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Consumers run deeper into debt By GREG STILES Mail Tribune Despite the best efforts of people like Jan Safley and agencies such as Consumer Credit Counseling Service, personal financial woes continue to worsen. Good economy or bad, the allure of buying now and paying later, going to school now and worrying about it after graduation and scores of other ways to run up debt, haunts consumers more and more. Even in what is considered the slow time of the year at the nonprofit counseling center, the foot traffic and calls have remained steady. "Historically, at the start of December we were cleaning out files, dusting and getting caught up on paperwork," said Safley, CCCS's director. "But November and December have been busy. I wouldn't attribute it to holiday shopping yet. Savings are low and people don't have the money to fall back on when the car needs repair, heating system goes out or when somebody misses a couple of weeks of work. It has an immediate impact on the budget." Thirty years ago when the local Consumer Credit Counseling Service was launched, educators made a move to make personal finance study a core high school experience. Based on the visits to CCCS, the lessons often failed to sink in before the damage was done. The United Way-funded organization's statistics are sobering. Nine years ago, CCCS booked 1,579 first-time appointments, put together 24 educational programs for clients and dispersed $2.45 million to creditors. This year, CCCS projects 3,386 first-time appointments, 165 programs and $3.84 million in disbursements. How easy is it to sink in red ink? "The whole world is running aground financially," said Sib Farrell, director of career services at Southern Oregon University and a member of the CCCS board. "You get caught up in credit-card debt, live in a society of instant gratification when it comes to houses, car payments and kids' education." One might think that years of educational and promotional efforts would have slowed the flow. But once Madison Avenue plants the urge, the unwitting can't help but splurge. "Students of all ages are just not well-educated about credit, the interest rates and the fine print," Farrell said. Safley said demographics have changed involving credit woes. Once, the big cluster was grouped around couples in their early 40s. Now, there are "two blips" on the screen, people in their mid-20s and the 40-year-old couples. "Those people in their 40s generally have children, they both work and the kids might still need day care. Most of those people have two car payments and their income hasn't maxed out yet. They have all the obligations - the washer, dryer and kids' needs and wants." The ones who wind up in trouble don't heed the warning signals and continue to buy on impulse. If they're lucky, they get help from agencies like CCCS. Others find themselves filling out bankruptcy papers. There are two types of personal bankruptcies: Chapter 7, for people without major assets in which all holdings are liquidated to pay creditors; and Chapter 13, which includes protection of assets and repayment through the courts. Safley says it's difficult to nail down how many bankruptcies there are in Jackson County, because the area's statistics are mixed with Eugene's. She points to societal change in which the constraints of past generations no longer offer words of caution in credit matters. "One of the reasons it's more and more common is that there's not the stigma to declaring bankruptcy there used to be," Safley said. "Now young people 25 or 26 years old are coming in and you ask them if they have talked to their folks about it and they are the ones who recommended it." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.