CREDIT CARD DEBIT

Right there with you, too, and I am COMMITTED to getting debt free, once and for all. I just consolidated everything onto one card that has a 3.9% until the balance is paid off, and I am going to keep plugging away at it. I just cut up all my cards but one, and that I'm keeping in my wallet just for emergencies. I also opened up an account at ING Direct, and I'm going to start putting money into that each week as well, just so I can at least feel that I have some savings stashed away, too!

Good Luck!
 
by the way, after paying thru the debt group, my credit lists as excellent. I thought it might hurt my credit rating but it didnt.
 
I suggest Suze Orman's book or Dave Ramsey's book. The only think I dont agree with Dave Ramsey is his theory about paying down the debt with the lowest amount owed.

My DH and I are well on our way to being debt free and we owed much more than you. We put our debt in order from highest interest rate to the lowest. Paid minimum payments on everything except the one with the highest interest rate. We concentrated on that one first, putting any extra money we could find on that one until it got paid off. We then snowballed the others from there. One at a time, higest interest rate to lowest. And we did it all without having to get second jobs. You can do it once you commit yourself to getting out of debt and staying out of debt.

Good Luck.

Carmen
 
Dave Ramsey worked for us. Came close to choosing to go bankrupt. Am so glad we didn't! Soon we will be able to say "We're debt free!
(except for the mortgage) Can't wait to have just a house payment! I do not miss credit cards at all! If I don't have the cash, I don't need it. His software is what really made everything work! You have to check that out!
Colleen
 
Hello all! I'm in the same boat - in credit card debt and am struggling to get out. We don't use them anymore and are paying what we can over and above the minimum to get them paid off. I bought Dave Ramsey's book "Total Money Makeover" but I just don't have any extra money to put down on the cards or a way to make extra income. My husband and I both work full-time and have two little ones. We'd have to pay someone to watch them so we could get second jobs and that just wouldn't make sense. At this rate it will be forever before we get them paid off!
 
Charlene you say you dont have any extra money but you also say you are paying what you can over and above the minimum. I suggest you look at your debts and put them in order from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate (that's what worked for me). Ramsey says put them in order from lowest balance to highest balance. If you do it his way, pay the minimum payment on all the others and extra money you were sending to the others, send to just one until its paid off. Then take that extra money and minimum payment and send it to the next debt, and so on (debt snowball). You can do it. We are doing it except we went highest interest rate to lowest because we felt we would save money in the long run. We are doing it and we did not get extra jobs. Of course if we did, it would happen faster.

As far as getting an extra job, I think Ramsey suggests one parent stay home with children while the other works delivering pizzas. According to him a person could make $1,000 per month delivering pizzas.

Stay focused you can do it. Its not impossible. Good luck.

Carmen
 
Thanks Carmen!!! I'll give it a shot. I think paying off the highest interest rate first makes sense. It is just so frustrating!
 
How could you feel like the only one?!
20 years ago grade A credit couldn't even guarentee you a credit card! Now since the Clinton era I was getting pre-approved offers in the mail the day I turned 18!
I recently called my credit union earlier this year to ask about transferring my Capital One balance (22.somehting %) to the CU card (8.something %). They called me back and said that it would be more ideal for me to get a consolidation loan.
Soo.. I got the loan to pay off the remainder of an old student loan and the 3 credit cards, at a rate of 12.something %.. saved me over $100 a month JUST in minimum payments AND opened up all of my lines of credit! (BOTH of which are GREAT for your credit score).
I find that banks you are in a relationship with will certainly give you the benefit of the doubt for a loan if it is for reducing your debt. Of course, they made the checks for the payments out to the companies and sent them themselves.
I highly recommend trying this. Not re-using the cards is the tricky part because you're not supossed to close credit cards that were opened within the last couple years (looks bad to them I guess :T
 
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