Debt Consolidation?

BalenciaLynn

If you have a good amount of money upfront see if you can call the companies you owe and settle with them, usually if you have money to give right away they will just take it and let you go.

You may not be able to do them all at once but pick ones you think you can settle with first and try it then save again and move onto the next set of companies.

saxmaniac

Take the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace course. Best $100 you'll ever spend.

Pay off the smallest loans first, and roll the payment of the completed loans into the next one. It's a psychological thing.

You can't fix debt with more debt. Just buckling down and paying.

crimsontech

You might want to look into http://www.prosper.com/ - it's a community of lenders, meaning you can go there to borrow or to lend and earn interest. I won't pretend to know how the whole process works, but it's definitely a legit site. I'm considering investing some of my savings on there.

Abbey70

I didn't have student loans so I don't know if that would make a difference but I consolidated my debts that had interest into one by getting a consolidation loan through a credit union. This was awhile back so I don't know how things are now. Hope that helps.

jsjaclark

I recently paid off around the same amount of debt using Dave Ramsey's "Debt Snowball" method (I'm sure you've heard of it, even if it wasn't from him).

I started off writing down all my debts in order from smallest to largest. (I had 3 major credit cards and a couple of store credit cards). I paid off the smallest first and then the next smallest and so on. I made regular minimum payments on all of the cards except for the one that I was concentrating on at the time. When it was paid off, I paid all the money that I was paying on that one on the next one + the minimum payment that I was making while keeping the others at minimum. So with each consecutive bill, I was paying more money on it than the previous. One by one they were paid off.

I also looked into consolidation, but it didn't make much sense to me. In the end, I would have paid more because of the lower payments or higher interest rate. I also wasn't interested in borrowing against my house. And getting yet another credit card didn't interest me, because that was just more temptation for me to spend more money.

And I agree with the above poster that mentioned "paying yourself." I also do this and my savings account is huge now compared to before, so I paid off my debts AND I have money in the bank. It's a great feeling to know that there's money there "just in case."

I recommend this as well. Also, look at what you have that you may be able to sell (yard sale, craig's list, ebay, etc). Use the extra cash to pay more on the credit cards. Take a look at your spending habits as well - how often are you eating out? Like another poster mentioned, not eating out one time could save a lot.

mandemonious

I lived in New Hampshire for years and had over $10K in credit card debt. I worked with a non-profit called the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of NH and VT. It was extremely helpful--they spoke with my credit card companies and negotiated a lower interest rate, and I paid them directly. My debt was gone in 2 years. I never would have been able to do it alone.

^^This. I did the same ting, though it was called Debt Counseling Corp. It is also a nonprofit and only $13 of my $220 payments went to them. I was only behind on one card, but it was one with a high balance and it threw everything off. They negotiated my interest rates down from an average of 19-28% to 0-8%, so most of my payments went to the principal owed and not interest. Before using them, my debt was close to $10K and my minimum payments were over $300 per month. As we all know, minimum payments get you no where.

Next month, I will make my last payment. I still have a few small cards open, but I am almost debt free and my credit has improved over 100 points since this all started in 2009. What a load off!

TylerJ76

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

saxmaniac

Don't borrow money to pay off debt. You're just creating more debt. Here is a very oversimplified idea:

1. Stop spending money on anything you don't absolutely need.
2. Create an Excel spread sheet with all your debt and monthly payments on it.
3. Sort by monies owed. Least to most.
4. Apply all your monies to the "least amount owed" amd make minimum payments on the rest.
5. When one bill is paid off, start applying the extra monies to the next least amount owed, until it's paid off.
6. Take the monies from the two paid off bills and add to number 3, and on and on.....

As you pay off each debt, destroy that credit card or eliminate that account. Start paying cash for everything.

This the Dave Ramsey debt snowball, right? It is excellent advice.

Paying cash for everything is HARD. Simple, but hard.

Drenched_N_Motivation

There we go - screw personal responsibility! Let all of the paying people in the land make up for you lack of self-control. Do the right thing, work a second job, get more hours, stop spending - and PAY YOUR DEBT THAT YOU INCURRED. Funny this comes up on a weight loss sight. Similar issue pours into so many people's bellies - eat all we want, but don't want to pay the price to get skinny. Everyone wants it fast and easy.

And I know life is tough...suck it up. I've run 2 failed businesses, and started two more since. I was broke after the market fell apart. Guess what, I did whatever it took and I'm still paying back those debts. Why? Because it's money I owe. Have some pride and set an example. And we wonder why the country's in decline.

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

The money I OWE huh? So when i'm, lets say 20 hours late on a payment on a credit card with 11% intrest and pay it, but then turn around and get a late fee, incresed minimum payment to double and intrest rate hike to 29% for a year!...is that money I OWE? LOL, take your self righteous BS somewhere else, if you think i'm going to feel sorry for a credit card company you've got another thing coming. Credit card compaines are bigger crooks than politicians.

Drenched_N_Motivation

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

My credit score is 730 and I was just offered a 280,000 dollar home loan? You?

morganhccstudent724

Don't borrow money to pay off debt. You're just creating more debt. Here is a very oversimplified idea:

1. Stop spending money on anything you don't absolutely need.
2. Create an Excel spread sheet with all your debt and monthly payments on it.
3. Sort by monies owed. Least to most.
4. Apply all your monies to the "least amount owed" amd make minimum payments on the rest.
5. When one bill is paid off, start applying the extra monies to the next least amount owed, until it's paid off.
6. Take the monies from the two paid off bills and add to number 3, and on and on.....

As you pay off each debt, destroy that credit card or eliminate that account. Start paying cash for everything.

The hard part is sticking to it and identifying what is a neccessity and what is a luxury. Just because a great pair of red heels is half off and you really want them doesn't make them a neccessity.

I paid off 8 credit cards and 2 hospital bills this way. It took some time but I am debt free with a degree.

tquig

There we go - screw personal responsibility! Let all of the paying people in the land make up for you lack of self-control. Do the right thing, work a second job, get more hours, stop spending - and PAY YOUR DEBT THAT YOU INCURRED. Funny this comes up on a weight loss sight. Similar issue pours into so many people's bellies - eat all we want, but don't want to pay the price to get skinny. Everyone wants it fast and easy.

And I know life is tough...suck it up. I've run 2 failed businesses, and started two more since. I was broke after the market fell apart. Guess what, I did whatever it took and I'm still paying back those debts. Why? Because it's money I owe. Have some pride and set an example. And we wonder why the country's in decline.

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

The money I OWE huh? So when i'm, lets say 20 hours late on a payment on a credit card with 11% intrest and pay it, but then turn around and get a late fee, incresed minimum payment to double and intrest rate hike to 29% for a year!...is that money I OWE? LOL, take your self righteous BS somewhere else, if you think i'm going to feel sorry for a credit card company you've got another thing coming. Credit card compaines are bigger crooks than politicians.

Well, technically, you would be the one at fault for not reading the terms of the credit application. If you pay late (even 20hrs) you must abide by the terms and get penalized with more interest.

It is NOT the credit card company's fault that people fail at reading!!! Problem is that they lie to themselves and say "I will pay it off early so I won't have to pay interest" then they pay the minimum payments when something else comes along that they want but can't afford.

Credit cards are a dumb idea for anything except emergency use.

acstansell

My husband and I recently did this to pay off 4 credit cards, a loan, and to finance a fence. We went through a credit union, which will give you a fixed, 3-year loan. Since your credit score is above 700, your interest rate could be a fixed 8 percent or so.


It worked really well for me and my husband. We've paid off my JCP card, my platinum card (only to charge it back up because of car work), the discover, and another visa, our Kirby, and our fence.

A consolidation loan can work if you have a few things that aren't currently working for you - the interest rates on the CCs we had were ridiculous and we weren't making headway.

TheRoadDog

Don't borrow money to pay off debt. You're just creating more debt. Here is a very oversimplified idea:

1. Stop spending money on anything you don't absolutely need.
2. Create an Excel spread sheet with all your debt and monthly payments on it.
3. Sort by monies owed. Least to most.
4. Apply all your monies to the "least amount owed" amd make minimum payments on the rest.
5. When one bill is paid off, start applying the extra monies to the next least amount owed, until it's paid off.
6. Take the monies from the two paid off bills and add to number 3, and on and on.....

As you pay off each debt, destroy that credit card or eliminate that account. Start paying cash for everything.

This the Dave Ramsey debt snowball, right? It is excellent advice.

Paying cash for everything is HARD. Simple, but hard.

Yes it is Dave Ramsey. It works.

Paying cash is hard nowadays. Instead of using Credit Cards, I opened an account with a debit card for those on-line purchases and reservations, etc. It can sometimes be inconvenient, but it's worth it. I'm spending my own money, which makes me think about the purchase a second time. Do I really need it? No bill comes at the end of the month.

TylerJ76

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

My credit score is 730 and I was just offered a 280,000 dollar home loan? You?

Congrats to you.

Still, dumbest and worse advice EVER.

Drenched_N_Motivation

There we go - screw personal responsibility! Let all of the paying people in the land make up for you lack of self-control. Do the right thing, work a second job, get more hours, stop spending - and PAY YOUR DEBT THAT YOU INCURRED. Funny this comes up on a weight loss sight. Similar issue pours into so many people's bellies - eat all we want, but don't want to pay the price to get skinny. Everyone wants it fast and easy.

And I know life is tough...suck it up. I've run 2 failed businesses, and started two more since. I was broke after the market fell apart. Guess what, I did whatever it took and I'm still paying back those debts. Why? Because it's money I owe. Have some pride and set an example. And we wonder why the country's in decline.

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

The money I OWE huh? So when i'm, lets say 20 hours late on a payment on a credit card with 11% intrest and pay it, but then turn around and get a late fee, incresed minimum payment to double and intrest rate hike to 29% for a year!...is that money I OWE? LOL, take your self righteous BS somewhere else, if you think i'm going to feel sorry for a credit card company you've got another thing coming. Credit card compaines are bigger crooks than politicians.

Well, technically, you would be the one at fault for not reading the terms of the credit application. If you pay late (even 20hrs) you must abide by the terms and get penalized with more interest.

It is NOT the credit card company's fault that people fail at reading!!! Problem is that they lie to themselves and say "I will pay it off early so I won't have to pay interest" then they pay the minimum payments when something else comes along that they want but can't afford.

Credit cards are a dumb idea for anything except emergency use.

That doesnt make it right!!

I agree with your last statement though.

Cindym82

Be careful with the debt consol. people. My grandmother did that and than 2yrs later the IRS came down and told her she owed $10,000 because of the difference of what she spent and paid. It doesn't happen to everyone but it can happen. I agree with the snowball effect, it works. I'm currently doing it because I fell into credit card debt from the death of my father and no death benefits (funerals are expensive) and than a job loss in 2008 when the market crashed. FINALLY am in a position to fix everything the right way. And noone will really consolidate a student loan. I'm lucky and mine is 1.4% so I barely pay interest. You'll get there but be patient and smart. Don't just default. I had no choice but to default on one card and its caused me hell since.

Drenched_N_Motivation

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

My credit score is 730 and I was just offered a 280,000 dollar home loan? You?

Congrats to you.

Still, dumbest and worse advice EVER.

Yeah. Thought so.

TylerJ76

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

My credit score is 730 and I was just offered a 280,000 dollar home loan? You?

Congrats to you.

Still, dumbest and worse advice EVER.

Yeah. Thought so.

Thought what?
I don't give a *kitten* about your credit score or that you got a loan approved on a house. Big deal.

My credit score is 680 or so. I own a house. What does that matter?

You're advice is to just basically run from the debt. You got lucky, most people avoiding debt for 6 months and getting turned over to a debt collector would KILL their credit. But hey, you got away with running from your debt, cool!

Just know, that when you get that 280k house, if you don't make a payment on it for 6 months, you don't just get to pay them 140k and keep the house, they TAKE IT AWAY.

chrishgt4

There's some sound advice- but don' pay off the smallest balance first - this doesn't make sense - pay off the highest interest loan first...that's just common sense...

chrishgt4

There we go - screw personal responsibility! Let all of the paying people in the land make up for you lack of self-control. Do the right thing, work a second job, get more hours, stop spending - and PAY YOUR DEBT THAT YOU INCURRED. Funny this comes up on a weight loss sight. Similar issue pours into so many people's bellies - eat all we want, but don't want to pay the price to get skinny. Everyone wants it fast and easy.

And I know life is tough...suck it up. I've run 2 failed businesses, and started two more since. I was broke after the market fell apart. Guess what, I did whatever it took and I'm still paying back those debts. Why? Because it's money I owe. Have some pride and set an example. And we wonder why the country's in decline.

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

The money I OWE huh? So when i'm, lets say 20 hours late on a payment on a credit card with 11% intrest and pay it, but then turn around and get a late fee, incresed minimum payment to double and intrest rate hike to 29% for a year!...is that money I OWE? LOL, take your self righteous BS somewhere else, if you think i'm going to feel sorry for a credit card company you've got another thing coming. Credit card compaines are bigger crooks than politicians.

Well, technically, you would be the one at fault for not reading the terms of the credit application. If you pay late (even 20hrs) you must abide by the terms and get penalized with more interest.

It is NOT the credit card company's fault that people fail at reading!!! Problem is that they lie to themselves and say "I will pay it off early so I won't have to pay interest" then they pay the minimum payments when something else comes along that they want but can't afford.

Credit cards are a dumb idea for anything except emergency use.

That doesnt make it right!!

I agree with your last statement though.

This attitude really annoys me - it isn't your RIGHT to own a credit card. The company is providing you with a service for which you have to obey their rules. If you think the rules are unfair then don't go with that service.

Don't fail to follow them and then retrospectively claim that they were unfair rules in the first place, that was your call, idiot.

Drenched_N_Motivation

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

My credit score is 730 and I was just offered a 280,000 dollar home loan? You?

Congrats to you.

Still, dumbest and worse advice EVER.

Yeah. Thought so.

Thought what?
I don't give a *kitten* about your credit score or that you got a loan approved on a house. Big deal.

My credit score is 680 or so. I own a house. What does that matter?

You're advice is to just basically run from the debt. You got lucky, most people avoiding debt for 6 months and getting turned over to a debt collector would KILL their credit. But hey, you got away with running from your debt, cool!

Just know, that when you get that 280k house, if you don't make a payment on it for 6 months, you don't just get to pay them 140k and keep the house, they TAKE IT AWAY.

I didnt run from my debt, I sold my two vehicles and got my money together and made an offer to the the credit card companies, and they accepted...with no heistation!! Now why would they do something like that? Because they know that i'm bad *kitten* and did what I had to do to be come debt free. Plus, all the extra money that I didnt pay on was taxed to the tune of over 1,100 dollars, so I didnt really take too much from them anyway. I love what I did and i'd do it again if I had to.

chrishgt4

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

My credit score is 730 and I was just offered a 280,000 dollar home loan? You?

Congrats to you.

Still, dumbest and worse advice EVER.

Yeah. Thought so.

Thought what?
I don't give a *kitten* about your credit score or that you got a loan approved on a house. Big deal.

My credit score is 680 or so. I own a house. What does that matter?

You're advice is to just basically run from the debt. You got lucky, most people avoiding debt for 6 months and getting turned over to a debt collector would KILL their credit. But hey, you got away with running from your debt, cool!

Just know, that when you get that 280k house, if you don't make a payment on it for 6 months, you don't just get to pay them 140k and keep the house, they TAKE IT AWAY.

I didnt run from my debt, I sold my two vehicles and got my money together and made an offer to the the credit card companies, and they accepted...with no heistation!! Now why would they do something like that? Because they know that i'm bad *kitten* and did what I had to do to be come debt free. Plus, all the extra money that I didnt pay on was taxed to the tune of over 1,100 dollars, do I didnt really take too much from them anyway. I love what I did and i'd do it again if I had to.

You wrote 'bad' but I think you meant 'stupid'

Drenched_N_Motivation

There we go - screw personal responsibility! Let all of the paying people in the land make up for you lack of self-control. Do the right thing, work a second job, get more hours, stop spending - and PAY YOUR DEBT THAT YOU INCURRED. Funny this comes up on a weight loss sight. Similar issue pours into so many people's bellies - eat all we want, but don't want to pay the price to get skinny. Everyone wants it fast and easy.

And I know life is tough...suck it up. I've run 2 failed businesses, and started two more since. I was broke after the market fell apart. Guess what, I did whatever it took and I'm still paying back those debts. Why? Because it's money I owe. Have some pride and set an example. And we wonder why the country's in decline.

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

The money I OWE huh? So when i'm, lets say 20 hours late on a payment on a credit card with 11% intrest and pay it, but then turn around and get a late fee, incresed minimum payment to double and intrest rate hike to 29% for a year!...is that money I OWE? LOL, take your self righteous BS somewhere else, if you think i'm going to feel sorry for a credit card company you've got another thing coming. Credit card compaines are bigger crooks than politicians.

Well, technically, you would be the one at fault for not reading the terms of the credit application. If you pay late (even 20hrs) you must abide by the terms and get penalized with more interest.

It is NOT the credit card company's fault that people fail at reading!!! Problem is that they lie to themselves and say "I will pay it off early so I won't have to pay interest" then they pay the minimum payments when something else comes along that they want but can't afford.

Credit cards are a dumb idea for anything except emergency use.

That doesnt make it right!!

I agree with your last statement though.

This attitude really annoys me - it isn't your RIGHT to own a credit card. The company is providing you with a service for which you have to obey their rules. If you think the rules are unfair then don't go with that service.

Don't fail to follow them and then retrospectively claim that they were unfair rules in the first place, that was your call, idiot.

Dont cal me an idiot, tough guy. Mind your manners.

chrishgt4

Dont cal me an idiot, tough guy. Mind your manners.

lol

tquig

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

Dumbest and worst advice EVER.

My credit score is 730 and I was just offered a 280,000 dollar home loan? You?

Congrats to you.

Still, dumbest and worse advice EVER.

Yeah. Thought so.

Thought what?
I don't give a *kitten* about your credit score or that you got a loan approved on a house. Big deal.

My credit score is 680 or so. I own a house. What does that matter?

You're advice is to just basically run from the debt. You got lucky, most people avoiding debt for 6 months and getting turned over to a debt collector would KILL their credit. But hey, you got away with running from your debt, cool!

Just know, that when you get that 280k house, if you don't make a payment on it for 6 months, you don't just get to pay them 140k and keep the house, they TAKE IT AWAY.

Credit scores are meaningless unless you are trying to borrow money- if you have a bank full of cash, your score could be zero and you would still be far better off than someone with a 780 and the ability to borrow $400,000 for a home. The score simply shows your ability to pay off debt based upon previous payment history, debt to income and available unsecured credit. They are not a representation of net worth. I know several people with scores over 800 that are barely scrapping by because they borrow for everything. If they lose their jobs, they are screwed.

kryscallarman

My advice is go to your bank or credit union. I just did that and I have consolidated all my credit into a car loan at 5% interest and will be paid off in less than three years. I had about 6k in total debt (but was looking at high interest rates).

I did start with the snow ball idea. I started with 11-12k, but with higher interest rates it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere.

FitForeverAgain

Yes, the money YOU owe. If you're not able to read what they're charging, which they define, don't borrow it. Whether you think it's a big greedy company, or your family owned business, it's theft. Own any stock? I do, which I paid with hard earned money. I "own" those corporations just like so many other people do. And it's far from self-righteous, it's called personal responsibility. Owning up. Being a man. Doing the right thing.

Sad.

There we go - screw personal responsibility! Let all of the paying people in the land make up for you lack of self-control. Do the right thing, work a second job, get more hours, stop spending - and PAY YOUR DEBT THAT YOU INCURRED. Funny this comes up on a weight loss sight. Similar issue pours into so many people's bellies - eat all we want, but don't want to pay the price to get skinny. Everyone wants it fast and easy.

And I know life is tough...suck it up. I've run 2 failed businesses, and started two more since. I was broke after the market fell apart. Guess what, I did whatever it took and I'm still paying back those debts. Why? Because it's money I owe. Have some pride and set an example. And we wonder why the country's in decline.

Stop paying on those two credit cards for 6 months or so, find stuff you can sell of and get your self 5-7 thousand dollars cash. Then call your credit card companies direct and say listen, I have 3,900 dollars here and we can settle this debt right now and I bet they will take it. Do the same with the other company as well. Your credit score will take a hit for a year or so but it would probably drop less that 80 points. I did this 3 years ago with 7,800 dollars in credit debt, I paid 3,300 to one and 2,000 to the other. My credit score is around 730 today. Its not the traditional way to do it, but it beats taking 5 years to pay it off with all that intrest.

Whatever you do though, do not go through a debt consolidation company.

The money I OWE huh? So when i'm, lets say 20 hours late on a payment on a credit card with 11% intrest and pay it, but then turn around and get a late fee, incresed minimum payment to double and intrest rate hike to 29% for a year!...is that money I OWE? LOL, take your self righteous BS somewhere else, if you think i'm going to feel sorry for a credit card company you've got another thing coming. Credit card compaines are bigger crooks than politicians.

MMarvelous

I recently paid off around the same amount of debt using Dave Ramsey's "Debt Snowball" method (I'm sure you've heard of it, even if it wasn't from him).

I started off writing down all my debts in order from smallest to largest. (I had 3 major credit cards and a couple of store credit cards). I paid off the smallest first and then the next smallest and so on. I made regular minimum payments on all of the cards except for the one that I was concentrating on at the time. When it was paid off, I paid all the money that I was paying on that one on the next one + the minimum payment that I was making while keeping the others at minimum. So with each consecutive bill, I was paying more money on it than the previous. One by one they were paid off.

I also looked into consolidation, but it didn't make much sense to me. In the end, I would have paid more because of the lower payments or higher interest rate. I also wasn't interested in borrowing against my house. And getting yet another credit card didn't interest me, because that was just more temptation for me to spend more money.

And I agree with the above poster that mentioned "paying yourself." I also do this and my savings account is huge now compared to before, so I paid off my debts AND I have money in the bank. It's a great feeling to know that there's money there "just in case."

I see you beat me to the punch. I agree that Dave Ramsey is DEFINITELY a great program to use. I would check with local banks and credit unions for a line of credit. Sometimes they are much better at offering different products and services than large banks. I don't know what country you are in but ask your student loan company for a 6-8 month hardship deferment. Then take that time to sell stuff, work overtime, find a part time job, do odd jobs - lawns/babysit/house sit/ dog walking, etc to make more money to pay off the credit card.

MMarvelous

My advice is go to your bank or credit union. I just did that and I have consolidated all my credit into a car loan at 5% interest and will be paid off in less than three years. I had about 6k in total debt (but was looking at high interest rates).

I did start with the snow ball idea. I started with 11-12k, but with higher interest rates it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere.

I agree that those high interest rates can be a KILLER or discouraging. I totaled out my SUV a couple of years back and the insurance payout I received was about half of what I paid for the SUV 6 years earlier. I took that money and paid off all my high interest credit cards. My student loan interest rate is so low 1.875% until it is the last debt I will payoff which will be in the fall of 2013. TG!