Financial question.

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Financial question.

Postby PKCSPT » Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:58 am

Looking for ideas on what others may have tried in our situation.

Long story short.
We have two credit cards that were both used for home repairs and to purchase a lot next to our house. One my mom and I share and one is my husbands and I. These were all done when I had a better paying job which disappeared last year.

I want to combine them to one payment one card but USBANK said they can't do that even though both are through them. They didn't even look up either account. If I apply for another card with another bank or company they are going to laugh. with these two balances sitting there. We CAN afford the payments but it is very close, too close. Some months not so much.

Anybody else been in a similar situation and found a way to simplify the payments to one? Does debt consolidation work?
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Re: Financial question.

Postby legojenn » Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:38 pm

PKCSPT wrote:Looking for ideas on what others may have tried in our situation.

Long story short.
We have two credit cards that were both used for home repairs and to purchase a lot next to our house. One my mom and I share and one is my husbands and I. These were all done when I had a better paying job which disappeared last year.

I want to combine them to one payment one card but USBANK said they can't do that even though both are through them. They didn't even look up either account. If I apply for another card with another bank or company they are going to laugh. with these two balances sitting there. We CAN afford the payments but it is very close, too close. Some months not so much.

Anybody else been in a similar situation and found a way to simplify the payments to one? Does debt consolidation work?


I got a line of credit and then cancelled two of three credit cards. I have almost paid the line of credit off and don't carry a balance on the remaining cc. I didn't go the debt consolidation route, but I wonder if that is a situation when you in over your head and have to sacrifice your credit rating to get lower payments.
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Re: Financial question.

Postby R_W » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:06 pm

Debt snowball. Pay minimum on one and pay as much as you can on the other. They say to pay the small one first, but when there is only two I think you should pay the higher interest one first. Once that is paid off, put ALL that to the next one.

Scrimp, sell EVERYTHING you don't use on ebay, CL, garage sale. EVERYTHING worth ANYTHING

^^^^^
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Debt consolidation doesn't work unless you have a LOT of debt and are about to go bankrupt.

You can ask them for a reduction in percentage rate, you probably will get turned down but it is worth a try. Tell them you got a lower rate offer to do a balance transfer, ask if they can match it.

Been there, done that. A couple times.
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Re: Financial question.

Postby Corwin C » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:08 pm

I'm sorry to hear of people who land in financial difficulty through no fault of their own. There are way too many of us out here where the loss of a job or a furlough or something that on its own wouldn't be that serious, but we're stretched so thin that these events push us over the edge. This stagnant economy is not good for any of us. Debt consolidation is an option but I would suggest speaking to a financial adviser who can look at the details of your situation and give the best advice for you. Many banks/credit unions have these people available for free or at reasonable cost. After all they make money by you being a financial success.

My advice: Re-financing the property may be an option if there's value there to cover one or more of the credit cards. If there's enough credit available on the card with the lower interest rate, you could use it to pay off the card with the higher rate. Going the other way may not be to your advantage so be careful. If there's not a sufficient amount of credit available, I've been told that you should make minimum payments on everything except the card with the lowest balance to which you pay as much as you can. It's all about seeing success as soon as possible.

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Re: Financial question.

Postby Shadow Catcher » Fri Oct 11, 2013 3:43 pm

We went for credit card counseling and were able to get reduced rates, it took a while but we are now debt free other than one car payment and the remaining bill for my heart attack, (good insurance does not pay for all of it).
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Re: Financial question.

Postby GerryS » Fri Oct 11, 2013 6:10 pm

Take a serious look at Dave Ramsey's financial peace. The answer isn't that hard and you aren't just shuffling the problem around. He forces you to get to the root of the problem.

We paid off over 45000 in debt in less than 2 years. Only thing left is a house and a student loan...
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Re: Financial question.

Postby eamarquardt » Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:49 pm

GerryS wrote:Take a serious look at Dave Ramsey's financial peace. The answer isn't that hard and you aren't just shuffling the problem around. He forces you to get to the root of the problem.

We paid off over 45000 in debt in less than 2 years. Only thing left is a house and a student loan...


That's impressive and something to be proud of.

Cheers,

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