Debt...and please help?

I have about 15k in debt... from credit cards.. I havent been late.. pay more than minimum, butit feels like the debt isnt going anywhere.. I was thinking about getting a personal loan to pay them all off and just make the loan payments. What do you think?

I dont want to do debt consolidation because I can afford the payments, I just wish they would go down in balance..

This lesson has been learned.. they cards are cut up.. and the ones pd off are closed..

Thanks

Debt...and please help?

15k, that%26#039;s it? You should reopen the closed accounts if they are visa/mc/discover. Within a certain amount of time, the credit card company will do it. Closing them hurts your credit A LOT by lowering your debt to credit ratio. Once you do that, attempt t o secure a personal loan. If your credit is not good enough to get one at 10% or less, get a parent to help you. Put together a financial plan explaining what your plan is. I am sure no parent wants your credit to fall apart if something happens and you can%26#039;t make the payments. This should lower your overall monthly payments and your payments will go somewhere.

Debt consolidation is bad. They negotiate for lower payoff, but your credit gets damaged as if the balances went into collection.

Lesson Learned? DO NOT close your credit cards, just have the discipline to use them sparingly.

Debt...and please help?

Good job cutting up the cards but consolidation won%26#039;t help you solve your underlying problem. You need motivation and some quick wins. Try this: List all your debts from smallest to largest. Pay the minimums on all debts except the smallest one. Throw all your financial effort into that small debt. When you pay it off, cross it off your list and move on to the next smallest debt. You%26#039;ll build motivation and momentum if you start seeing faster results.

Debt...and please help?

Pay the minimum plus the finance charges every month. That way, the interest isn%26#039;t stacking up, keeping your debt high.

Also, make sure you submit it in writing to the billing company that you want your payments divided up that way, otherwise they might apply it differently. Keep a copy of the letter for yourself.

Debt...and please help?

Try calling the credit card companies and negotiating for a better rate. Often you can get a better rate just by asking.

Debt...and please help?

If you can borrow at a lower rate than the credit cards go for it! At the rate your going you will never pay off the money...sorry but thats the truth.

Debt...and please help?

I had a similar situation after putting tuition on credit cards when the student loans didn%26#039;t cover everything. Here%26#039;s what I did:

Eliminate every single monthly bill you can. I canceled my home phone but kept my cell. I canceled my satellite tv but got a cheaper cable plan. I canceled my Audible and Netflix accounts. I pay attention to my thermostat and don%26#039;t run the AC or heat if I don%26#039;t need to. I started clipping coupons, shopping sales, and going to the store with a list to avoid overspending. Monthly savings: $250 which is applied to the debt. You can%26#039;t cut everything or you will fail on your plan. If you cut your budget too deeply, you won%26#039;t stick to it but you will be amazed at what things you can live without.

I had 3 cards: small balance (high interest rate), medium balance (high interest rate), big balance (low interest rate). I paid the minimums on the medium and big cards and put every single penny I could towards the small card. I often made more than one payment in a month which brings down your average daily balance that interest is calculated on. Instead of making one big payment on the due date, I would make payments each week when I got paid.

The small and big cards also had 0% balance transfer offers. As soon as the small card was paid off, I shifted as much as I could from the medium card to the small card at 0%. The 0% rate was good for a year so I made a monthly payment that would pay off the card in 11 months.

I then shifted the remaining balance on the medium card to the big balance card at 0%. When you have a balance on a card at 0% and the rest of the balance is drawing interest, your payment will be applied to the 0% portion first. This meant that my big balance was still drawing interest on the full balance BUT I had eliminated the high interest small and medium balances. The interest rate on the big balance was so much lower that I was still coming out ahead and making the total debt go away faster.

I also started a couple of savings accounts for emergencies. I put $15 or $20/week aside into these accounts. One of the things that had kept me from paying off my debt in the past was the things that would come up every few months----like doctor bills, vet bills, car repairs----and I%26#039;d end up charging them. This way, I have a little cash reserve available to handle them.

I had a spreadsheet that showed the total on each card, the sum of the debt, and the amount it had been reduced from the previous month. I looked at it every week when I got paid and plugged in the numbers as soon as I got my statements each month. It kept me on track and motivated when I saw how much money I had been wasting on interest payments.

It was rough but seeing the numbers come down each month kept me going. If you can%26#039;t negotiate better rates with the companies, attack one card first then roll that payment onto the 2nd card and keep going from there....

Good luck!

Debt...and please help?

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Debt...and please help?

I realize that you have learned your lesson, but remember your creditors are not very forgiving.

I suggest that you take more action to rid yourself of this situation. In other words, find ways to pay off the debt quickly. Unless you are going to borrow money at a lower interest rate then what you are currently paying on your credit cards than I would not borrow.

I would be honest with myself first. Really honest, If there is a chance that instead of paying your bills, you would spend the funds, than you might reconsider. You don%26#039;t want to dig a bigger ditch for yourself.

Also consider the extra interest that you will accrue from paying bills that do not have interest attached to them, with funds that will accrue interest, into the calculation.

Besides borrowing more funds, you should consider, re-structuring your expenses temporarily until you can get ahead.

I would cut out any perks or expenses that are discretionary ( are necessary for survival)until you have paid your debt.

You might even consider getting a second job.

15,000 is not a lot of debt. You could easily (all though not convenient) pay off this debt by sacrificing in other areas. It will cost you, something, but then again like my father says %26quot;If you dance to the music, you must pay the piper.%26quot;

Debt...and please help?

Here is a few ideas to really help you save some money right away: If you have extra room get a roommate, if you have a car payment get something for cash and the last thing is to get a 2nd job. Now heres what you need to do for the long run:

Start carrying a piece of paper with you and write down everytime you buy something. Even if it%26#039;s a .50 or $1 item write it down. Do this for 2-3 weeks.

Now sit down with your paycheck, bills and that list of paper. Figure the minium on all your bills and see how much extra money you have left. Just include everything and don%26#039;t forget any item. See how much extra you have and pay the extra to the highest accuring debt. Once its paid off take that amount and add it to your next highest accuring debt and use the snowball effect.

Next look at what you can save on or cut out of your budget. Things like cell phone, home phone, cable, internet etc.. Just look at all your basic bills and see what you can downsize or get rid of all togeather. Now look at what you buy taht you can save on. Examples are taking lunch to work, take drinks to work, make your morning coffee and take it with you, eat alot of soups, vegatables and pasta, make 2-3 days of food at once etc.. These are some ideas to gt you started.

They say you should also have a 3-6month emergancy fund. There are 2 ways to do this, you can either save 10% of your pay each month or pay the minium on your highest accuring debt and save the rest until the emergancy fund is in place. This isn%26#039;t to go out to eat or shopping it%26#039;s incase of lose of job or your car breaks down.

You should learn to live under your means and frugally. Live like a broke college student because you are broke. Once you are out of debt just don%26#039;t fall back into that again. If you cant pay cash for the item you can%26#039;t afford it. Just think before making any purchase is this a want or a need. You should read a book by Dave Ramsey called %26quot;the complete money makeover%26quot;. Best of luck and happy holidays

Debt...and please help?

Here%26#039;s a good personal finance site with a debt reduction plan:

http://www.financialfreedomtrail.com/deb...

Debt...and please help?

You should do a debt management program. Pay your entire debts, just at lower interest rates and lower monthly payment. You make 1 payment per month and it is so much more manageable. They don%26#039;t lower your balances, that would be settling--which you don%26#039;t want to do!

I went with Debt Counseling Corporation. they were great and still are! They talked to me about my budget and how to handle everything. I still get calls to see if i need any advice about anything or to talk about my goals--lol that sounds cheesy but it really helps. I had a Chase card that I was paying 29.99% interest and they lowered it to 6%! OMG--saved me a ton of money.

My credit is better then before and I really feel like I am stress free--financially anyway! lol I do have a little girl and she is a handful!

Here is thier website--check them out!

http://www.DebtCounselingCorp.org