Over the weekend, I noticed something wasn’t right with my car. The steering wheel was shaking a bit and the whole car was pulling to the right. First thing Monday morning, I took the car to a mechanic. Nothing like a costly car repair to start the work week, right?!
The shop said I immediately needed two new tires. One was splitting and continuing to drive on it would eventually mean a potentially dangerous blow out. The other tire’s tread was low. The car also needed an alignment. It added up quickly to a total bill of $393.54.
As I paid the bill and signed the credit card receipt, I thought to myself, “Well, there goes almost $400.00. That’s about right.” It’s about right because four-hundred dollars is a bit of a magic number as it is the dollar amount often thrown about by economists, business writers and even the Federal Reserve Board as a benchmark of where Americans are financially.
In 2013, the Federal Reserve Board reported half of American adults could not afford a $400.00 emergency without borrowing that money or selling something. In 2019, the Federal Reserve Board shows things have improved slightly with 40 percent of Americans not having $400.00 on hand for an emergency like a car repair. While there is a ten percent improvement many credit with an improved economy, 40 percent who can’t afford an emergency is still significant.
As I paid my car bill, I also thought about another study that came out just last week from Bankrate about what keeps Americans up at night. According to Bankrate, fifty-six percent of adult Americans have lost sleep over at least one money issue, with nearly one in three people losing sleep over everyday expenses.
Everyday expenses. The electric bill. The rent or the mortgage. A kid’s lunch money. They’re expenses you know you’ll need to pay for every month. Yet, one in three people are struggling to pay them. And, then, there are those unexpected expenses: car repairs, doctor bills or even a sick pet who needs a pricey trip to the vet. I like to refer to them as things that need “Murphy Money” based upon the idea of Murphy’s law: if something can go wrong, it will. Inevitably, it will. Because, life happens.
Whether it’s everyday expenses keeping people up at night or a still significant number of Americans unable to readily come up with $400.00 in an emergency, we know what those numbers also mean for many of our clients at Justice For Me who need to hire an attorney. Coming up with the thousands of dollars needed as a deposit to hire an attorney, whether it be for a divorce, an adoption, a child custody situation, probate or even to start a business, is a stretch for many and downright impossible for some. A lot of Americans don’t have thousands of dollars sitting in the bank which they can plop down to hire an attorney. We know that.
That’s why Justice For Me was formed, to bridge that gap which exists in our justice system and keeps people who cannot readily afford a retainer or deposit from getting the legal assistance they need.
At Justice For Me, we put credit-approved clients on affordable, monthly payment plans over an 24 month term at a rate of ten percent. We also offer an interest-free option. It’s pretty simple. Make your payments on time, pay off the cost of your legal engagement in 12 months and your loan with us is interest free.
If you need an attorney, go to our network. Reach out to an attorney near you who practices in the area of the law where you need help. You can be confident all the attorneys in our network take our payment plans. Click here to understand more on how our process works.
What’s even better, with Justice For Me, you won’t have to borrow from a family member or sell off your stuff to afford an attorney. You’ll also sleep a lot better at night knowing you’re getting a legal resolution you can afford.