What are some things I can do besides a home loan if my credit card payments are too high?

Question

Dont want to do any home loans. Dont want to declare bankruptcy. I want to keep paying but the payments are too high.

Answer 1

Several options.

1) Earn more money. A second job may give you enough to get buy.

2) Consolidation loan. If you have decent credit you may be able to get a debt consolidation loan.

3) Contact your credit card companies and explain the situation. They will usually work with you as they would rather have something than nothing. If you can get one or 2 to suspend payments it may give you enough leeway to pay or at least significantly paydown the other ones.

4) Consider a balance transfer. There are a lot of cards right now offering zero interest on balance transfers. If you can consolidate one or 2 high interest cards onto a zero interest one it may lower your payments enough to let you get caught back up.

5) Combination of all of these methods. Talk to the cc companies and balance transfer the ones that won't work with you.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You can consolidate, but that doesn't change how much you will owe. It may reduce your monthly payment, but at the expense of having to pay longer.

Here's some options:

1) Check around for better interest rates on your credit cards, then call the card companies you have now. Ask to have the interest rate reduced. Tell them you are trying to pay off your credit cards, and have been shopping around for better interest rates. Ask if they can match the rates. If they can't, move the debt to one card that has the lowest rate possible, and cancel the others. Then pay much, much more than the minimum payment - at least 5 times the minimum, 10 times if possible.

2) write all your loans down, with the details about each one. List the company, the outstanding balance, the interest rate, the minimum amount due, whether any are past due, whether they are secured or not. Then group them by whether they are past due or not, and then by the balance due.

Pay the minimum payment on all of them, and put ALL THE EXTRA MONEY YOU CAN AFFORD towards the overdue loan with the lowest balance. When that is paid off, put all that money towards the next lowest balance. Do this for all the overdue loans, then do the same thing for the current ones.

3) DO NOT USE YOUR CREDIT CARDS FOR ANY REASON OTHER THAN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Necessary here means life and death, not because you want a cooler car, a pretty dress, a nice pair of shoes, or a night out with your friends.

4) DO NOT GET ANY MORE CREDIT CARDS, LOANS, ETC FOR ANY REASON OTHER THAN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Necessary still means the same as above.

5) get a 2nd job. If you have weekends or evenings off, you can be working a few hours at a fast food joint, a gas station, etc. Be sure to put every single penny of it towards the debt. McDonald's has fabulous flexible hours. If you can pick up an extra $100 per week, you can pay off about $5000 more in debt in one year.

It took time to get into debt - it'll take time and discipline to get out. But at the end, you'll be proud of yourself, because you worked hard and succeeded.

Answer 3

Consolidation is the best option:
"The combination of a certain number of loans, which benefits the borrower by extending its overall due date and allowing him/her to provide a single monthly payment. Consolidation is a form of financial aid that offers a reasonable and manageable interest rate, which is often average-weighted. "

"You are swimming in debt. You have 4 credit cards maxed out, a car loan, a consumer loan, and a house payment. Simply making the minimum payments is causing your distress and certainly not getting you out of debt. What should you do?


Some people feel that debt consolidation loans are the best option. A debt consolidation loans is one loan which pays off many other loans or lines of credit.


I’m sure you’ve seen the advertisements of smiling people who have chosen to take a consolidation loan. They seem to have had the weight of the world lifted off their shoulders. But are debt consolidation loans a good deal? Let’s explore the pros and cons of this type of debt solution.


Pros

1. One payment versus many payments: The average citizen of the USA pays 11 different creditors every month. Making one single payment is much easier than figuring out who should get paid how much and when. This makes managing your finances much easier.


2. Reduced interest rates: Since the most common type of debt consolidation loan is the home equity loan, also called a second mortgage, the interest rates will be lower than most consumer debt interest rates. Your mortgage is a secured debt. This means that they have something they can take from you if you do not make your payment. Credit cards are unsecured loans. They have nothing except your word and your history. Since this is the case, unsecured loans typically have higher interest rates.


3. Lower monthly payments: Since the interest rate is lower and because you have one payment vs many, the amount you have to pay per month is typically decreased significantly.


4. Only one creditor: With a consolidated loan, you only have one creditor to deal with. If there are any problems or issues, you will only have to make one call instead of several. Once again, this simply makes controlling your finances much easier.


5. Tax Breaks: Interest paid to a credit card is money down the drain. Interest paid to a mortgage can be used as a tax write-off.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Before you run out and get a loan, let’s look at the other side of the picture – the cons."

Answer 4

Are your payments too high because you are in default? If your rate is at the default rate or you are paying late/overlimit fees, call your credit card companies. If you can handle paying a set amount every month (higher than the usual $20 minimum stuff but lower than it would be to get you back under limit all at once), they often reverse fees and cut rates to help you out.

Try it.

Answer 5

Stop using them! Call the companies and explain the situation. They may be willing to lower the interest if you have a good history with them, and agree to not use the card. Keep paying, however much you can. There is nothing worse than credit card debt...pay them off and never use them again!

Answer 6

Call the credit card company and negotiate a lower interest rate. Most are willing to do this. If you have more than one card, you can look for times when they offer zero interest balance transfers and get a lot paid off that way. I applaud your effort. It is hard work to get them paid off, but it is worth the effort.

Be sure to always pay on time, or they could raise your rates again.

Answer 7

Take the lowest balance and pay as much as you can untill it's paid off, then go on to the next lowest. Pay the minimum on all the rest. As each one drops off it allows faster payoff of the next in line.

Of course increasing your income is the best way to make this happen fast.

Answer 8

residing house fairness mortgage. Refinace might contain final expenditures.The payback on a house fairness mortgage may well be based so which you will possibly pay it back interior of 5 years and the activity may well be tax deductible. the convenience assessments often have a provider cost related to them to boot to the activity, which often is going up after a pair of years.

Answer 9

You may have to work a second or third job, and get ride of those credit cards. Suzy Orman will tell you.