Catholic priority for debt

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hazcompat

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Peace

I have praised God in my prosperty. In my poverty I am seeking a just priorty for paying debt. I lost my health insurance and had congestive heart failure simultaneously. I tried to refuse certain tests, but they were the standard of care.As a result I have incredible obligations financially. How do I prioritize so as not to offend God and Love my neighbor? Thank you all. I am sure you do not realize the value of the simplest of posts on the forum.

peace
 
Your first priority is to yourself and your family. If you are unable to provide basic things like food and shelter, then you have an obligation to stop paying the debt until you are in a position where those things are not in question.

If you have not done so already, call the creditors and explain your situation and ask for a way to pay off the debt that will not interfere with your basic ability to survive. If that does not work, seek bankruptcy. There is nothing immoral about filing for bankruptcy, particularly if it allows you to address your immediate obligations first.

God bless you and I will be praying for you!
 
hazcompat said:
Peace

.As a result I have incredible obligations financially. How do I prioritize so as not to offend God and Love my neighbor?
peace
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Just in acknowledging your intent to pay your way as best you can is THE act of love that God loves. You are not offending God because you recognize your responsibilities. Recall the story Jesus told about the rich man who reminded God of all that he did and how much he thithed. And then the poor woman who gave a penny - next to nothing. BUT for her needs and income, it was a lot and was given with love.

When there isn’t enough money to make ends meet, there are no easy answers. I can only offer an approach. We have Income, Expenses, and Assets (things of value we own and could sell).

First see clearly by writing down a schedule of your Income, Expenses, and Assets.

Assets: Folks have garage sales to sell off unwanted assets. You might have other more valuable assets that you might want to sell to apply the money to your expenses.

Expenses: What expenses can be reduced so that the money not spent can be applied to debt? Debt payments are expenses. Which debts can be paid off the quickest? When paid off, those payments can then be used to make larger payments on the remaining debts.

Income: Because you are recovering from a major illness, it may be some time before you can earn more than whatever you are receiving now. If you are receiving government help, be OK with it. You contributed to those funds when you were working and will again when you return.

Health debt: Talk to them. Tell them your circumstance and ask for a reasonable payment plan. If they see your income level and your best efforts to manage your limited income, they should be reasonable.

And remember to PRAY. God knows your needs. Offer up your worries to Him as your way in sharing in Christ’s Passion. In proper time, things will get better.

John Steinbeck wrote, “although we lived poor, we did not consider ourselves poor because we had our friends and the public library.” He should have mentioned they also had God but apparently God was not important to him, or at least too private to share that with his readers.

Pray. Stay positive. Take small steps. Let time be your ally. Trust in God.
 
hazcompat said:
Peace

I have praised God in my prosperty. In my poverty I am seeking a just priorty for paying debt. I lost my health insurance and had congestive heart failure simultaneously. I tried to refuse certain tests, but they were the standard of care.As a result I have incredible obligations financially. How do I prioritize so as not to offend God and Love my neighbor? Thank you all. I am sure you do not realize the value of the simplest of posts on the forum.

peace
Click to expand...
In paying off debt you should seek to be both fair and reasonable.
My first thought is that your priority is to pay off those debts that you personally and willingly incurred. The debts that were incurred unwillingly take second place.
Also it is important that you not neglect your normal expenses such as that of housing and food.
This is not to say that those debts incurred against your will do not deserve to be paid, but only that these are debts “imposed upon you” rather than debt you incurred freely.
For example you go to your doctor freely and he makes a physical examination and runs a couple basic tests, that you have no problem with…He then wants to run additional tests or send you to a specialist or whatever and you balk explaining tha tyou don’t know how you can pay for such tests. The Doctor prevails upon you to have the tests anyway…since they are “standard of care” tests…
Certainly the Doctor deserves to be paid as well as those basic tests you readily submitted to. But when the testing reached a point where you begin resisting for whatever reason, their insistance lessens your burden to pay immediately or to give priority to them over other debts.

As others have said, it is best to sit down and do a good analysis of your financial situation and then to talk to your debters and seek to come to an agreement that will allow you to pay things off gradually.

And Keep praising God for in adversity are we strengthened.

Peace
James
 
GratefulFred,

this is the kind of “outside the maelstrom” advice I need.

thanks and God Bless

peace
 
Call the hospital and doctors. If you can afford to do so, the vast majority of them will settle with you for about half of your debt if you pay it all at once. This is what I did when I had my baby. I just said “Here is what I can pay you now”. They have people working fpr them who are instructed to negotiate price with you.
 
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