You went into debt for THAT?!? Good examples of bad charging

You went into debt for THAT?!? Good examples of bad charging Channeling Mother Teresa After years on the job, credit counselors are rarely surprised by their clients charging practices. However, one client stood out for Robyn Daniels, a counselor with CESI Debt Solutions out of Raleigh, N.C. "We had a couple out of Colorado who had a special fondness for homeless people," says Daniels. "They would pick them up and house them in hotels, buy them food. The problem was that they charged it all. They had enough money for their own expenses, but not enough to support a world of needy people." Their benevolence led to their own financial ruin. "They ended up getting in $20,000 in debt, their home went into foreclosure, and they lost their car."

The couple's intentions to help the less fortunate were pure, says Daniels, but "it would have been a better idea to use cash or drive them to community resources instead." Wigging out Denise Allyn, a credit counselor for SurePath Financial Solutions out of Camarillo, Calif., recalls a client who got into a particularly hairy problem. When Allyn inquired about the origin of her debt, the woman responded, "I spend a lot of money on . My husband likes the red one the best."

Allyn discovered that the client had charged thousands of dollars on the hair pieces. "She had a ton of them. All different lengths, different colors. She wasn't a young lady, she was older, and she said ‘Honey, this is what keeps me ticking!'" That habit, though, was impairing her ability to pay for living expenses and she couldn't keep track of her bills. "So I responded, ‘Honey, you have enough , enjoy the ones you have!,'" laughs Allyn. In the end, the client was satisfied with splurging on one or two a year. "The wigs made her feel like a special person each time she put one on. If that's what makes them happy, great," says Allyn.