I have some credit cards that are starting to way me down!?

Question

I was looking into consolidating my debt anyone have any advice?

Answer 1

Take out a loan from the bank, pay them off then cut the cards and just pay the loan balance.

Answer 2

Look for a promotional rate from a credit card that will let you consolidate the higher rate cards into one card with a lower rate. Or take out a loan on something you have equity in such as a car, property, or stocks.

A good deal on a credit card is; low rate or 0% - good for at least 12 months, no card fee, little or no fee to transfer balances (3% is not acceptable).

If you consolidate cards to one promotional card make sure you never pay the new card late or over extend the credit limit. If you do they will increase the rate of the card and hit you with the max rate and penalties.

If you can, before you consolidate accounts pay of the smallest balance.

When you get into the mode of paying off cards you must change your spending habits. Eat at home, forget movies, take your lunch to work, drive as little as possible. Skip vacations, etc.....

You should get the message by now.

Austerity.

Answer 3

Are you looking in consolidation or paying them off?
Consolidation:
1. Transfer to a new card with 0% or low interest - good way, but will hurt you credit score and I doubt that you'll be approved because of the level of debts.
2. Personal loan has a high interest and approval is questionable too.
3. Equity loan or refinancing - if you have a lot of equity may be a way to go. It will give you a break in montly expences, but the procedure is very costly - closing and other fees.
Pay off:
Negotiate interest rate with vendors is a great advice, then follow Texicano advice with one very important change: start paying off the card with higher interest rate, ignore the balance. Once it is paid go to another with highest financial charge and so on as it was adviced.
I'll prefer pay off over consolidation if you can afford it.

Answer 4

Try to get the highest interest rate card paid first unless you have a low balance on another card. When you get that card paid off, take the money you were paying on the last card and add it to the payment of the next lowest balance card. Cut back on spending, like eating out, Starbucks, entertainment, until you can get the credit cards taken care of first. Do it one card at a time. It's very important to put money in savings, also. Just a little is better than nothing . Sell things you don't need and pay a credit card off. Take a second job to make extra money. Maybe you have a talent that can make you some money. do whatever it takes to get those credit cards paid off. Only then will you be in control of your finances and not your finances in control of you. One more thing. Some credit card companies will lower their interest rate if you ask them. Call all of them and see what you can get done. Good luck.

Answer 5

So long as you don't have too many ccj's etc and you have equity in your house (your house is worth more than you owe) you should be able to consolidate if you are with a high street bank try them first to remortgage. You may even end up on a better rate than you are on now. Just remember that if you have used your credit cards for things like petrol, cigarettes, new shoes etc that you will end up paying for these over the term of your mortgage which will mean very expensive shoes in the long run!

Good luck with your finances and try not to let it get you too down xx

Answer 6

1st step you need to take is to contact your credit card companies and see if you can negotiate a lower credit rate with them. Also, cut up your current credit cards. It's OK to have one for emergencies but having too many around can lead to bigger problems than you have already. If you get any credit cards in the mail cut those up as well. Good luck on consolidating your debt!

Answer 7

You dont wanna consolidate them. List them smallest to largest and pile cash on the smallest till its gone while paying min on the rest. once its gone tackle the next one. That way it feels good to watch em drop one at a time. If you consolidate it'll take alot longer to pay it off. You will not see any progress for a long while.

Stay away from companies that charges you a fee to help get rid of your debt. What they will do is not pay your creditors for months and then try and settle for less. No special skills. They just dont pay. If that is the route you need to go. Do it yourself and save the fees for the debt.

Also, if they dont pay. You and you alone are still responsible for the debt. Your creditors will come after you and not the company you hired.

Answer 8

I've been there myself, and went through a debt consolidation company. They can make deals with the credit companies when the creditors won't negotiate with you at all, and you can set up your payments weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, which is very convenient. Your interest rates are probably soaring if your over limit, the consolidation will fix the rates at a low level, and remove the hassle of making payments. Our company, CCC, does a weekly withdrawal from our bank account. It's worth it to sit down with them and look at your options.

Answer 9

Sure.

Get a low PERMANENT rate. A rate that is super low for 6 months sounds great, but 6 months from now, you'll pay for it!

Draw up a budget. It doesn't have to be perfect, just something you can stick to for now. Make sure to leave enough money every pay period to retire some debt. If nothing else, set aside the minimum payment you have to pay right now. Next month, when your credit bill is smaller (because you WILL have retired some debt, right?), make the same payment (which will be just a little bit more than next month's minimum payment). That way, you'll retire the debt faster.

Once it's all paid off, start setting that same amount aside for savings. You'll be surprised at how fast it grows.

Answer 10

Dave Ramsey has some great advice about getting debt free in a Biblically sound way. Here are the basics: first lay out your debts from smallest to largest. Start by paying off the smallest debt first. Then, whatever you are used to paying on that debt, add it on to the second debt payment until that one is gone. Add the two payments to the third until that one is paid off and so on. Hope that helps.

Answer 11

make sure you use a nonprofit organization to help you consolidate. and whatever you do, don't get rid of your accounts. it will negatively effect your credit score. keep them open once you have paid them off and you will have a high rate of available balance which will raise your credit score. this is very important for taking on future debt. (not that you want to think of that, i'm sure).