Consistency and determination

I wish to describe how I helped my mother, a 62-year old retired woman, repay her debits on two credit cards that she couldn't  settle for 2 years due to low income and high interest on those cards.The total value of the debt on both cards amounted to almost 2 thousand zloty, which for a retired person, whose allowance is merely 1000 zloty, is a significant strain on the household budget.

So, after an honest conversation and presenting the plan of solution (which is very important in case of elder people), I set on the quest of creating for my mother a new, completely free banking account at a new bank, and closing the old account that cost about 230 PLN annually. Naturally, the retirement allowance was transferred to the new account. Then I activated a service on the new account that automatically deducts 10% from any sum my mother would pay at the store, withdraw from ATM, or transfer to another account. Additionally, when making a min. 250 PLN purchase, a 10% of the value of purchases would be returned. This money then came back to the account. All this resulted in about 60 PLN of savings saved monthly, which were then immediately directed for repaying the cards.

Another step was to collect any metallic scrap that could be found at home, and deliver it to a scrap yard: an old boiler, radiators, steel sections, bars, roof sheets, pipes, electric cables - all this amounted to over 200 PLN of gain. The next step was to find a part-time job for mom. This search wasn't difficult: her friend, who works at the nearest culture office as cleaner, was taking a two-months leave, and was looking for a substitute. Naturally, my mom took the opportunity, and for the money earned paid and closed both credit cards in no time and without severe restrictions to living standard. This lasted about a year, and the key to success was consistency and determination, which consisted in directing any additionally earned sum directly for repaying the debt. I think it is a good example of how anyone can contain his debt - even an elder woman.