My husband (of 1 year) has a large amount of Credit Card debt, and two of them have just raised the intrest rate. The intrest hike was to due to him co-signing on a car loan for his younger brother, who missed a few payments (paid off in Dec.). He has transferred balances so much in the past , and because of the co-sign nightmare, he is now unable to transfer to get the lower intrest rate. We own a home, but haveonly been in it for 9 months. Any suggesstions?
2007-01-30 07:39:42 · 7 answers · asked by Tami 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Cut up the cards and stop spending money on items that are not essential to your continuing to breathe.
If you have more than 2 cars, sell the extras. If you have an ATV or a motorcycle or anything of value of which you do not *need* (read: require to continue working or keep food in your mouth), sell it.
Even if you take a 50% loss on an item, you are better off than keeping the item and paying off the CC debt slower.
If you want an easy method, you won't find one. Your husband screwed you out of the 'easy way' when he went on spending sprees.
Stop going out to dinner, period!
Until those cards are paid off and you are out of debt, consider yourselves grounded from anything except the essentials of staying alive.
Like steak and shrimp? Tough! Buy chicken and canned green beans. There are 1000 different recipes for chicken. That means a new meal every day for three years.
The clothing you currently own should be your entire wardrobe until you are out of debt.
Spending wisely is not only smart, but also the easy road to happiness.
I own a home, 2 cars, a motorcycle and a laundry list of toys (including this PC) and I could live off $1100/mo (including insurance, mortgage and food) if I needed to. How? I pay cash for anything I buy (with the exception of my home, which I placed a large down payment on) and if I cannot pay cash, I save up until I can while still having at least a couple of grand left over for emergencies.
If you bank account if over 3 months of living expenses, you should be putting that towards the cards. There is not one thing in life more expensive than the interest rate of a credit card.
I would say the only exception in life for not paying cash is for a home, as with a healthy down payment (and *only* with a healthy down payment.. 20% or more), you will end up saving money over renting. For anything else, there is no excuse to ever go into debt, as food is cheap, and that is all that is needed to keep you breathing.
Good luck, and buckle down. It will be a tough ride, but you will end up infinitely happier as a result.
2007-01-30 07:59:41 · answer #1 · answered by Edward W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The purpose of the credit card dispute and Novation Contract program is to pay off credit card debt and to clean up your credit record using procedures permitted by contract common law, the Uniform Commercial Code, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This costs $1250 for one card, $850 for each subsequent credit card. You do not have to be current but if you have received a summons to appear in court it is probably too late. This program is excellent for its ability to eliminate credit card debt if you are not current in your payments but have not yet been summoned to appear in court.
2007-01-31 02:47:17 · answer #2 · answered by alexa dion 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pick the biggest one and pay it down. Pour everything in to it.
Pick the next biggest, pay it down. Pour everything in to it.
rinse, repeat until they are all gone. The first is hard! each one after that is easier because you are able to pour the min payment from the first in to it, and so on.
Sell your car(s). Buy one that is reliable, you can do this for about $3000. Pay cash for it. Use that savings in payments to pay them off quicker. Buy your clothes at Goodwill. Buy generic groceries and avoid the money-sink of eating out. (most Americans spend in excess of $300 a month on eating out)
Once the debt is all gone, you can look in to a shiny new car. be resonable, and buy one you can really afford... not one that barely fits in to your remaining income!
believe it or not, most can do this in 2 years or so, and life gets easier the whole time.
2007-01-30 15:53:10 · answer #3 · answered by Jay 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dont charge anything new on the cards and sit down and reorganize your budget. You may have to cut some things out but in no time you will be able to make a huge difference on the balances.
2007-01-30 15:46:48 · answer #4 · answered by tchem75 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if there is any equity in the home a HELOC is great way to re-organize debt, you only need be in the home for 6 months to qualify.
2007-01-30 15:55:23 · answer #5 · answered by Scott K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
take away his cards
2007-01-30 15:43:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋