Card College Credit Debt Reduce

If you had more than one card? I currently have 3 cards and had to use them to get through college. Now that I have graduated and will have a good income, I need some structured method on how to get them knocked down fast, which one should take priority in paying the most each month, etc. Any suggestions are great. thanks

Throw every penny you can squeeze out of your budget on the highest interest rate, while making minimum payments on the rest. When the highest rate is paid off, move to the next till they are all paid off.

The snowball affect works. Some folks recommend paying the smallest to largest amounts. This might give you faster gratification but paying off by the interest rate will save you money. It gets easier once the first card is paid off.

Depending on how much debt you have and how hard you work at it, you could have it all paid off in a year or two.

2007-09-21 10:50:10 by SALTNPEPPER

Congresswoman Slaughter's floor speech on her amendment to reduce student debt. Her legislation to protect college students from excessive ...

I'm 26 years old and I'm buried in credit card debt. I owe about $30,000. I just finished College and I'm leaving to the Air Force next week. I've been doing some research and I found a debt consolidating company that promised to reduced my credit card debt by 60%. They told me to stop paying my creditors and let my accounts go to deliquent status. Once in deliquent status, they will come and they will try to settle the accoutns at lower price. I have the following questions:
1) is this a good strategy?
2) How this will affect me in the long run?
3) Is there an alternative way?
4) Should I file for bankrupcy?

Thanks

This is not a good strategy. If your debts get reported to the credit bureaus, you will suffer from it for years to come. Some debt consolodators rope you into contracts that take years to resolve. You will have trouble buying a car or getting a mortgage. You may not be able to rent an apartment if there is a credit check involved.

Most military bases have a credit union. You may want to go there and see what a loan would cost you - a debt consolidation loan, if you will. They may also advise you as to what your other options are. for instance, do you have anything to sell that you won't be taking with you into the Air Force? You must have bought something with the $30,000. Don't count on storing "stuff" at mom and dad's. They don't need the hassle of working around your things while you are away. If the debt is all for school, you may be able to get a loan for that; even at 7% it is better than the rates you are probably paying.

The military will put you on a "watch list" for counseling if you file bankruptcy. It can effect what level of security clearance you will receive and therefore limit the jobs you are assigned to.

Finally, you may be able to find a credit card that will take all your old debts and put it on one account. Many are tied to the prime rate and it is falling, whereas if you stop paying on a card, they will jack up the rate to 18 - 23% depending on which state they are headquartered in. Then they sell the debt to get some money back and the bill collectors add 50% to the amount you owe. So, doing nothing is not an option.

2008-03-10 10:00:49 by tekking25

My mom used my name to open 8 credit card accounts. Maxed them all out, totaling approx $20,000.
It started when I was in high school, with two credit cards she said she would take care of it and pay for it to "help me build credit". young and naive, I trusted her, until I saw stuff in the mail with my name on it that I didnt know about. I confronted her, and she told me she transferred them to her SSN . Now I'm two years out of college, with loans - never had a late payment. I have one credit card through my bank that I use minimally and pay on time.
3 weeks ago I was informed by wellsfargo that they significantly reduced my credit line due to several delinquencies in my credit. There was no way that was me, so I got my report and discovered my mothers address and lots of debt,
It has been emotionally distressing, but I need to do something about this. Please send any resources you know of, or any method of having this mediated? Is it too late or pointless to contact the police?

WOW. I am really sorry your mom did this to you.

Unfortunately you have to take action or else her actions could really ruin your future, as they've already started to do. Do these things:
— file a fraud report with every line of credit your mom took out in your name
— report the fraud to one of the three credit reporting agencies - Experian, Equifax or TransUnion
— file a report with the Federal Trade Commission (1-877-ID-THEFT)
— call the police and file a report locally
Explain to them all that you only recently found out about this credit activity; that's why you didn't file the report sooner. This is not an uncommon thing with identity theft.

Here are more actions to take:
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.ht m
http://www.idtheftcenter.org/index.html< br />
It is really sad that you have to go through these measures, but you have been victimized and you MUST fight to get your credit restored, otherwise it could really mess up your future. Remember that YOU are not causing a problem ... you are only reacting to a problem that your mother caused. Use that line on her if she tries to guilt you into withdrawing your claims. Realize that it's possible she might go to jail, but that's the penalty that comes with credit card theft. The fact that she took advantage of you, as her trusting daughter, makes her crime that much worse. Don't back down.

I would say that your mom probably has a mental health problem, possibly an addiction that has caused her to do this to you. Advise her to get some professional help.

Good luck ...

2008-07-23 01:59:34 by KTea

While a student in college I made some bad financial decisions referring to credit card debt. I know what I did was dumb and now with a horrible credit score am attempting to work my way out of debt. I have 12 credit cards all with balances $1200 or less. Which comes up to about a $10,500 debt total. I went ahead and 6 months ago filed with a Credit Counseling Service (Allegro Law) and they did work to reduce my interest rates. My question is the following:
-Would it be a better idea to cancel my subscription with them and attempt to settle my accounts, I have recently got a better paying job.
-If so since my credit score is a mess would it be a good idea to let the cards default a few months, all the while saving up a bulk some to offer settlements?
-Does paying settlements to them negatively affect my credit score more than having late balances all the time?
-Or would it be better to continue paying with the Credit Counseling Service? It just seems like its going nowhere fast.
Sorry for all the questions. I just want to get on the road to being debt free again.

Please do not do "credit counseling", "debt reduction", or "debt consolidation". It will show up on your credit report like a bankruptcy. It is also not free. There is a charge for the company to do it, they will negotiate with the creditors to either take less than you owe (another "ding" on the credit report), or to space the payments out for a longer period (which will cost you more in interest payments), and it will just take longer for you to get out of debt. I would cancel the subscription as soon as possible. Here is a plan that will get you out of debt and allow you to never worry about money again. You just have to decide to do it. If you work the plan, the plan will work for you. Get all of the debt paid off as soon as possible, that will enable you to start building real wealth.

A. Have a garage sale and sell whatever you don't use or need and use that money to pay down your debt.

B. Consider getting a temporary part time job or two and use all of that salary to pay off your debt quicker. It is better to have a no fun year
than a no fun decade.

1. Make a budget. Make the budget a week before you get paid. A budget is not a punishment! It is a tool which will free you from ever having to worry about money again. Put everything in your budget. Especially those annual, biannual, or quarterly bills like car registration, insurance, etc. Give every dollar you are going to bring home the name of where it is going. Add an "emergency fund" category to your budget for 25 dollars and save up until you have 1000-1250 dollars. Your emergency fund will help keep you from getting into new debt because of an emergency. If you can, set up a direct transfer to a savings account for your emergency fund. That way it moves automatically and you don't even have to worry about it. You must cut your spending and live on less than you make. Pay cash for everything. If you can't pay cash or write a check, then you don't need it. Do not use credit cards. Debt (especially credit card debt with it's high interest rates) is like quicksand, if you fall in, you will drown.

2.First get current on all of you debts, if you are not already, and make no more late payments, if you have had any. Stop using your credit cards immediately. Do not take on any more debt. Credit cards are like quicksand only the death is much slower. Make a list of all of your debts in order of highest interest rate to lowest interest. Use cash only for your spending from now on. If it is not on your budget, then you don't need it. If you forget to add a necessity to your budget one month then re do the budget. If you add something in, you will need to take some money out somewhere else.

3.Pay the minimum due on all of your debts and then put your extra money towards paying off the highest interest one first. After you get that one paid off, you put the money you were paying on debt #1 (the minimum payment and the extra payment) towards debt #2. That will pay debt #2 off faster. When that is paid off, you put all three payments towards card #3 and that one will be paid off pretty quickly. As an example:

To start :
Debt #1 (highest interest): minimum payment+ extra payment
Debt #2 (middle interest): minimum payment
Debt #3(lowest interest): minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: minimum payment from Debt #1+ Minimum payment from Debt #2 +extra payment
Debt #3: minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: paid off
Debt #3: minimum payment from card #1+ minimum payment from Debt #2+ minimum payment from Debt #3+ extra payment.

That way, you will get them all paid off, on time, and pay the least interest. It will also help towards rebuilding your credit since you will no longer have any late payments. This works no matter how many different debts you may have.

4. After you get all of your debts paid off, add to your emergency fund until you have 6-12 months of income saved up. Put that emergency fund money into a liquid money market fund or into a Bank of America no-risk CD so that if you need the money you can take it out without penalty.

5a. When you have your emergency fund in place, add a category for "fun" to your budget. Save for a holiday, a vacation, a big screen, or dinners out, whatever goal you want. Remember to enjoy your life.

5b. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your retirement. Join the 401(k) plan at work and contribute the maximum. Your employer probably matches at least part of your contribution so why give up free money? The Human resources Department will have the forms for you to fill out. Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum on a monthly basis. If you start saving for your retirement now, you will probably retire a millionaire. Start learning about investments. Do some reading. I like "The Lies About Money" by Ric Edelman, "Ready, Set, Retire" by Ray Lucia, and anything by Ed Slott. They are very good books and each has a little different perspective so you c

2008-12-14 00:09:56 by Mr. KIA

Being a recent grad and not in my prefered area of employment is rough, as it is for many recent grads. My dilemma is my finances. My poor financial decisions (i.e. CREDIT CARD DEBT) in college has caught up with me and it is racking my brain. I have considered debt consolidation because of the seemingly positive benefits of reducing my payments and paying just one bill...BUT is it too good to be true? It seems that there are quite a few debt consolidation businesses popping up and that is cause enough to sit up and really ask what's really going on. I mean, is it really good for my credit (as well as my mental well-being)? Am I better off just toughin it out or should I take the leap and just take a chance with a reputable debt consolidation company? What's a poor girl to do?

Don't go there. Call your credit card company and negotiate the interest rate. They will usually work with you and drop it way down as low as 6 percent if you are tough about it. Then pay off as soon as possible. Other wise you got a snow ball that will roll up bigger and bigger. Just use the rule of 72, what you do is divide the interest rate by 72. If it is 12 percent then 72/12 equals 6 and your debt doubles in six years. That means you got to get the interest rate down and pay it off with a dead line. Good luck!

2006-04-11 11:59:54 by missjones2you