When the children started coming, BDR (Before Dave Ramsey) we got a Sears credit card because we NEEDED a washer. Before that card was paid off, 12 or so years later, we had charged numerous items on it (like a microwave and refrigerator) as well as school clothes and an occasional gift.

Then the dreaded layoff came. With my husband out of work and two toddlers, we couldn't pay the bill. The collections department would call and have me in tears on a regular basis.

We finally got back to where we could pay on it but we figured out that with all the payments and interest, we paid double for everything and then some.

Finally when we had gotten the card down to a balance of about $600 and it seemed like it was never going away, I borrowed the money from the credit union and paid it off. Nothing ever felt so good as getting that Sears card out of our lives.

It took us 10 more years to find Dave, but we never got another department store credit card. Now we are just a month or so from being debt free (except the house) and I can't wait.

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