I can’t really think of many jobs that would be as detested as that of a bill collector. They call your house constantly, they send you letters in the mail-and for those of you who are really down in the dumps financially, they’ll even come to your house. All for the low, low fee of repossession.

Now, I don’t have that problem, the Lord has blessed us with jobs that provide adequate food and shelter. We have what we need and then some; it could always be better and compared to many people I know (and don’t know for that matter) we have it good. But even still we’re behind on a few things and we’re playing catch-up.

Before I get to the meat of the story let me just quickly say that you shouldn’t be ashamed of having troubles right now, everyone is, with few exceptions. People like to put up facades all the time so don’t let the new rims, new house and keeping up of appearances fool you. There are plenty of people flossing right now like there’s no tomorrow but deep down they know that it’s all a show. This is usually evidenced by said person driving a car that you only see in high end videos, yet has 911 on speed-dial because the block they live on has bullets that don’t read.

But I digress…

I got a phone call from a company that I owe a small payment, to which I don’t have the funds at this time. Now if this had happened a couple of years ago I would’ve avoided the phone, let it get to me and ultimately freak out. But I saw some show (I can’t remember what it was called) in which one of the characters was practicing something called “radical honesty.” I’m pretty upfront and blatant so this approach appealed to me so I started applying it and it works.

The key is not to get frustrated, they’re just doing their job. I do wonder though if they ever get calls when they’re not working. Imagine being a bill collector and after a long day of robo calls and answering machines you get home only to be greeted by your own instrument of annoyance. It would be even better if you knew the person calling, that would be hilarious.

Can you imagine the prank calls they give each other?

So anyway, after this person verified who she was and what the call was about she asked: “Would you like to take care of that now?”

I replied swiftly “Not really.”

“Mr. Ragland you owe us money, Would you like to pay?” I kindly let her know that I don’t technically owe her anything, that the money is due her employers and that as much as I’d like to pay right now, I can’t.

“Well would you like to set up a payment plan then in the future? We can bill your card…”

“Not so much on that one. But I’ll tell you what I will do. I don’t have any money right now but when I do, I’ll pay the bill. I can’t give you a precise date but you’ll be the first to know when I find out. What’s your name and ext number and I’ll get back to you on that?” Then I added for good measure “If you really need to lock down a date, pick one and if I make the payment then we’ll both be surprised.”

“Uhm…well, it’s been duly noted and documented Mr.Ragland, thank you for your time.” With a bit of honest surprise I bid her a good New Year and went back to doing what I was doing; which was nothing of note really other than trying to remember how to work this darn coffee machine.

I’ve done this a few times and it really takes the stress out of the interaction. You get the ones every once and awhile who get rude with you but I treat them the same. They’re behind a keyboard in another state-another country in some cases, and I refuse to get bent out of shape over it and let it ruin my day. I can do that all on my own. And besides, it’s my bill it’s my fault so who am I really going to get mad at?

My wife and I work, we pay our taxes and we live within our means. We’re rich because of our family and friends-those who love and respect us. I’m willing to bet that’s the case for many of you as well. Don’t let yourself go crazy into debt buying stuff you can’t afford, don’t need and in the end, causes you to complain about not having anything left afterwards. Honest griping is fine and we should all be doing that but you have to at least be honest about it. How much of your current situation is your fault? If you have a house or car or a bunch of things that you know you can’t afford but did so anyway because of extended credit or the like than that’s on you. If it’s just a normal case of the ups and downs of life then simply suck it up and make the best of it. That’s way better than the alternative. Too much time and energy is wasted on worrying about things you have little to no control over.

Do what you can, when you can because that’s all you can do anyway…that and be more responsible about your finances. Financial advice from a guy writing about bill collectors-I love the internet.