Anyone ever have a lot of debt?

[manlymatt83]

How'd you get yourself out of it? Luckily, its all interest free for years to come.

 

[Amused]

Um, make payments?

 

[DeadByDawn]

Make a budget and stick to it, send all extra $$$ to debt. Find extra work in your spare time.

 

[leftyman]

Sell a kidney.

 

[Wapp]

Give head for $20.

 

[child of wonder]

Replace pop with water and that alone can save some people $1/day. Throw it to the bills.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: Amused
Um, make payments?

Your rudeness in this thread is not welcome on our forums. Take your logic elsewhere.

 

[FoBoT]

i did back in the 90's

work yourself out and get rid of your credit cards

actually, you need to get rid of the CC's first

STOP BUYING CRAP

 

[bennylong]

pay your bills

 

[ranmaniac]

I made extra payments on the highest interest credit card, and this ended up raising my credit score where I could get two 0% credit cards (on all balance transfers). I paid off all the debt that I transferred to the 0% for 12 months credit cards. I only have one cc left, and it's within range of being paid off in a few months. The key is making a plan and sticking to it, and it also helps if you learn to pay things in cash instead of relying on credit cards.

 

[vi edit]

We plugged all of our debt (consumer, car, student loans, ect) into Microsoft money including loan length, interest rates, minimum payments, ect. We then told it a specific date that we wanted to have things paid off by. It printed off a nice little sheet showing what to pay and when to knock out the worst loans first.

We took that sheet, stuck it on the fridge in the kitchen, and cross out our payments every month as we make them. It keeps us honest and on track.

 

[TUKIN18S]

Budget and make larger payments. I was told my a financial consultant to do the baby steps process and it's working for me so far. I am down to 2 credit cards from 5 in about a year. What the baby steps are is to pay off your smallest cards first and make minimum payments on the larger ones until the remaining cards reach $1000 or more. Then save up a nest of at least $1000 and start the process again with your smallest big card. Make the maximum payment on the smaller cards and minimums on larger cards. Then you also have the $1000 emergency fund in your back acct. too. I'm not saying this is the best way, but it has worked for me so far. Good luck

 

[BKLounger]

define alot? i came out of school 3 years ago owing about about 50,000. I am down to 30,000 now. I hope in 3 years i will be debt free. But what I did was alot of saving and skipping on stuff. Like i bring my lunch every day of the week to work which saves big bucks. Also my poor computer hasn't been upgraded in about 3 years. Also a budget is huge. Try to figure where every cent of your money is going. going to the atm every other day and taking out 20 bucks doesn't seem like a lot at the time but add that up over the month it comes out to alot. One other thing i did to save money was i stopped carrying cash on me. I found when i had cash on me i would spend it on stupid stuff where as if i had to use my debit card i would think twice. Hope this helped a little.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

I had $34,000 in CC debt at the worst point; signed on with Price Law Group and got all of it settled for about $17,000 over two years; since then I reigned in my finances and have since been able to buy several new cars and a new house. It's amazing what happens when you just stop wasting money on stupid sh!t! I didn't think i was actually wasting that much, until i stopped to think about it. I no longer use credit cards; have not touched one since 2001. That helps too.

 

[purbeast0]

not to sound like a douche, but how the hell do you get 34K into CC debt?

i really do not understand how people can get into thousands and thousands of debt in credit cards. car payments, student loans, and mortgages - sure ... but cc debt i just do not understand.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: mjuszczak
How'd you get yourself out of it? Luckily, its all interest free for years to come.

I am guessing interest free means subsidized student loans. Work and pay it off, never follow the loan payment schedule and pay at least double what they are asking unless the interest is lower than what you can make investing your money. Since it is interest free, don't pay it off yet, unless you are terrible with saving money. Save and invest the money you have right now so you can gain interest. When the loans start accruing interest start paying with what you saved.

And if you are doing a public undergrad and not a private Ivy, then you aren't in as seriousl debt as you think. I have been paying for 2-3 years now, and I still have enough loans to pay for a nice new car and then some, but you have to figure that if you get a decent job and you are paying enough of the money down while investing enough to actually gain money, no problems.

Good luck to you.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
not to sound like a douche, but how the hell do you get 34K into CC debt?

i really do not understand how people can get into thousands and thousands of debt in credit cards. car payments, student loans, and mortgages - sure ... but cc debt i just do not understand.

medical bills, lost jobs, etc. etc. etc.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: BKLounger
define alot? i came out of school 3 years ago owing about about 50,000. I am down to 30,000 now. I hope in 3 years i will be debt free. But what I did was alot of saving and skipping on stuff. Like i bring my lunch every day of the week to work which saves big bucks. Also my poor computer hasn't been upgraded in about 3 years. Also a budget is huge. Try to figure where every cent of your money is going. going to the atm every other day and taking out 20 bucks doesn't seem like a lot at the time but add that up over the month it comes out to alot. One other thing i did to save money was i stopped carrying cash on me. I found when i had cash on me i would spend it on stupid stuff where as if i had to use my debit card i would think twice. Hope this helped a little.

Bingo. I am in the same boat as you buddy.

 

[funboy6942]

I was working on getting my credit all paid off then I got hurt, lost my job, and was forced into a BK (no not into a Burger King for a Whopper combo meal).

I have learned from personal experance that one day your living high and the next it can all be taken from you super fast. So after the bk I have made sure not to have any credit cards, no car notes, and not owe any one any money. If I cant afford something with the cash in my pocket then it will just have to wait or wasn't ment to be. The best way to get out of debt is to never have any in the first place and live well within your means, never on the edge pay check to pay check.

 

[Aimster]

I was spending thousands a week on random BS
I think during that time I spent 5k on clothes and 5k on my car.

Stupid.
Still paying the bills

 

[TreyRandom]

I was $50K in credit card debt from a business that failed in '95. Stupid move, putting it on my CCs. At the time, I was making $20K a year. It was rough. I did it by sticking to a budget and throwing as much money at the cards as possible (and salary increases certainly helped as well).

By the middle of 2004, I had paid off the $50K of CC debt, my wife's 10K of credit card debt, my wife's $15K of student loans, and both car loans (approx $10K each). You can do it... you just have to be motivated and determined enough to do it.

I'd highly recommend Dave Ramsey's books and learning tools. I learned about him after I had already started tackling this on my own, and he showed me that I was already on the right track. Cancel the credit cards, stay on a budget, live within your means, pay for necessities first, then bills, then "fun stuff", if there's anything left over. The quicker you get it all paid off, the sooner you can enjoy all the money you USED to have to put down on your debts!!