Help me learn how to get out of debt

dollipop

Quick question

I am looking at the transfer thing for 2 of the credit cards ( other 2 are for stores) and one card is in my name and one is in my husbands. how can i get both of them on the transfe card?

Apply for a joint facility.
Edited to add: I work in banking/finance, but I have absolutely no idea how it works in the US...

sammyjowedeking

thanks! set up a care.com account and we are pulling things from the attic and storage to sell this next weekend!

Drenched_N_Motivation

I have found many differnet ways to start getting out of debt but I am not sure which ones work the best.

Short Story: Hubby and I have right under $45,000.00 in debt from credit cars, cars, medical bills, loans, and student loans. I lost my job and my husbands hours got cut to 20 a week. We cannot afford to pay everything off let alone make the minnimum payments.

SO Please!!! Help us by sharing what you have gone through or any advice you have for us.

Please do not just say stop spending money, etc. We have cut up all credit cards and we do not spend any monet on unneccesary things anymore.

We are genuinley in trouble and could use some helpful adivce!

We are young so we dont really care about messing up credit because once we are out of debt we could build it back up.

And we would like to try and save bankruptcy for a last resort because other people have cosigned a few things for us.

Thank you in advance!

I have an idea for you. But haters here dont like it and cry about it being "unmoral" and "wrong". Message me if you want to know how I did it.

afalls11

I was kinda in the same boat years ago. My husband and I did a couple of things.

1. We called each of the credit card companies and was able to work out lower payments, and even lower to no interest rates on the balances we owed. Each one was willing to help us with the situation.

2. My husband and I attended a Dave Ramsey Course called the Total Money Makeover. I swear by this book, and the classes we took. We keep making our payments, but started with the smalles bill and once that was paid, applied that payment to the next bill. You can look online for him. They have great spreadsheets to help you get started.

3. We traded the cars for cars that had no payments. They may not be brand new, but they run and get us to where we need to be.

4. I did pick up a part time job at a hotel. I mostly work the weekends, but it is extra cash coming in.

These are some of the things we did, and by the end of the year we will owe NO ONE except for our house payment. It's not going to be easy, but you have to be consistant in your goal.
I wish you the best of luck

AllTehBeers

Quick question

I am looking at the transfer thing for 2 of the credit cards ( other 2 are for stores) and one card is in my name and one is in my husbands. how can i get both of them on the transfe card?

I'm not 100% sure on your particular company. This you can get more details from your company. A call in the morning would be the first step.

Second. Cancel the store cards. If you can't get your clothes or jewlery with cash, you don't need it. This is more something to think about in the future. If I can't afford it with my pay, after I take care of bills, I do not need it.

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

I have found many differnet ways to start getting out of debt but I am not sure which ones work the best.

Short Story: Hubby and I have right under $45,000.00 in debt from credit cars, cars, medical bills, loans, and student loans. I lost my job and my husbands hours got cut to 20 a week. We cannot afford to pay everything off let alone make the minnimum payments.

SO Please!!! Help us by sharing what you have gone through or any advice you have for us.

Please do not just say stop spending money, etc. We have cut up all credit cards and we do not spend any monet on unneccesary things anymore.

We are genuinley in trouble and could use some helpful adivce!

We are young so we dont really care about messing up credit because once we are out of debt we could build it back up.

And we would like to try and save bankruptcy for a last resort because other people have cosigned a few things for us.

Thank you in advance!

I have an idea for you. But haters here dont like it and cry about it being "unmoral" and "wrong". Message me if you want to know how I did it.

Is it prostitution? Because I see that as being neither immoral nor wrong.

wxgurl

I know how scary debt is...we have just scratched our way out of $45,000, and it was not easy. We did the Dave Ramsey plan, which was amazing. He has the heart of a teacher, and doesn't just make you feel guilty. I saw some others say this but it is so important...House and utilities first and foremost! You have to have a place to live, and utilities are part of that. Sounds like you are starting to sell things that you can part with, and that is a great way to get started. We put our bills into a debt snowball, from smallest bill to largest...we didn't care if any were interest bearing in the beginning, we just wanted to get rid of any small ones we could, and that was a huge ego boost, which kept us going. Thanks to some medical issues, we still have a little ways to go, but we know how to handle it. If collectors call, just remember, they operate on fear, so don't let them bully you. You make sure you have food and shelter first, then bills...Good luck, and I know you can do this!!! Just take it one day at a time, one breath at a time, and one bill at a time...it gets better...

loseequalsgain

2. My husband and I attended a Dave Ramsey Course called the Total Money Makeover. I swear by this book, and the classes we took. We keep making our payments, but started with the smalles bill and once that was paid, applied that payment to the next bill. You can look online for him. They have great spreadsheets to help you get started.

I swear by Dave Ramsey. He is GREAT!

Drenched_N_Motivation

Quick question

I am looking at the transfer thing for 2 of the credit cards ( other 2 are for stores) and one card is in my name and one is in my husbands. how can i get both of them on the transfe card?

Be careful with transfers and write off's. They effect your credit score really bad. You don't want to damage your credit any worse than it already is. Best bet call companies tell them your plan and pay off slowly.

Balance transfers do not effect your credit.

AllTehBeers

3. We traded the cars for cars that had no payments. They may not be brand new, but they run and get us to where we need to be.

This is a great idea. Plus, when you own your car outright, your car insurance is so much cheaper.

AllTehBeers

Quick question

I am looking at the transfer thing for 2 of the credit cards ( other 2 are for stores) and one card is in my name and one is in my husbands. how can i get both of them on the transfe card?

Be careful with transfers and write off's. They effect your credit score really bad. You don't want to damage your credit any worse than it already is. Best bet call companies tell them your plan and pay off slowly.

Balance transfers do not effect your credit.

No, but canceling a card will. Though, being free of a few debts is so much better and you can rebuild easier if you have more assets then if you're worried about defaulting because you can't even make minimum payments.

thefreebiemom

This is where you contact a debt relief program so they can negotiate with your creditors on your behalf.

No no no no no!!! Do not do this. They don't do anything. All they do is call your creditors and get them to lower your payments or stop them temporarily or they do a debt consolidation to give you "1 payment". In the end you end up paying more, a good majority of those places are scammy and charge ridiculous amounts of money to help you cut debt.

Oh and usually if you use one of those places it looks bad to the creditors and on your credit report.

thefreebiemom

YI wouldn't advise letting your car get repossesed. Your debt doesn't look too bad that you need to suffer too much.

So, as I said before, your credit card debt is not that much. If you could put it all on one card, that would give you one single payment of maybe 100, instead of four payments of whatever.

Second, if you can stand being without a car (a bike would help with your burns too!) Park one, turn in the tags and cancel your insurance. Keep up payments though to pay down that debt and you will eventually be able to reinstate it.

your medical bills and student loans would be my last concern. These will always be there forever and you can pick them up after you get a bit more financially secure.

the only problem with the cancelling the insurance on the car idea is that if it is financed you are legally obligated to insure it and the insurance companies DO report to the lien holder if you drop it.

devonette

Short Story: Hubby and I have right under $45,000.00 in debt from credit cars, cars, medical bills, loans, and student loans. I lost my job and my husbands hours got cut to 20 a week. We cannot afford to pay everything off let alone make the minnimum payments.

SO Please!!! Help us by sharing what you have gone through or any advice you have for us.

Please do not just say stop spending money, etc. We have cut up all credit cards and we do not spend any monet on unneccesary things anymore.

We are genuinley in trouble and could use some helpful adivce!

We are young so we dont really care about messing up credit because once we are out of debt we could build it back up.

And we would like to try and save bankruptcy for a last resort because other people have cosigned a few things for us.

and from another topic, you posted this:

Most of our debt is medical bills. We do not have insurance and it seemed like there was a point that we lived in a hospital we were both sick. And we were putting all of our money towards them so we maxed out our credit cards for gas and food and some selfish spending.

We knew we were irresponsible but we have changed and we just want to get all of the debt gone so we can start over.

i know now that I cant get rid of student debt but I do not have much of that and im sure we can pay monthly on those. I am still unemployed and my husbands job keeps cutting hours.

We have a free house technically. His mom left it to us and its paid off and she pays the bills for us. So we are very lucky on that end.

But with about 600 a month we cant pay every single monthly payment unless it is the minnimum and that is a big IF on paying that much. And that wont do much at all. We end up paying so much more in interest. ugh

I know you said for us not to say "stop spending money", so I'm not going to say that, but I would strongly advise that if you are going to spend money, spend it where it will do you the most good, rather than where it is most convenient or entertaining.

Okay, so let's start with the most important expenses -- the roof over your head. You said your husband's mother "left it to us", but since she's still alive that can't be the case. Is the deed to the house now in you & your husband's name, or does your mother-in-law still own it and is letting you live there rent free? You said she pays the bills for you -- is that gas, electric, water, sewer, taxes, etc.? If so, she's an extremely generous woman, and you and your husband are a very lucky couple, as you say, because right there those are the most important expenses most people have to deal with.

Next up, food. If you eat out, do take out, fast food, etc., you have to stop it. Not only is that stuff bad for your weight loss journey, it's a huge drain on your finances. You can find good, healthy, inexpensive food at the grocery store, you just have to shop wisely and be willing to buy things when they are on sale and plan your meals accordingly. Because it's just the two of you, buying the larger quantities of meats, dividing it down into portions and freezing it until you need can save you bunches of money. Bags of flour, beans, rice, etc. can last a good long time and are very reasonably priced. There's always some kind of fruit and/or vegetables on sale -- buy when it's cheap and experiment to make your own recipes using what you have. It may not be what you'd rather be eating (I remember eating bean fritters, corn fritters and apple fritters when my dad was laid off for 6 months), but right now you are in a position where you are struggling to get out of debt, and this is one of the easiest places to trim your spending so that you can use the money saved to pay off your debts.

Entertainment -- right now, until you get your debts paid, the only entertainment for you is free entertainment. Luckily, you've got lots of parks and outdoor things you can do for free, your church and town probably have summertime events going on (fireworks on the 4th, etc.), if your town has a library take full advantage of it, you probably have gardening you can do, board games, and so on, and if you have relatives nearby, visit and do things with them. No movies, concerts, ball games, events you have to pay admission for. You need that money to pay your bills. As someone else said, if you haven't already and it's something you have to pay for, cancel cable, cancel or downgrade your internet, re-examine your phone plans. If you have a house phone AND cell phones, think about cancelling at least one of them, and downgrading the others. A phone is necessary, but the all inclusive plans are not.

Transportation -- as someone else suggested, if you both have cars do you really need both? Get rid of one. If you are making payments on them, that will cut out car payments, plus your insurance will go down by about half.

Clothing -- the least of your worries. As long as your shoes are serviceable, you're set. You have the clothes you currently have, which are probably able to last you for awhile. As you lose weight, you can wear bigger clothes for quite a few pounds before it's necessary to get smaller clothes, and if you are continuing to lose weight you don't want to be spending lots of money on clothes you'll soon grow out of. I can think of at least two thrift shops in Metropolis if you need clothes, there are usually yard sales in the summer, and churches usually have rummage sales a few times during the year. Some churches even have charitable outreach programs where they will donate clothing to families in need.

Income -- at this point, you need money. The economy is rough, jobs can be hard to come by, but there are all kinds of jobs out there, even in places like Metropolis, IL. They may not be the kind you find interesting, they may only be part time, they may not offer benefits, but it's better than having no income at all, and as someone else said, you could work more than one part time job. Sometimes you need to think outside the box. Senior citizens can't often get out to do their own shopping, but will pay people to pick up their groceries. There's babysitting, pet sitting, senior sitting. There's housecleaning. My great grandmother paid her bills by doing other people's laundry. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Bills -- it can't hurt to contact the various places you owe money to, tell them your situation, and see if something can be worked out as far as a more workable payment schedule.

Resources -- I'm not advocating asking people for monetary help, the goal is for you to get out of debt and back on your feet without begging for handouts. However, I would suggest talking with family members and people from your church (if you are on good terms with them) about your situation, you might be surprised at the assistance available that people will volunteer, for example, people who can employ you or point you in the right direction for a job.

Always keep in mind that getting yourself out of debt and staying out of debt is something both you AND your husband have to be working hard to accomplish. I think I saw in one of your posts that you will soon be starting a family. If you are already pregnant, you're going to have to factor the extra expenses of that into things as well. If you are not yet pregnant, try not to get pregnant until you've dug yourself out of debt somewhat.

Good luck to you.

dovesgate

Um, I didn't pull the debt relief place out of my rear. My mother used one to get out from under $30k worth of debt and my brother used one to get out from under $10k. If you do your homework you won't get scammed.

Basically, they do what everyone here is advising: negotiate lower interest rates with the companies you owe, pay off the smallest card then apply that amount to the next highest and so on until it's all paid. My brother had a small monthly fee to them. My mom went through a non-profit who didn't charge her.

Don't let a credit card company accept less than what you owe otherwise it goes on your credit. I learned that the hard way.

slcostel

I saw you set up a care.com account. Also try sittercity.com. Even Craigslist is good for looking for minimum wage jobs and waitressing jobs. Try monster.com and indeed.com for more "big-girl" jobs (no promises on the success rates of any of these, but you won't get anywhere if you don't try.)

lnburcham

Than you for all the responses!

I wanted to add that we do not have rent or utility bills or cell phone bills ( his mom lets us stay at her house that she has paid off for no rent because she is living with her boyfriend at his house)

so when it comes down to it:

c.c:$500.00 $40.00/month
c.c:$1000.00 $20.00/month
c.c:$800.00 $40.00/month
c.c:$500.00 $25.00/month
Hospital bills: $10,000.00 ( 3 different hospitals and different visits so we havent set up monthly payments yet)
Car 1:$8,000.00 $185.00/month
Car 2:$14,200.00 $310.00/month
Loan 1: $3,500.00 $98.00/month
Loan 2:$2,000.00 $73.00/month
Business: $130.00
Student loans: $3,500.00 ( no monthly payment for 6 more months)

PLUS gas and car insurance a month



C.C means credit card. I did not put who I owe just because this is the internet but I do not mind shoing what I owe if it helps me get a plan going lol.

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to not pay on one of the cars so it gets reposessed? Would that make the payment go away? Because then we wouldnt owe acar payment on it plus we can change our car insurance so it may go lower

Also me and hubby do not watch t.v unless its netflix but that is 8.00 a month so i guess that can go to!

I am putting in job applications everywhere! My husband wrks from 4 a.m to 11 or 1 p.m M,W, and F. I am going to go with him tomorrow (to save gas) and apply for jobs when places start opening.

If at all possible I really do not want to go through a consolodation place or anything like that. I dont mind calling the card companies but I dont want a third party agency involved.

The hospital bills will not hurt your credit even if they send it to collection agencies. Not saying don't pay them though just send what you can send. When it comes to student loans they have different programs if its through Direct Loans that have deferments if you qualify, it's worth a shot. I mean they gave me a deferment just bc Im in the military.

debussyschild

The best advice I can give is to get in touch with all of the companies you owe and tell them your situation. If you can work out how much you can afford to pay towards debt each month from what your husband is taking home, you can probably talk to each company and arrange a minimum payment you can afford. They want their money... They'll take it anyway they can get it.

As with student loans, apply for a forbearance due to financial hardship. It will end up costing you interest, but not paying your student loans back ON TIME will absolutely destroy your credit. You can always remove the forbearance once you have a job or your husband can get more hours to make up the payment.

Moral of the story: don't just NOT pay your bills and let them go into collection. I've made that mistake and I paid for it dearly. All with credit cards, too... They are the WORST collectors EVER! :mad:

If all else fails and you can't work out a solution with everyone you owe that fits what you can afford right now, it might be time to bite the bullet and file for bankruptcy... Not a pretty thing, as it will most certainly trash your credit for a good while. But, sometimes that's just what you've got to do. Best of luck to you and your husband.

emrys1976

I didn't see anyone address your medical bills - contact the financial counselors there if you haven't already. Ask them how to apply for assistance. Almost all hospitals have some sort of program for people struggling financially. My brother and his wife racked up 20,000 in medical bills after she and both of their girls ended up in the hospital for a week. He was freaking out about how he could possibly pay that until I told him to apply for assistance. His next statement from them - $0 owed. HUGE relief!!

Romans624

bump for reading later ! Good quesiton!