completely off-topic, about debt, but thought I could ask my friends here

beoram

beoram

Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Messages
1,780
Dear all,

I've been very infrequent in visiting in the past year or so, as things have been busy with postgraduate studies. I wish I had time to visit more often.

But I have lots of friends here, and thought I might ask if anyone here has experience with credit card debt. I have ended up incurring a lot of it, and need to get out. I have been researching online to try to find what is a good solution, but there is a lot of contradictory information.

Has anyone here been through this before, and have any advice?

many thanks,
B.
 
Good to hear from you. I dunno. There are cards that offer balance transfers from other cards that will not accrue interest for a specified time.
Get spending under control. Develope a plan to pay down and eliminate card debt.


munk
 
Yo bro,
I been through this one with my now ex...

STOP USING THE CARDS!!!!...Put them in a ziplock baggie filled with water and put them in the freezer!!!

To get the debt down...

What we did is pay half the credit cards monthly payment every 14 days...


Here is the way I remember it...

Monthly minimum payment on a card is 100.00...So every 14 days we sent in $50.00...When the total goes down you keep paying the same and you get it off of ya prolly 50% faster than paying by the month...


If you goto clarkhoward.com he gives a pretty good detail overview of this system...Works like a charm and is ALOT faster than doing the monthly payment thing...

Hope this helps and good luck bro:thumbup:
 
Hi, Beo. Welcome back.

Can you be a little more specific? Are you trying to consolidate? Pay it off? Other?

I'm assuming that you don't have the finances to just pay the bills, right?
(sorry for all the questions).
 
"How to get out of debt, stay out of debt & live prosperously"

Jerrold Mundis


I'm one of those guys who skims through things. I wouldn't recommend it if it couldn't hold the attention of a impatient fellow like me.

It's a great book with a simple, common sense solution.

But a solution is only as good as the effort and discipline that fuels it. We're all in this together.
 
Thanks all for the fast replies.

This is all debt from a particular period in time when I had no other recourse. Our monthly spending is very frugal. I'm not really looking for money management solutions, but for a way out of excessive interest charges every month.

Aardvark - I'm trying to figure out a way to pay it off. I've been reading online about this, and there seem to be ways to negotiate with credit card companies for reductions of debt, but they involve not paying the credit card at all for a few months and then asking to negotiate. There are also 'companies' which do the same thing for you, but from what I've read they're a waste of money.

in any case, thanks again everyone,
B.
 
Most of the stuff about negotiation is as you said, a bunch of bunk..

It ruins your credit as well as taking your cash..

Look at ClarkHoward.com for your answer's...Trust me on this there is no quick way to get out of debt...Didnt take U a day to get there, and you cant get out in a day either...
 
about eight years ago. Wrecked our credit but the minimums on the cards were adding up to $500/month. We ended up behind the eightball for a few reasons. Wedding, vet bills, crummy car and a room mate that turned out to be a tweaker (we got out of the lease early but had to bite the deposit).

We looked into consolidating our debt but couldn't find anything that was much better than what we were facing. Look into consolidation before you look into BK. Good luck and good to see you back.

Frank
 
Listen to Leatherface, don't do the chargoffs. I did two chargoffs when I came out of FSU. I was a dumbass really. Stuck with us for a long time. Just stop using them and pay it off. Don't feel daily pressure from it. Just do it.
 
beoram said:
thought I might ask if anyone here has experience with credit card debt. I have ended up incurring a lot of it, and need to get out. I have been researching online to try to find what is a good solution, but there is a lot of contradictory information.
Click to expand...

Beo,

I paid off my credit cards every month for over 2 decades. During the last couple of years when the Dept of Homeland Security forced my wife to give up her job and leave the US, and my son started college, I went into debt. (with my eyes wide open) I refinanced the house first and then hit the credit cards and other options.

Now that Red Flower is back in the States and once again working in a professional position we're paying the debt down. We still have >$20K in credit card debt though, along with unsubsidised parent loans and loans against my 401K. Every paycheck we take what we need to live and apply the remainder towards our debt. It's shrinking quickly. We are paying off the loans with the highest interest rates first, and working our way down to the loans with lower rates.

If you have an option to consolidate your debt at a better interest rate that's something you might consider.

I knew what I was doing when I took out my loans, so I figure I'll pay them back as I agreed rather than try to negotiate more favorable terms with the lenders.
 
beoram said:
This is all debt from a particular period in time when I had no other recourse. Our monthly spending is very frugal...
Click to expand...

On the bright side, you're not incurring any new debt. That's half the problem solved. Are the interest payments overwhelming? :confused: :(
 
Definitely look for card offers that give you no interest on transfers, sometimes up to a year. Can help you get out from under much quicker. And cut up the other cards.
Terry
 
Beo,

Go to DaveRamsey.com... there is a wealth of information there about getting credit cards (and overall debt) paid down if you join the My Total Money Makeover for $8.95 a month. It really is worth the money, even if you only stay for a month (you can cancel whenever you wish). They also have a 7 day free trial so you can look it over.

Whatever you do... DO NOT use a debt reduction service. It is just a scam that'll ruin your credit.

To reduce the interest, surf over the balances to a 0% card (during the trial period)... or call your current company and tell them to lower your interest or you WILL surf it to a new card. You'd be surprised at how much they'll reduce it just by asking.

I'm pretty hot on D.R... he teaches common sense finances (don't use credit for anything). I'm working on paying off all of my debt right now. It works, but it isn't easy.

Good luck!

Alan
 
I have some, and thankfully, my rent is low, I don't have a car payment, and I am working the heck out of the overtime given to my staff.

Unfortunately, I can't buy knives, guns, porn etc...






Sock away at least ten percent of your paycheck every week, and pay a little more than the minimum on those cards. If you have to, work two jobs. You don't want this crap hanging over your head when you're 40 and paying for your kids tuition in addition to your own. If you have property, you may be able to roll your credit cards into one payment with the house. I'm trying to get a loan from my bank to pay off my ccs.
 
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