Debt Consolidation?

[kramer]

I haven't met anyone that has come out in the good doing this. Think I would just knuckle down.

Ran up some cc debt while in college and was barely keeping afloat after. Went to Consumer Credit Counseling and set things up with them (now I know I could have done what they did for me at no charge, but I had neither the time nor the inclination to do it myself). In most instances they got the creditors to eliminate the interest that was accruing and negotiated the balances down. I paid them off in 2 years and after that 2 years my credit report showed a compromise that was paid in full. Eventually all of that went away and it was like it never happened. So I would be a success story, however, I do not know if this is the best route for you to go at this time. Look at several options and find one that works for you guys with the least negative impact for the future. Sorry that you are in this situation but congratulations on wanting to make a change and better your situation.

[kramer]

For those of you carrying balances for whatever reason, make sure you call your CC company periodically and ask for a supervisor, and then ask if you are getting the best interest rate possible. Provided that you have paid your bill on time they will lower your rate (depending on current interest rates). I had a client that was paying 21% on a credit card and I did a conference call with her to her cc company and they lowered her to 8% because she pays on time and her credit score was good. Again, not advocating using credit cards, but if you do for whatever reason, make sure you have the lowest rate possible.

[samsdad]

KFD I get free money. My CC gives me some of the money that they get from the ignorant masses. works out well

[Goldeneagle]

Thanks everyone for the input. We WILL get this under control! We are going to try the snowball method. I will make a list of who we owe and how much. Start at the bottom and start pecking away at 'em!

Nah.

Marriage is a team sport and both parties are involved in both the managing and mismanaging . just learn from the mistakes and move forward.

In this case it was pretty much my fault. When it comes to my family, I just give in too easy. And as ya'll see, to the point of getting into a little trouble.

[Great White Hunter]

I haven't met anyone that has come out in the good doing this. Think I would just knuckle down.

Not true. You've met one now. I went through a non-profit organization and worked with them for 4 years. I kept one card open for business travel only. I was debt free (with the exception of mortgage and car payments in 4 years). We had 30K in credit card debt. Further, while I was IN the program I did buy a house an two new cars. Some creditors look at things from different perspectives. Ours made decisions in regards to our house and our cars based on "These people are working on their issues, not shirking any debt, and are not defaulting on anything." I WOULD tell you to never file bankruptcy, but debt consolidating, check into the non-profit organizations. I think we used CCCS. Do your homework. We've had no ill-effects from it. We only regained some security. We finished about 5 years ago and my credit score is still good. BTW, for any skeptics, when I bought my cars they were at 5.9% financing and my 1st home was at 6.25% 30 yr fixed (we were IN the consolidation program when we made those purchases). My home I bought 5 years ago and currently live in is at 5.75% 30 yr fixed.

Dave Ramsey also has a great plan if you follow those principles it will lead to great things. We "inherited" his plan and keep it just in case we get "undisciplined" again in our spending.

Hope this helps.

[ladrones]

You can read a little book called "How to make your paycheck last" by Howard Moe. It gives good budgeting advice.

[Throwin Darts]

The question I have is this:

Those of you who "pay off the balance every month" Why do you have a credit card? If you can afford to pay it off without fail every month, why not just pay cash as you go?

You could use your visa/MC Debit card for any online buys ect...

i do pay cash as i go. instead of handing it to the retailer or whoever i am paying at the time i hand it to the credit card company. i chose to pay off my card every friday. in return i get a benefit for doing so. in my case, 2% of every dollar i spend, i get back.

so why pay full price and pay cash at the time of sale when i can pay 98% of the purchase price and pay off the card in full?

[Snakelover]

Those of you who "pay off the balance every month" Why do you have a credit card? If you can afford to pay it off without fail every month, why not just pay cash as you go?

First of all, I like writing just one check a month. Secondly, I get a lot of free perks by running purchases through the CC. Now, here's the thing... I'm not recommending this approach to someone else. It takes unwaivering discipline. Let's face it. Not everyone is wired that way. Besides discipline, the other piece of the puzzle is consistently spending less than you earn. Hopefully, a good deal less. Once someone experiences just how peaceful that is, they will never miss the things they could have bought by pushing their spending to the limit of their financial ability. When it comes to money, I don't enjoy living on the edge.

[LostHawg]

The hardest part is sticking with the plan.....

[Froggy]

Check out this website. Bud Hibbs is from Ft Worth. His book is called "The American Credit System Guilty Until Proven Innocent"

http://www.budhibbs.com/

Lot's of good free info on how to negotiate debt down. You can do it all yourself. He even has sample letters.

Between his and Dave Ramsey's advice you should be able to live debt free.

[BrianL]

The easiest way to make sure you have the money to pay off the CC at the end of the month is to log each purchase into your checkbook ledger, just as if you have written a check and deduct the amount from your checking account balance. If you don't have the money in your checking account to cover the purchase, don't use your card.

[SMUMan02]

The question I have is this:

Those of you who "pay off the balance every month" Why do you have a credit card? If you can afford to pay it off without fail every month, why not just pay cash as you go?

You could use your visa/MC Debit card for any online buys ect...

Because I don't like writing 100 checks every month for every bill that I have and the tracking is much easier as I spend a considerable amount of money every month that gets expensed through my company, as does my wife.

Plus I like having my 500K Hilton Points for free vacations.

[Shane]

I don't like writing checks OR credit cards. I just use my VISA debit card. Points are nice on CCs, but I spend a lot of time preaching to my clients and my KIDS about the evils of the modern slave trade.....er....the credit card industry. So I just don't have any. Some people do perfectly fine playing with fire, but most people get sucked into the trap. They don't have 0% deals and "rewards" programs out of the goodness of their hearts, of course. It's just the bait.

I wish everybody could be as disciplined as you undoubtedly are, jmazingo. But if they were, the CC companies wouldn't be giving away hotel stays and air miles.

[Mike D]

I don't write one single check per month and I do all of my transactions on debit cards. We average about 300 transactions per month. I pay all my bills either auto draft or online bill pay. I download all of my transactions into Microsoft Money and categorize them to help with budget tracking. I spend maybe 4 hours every month to pay all of my bills, download all of my transactions and balance my checking account.

[SMUMan02]

I don't like writing checks OR credit cards. I just use my VISA debit card. Points are nice on CCs, but I spend a lot of time preaching to my clients and my KIDS about the evils of the modern slave trade.....er....the credit card industry. So I just don't have any. Some people do perfectly fine playing with fire, but most people get sucked into the trap. They don't have 0% deals and "rewards" programs out of the goodness of their hearts, of course. It's just the bait.

I wish everybody could be as disciplined as you undoubtedly are, jmazingo. But if they were, the CC companies wouldn't be giving away hotel stays and air miles.

I definitely agree with what you are saying. I just view myself as one of the fortunate few who is able to take advantage of the idiocy of the rest of society. Someone else gets to pay for me to go on vacation.

I'm not comfortable, after spending 4 years working in a bank, giving out my debit card info. If someone messes up my CC account, it can get fixed much easier than fixing a checking account that contains the sum total of my net worth.