Pam Liyanage
We are pleased to have Pam Liyanage MoneyPrep co-founder share with us a “First” and "Aha" childhood money memory.
Pam is located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Welcome Pam!
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In Her Own Words – Fresh Out of High School
My first real money memory is not from when I was a kid. It's from my first year of University. I was new to the city, fresh out of high school.
I had an apartment with a roommate and we were on our own. My parents lived in a small town a few hours away. Wow, independence felt good!
When it came to money, I knew how to budget and pay bills. I understood how to stay within my means and make responsible choices, for the most part. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Until this happened.
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Oh Yeh! Credit with Zero Income
My roommate and I were strolling through campus and there was a table set up, filled with credit card applications.
We both stopped and grabbed a few to look at later. I leafed through them to see what they were about and what they offered. My reasoning was, it's good to have just one in case I needed it someday.
I ended up applying for one from my bank and I got a $500 limit, even though I had zero income. I was a university student working part time at best. My roommate however did not have the same resolve.
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The Night the Lights Went Out
My roommate applied for 5 credit cards from 5 different companies and received them all.
I kind of laughed. I mean, what in the world did she need all that credit for? Well, she used those cards for clothes, nights out, ski trips, anything and everything fun.
Here of course came the problem. The utility bills for our apartment were in her name. She had dug herself into quite a debt hole that she had trouble paying back.
So, everything suffered.
Now, she couldn't keep up the payments on the power bill.
How did I find out? Cramming for a test in my room and all of a sudden the lights went out!
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Financial and Emotional Stress
It took a few days to get the power back on and it took a five years for my friend to pay back all her credit cards.
The whole experience put her back financially and even emotionally.
It's not easy to have debt looming over your head like that. It was a hard knock lesson I learned through her.
From that day on, I never charged more than I could pay back. And I share this story with every teenager I meet!
Thank you Pam!!!
Discover More About Today's Featured Guest
You can discover more about Pam Liyanage MoneyPrep co-Founder, her mission and work at: MoneyPrep.com .
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