Cleveland musician saves
Like many Savers, Tony Carmen’s story starts with debts—lots of them. During four years of unemployment, he’d relied heavily on his credit cards. Eventually, he said, “the credit card companies caught up with me and took me to the cleaners.”
Feeling overwhelmed, he turned to the local Consumer Credit Counseling Service. They helped him develop a plan for paying off his bills. “They put me in a comfort zone,” he said. “I felt this great weight lifted off of me of not knowing what to do.”
About a year ago, Mr. Carmen paid off his last balance, ahead of schedule. He attributes his success to two factors—his own personality and the help he got from the credit counseling service. “I’m a persistent guy,” he explained. “When I have to tackle a problem, I jump on it right away.” The credit counseling service helped him get started by developing a plan for tackling the problem, he said”
Because of the faith he had developed in CCCS, Mr. Carmen was ready to take their advice again when they suggested he enroll as a Cleveland Savers. “The bottom line for me is trust,” he said. “They did everything they said they were going to do. I didn’t feel there was anything going on there that would be against my benefit. It gave me a good feeling of trust to go ahead.”
Currently, his goal is to save to help support his current semi-retirement, which includes playing in a band that plays Dixieland and big band music. Although he is 69, the idea of full retirement is unappealing, he said. “Retire to what? Four walls and the rent is paid? There is more to life than that.”
He’s also exploring a new business opportunity. Once that takes off, he plans to put more focus on developing an investment plan, using the financial counseling available through Cleveland Saves. “Because the trust has been established, I would be interested in talking to a financial counselor. The decisions will be mine.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Carmen is an enthusiastic advocate of the services CCCS and Cleveland Saves can offer individuals seeking to get out of debt. “Let them draw a picture for you of where you’re at and then show you how to pay off your debts. It gives you a sigh of relief.”
“They put me in the comfort zone.” --Tony Carmen