Credit card Debt...do you have any??

[Mike G]

I got into a bad spot a few years back, got behind on a couple of card and it screwed me up with my good card. I've managed to get everything into one chunk of debt, but its close to $7000 with a rediculous interest rate.

I do my best to pay it down (I always pay more than minimum) but things around here are still tight and I can't seem to get ahead. They refuse to drop my interest rate (despite having never been late/missed/or payed minimum since I got the card in 2002) and because my credit is shot, I can't get a card with a lower rate to transfer to.

Does anyone know of any good/honest services that help people with their debt? I remember a few years back there was a scandal because many of the major debt relief companies were taking money and not making payments, making payments late, and screwing up the customers credit even worse.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service.

www.cccspa.org

A non profit organization who will have a branch in your area. Look in the phone book.

They can get your interest reduced in most cases, and you pay them directly, and they pay off your credit card debt. Be prepared to surrender your CC's, and they'll cut them up for you. They charge a very small fee to set things up. (I think when we used them in the mid 80's the fee was $20.)



It works.

EDIT: Added link.

 

[maximus otter]

We pay off all the CC balance every month.

Our car is paid for.

We have no other debts.

When I used my end-of-police-service gratuity to pay off my mortgage, one excellent piece of advice I received was not to pay off the entire mortgage, but to leave the minimum-permissible amount owing (I think it was £500). Why? Because if we now have to raise money fast, a mortgage is at a far better interest rate than a loan.

If I suddenly needed - say - £10,000, I can bump up my mortgage from a negligible £500 to £10,500 and pay a far lower interest rate than I would on a loan or CC.

As it is, my monthly mortgage payment is £1.24p.

A credit card is a good servant, but a bad master.

maximus otter

 

[T. Erdelyi]

No comment, alright one comment, been outa work for about 2 years, waiting on knee replacements, so yes I have a some debt.:grumpy:

 

[komodo]

$45,000, at 3.99% interest.
I WAS paying it down, making more than the min. monthly payment, until Uncle Sam "decided" we should be paying more on our monthly minimum starting with our January bill. Now I'm screwed! I'm sure I'm not alone. There are going to be a LOT more people going bankrupt this year because of this. I might just be one of those people.

 

[Bastid]

I have a few and use them, but pay the balance in full every month. Last time interest was paid to any of them was 1976. I was working my way through school and had a whopping 200 + dollar balance. A lesson learned early taught me to never take on debt unless I could come out ahead. Since then the only interest I've paid has been on my house.

 

[CAD]

No CC debt here. We pay off the balance every month using the grace period. Consummer debt ( credit cards and unsecured debts ) is the major reason we have so many bankruptcy filings! Too much easy credit.

Chris

 

[jackknife]

No debt of any kind here.

We got the house paid off about 15 years ago, and we pay any credit card use off at the end of the month. With both of us on social security we have to be very carefull. If we don't have the money, we save up for it and use the credit cards only for emergency on the road or occasional mail order.

We really try to stay cash and carry.

 

[Guyon]

Yeah, you left off "use credit cards, but pay them off without interest each month."

CCs are generally safer than carrying around a wad of cash, and they offer some perks that cash does not.

So use 'em if you got 'em. Just pay them off when the bill comes in.

 

[Matches]

I have one card that is secured ($600.00) and mainly use it for being able to rent a car, buying plane tickets, or for paypal, otherwise I deal strickly in cash:thumbup:

 

[TNRat]

I was told by a credit counselor to leave a running balance on my cc

That pinhead does not know his arse from a hole in the ground. Either that, or he is in the back pocket of the CC company.

Credit counselors telling you that being debt free is the only way to go are the ones you should have any faith in. Dave Ramsey in Franklin, TN is one of them.

 

[TNRat]

a LOT more people going bankrupt this year because of this

Have you thought about selling anything? A part time job? Two part time jobs? Seriously.

 

[freedomrules3]

I try and keep it under 2 grand if i can.i generally use them in the winter on hunting and pay them off in the summer. i use it for out of state trips.

http://eastcoasthunter.proboards21.com/index.cgi

 

[madcap_magician]

No CC debt to speak of, but I owe alot for student loans.

Ditto. Though with any luck the Army will have paid most of them off by this time next year.

 

[Tim-Gabz]

I have been paying off cards for along time. Funny that I have never had one of my own. Brother, Sister in law..... My wife has one that is there for groceries and is paid off every month with a debit balance for the life's bumps that do come.

Managed properly they are an excelent boon or incorrectly a serious anchor at a time of need.

 

[Doug C]

'Round ten years ago,I maxxed out a VISA,MasterCard and an AmericanExpress,took 3 years to pay 'em off,about 27k.Life lesson!
Shredded 'em,just have a VISA now that came with the MAC card.

 

[Win Heger]

We have only a small mortgage, CCs are paid off monthly, cars are paid for. At 62 I'm exactly where I want to be.

Win

 

[bandaidman]

no credit card balances or consumer debt for me.

dave ramsey has been mentioned here several times. he is a local guy who has done well with his show. he can be a bit strident at times. he is adamently against debt/credit cards/car and student loans etc. ramsey is dead on correct when he states that personal finance is mostly about behavior not math. so many people are so leveraged that the exert a ton of effort moving, refinancing or playing games with their debt instead of tackling the problem that they spend more then they make. this includes the majority of "smart folks" like doctors, lawyers, accountants i know. contrast this with one of the contractors i had work on my house. he is a humble, unpretentious guy drives a beat up old truck and pays cash for everything. i guarantee his net worth is more than mine.

i still have a credit card that i use for online purchases etc (while debit cards are protected...i hate the thought of having someone empty my bank account and having to fight to get the funds replaced) . dave is dead on that you will spend more if you use plastic...esp if the plastic has a rebate or bonus. i consider myself fairly financially saavy and find myself thinking all the time...if i spend $500 more i will qualify for another prize. its stupid to spend a ton of bucks on stuff you dont need so you can get a rebate worth 1-5%. it's a net loser for the consumer and great for the card companies...thats why they do it.

i would also caution against the "consumer credit counseling" services. some are outright fraudulent like "ameridebt". many of the other ones are financed by the card companies themselves. they can help you cut deals with the companies but it is a really bad mark on your credit as far as qualifying for a house goes. forgiven debt may also be subject to income tax as well. the worst things is that the underlying behavior is not addressed and a lot of folks end up in the same boat again whether they use a CCC or declare bankruptcy

 

[DaveH]

The usual story I hear about crdit counseling is they take your moeny, never pay or negotiate with the CC companies, then after a few years a milked people for millions the declare bankruptcy and disappear.

 

[dsvirsky]

I'm in the neighborhood of that national average. However, almost all of it is consolidated to one card at zero (0) percent until February 2007, by which time it will be paid off.

Unless, of course, someone offers me a "no balance transfer fee" zero percent rate until an even later date.

 

[Walking Man]

Quick question here. In examples like these when there are few folks with really high debts throwing the average off, the median value makes a whole lot more sense. So, does anyone happen to know what the median is?