’t even tell my husband how bad the debt was. I didn’t tell my family. I didn’t tell my best friend. Nobody knew. I was suffering in silence.
My husband found out at tax time after I graduated from Beyond Finance. We do file taxes together and I said, “Here, I had some help cleaning up my debt, so I have to report these.”
We kind of put all of the cards on the table. He knows everything now and it did a lot for our relationship. Now we joke about it. He’ll be like, “Look, I got all these credit card bills. Maybe I should call Beyond!” I’m like, “You could. They helped me!” (laughs)
What was your experience like with Beyond Finance?
I Googled online, “getting out of debt,” and that’s how I found Beyond Finance. I’m like, “I need help.”
I called Beyond in February of 2023, and I spoke with one of your representatives. She was so sweet. I was embarrassed. I was ashamed. She never judged me – she told me there was a way out, told me there was a way forward. She didn’t act like I’d failed.
She helped me understand that there was a way to move forward and to get past this. So for the first time, I felt like I could breathe a little and there was wiggle room and I wasn’t drowning.
I felt like this huge weight was off my chest. I didn’t have to rob Peter to pay Paul. I was able to pay my bills.
Going through the program, it was exciting. It was like a game. You’d log into the Beyond Dashboard every day and see where you were. I watched the little wheel fill in. I have pictures of the little wheel going, “Okay, this one’s paid off.” It’s freeing to watch: “Okay, it’s getting done.”
What was graduation like?
It was amazing. Beyond Finance went in and cleaned up all those accounts quicker than I could’ve done on my own. I’d probably still be dealing with the debt.
It was freeing, liberating, to know that, okay, I’m not there. I’m never going back.
Some people worry that working with a debt relief program will make it hard to get a loan later. Was that your experience?
No, not at all. I was able to get a new car since I graduated. I needed the new car, and I figured it’s my last new car before retiring. I got a really good rate. No issues at all.
The car was maybe my congratulations for coming out the other side and surviving.
Whats life look like now?
Just being able to go shopping and actually having money. Going to wineries with my sister and actually being able to pay for something. Before, my sister always paid for everything. She would always treat, because I never had any money. Now I can treat my sister, because she’s treated me so many times.
I haven’t gone on any big trips, because I have a goat who lives in my house. (laughs) But I had to take Buster to the vet the other day. I had money to take him! It’s those things that I appreciate now.
What would you tell someone else in your position before you started your program?
Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. And don’t wait until you’re completely overwhelmed before you do something about it, because the problem doesn’t go away, and it keeps getting worse. I know what it’s like to hide problems and hope that it will somehow fix itself. It doesn’t.
I wish I would’ve done it sooner. There is life after debt.
Calling Beyond Finance was one of the hardest things I ever did, but also one of the best decisions that I ever made because it just took a lot of pressure off of me.
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