By Peter in CA

A lifelong friend and his wife got behind on their mortgage. I wanted to help but had no savings to give, so I looked for a loan to help them out. However, because of my credit score, I was unable to secure a personal loan through my bank, so I called a cash-call place that was very happy to lend me $5,000.

I thought I knew what I was getting into, but sure enough, they got me. Not only did I pay an interest charge every month, but I got charged interest every day. So every month, more than half my payment went toward the interest - at $5 a day!

I then lost my well-paying job. Then my friend and his wife got divorced. The home is going into foreclosure because they never changed their habits.

The only good news is that 4 months prior to me losing my job, I found out about Dave Ramsey (too late to be educated before I did the loan) and started to clean my credit plate. I am $90 away from my last credit debt, with the exception of my home loan. Thank you, Dave Ramsey; you saved me from a total financial meltdown instead of the backside kick I surely deserved for getting stuck with a loan from cash call.

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