CREDIT CARD DEBIT

wonderwoman

wonderwoman

Cathlete
Is anyone else suffering from this? I feel like I am the ONLY one who is having this problem. I feel so alone I cant even sleep anymore. It's driving me nuts. Already tried second mortage that did not work. My question is has any one ever tried those debit free commercials? Anyway thanks for listening.
 
Go here http://www.daveramsey.com/ .

My DH and I credit our good finances not only to ourselves but to good advice along the way. We followed the Dave Ramsey concept before we even realized we were doing it. You are right to be concerned but please promise to look here before you panic. :) It is possible to be debt free. Oh...I don't work for Dave Ramsey. :)
 
I would also suggest Dave Ramsey. He is honest about getting out of debt -- that it takes hard work but you can do it and offers a good strategy.

Best of luck!
Mary
 
Been there, still there, working on it. We just refinanced our house at a super low rate and rolled all of our debt (no comment on how much that was!) into the mortgage. We will now have one payment a month instead of like 10 and the payment will be lower. We've been in "debt H-E-double hockey" sticks for the past several years after moving into our house so I TOTALLY sympathize with how you are feeling. As soon as we close next week, we are having a credit card cutting ceramony and will be paying for everything in CASH from now on. We will probably keep one card for absolute emergencies only. I just wish the Cathe preorder came out before we closed... ;)
 
Thank you guys for all of your responses I think I saw Dave Ramsey on the Oprah Winfrey Show. I just need about 35,0000 That will do the trick. I cant even talk to my friends or family about it I guess it's nothing to brag about. My husband says not to worry it will work it self out. Hopefully with tax season around the corner it will knock some of it off. Thanks again
 
When we refinanced our mortgage, we rolled all our debt into it, and we still noticed that our credit cards were adding up again. So, we decided to keep our credit card (we have only one now) in a drawer for emergencies only. Anything else, we use our debit cards and it comes straight out of our checking account. We have a home improvement line of credit that we use for big money projects, like when we put in our screen porch and when we needed a new furnace. It's tax deductable.

The main thing is just not using the cards anymore. I guess it's easier said than done, but it really has helped us.

Good luck.
 
>Thank you guys for all of your responses I think I saw Dave
>Ramsey on the Oprah Winfrey Show. I just need about 35,0000
>That will do the trick. I cant even talk to my friends or
>family about it I guess it's nothing to brag about. My
>husband says not to worry it will work it self out. Hopefully
>with tax season around the corner it will knock some of it
>off. Thanks again


35,000 is chump change! ;) Hope that makes you feel better! Not sure it makes me feel good... Now if you really meant to have that extra "0" at the end of your debt figure, then I bow to you as you are definitely in a whole different ballpark. ;)

I always tell myself that Paris Hilton spends more in one shopping excursion than all my debt combined... ;)
 
I would also like to add that you are not alone. We were tempted to go into debt settlement, but in the end we felt this was not the best solution for us. One thing I have been doing differently is NOT using my DEBIT card. We pull out cash for groceries, gas.... it has totaly changed my perspective when grocery shopping, I think really hard about whether I need it or just want it. And when I can plainly see that we only have X amount of dollars to last two weeks, I end up buying just what we need.

Also, check around on interest rates. We have our entire credit card balance at a FIXED rate of 3.9% until it is paid in full. The trick is to stop using the credit cards because all payments go to the lowest interest rate first, so any purchases aren't getting paid for with the payments you make they just compound daily at a high interest rate.

This has helped us - dont feel like your alone, I really think it is an epidimic in the USA....
 
I ended up using a debit counseling group and dont regret it at all. I got all my cards paid off in 4 yrs. I think I had 32,000. I can actually enjoy my paychecks now and we just built a new home. we had to wait all this time just because I was credit card happy. I do still have a couple , but my limit is very low and I keep it that way to keep myself in check as I am still a spender but nothing like I use to do, thank god!
 
You're not the only one. I was doing good had the credit card in a block of ice in the freezer - avail for emergencies but not for everyday things. (shoes are not an emergency no matter how cute) but then I realized Citibank will give you a 1 time use fake credit card number for online shopping (its a fraud prevention/safety thing) Bad news, spent some money, lots of it. Still working on that credit card debit thing. The best I can say is hang in there and keep picking away at it. The best rule - if it will eaten/broken/gone/lost before its paid for, it doesn't go on a credit card. Credit cards are for emergencies - exploding plumbing, car repairs, things like that. We do use ours to reserve hotels, rental cars, because it ties up the funds on a debit card and makes those funds unavailable (inconvienent if you're reserving way ahead of time) but then when it comes to the actual transaction/payment we switch to the debit card.

Nan
 
You're not the only one. I was doing good had the credit card in a block of ice in the freezer - avail for emergencies but not for everyday things. (shoes are not an emergency no matter how cute) but then I realized Citibank will give you a 1 time use fake credit card number for online shopping (its a fraud prevention/safety thing) Bad news, spent some money, lots of it. Still working on that credit card debit thing. The best I can say is hang in there and keep picking away at it. The best rule - if it will eaten/broken/gone/lost before its paid for, it doesn't go on a credit card. Credit cards are for emergencies - exploding plumbing, car repairs, things like that. We do use ours to reserve hotels, rental cars, because it ties up the funds on a debit card and makes those funds unavailable (inconvienent if you're reserving way ahead of time) but then when it comes to the actual transaction/payment we switch to the debit card.

Nan
 
DH and I are both savers and we live well below our means so financial problems have not plagued us and I don't think I can recall us ever having an arguement over money. However, I/we have a financial plan. I know what we will need money for in the future and am currently saving/planning for it now such as retirement, insurance, kids education, etc. Having that 3-6 months of income saved as an emergency fund for future unexpected expenditures will give you so much more financial freedom/security than you could imagine. IMO it's the same as trying to get the body that you want. You HAVE to have a plan in order to reach your goals and exercise restraint. I put just as much thought into my finances as I do into my workout and meal plans for the week or month. If you really want to be finaciall independent you have to make it a priority and educate yourself about all aspects of your finances. Try that for a while and see how much more "on top of things" you will be. :)

I am also very frugal. I KNOW what I pay for everything. I watch the grocery fliers every week and stock up on sale priced items. Being frugal is not the same as being cheap. Being frugal takes knowledge and involves being smart about your purchases. It boils down to getting the best value for every dollar. It also means passing on purchases that you don't need to make.

By the way, I also like Dave Ramsey and would also suggest Suze Orman as well. She has some great books that you can get at a reasonable cost on half.com or check them out at your library. She also has a great show on CNBC Saturday evenings.

Hope this helps.

Angie
 
DH and I are both savers and we live well below our means so financial problems have not plagued us and I don't think I can recall us ever having an arguement over money. However, I/we have a financial plan. I know what we will need money for in the future and am currently saving/planning for it now such as retirement, insurance, kids education, etc. Having that 3-6 months of income saved as an emergency fund for future unexpected expenditures will give you so much more financial freedom/security than you could imagine. IMO it's the same as trying to get the body that you want. You HAVE to have a plan in order to reach your goals and exercise restraint. I put just as much thought into my finances as I do into my workout and meal plans for the week or month. If you really want to be finaciall independent you have to make it a priority and educate yourself about all aspects of your finances. Try that for a while and see how much more "on top of things" you will be. :)

I am also very frugal. I KNOW what I pay for everything. I watch the grocery fliers every week and stock up on sale priced items. Being frugal is not the same as being cheap. Being frugal takes knowledge and involves being smart about your purchases. It boils down to getting the best value for every dollar. It also means passing on purchases that you don't need to make.

By the way, I also like Dave Ramsey and would also suggest Suze Orman as well. She has some great books that you can get at a reasonable cost on half.com or check them out at your library. She also has a great show on CNBC Saturday evenings.

Hope this helps.

Angie
 
Credit counseling is good, just be very careful who you go to. I would not go with an online company unless you research them very well. We had a client who was working with a company online and they took him for $2,500.00 before he caught on and realized that none of his bills were being paid, they told him that that was his initial retainer and once that was paid they would start paying the credit card companies. Good luck!
 
I'm right there with you too. I actually joined up with a debt free program and once my parents found out what I did my Dad begged me to get out of it because these companies don't have to settle for a certain amount or at all plus he was concerned that my credit report would have cards in collection and I wouldn't be able to get a house later. Anyway, it was a mistake and it cost me money from getting out of it. I hear debt counseling is a better way to go but my monthly payments weren't going to be any lower from that so it didn't work to my benefit. I wasn't behind in payments just couldn't make much progress. Still trying. I have to keep my shopping in control. I try to save money with everything I have to buy now. Some days I find myself overwhelmed too and frustrated...just have to keep plugging along. I use my debit card for everything and just always try to be mindful of what's coming up that I need money for and try to keep on budget and pay as much as I can to credit cards. I hoping after I get more control I can get a 0% card with a nice limit. I don't want a 4th credit card that will only take a small portion from another card..not worth it to me. Good luck....keep digging yourself out.
 
Apart form student loans, we just finished paying off our credit card debt at $30,000 this past December. It took us two years. We enrolled in Repaydebt.org (affiliated with Better Business Bureau). They go through all your finances, you give up all your credit cards and shred them. My interest rates were through the roof (most at 20% or higher). They cut the interest rates down by half or even more like American Express offered 0% interest. They then consolidate all your payments and make them for you. They never missed one of my payments. It was the best thing we ever did. And for me was the only thing that stopped me from spending anything on our credit cards. We won't be getting any cards from now on. We're taking this as a chance to start from the beginning and learning to live within our means, although it is extremely difficult to do. The better business bureau does have information about enrolling with credit counselling, which is a better alternative to those companies on tv promising you the world. I had found three other locations in NYC but each of the counselling places to take a small fee depending on the amount of money you need to pay. Repaydebt was the cheapest for us.

All I can say is good luck, and I never thought I'd say this, but we are debt free. The tipping point for us happened when we realized we couldn't pay the rent any more. It was this or moving in with the inlaws, into their living room.

Rita
 
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