Credit Card Debt: $17,000

[Pocatello]

Don't buy stuff you can't afford

That sounds so un-American, must be a communist propaganda.

 

[Elbryn]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: TheVrolok
QFT. I have never carried a balance on my credit card or ever plan to. I don't understand why people spend more for an item than what it costs?

Because they want it NOW and 99 out of 100 don't pay any attention to what the item ends up costing them 10 years later, if they ever get it paid off.

the only reason i would end up in that sort of debt is if it were a medical related purchase related to family, and i had already expended everything else i had. thats really the only kind of serious debt that gets viewed in a potentially positive light. but the answer is simple, spend less pay off more. doing it when you're used to spending is another question.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: preslove
Qualifying for bankruptcy is harder now, though, so I don't know if it is an option for you.

it's really not because the law was written in such a piss poor fashion. there's just more paperwork up front.

Originally posted by: Oyeve
Do you know how hard it is to declare bankruptcy now? It will cost you thousands to declare bankruptcy and YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY WHAT YOU OWE eventually. The laws have changed drastically. Check it out.

you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
See if you qualify for any credit cards with 0% APR on balance transfers with no annual fee. If you do, transfer your balance to that one and keep making payments on it. At least then the interest won't kill you.

Aside from that, stop living beyond your means.

This currently what I am doing to reduce my CC debt and it is working very well. However, it an absolute must that you do not use any of your CC cards while reducing your debt. Cut them up if you have to. Once the 0% APR runs out you can do it again the following year IF the deals are still being offered.

A lot of people fall into the trap of maxing out the 0% card due to unexpected expenses an what not because they believe that they can just transfer the balance to another 0% APR card later. That is not always true and it is based on economy. This leaves them with more CC debt and sometimes they cannot make ends meet because of it.

Also, do no close the CC accounts once they are paid off. This can hurt your credit more than it can help sometimes. I say sometimes because while closing an account will always lower your credit score, having too much available credit as opposed to you income can sometimes reduce your chances to qualify for loans. This is because different companies use different systems to determine their own point system which decides if you qualify or not. While your credit score is always a big factor, it is not the only one and a lot of people forget about that. A lot of companies look at a ton of available credit (lets say 50K for example) as a high risk because that means you could technically be 50K in debt tomorrow.

Research this a lot more before deciding if it is better for you to close any accounts.

 

[piasabird]

There are government programs to help people pay off credit cards. A lot of these card services places will not tell you this. If your credit is already messed up and you can not pay off your debt then just tell them you dont have any money. Dont play their game. There is a government plan to get rid of your late payments and gives you 60 months to pay off your credit at greatly reduced rates.

 

[SuperjetMatt]

Do you know how hard it is to declare bankruptcy now? It will cost you thousands to declare bankruptcy and YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY WHAT YOU OWE eventually. The laws have changed drastically. Check it out.

Bullshit.
Any decent bankruptcy lawyer will serve up a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for under $1500.
The guidelines which bump you into an automatic Chapter 13 are very lax.
The guidelines are state-dependent income limits, and also expense-to-income ratios.

I am not sure where you're getting your information.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Naustica
Rolling credit card debt into student loans is a terrible idea. Student loans are like taxes and stay with you for rest of your life until it's paid off. Credit card debt is unsecured and it can be wiped away whole after 7 years even if it's unpaid.

I would much rather default on credit card debt than roll it into a student loan. Student loan is the devil and many young people will find out the hard way later when they have to repay it.

They're only a terrible idea if you're a terrible person and don't plan on ever paying your debts. Way to be a douche.

If you're too stupid to see it's a terrible idea, there's no hope for you. You must be the same moron who rolls over unsecured credit card debt into a secured home equity loan or line.

Can they take your home if you don't pay your student loans?

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: piasabird
There are government programs to help people pay off credit cards. A lot of these card services places will not tell you this. If your credit is already messed up and you can not pay off your debt then just tell them you dont have any money. Dont play their game. There is a government plan to get rid of your late payments and gives you 60 months to pay off your credit at greatly reduced rates.

That's certainly news to me.

 

[SuperjetMatt]

same

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
See if you qualify for any credit cards with 0% APR on balance transfers with no annual fee. If you do, transfer your balance to that one and keep making payments on it. At least then the interest won't kill you.

Aside from that, stop living beyond your means.

Assuming the CC companies don't jack up your rate when your FICO score changes.

I don't think they can do that. My card member agreement states that I'll have 0% APR for 12 periods unless I miss a payment or make a late payment. If I continue to pay the minimum monthly payment, they cannot charge interest. This is different from a low APR card where the rate can be adjust whenever they feel like it.

There's also some offers that state 0% APR on balance transfers for the life of the balance. So if I transfer my $8000 worth of debt to one of those cards I can make the minimum payment of $150/mo until it's payed off and never pay interest. Those usually have a balance transfer fee, though. So it's not a "free loan."

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
See if you qualify for any credit cards with 0% APR on balance transfers with no annual fee. If you do, transfer your balance to that one and keep making payments on it. At least then the interest won't kill you.

Aside from that, stop living beyond your means.

Assuming the CC companies don't jack up your rate when your FICO score changes.

I don't think they can do that. My card member agreement states that I'll have 0% APR for 12 periods unless I miss a payment or make a late payment. If I continue to pay the minimum monthly payment, they cannot charge interest. This is different from a low APR card where the rate can be adjust whenever they feel like it.

There's also some offers that state 0% APR on balance transfers for the life of the balance. So if I transfer my $8000 worth of debt to one of those cards I can make the minimum payment of $150/mo until it's payed off and never pay interest. Those usually have a balance transfer fee, though. So it's not a "free loan."

That is correct. They cannot change your rate unless you break the contract like that. Plus, your FICO often goes up more than it goes down if you play your cards right. The FICO doesn't go down by making the transfer. It only goes down if you close the account. So unless your income to available credit ratio is ridiculous like I mentioned in a previous post, you have nothing to worry about as long as you don't get in over your head and actually pay the off the debt during the 0% APR period.

 

[SuperjetMatt]

Oh?

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/0...ion=money_news_economy

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: SuperjetMatt
Oh?

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/0...ion=money_news_economy

Again... different story. The 0% APR cards are for a limited time, and it's a contract. It's guaranteed to be 0% for a certain period of time unless you break the contract yourself. My guess is that if the bank broke the contract, it would be grounds for a lawsuit. I've had 0% APR cards and been transferring balances for 4 years now. Now I finally have steady income and will be able to pay off the balance early next year.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: SuperjetMatt
Oh?

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/0...ion=money_news_economy

That is for the cases where a 0% APR contract doesn't apply. Now, after the period of 0% APR ends then the interest rate on that card could end up being higher than expected for this reason. However, that concern in minimal as long as you are not missing payments or doing other things which cause your FICO score to be hurt. Even if you do screw up and miss a payment, the worst thing that can happen is you are still paying off your debt along with interest just like you were before trying to take advantage of the 0% APR deals.

If you do it right, then you should be able to get a card with about 12 months 0% APR which is a good amount of time to pay off a hefty amount of debt. The payments you make during those 12 months will also cause your FICO to go up. Trust me, I did this and after one year the result was my FICO going up about 100 points.

 

[SuperjetMatt]

EDIT: Never mind, gotcha.

 

[Dulanic]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Dulanic
I agree with others... 6months history and 17K is impossible without it being a secured card which means you would have most the money. This is BS.

I have 8K debt myself and have for 2 years from moving around and switching jobs for expenses in between. I have not paid one cent of interest by playing the BT game.

Yeah, but you've paid a crapload of BT fees. You're still losing lots of money.

Wrong. If you do it right there are PLENTY of cards with low of no BT fees. I'm actually paying the debt down with AORs I have 60K outstanding credit card debt for a AOR and 8K personal. Total BT fees: $325 Net Income from interest AFTER BT fees: $2855

Alot of that personal debt is on for life cards too, 2.5K on 1.99 for life and 3K on 3.9 for life...both of which I am in no rush to pay down as I can earn better interest than that.

Still losing money? 🙂 Even without the AOR my personal cards I never have paid a single BT fee period.

 

[Muadib]

The OP doesn't want to pay off his debt......

 

[SleepWalkerX]

Originally posted by: kranky

Originally posted by: piasabird
There are government programs to help people pay off credit cards. A lot of these card services places will not tell you this. If your credit is already messed up and you can not pay off your debt then just tell them you dont have any money. Dont play their game. There is a government plan to get rid of your late payments and gives you 60 months to pay off your credit at greatly reduced rates.

That's certainly news to me.

Can anyone provide more info on this subject?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Dulanic

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Dulanic
I agree with others... 6months history and 17K is impossible without it being a secured card which means you would have most the money. This is BS.

I have 8K debt myself and have for 2 years from moving around and switching jobs for expenses in between. I have not paid one cent of interest by playing the BT game.

Yeah, but you've paid a crapload of BT fees. You're still losing lots of money.

Wrong. If you do it right there are PLENTY of cards with low of no BT fees. I'm actually paying the debt down with AORs I have 60K outstanding credit card debt for a AOR and 8K personal. Total BT fees: $325 Net Income from interest AFTER BT fees: $2855

Alot of that personal debt is on for life cards too, 2.5K on 1.99 for life and 3K on 3.9 for life...both of which I am in no rush to pay down as I can earn better interest than that.

Still losing money? 🙂 Even without the AOR my personal cards I never have paid a single BT fee period.

I've never seen a card without BT fees...typically some set dollar figure plus a percentage from 2-5%. If you managed to get a BT and then gain more money from investing it than the BT fees, :thumbsup:, but for me, the fees always seemed to be too high to guarantee that the stock market could outstrip them.

 

[Aimster]

If it matters at all the $17,000 is all tuition related expenses.

No way of getting grants for past tuition payments, right?

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Naustica
Rolling credit card debt into student loans is a terrible idea. Student loans are like taxes and stay with you for rest of your life until it's paid off. Credit card debt is unsecured and it can be wiped away whole after 7 years even if it's unpaid.

I would much rather default on credit card debt than roll it into a student loan. Student loan is the devil and many young people will find out the hard way later when they have to repay it.

They're only a terrible idea if you're a terrible person and don't plan on ever paying your debts. Way to be a douche.

If you're too stupid to see it's a terrible idea, there's no hope for you. You must be the same moron who rolls over unsecured credit card debt into a secured home equity loan or line.

Can they take your home if you don't pay your student loans?

If you don't live in Florida or Texas, yes.

 

[Dulanic]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Dulanic

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Dulanic
I agree with others... 6months history and 17K is impossible without it being a secured card which means you would have most the money. This is BS.

I have 8K debt myself and have for 2 years from moving around and switching jobs for expenses in between. I have not paid one cent of interest by playing the BT game.

Yeah, but you've paid a crapload of BT fees. You're still losing lots of money.

Wrong. If you do it right there are PLENTY of cards with low of no BT fees. I'm actually paying the debt down with AORs I have 60K outstanding credit card debt for a AOR and 8K personal. Total BT fees: $325 Net Income from interest AFTER BT fees: $2855

Alot of that personal debt is on for life cards too, 2.5K on 1.99 for life and 3K on 3.9 for life...both of which I am in no rush to pay down as I can earn better interest than that.

Still losing money? 🙂 Even without the AOR my personal cards I never have paid a single BT fee period.

I've never seen a card without BT fees...typically some set dollar figure plus a percentage from 2-5%. If you managed to get a BT and then gain more money from investing it than the BT fees, :thumbsup:, but for me, the fees always seemed to be too high to guarantee that the stock market could outstrip them.

Citi Home Rebate Platinum 0%
Citi Driver's Edge 0%
Bank of America NEA Worldpoints 2% $30 max fee.
Most Discover cards 3% but $75 cap.

Those are all 12 months, there are 6months with AMEX.

The cards are getting harder to find, probably partly due to people doing AORs like me, but most do have caps like Chase and BofA between $75 and $100 which makes it worthwhile. There are also buisness cards that you can get and you don't even really need a buisness I have 4 without an actual buisness. CitiBuisness is 12 months with $0 BT fee.

I have never seen a $ + percent...I mean some do have min BT fees of like $5 but if your BTing $200 bucks well you shouldn't be anyways and that isn't above the % it in lieu of.

But even for people like the OP even if it was 3% no cap, it is worthwhile. If you have for example 18% APR and you BT to a 0% for 12 month card with a 3% fee, he would still be saving 15% over the year.

 

[Linux23]

OP, can I go to Puerto Rico with you?:laugh:

 

[gorcorps]

Apply for a loan to pay off all debt, then apply the 'don't buy stuff you can't afford' rule. Works every time.

 

[Journer]

i racked up a little CC debt a while ago. to bring it back down i sold some shit and used some student loans (4.9%) to pay off the rest...