anyone else falling behind

on there bills.. this sucks.. gonna try and do some negotiating with the credit card companies.....see if i can get a lower rate close the acct and negotiate a better monthly payment... i hope anyways.

Get those puppies paid off and cancel them! I've got one, and it's a really low limit. Once had a $10,000 credit card... which I maxed out. Never again. If I can't pay cash for something, it's a good sign that I can't afford it. It's a hard lifestyle to try to adopt, but way better for a good night's sleep.

cb wrote: on there bills.. this sucks.. gonna try and do some negotiating with the credit card companies.....see if i can get a lower rate close the acct and negotiate a better monthly payment... i hope anyways.

Be careful most of the time when they negotiate a lower rate, beyond what the normal range, they also throw in a negative credit report. Make sure you are clear that this is not a "settlement". And don't close the account you can simply not charge anything else and keep it open which also helps increase your credit score as your balance drops.

Do you have an long time established account with your bank? You might see if they will offer you a credit card through them with a lower rate and transfer your balances from your other cards to it. Having one card to deal with is easier than having several and you are likely to get a lower rate because your bank has a history with you and wants more of your business. Put the physical card in a safe or safety deposit box to prevent easy access to it and then, work diligently to pay that sucker off.

You may also consider contacting your cable or utility companies and see about changing the due date on those bills. It can be a little easier to manage finances if they are staggered throughout the month.

Good luck dude.

Someone once suggested to keep it in the freezer... the time it takes for it to thaw out and the magnetic strip to actually work... gives you time to think over your purchase. :)

I once did the math on how much interest I have paid on a relatively small amount of credit card debt. As soon as it's 100% paid off, I won't be doing using the card for anything but booking flights and hotels (so I don't have money frozen on my checking account).

Rather than renegotiate my card and get the bad report, I took out a personal loan through my credit union. It was a third the interest rate and came right from my check every two weeks. I'm still falling behind a bit but I only have to juggle everything another year and I hit top pay and can pay everything back down.

Lesley wrote: Someone once suggested to keep it in the freezer... the time it takes for it to thaw out and the magnetic strip to actually work... gives you time to think over your purchase. :)

I have a friend with a kid with a siezure dissorder. Had to take the kid to the ER one night. He said they couldnt thaw the card fast enough and were chipping away in the car following the ambulance. In the panic he forgot that they will bill you.

My experience is that if you are paying your credit card bills, there is nothing that they will do for you. Only when you stop paying and they start calling will they negotiate something. I have never missed a payment and I think that is pretty important, but when I ask about lower rates, they see my excellent payment history and tell me to go fly a kite. They exist to make money, not help you out.

As for getting out of debt, it is the same as loosing weight: there is no shortcut. Lower your spending, increase your income, pay off the cards, and then don't spend more than you make.

I run my life and my business on a debit card. I will NEVER be a victim to the credit card disaster. If I don't have the money, I don't need it. Period. That doesn't mean some moron won't try to get some out of me. Had 754.00 charged to my card last month for a flight from Italy to Canada, but that was reinstated quickly. I'd really like to meet them, but that won't happen..

Falling behind is not an option.

What I mean by that is that it is VERY important that you NOT fall behind according to the calender. Falling behind in cash flow is normal.

That's a fancy way of saying PAY ON TIME. Even if you can't pay it all, or need to make small payments, get them to the creditor ON TIME no matter what.

When the stress starts, an awful lot of people curl up in a ball and respond with no payment when they can't keep up. That is a really bad idea.

So you dug a hole. Join the club. It took a while to dig yourself into that hole, it will take a while to climb out.

So the plan is essentially this... CEASE further credit spending immediately, make minimum payments ON TIME, come up with a PLAN to improve your situation, then gradually work on following your plan.

The plan generally looks like this: Keep increasing your payments as you are able, negotiate the amounts down if you can without a big downside, then work to improve your income. Side jobs, extra time, mowing lawns, whatever. Don't be proud. Then start over with increasing the payment again.

Keep it up! Good Luck!!

I had a friend who had piled up a lot of CC debt. She took advantage of no-interest introductory offers and bounced her balance around from card to card while she paid it off--Six months on this introductory offer, six months on that one, then on to the next. Took a lot of dedication on her part, and she had to watch it carefully (and not charge more), but it worked.

Tim Baxter wrote: I had a friend who had piled up a lot of CC debt. She took advantage of no-interest introductory offers and bounced her balance around from card to card while she paid it off--Six months on this introductory offer, six months on that one, then on to the next. Took a lot of dedication on her part, and she had to watch it carefully (and not charge more), but it worked.

+1

SVreX wrote: Falling behind is not an option. What I mean by that is that it is VERY important that you NOT fall behind according to the calender. Falling behind in cash flow is normal. That's a fancy way of saying PAY ON TIME. Even if you can't pay it all, or need to make small payments, get them to the creditor ON TIME no matter what. When the stress starts, an awful lot of people curl up in a ball and respond with no payment when they can't keep up. That is a really bad idea. So you dug a hole. Join the club. It took a while to dig yourself into that hole, it will take a while to climb out. So the plan is essentially this... CEASE further credit spending immediately, make minimum payments ON TIME, come up with a PLAN to improve your situation, then gradually work on following your plan.

"When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." - Will Rogers

cb wrote: on there bills.. this sucks.. gonna try and do some negotiating with the credit card companies.....see if i can get a lower rate close the acct and negotiate a better monthly payment... i hope anyways.

Do you own your home? Any equity at this point? I know the answer may be no in this market, but a small home equity line of credit for debt consolidation may work. The interest is tax deductible and your overall payment may be lower.

Separately, I was turned on to Dave Ramsey by a fellow GRM'er and his advice for digging out of cc debt is called the "debt snowball". In short, pay off the smallest balance first, independent of interest rate concerns. Once that is paid off, attack the next smallest debt. Doing so allows you to apply ever increasing amounts of money to each subsequent debt.

You can learn more here: http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/baby_steps_2867.htmlc?ictid=Useful_Tools

Regardless, best of luck. I've been there and wish you success. Please keep us posted!

Dave also says NO! to home equity loans to pay off CC debt.

+1 on Dave Ramsey!

For me, Internet banking has been the best thing that I have ever done for my credit. Not an internet bank; I can still visit my hometown branch, rather online bill payment and account management.

I was always bad at managing the calendar so payments would sometimes arrive late due to this. With my online bill payment I set up my credit cards accounts to automatically be paid on time. If my minimum was roughly $25, I set it up so at least the min. was paid. From the balance view of my account I could then make extra payments on top of that. What this did for me was assured that I was not late and did not see fees or rate changes.

If I want, I can daily look at the account and see what money I have and what will be due soon. That kind of daily view really helped me to understand where the money was going.

Dr. Hess wrote: Dave also says NO! to home equity loans to pay off CC debt.

+100 on that. If things go further South as they seem to be going now, it would be the difference between losing your house and being homeless and just losing your credit rating.

Snowdoggie wrote:

Dr. Hess wrote: Dave also says NO! to home equity loans to pay off CC debt.

+100 on that. If things go further South as they seem to be going now, it would be the difference between losing your house and being homeless and just losing your credit rating.

Good point. I wasn't necessarily advocating that path, rather merely making a suggestion. A HELOC can be a great tool in certain situations though. If the OP has quite a bit of equity, it might make sense to leverage that to dig out. I would only recommend that path to someone who commits to a lifestyle change (as in no credit cards) though, because, as you point out, leveraging your house and then running up the cc's again would be really bad.

I'm 27 and I still dont have a real credit card. I have debit cards that work just like a credit card except theres no credit line, just my checking account. Sometimes I fear I'll need a bunch of money in an emergency and will need a credit card but...

Get rid of your cable bill, switch to a lower monthly plan for your cell phone, get rid of your home phone, bag lunch it everywhere, always pay more than the minimum for a credit card because the interest alone will hardly be covered by the minimum.

i will say, and have said, that most of the stuff that Dave says is common sense, but i have to say that i can't help but respect him if only for this statement (from a response to a caller on his show, posted on his blog)

Dave said: For someone who doesn't believe that, that's certainly all right. When someone calls me and says they are behind on their mortgage, I don't say to get your Bible out and read it. I tell them how to get straightened out on their mortgage. If they ask me using Christian terminology, I'll answer using Christian terminology. If someone is not a person of faith, I won't beat them up with this, but I won't back away from God because someone else doesn't think He's real

I have my first student loan payment due this month, but that is my only debt aside from my monthly gas bill

neon4891 wrote: I have my first student loan payment due this month, but that is my only debt aside from my monthly gas bill

Show off!

well im not a home owner and will be laid off in the next 5 weeks,, i have a new job lined up on pt though. still lookin at ft but having no luck. im tryin to pay what i can as close to on time as possible.. its gonna be long and hard but i will get it done.