When Your Car is the Only Thing That Matters
Sadly, the truck lady was not the only woman to enter Christensen’s office with a car-related credit problem. As the financial counselor recalls, another woman with a total monthly income of $2,000 came to him to ask for help with a $600 monthly payment for a new-brand truck. She commuted 30 miles each way, at 18 miles and $3 per gallon, and, with insurance, the vehicle cost her around $1,000 a month.
“I told her ‘Do you realize that you don’t earn any money for rent, food, clothes, or daycare until after lunch?’” Christensen said. In the end, the woman filed for bankruptcy but did not get rid of the vehicle, although Christensen strongly recommended her to do it.
