Graduate Exclusive! Rebecca M. Supports Her Family, Finances New Appliances, and Finds Relief From Financial Stress
We interviewed Rebecca to learn what’s happened since graduating from the Beyond Finance program in November of 2023.
- Debt Amount: $31,715
- Started: February 2020
- Graduated: November 2023
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m retired now, but I worked as a seamstress at a dry cleaning company for 47 years. My mother taught me to sew when I was very young, and I’ve just always loved doing it. I still sew now — mostly quilts and crafts, and I like to crochet, too.
I’m widowed and I have a 32-year-old daughter. She’s living with me again now and helps take care of me. I’m diabetic and I have spinal stenosis, which makes it difficult for me to walk, but I still try to keep myself occupied — I read a lot and play games on the computer or my phone!
I also like to cook my mom’s recipes. One of my favorites was her red cabbage. You can buy it in a jar, but it’s not the same. Hers had 10 ingredients — apples, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf, onions, all kinds of stuff. Your hands would turn purple shredding the cabbage. We always ate it with mashed potatoes and bratwurst.
How did you find yourself in debt?
Well, actually, it wasn’t really my debt — it was my daughter’s. She moved to another city and things sort of fell apart. She had a decent job at first, but then she and her boyfriend moved again, and she took a $3-an-hour pay cut. He got sick and couldn’t work, and it all spiraled. I was helping her out, not realizing how much she was spending — until it got bad.
The debt was all in my name and I was trying to keep up with it, but eventually I had to step back and think about myself too.
I would recommend Beyond Finance to anybody. You really helped me. I’m an independent woman. I didn’t want to have to rely on anybody for help. But sometimes, you just need a little help.
I had a house payment, a car payment, and just couldn’t afford to keep paying everything. It was just too much. I couldn’t do it anymore.
What was your experience with Beyond Finance like?
I did some research online and found Beyond Finance. They ended up calling me, and I talked to a gentleman who explained everything. He was very kind and patient. If I didn’t understand something, he explained it in layman’s terms. He made me feel relieved that there was somebody out there to help me.
Most of my credit card payments were over $100 each and I had six credit cards that Beyond helped me with. I think with Beyond, I was only paying a little over $200 total.* That was a big difference.
When I paid off my first account — oh boy, I was so happy. I thought, this is really working! It gave me hope — like I could breathe a little easier. The stress started to ease up. I was keeping track every month and it felt good to see the progress.
What was graduation like and what’s happened since?
Graduating felt great. I had been keeping track and watching the balances go down, and when it ended I thought, whew — I’m finally out of it. And I’m not gonna make that mistake again.
I was able to finance a new refrigerator and stove a few months ago because ours were going bad. That’s being paid off right on time. I don’t buy extras. I make sure we have what we need. As long as we’ve got a roof over our head and food in our bellies, we’re pretty much satisfied.
Y’all made it to where I felt confident that someone was going to take care of me. I had somebody I could rely on. It helped with my stress levels and let me look forward to what was coming next.
I would recommend Beyond Finance to anybody. You really helped me. I’m an independent woman. I didn’t want to have to rely on anybody for help. But sometimes, you just need a little help.
*Clients typically save around $480 per month on their debt payments.
Real client compensated for a real story.