I’m in denial.

No, not the river in Egypt, silly.

Tuesday, I had my meeting with the folks @ NACA, so I could begin work on resolutions 11-13 (yeah, I still look at my New Resolutions – not just for New Years’). I actually have 40 of them that Meeky and I sat and put together back on Dec. 31st of 05′. I’ve been slowly working at some of them. Others of them, I’ve failed miserably, some of them (18, 34-40), are no longer possible and I won’t be mentioning them on here.

So out of the 33, I’ve decided to finally step it up on 11-13.

11. Resolved to spend time with the deacons of the church as instructed by my pastor, so that I can get my finances in order in preparation for marriage and for my own personal good.

12. Resolved. To pay all or the majority of my bills ON TIME and not wait till I hear ‘reminder messages’ from BG & E or Verizon before I pay things off or call and make payment arrangements.

13. To examine the possibility of seriously giving private lessons on sax, clarinet and/or piano to students to bring in some extra cash during the course of the month.

On #13 – I currently have ONE student on sax and one potential student (waiting to hear back from an administrator). My goal is 5 students. You’ll see why in a few.

On #12 – been doin’ more and more since last year, but really got a BOOST from my loan refund money over the summer so that I was able to ZERO OUT all of my recurring utility and other bills (i.e.- car insurance, renters’ insurance, etc….).

So now we come to the almighty #11. I’ve been real slow about this one – missed several days where I could’ve met with folks a lot sooner and my pastor has had to crack the whip on me to get moving. It’s classic me…. I’m like the ion engine they used in that spacecraft that they crashed into the comet last year…. starts off slow, but steadily gains momentum over time till one day you realize it’s going REALLY fast.

Well, as part of my #11 thang, I met with the folk @ NACA. NACA, for those who are unfamiliar, is a homebuyer program that has no closing costs, no down payment and no need for perfect credit. What NACA does is analyze all of your available bills, resources, money, savings, income, credit scores, etc…. and check to see if you’re able to purchase a home and keep it. Their primary focus is against predatory lending schemes that a lot of banks have set people up into getting into (where they offer you a low rate just to get you in the house, but its’ adjustable or it’s still so high that you’re living paycheck to paycheck….then the rate goes up and your payment BALLOONS….you can’t afford the house, the bank forecloses….. which is a lot of what’s happening NOW from the 02-05 housing boom). They’re also an advocacy group, so they do a lot.

They have 23 billion in escrow from several banks that have entrusted them with their money and approving people for mortgages. Once they see you are financially able to handle all of your bills, pay your potential mortgage and such, they write you an approval letter for whatever amount you can afford…. and you can go house-hunting. They’re pretty good with negotiating with creditors to get stuff off your report, settled or paid off.

So anyway, I meet with my rep, she pulls my credit score.

And I’m in denial.

My credit score jumped up 50+ POINTS since the last time I checked it at the end of September.

Yeah, you heard right. 50 points.

I thought there was a glitch in the machine till I saw my credit report for myself. TransUnion jumped up 50 points. Experian jumped up 62 points and Equifax jumped up about 50 points.

The rep told me “Oh, your score is pretty decent. You’re over 650.” I was like “No, I’m not. I just checked it at the end of September.”

And I kid you not, I seriously DID NOT BELIEVE HER until she printed it. Even seeing it on the screen, I thought it was a glitch.

Even NOW, I’ve taken a break from this, went to TrueCredit.com and pulled my TransUnion score and then over to MyFICO.com and pulled my Equifax score and double-checked.

It’s legit.

So we sat and worked through some things and provided I cut corners and pull back on some things, pay off a few small collection items, and consistently put aside an additional $468 a month, there’s a GOOD chance that I can get approved for close to $200k (and you CAN still find homes and condos for those prices in MD…. you just need to know where to look….) by FEBRUARY.

And here I was looking at May (since that’s when my lease is up here at the Apartment).

So my long term goal is still going to be May, but let’s see what I can get done by February.

I’ve seriously been hurting over the past few days. Derek prayed for me a few days back (he’s a good man) and in one prayer, he asked the Lord to give me a little glimpse that things are going to turn out okay.

I guess this is it. And knowing how much my finances have been a sore spot for me in the past, this has been….WOW.

Those of you praying for me: Thank you for your e-mails, phone calls and kind support. I pray that God blesses you richly for your care toward me. I still hurt from time to time, but God is keeping me. I’m asking Him to continue to work on my heart. Pray that I keep focused and determined so I can accomplish what needs to get done.

Let me get off here and go read and sleep. I should’ve been in bed an hour and a half ago (but looking for ‘free credit reporting online’) has taken up some time.

SDG
Kerry