Credit Card Debt/Problems paying bills
 

Has anyone dealt with this? How? Any advice you can give me? I am usually great about these things, but it seems like this last year, I just keep falling behind. In jobs, money, I was even late on a credit card payment!! Now, instead of the 20 minimum payment, I am at 300 minimum payment. I am not sure what to do here. I am focusing on my credit cards because they are not the same every month and can eventually go away

I have three cards right now, Sears, Amex, MC. I was thinking of putting the sears balance on the Amex because that is the lowest interest of all the cards. I only pay about 30 bucks a month on the sears, though. Not sure if it is worth it.

Any advice, pointers would be faboo. Thanks. :(

You could try a credit card counseling company, but do research to make sure they are on the up and up. They can't always help, but if they can you can roll it into one monthly payment with lowered interest; the company works out a deal with your creditors. The creditors would rather have some of your money than none of your money, which is why they will work with the credit counselors as a preventative measure against bankruptcy.

Anything to reduce the interest is worth it. What you need to be doing is aiming for more than the minimum payment and stop spending. Obviously. (sorry) It's hard to give specific, non-trite advice without knowing the specifics. And I have to admit to never having been in that position. 300 minimum is a heck of a lot, though. If you're honest with yourself, can you recover from this situation with careful planning, or is continuing to pay the minimum just putting off the inevitable? Can you sit down with your banker, arrange a lower-interest loan to consolidate all these debts and work out a plan where you can actually pay it off and pay your current living costs without running up new debts? Or will this just trash what remaining credit record you have?

Shawnee - I looked into that today and got some info from the FTC about it. There is a company that seems legit, but I was hoping to be able to do it on my own because my luck, I would get a shady company.

I know I need to stop spending, but when you are left with .71 cents in the bank account and need to go to work, but have no gas, what to do?

Maybe I can contact the credit card I am in good standing with and see if they can lower the monthly payment. I know if I ask the other card, it won't happen because i was late just a couple months ago.

I was also thinking of getting the equity on my car to help. It will only make a small dent, but it should lower the monthly payments of the big interest card and also re-finance the car loan to a lower monthly payment. I am waiting to get information from them on this.

Just to give an idea - here is my total debt - 31853.67 as of this second.

We did a debt management program, and though it took 5 yrs, it really felt good when the last payment was made. We mananged to buy a car during this time, so apparently it doesn't trash your credit THAT badly. Just make sure that you can get interest rate reductions. One of our creditors wouldn't reduce interest. 5 yrs was certainly better than the 30-40 yrs they say you would pay for when paying only minimum payments!

What does this include? I guessing not a mortgage? How much is car, how much credit cards?

I think you really need to find a program to help you consolidate, negotiate with your creditors and work out a manageable plan.

binky - 5 years, I can take. Do you remember the company you used?
Thanks

Actually, that is just the credit card total amounts. No other bills are included

So not the total debt. You're already winning on the first step -being honest with yourself about the depth of the problem, and the second -seeking help. Keep up this momentum and you'll be fine. But do find a program, contact your creditors and seek to reduce your debt/interest to a level you can realistically pay off. And stop spending.

Good Luck.

Thanks monster.

I was thinking of using these people to find someone
http://www.nfcc.org/

1) You can try a credit counseling service. The best is a non-profit one, like the ones the YMCA (YWCA?) has. They will counsel you for free, and then if you sign up with them, they take a small percentage.

2) alternatively, you can do it yourself, using a financial plan found in books. One to try is Dave Ramsey. His scheme is kind of the opposite of most people's, in terms of which credit card to pay off, but I like the entire plan he has. One caveat--he's very "Christian" -- but I manage to ignore that. If you don't want to go with him, go pick out a book by another financial guru. Just pick one plan and stick with it.

www.profina.org. And if times get tight you can shift a payment date or even skip one if you call the creditors yourself

Thanks, binky. I have actually done that with a couple of bills this month. They were really nice because I am only going to be only 2 days late for either payment

1) Get rid of the cards. If a $300 min is rough, a $400 one will be impossible. Don't just promise yourself not to use them, cut them up and throw them away.

2) Make a budget. Be honest and realistic about what you spend your money on. How much goes for lunches out, magazines, impulse buys, drinks with friends, luxury items like fancy shampoo's, high end hosiery, Starbucks coffee, etc? What can you do without? Give yourself an allowance and stick to it. Figure out how much you can manage to pay towards the credit cards - over the min - per month.

3) Start a tiny savings account. Even $10 a paycheck adds up in the long run. $10 could by your weekly lunch with co-workers...but add it up and you have $40 a month or $480 a year...which is your cushion instead of the credit cards.

4) Find a credit counselor who can help you consolidate the bills and get a payment plan worked out. But this won't help if you don't make lifestyle changes to prevent it from happening again.

Good luck...!

These are all great suggestions, thank you. But as I noted above, I have NO money left in my account after I pay my bills. This month it is .71 cents and I had to move 2 bills to my next paycheck. So at this time, I can't just stop using the cards. I have no other way to pay for anything. NONE. I have 3 dollars in my savings account. This is my biggest problem. There is no spending money so everything has to go on the cards.

This is why I asked for opinions on refinancing my car loan and getting the equity from that to start living without credit cards.