She credits 'Starting Over' for new outlook

When Antonia Andullerro walked into the spacious, sun-filled ''Starting Over" house in California, she knew her life was going to change.

Andullerro, a native of Lynn, had auditioned for ''The Real World," but the producers thought her story of heavy credit card woes might resonate with the viewers of their other reality show. ''Starting Over," a sort-of self-help version of ''The Real World," follows six women as they reevaluate their lives with the help of two life coaches and a therapist. The show airs weekdays at 9 a.m. on Channel 5. The women live in a cozy house and support one another as they deal with issues such as being overweight, infidelity, and lack of self-esteem. When a housemate reaches her goal, she graduates and another woman takes her place.

Andullerro stood out immediately. At 24, she's the youngest of the women. She looks like actress Jada Pinkett Smith. And there's that familiar Boston accent. But it was her desperate call to climb out of her financial hole that got her on the show, and it's a story line that has provided comic relief on the set. The other women seem to delight in tempting Andullerro to shop and spend money to see if she'll cave in.

''I didn't know the value of the dollar," Andullerro said on the phone during a lunch break from her temp job in North Hollywood. ''I didn't make the connection that if you charge, you pay. This was free therapy for me."

Now in its third season, ''Starting Over" helps everyday women work toward self-improvement. The life coaches give them assignments that help them come to terms with their personal challenges.

The show, which began airing her episodes in April, became a televised rehab on money management for Andullerro.

''I was just buying things and not paying the credit cards off," she said. ''I never had the mentality that I had to pay."

The show has been helping the fast-talking and tell-it-like-it-is Andullerro understand her manic shopping sprees, which began in Lynn, where she was born and reared. At Virginia Woodland College, she received an offer for her first credit card. It led to many others. She piled up debt and missed payments. She bought a new Mitsubishi Galant, which ended up repossessed. It didn't stop her from charging.

''Money equals power, and going out and spending money on expensive things and on $20 lobster rolls made me feel good and like I was in charge," she said.

She began temping but continued to drown in $40,000 of credit card and student loan debt.

Her mother watched her struggle but felt it was Andullerro's problem to sort out herself. ''This has been happening since she went to college," said Andullerro's mother, Artia Harris, who is a case worker in Lynn. ''So many women do the same thing. When you go to college, [credit card companies] seek you out."

When a college friend decided to move to Los Angeles to break into show business in 2004, Andullerro tagged along and ended up auditioning for MTV's ''The Real World." The casting producers liked her sensibilities in describing her credit card issues. While they felt she may have been too old for ''The Real World," they thought she'd be a good roommate for ''Starting Over."

''She is such a fabulous storyteller. Her credit card issues really seem to hit home for people of her age," said Sasha Alpert, vice president of casting for Bunim/Murray Productions, which produces both shows. ''She was someone who had gotten seduced by having credit without knowing what that meant down the line."

Andullerro got a reality check the moment she walked into the ''Starting Over" digs last December. Life coach Iyanla Vanzant began charging her for everything she used in the house -- even food and Internet use -- to teach her the value of money.

''If I had a rich husband, I wouldn't be here," Andullerro whined within the first few minutes of moving in.

At first, Andullerro struck her roommates and life coaches as arrogant and unapologetic. That attitude prompted Vanzant to whisk Andullerro to a Rodeo Drive boutique to try on pricey clothes and then to a thrift store where women Andullerro's age were browsing and buying secondhand clothes because that's what they could afford.

''We are going to take a look at what is possible," the life coach told her. ''What would make you abuse yourself to feel good in a $300 dress on a bus?"

In other episodes, Andullerro has to transform $100 into $500 by organizing a poetry slam in 48 hours. In another, she must wear a bracelet to remind her that she owes that money. As her story unfolds, Andullerro begins questioning every gift or handout and whether she has to pay for it.

''I feel like my mind is working, supply and demand," Andullerro's said. ''I am getting the business aspect of money."

We don't want to give away whether she graduated from the show, but she feels like she really is starting over. Managing her finances and spending behavior has been a work in progress, she said. She recently started paying back a student loan.

For now, she's staying in Hollywood, where she's temping. Her goal is to go back to school and study communications.

Andullerro said she feels like she's charging into the future, but not the credit card kind.

''When I have the urge to do that, I think about the bills I have to pay. I am obsessed with budgeting," she said. ''It's about growing up and being an adult."

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.