I have an update on the threatened lawsuits from US Foods and Sysco. I have agreed to a re-payment plan with US Foods, and it is actually something that will be reasonable. Sysco is negotiating, nothing final yet, but it looks like there will be something reasonable.

This brings up the topic, how do you know when a threatened law suit is something to be concerned about? About fifteen different creditors have threatened to file suit, and one never tried to contact me but just filed a suit instead (I was able to get it dismissed by paying it in full prior to having a court appearance.)

So when are these creditors?just barking and when are they going to bite? My experience, which is somewhat limited, is that an account in a collection agency is very unlikely to move directly to a law suit; however, they are the most likely to threaten to. GC Services, a collection agency for American Express, for months said they were going to file a law suit. I was never worried, because I knew who I was dealing with. I kept sending a monthly payment that I could afford, and always returned their phone calls. A couple of weeks ago, their threat to file suit changed to a written payment plan that they were offering, which I agreed to.

With US Foods and Sysco, I had been working with accounts receivable personnel from each of their companies. It went from them directly to an attorney, no collection agency involved. When they sent the letter saying the monthly payments were not acceptable and they were going to file a suit, I believed them. Maybe I just got played for a higher monthly payment, but when I spoke to them, it was nothing like the collection agency. Their desire to go ahead and secure a judgment sounded real to me. Even if I did get played, it was still a win, win for me.

With tourism in western Wisconsin as it is, along with our current budget situation, I have spent the entire weekend in my room at my computer. My new addiction is the subscription portion of Dave’s web site, My Total Money Makeover. I signed up for the free seven day trial, and have barely logged out since then.

I am having quite the delimma now. Should I pay the $8.95 per month to keep it? The advice is worth far more, but I owe a lot of people a lot of money. It is only the cost of a pizza, but I wouldn’t buy the pizza either. So what to do…less than 48 hours to decide.

**Update** You should follow the link above or click here and try it for free for seven days. It is awesome!

Friday I am flipping through the channels waiting for the news to start just before five, when I catch the sub line on the TV; “Oprah’s Debt Diet.” This grabbed my attention enough that I sat and watched the remaining five minutes.

I’m not sure of everything that was discussed as I only watched five minutes; however, what David Bach said in those five minutes I found amazing. His basic game plan for eliminating credit card debt was to purchase a house with no money down. Once you build enough equity to acquire a home equity loan, borrow the money to pay off the debt.

That is a perfect plan; excuse me, I mean a perfect plan for bankruptcy. You should never buy a house if you have any consumer debt at all. Additionally, if you buy a house you need to put at least twenty percent down to avoid PMI. I, like Dave, prefer the one hundred percent down program.

Breezing through David’s site, it looks like he has a couple of good suggestions, and talks about the fundamental problem of living on less than you make; however, after his home buying advice, he has zero credibility with me!

This week I am again on the road, this time in Wisconsin. With a trip to Wal-Mart, I have spent $58 for two weeks of food. I have followed Trish’s advice and diversified my selections, adding many healthy selections including fruits and vegetables.

I am looking forward to traveling back to Oklahoma later this month and starting a second job again. The last couple of months have been stressful trying to sort out the short term and long term employment issues. Thankfully, I now have a mobilization order for November, and I have orders that have me working at the unit up until the mobilization order kicks in. Once I finish this school here in Wisconsin, I should begin a regular routine of 16 hour days in Oklahoma, with weekends back home in Missouri. The Army pays for the travel which gives me a real opportunity to make some serious progress.

Mapgirl has been doing some traveling lately as well. I am looking forward to hearing some of her money saving tips that she has promised!

I have created my blog to be exclusively about financial matters, and my journey out of debt. Today, if you will allow, I am deviating from that.

Last week while in Ada, Oklahoma at my Army Reserve unit, all the news was about these two escapees who had walked away from a minimum security prison about twenty-five miles away from Ada. The two suspects walked about?three miles before breaking into a home, tying up an older man and stealing his truck.

Sunday I traveled to Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin to attend a unit mobilization officer course. Upon turning the news on Monday morning, the top story here was about two escapees being captured after a police pursuit through the boundaries of Ft. McCoy on I-90. The chase began in Sparta, Wisconsin, the western edge of Ft. McCoy and ended north of Tomah, Wisconsin, the eastern edge of Ft. McCoy.

I’m not sure this story made it to the national news, but it was on America’s Most Wanted, read about it here. I wonder how close I was to ever coming in contact with these two. I had their mug shots burnt in my memory. I know we had to have taken the same route, I just wonder how far apart we were in time.

Tomorrow I will be back on topic; this was just too crazy of a coincidence to not tell everyone about.