Debt update

[addy 0]

I'm doing much better concerning how much I owe on my credit cards. The tricky one is the one where I spent $8,000. I bring it down to 7000 something but eventually it goes back to the original debt I owe. I owed 2000 on another card but I brought it down to 1000 and the third card is just 1000. I am working again being a telephone operator. It pays 7 an hour and I am doing overtime. I will be seeing my boyfriend in June. He was so sweet when he surprised me by buying my ticket. Not bad hmm?

[Yaads 1]

I'm doing much better concerning how much I owe on my credit cards. The tricky one is the one where I spent $8,000. I bring it down to 7000 something but eventually it goes back to the original debt I owe. I owed 2000 on another card but I brought it down to 1000 and the third card is just 1000. I am working again being a telephone operator. It pays 7 an hour and I am doing overtime. I will be seeing my boyfriend in June. He was so sweet when he surprised me by buying my ticket. Not bad hmm?

Good luck on managing debt. You really have to stay on top of that stuff or it can spiral out of control...its so tricky sometimes but it sounds like you are doing great. Have an awesome trip to see your boyfriend! Good luck!

Edited April 19, 2007 by Jme3584

[Robor007 0]

Congrats!

Credit cards are evil. They're easy to rack up and hard to pay off. It doesn't help that the 'visa gods' always seem to make something go wrong whenever you pay one of them off either.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

From Dave Ramsey (financial guru)

1. stop using the cards

2. pay smallest debt off first and minimums on all others

3. pay off next largest and so-on. this will give you more money to pay off the larger debts (snowball effect)

He says to create an emergency fund and get rid of CCs totally (use debit cards instead). This is more than most people are willing to will do though. If you don't change your spending habits the CC debt will return.

[mawilson 2,133]

Consolidate your debt. Shop around for a new credit card with a 0% APR for 6-12 months,

transfer your balances and close the old accounts.

[ace13 0]

Being a college student and in love with an Italian man half way around the world racked up my credit cards, too. We have been married for 2 1/2 years and they are almost paid off. We are doing the Dave Ramsey snowball right now. It works! Best of luck. We had to adjust our life though. Right when we got married, we were recouping all that dating time we missed out on and went out a lot-dinners etc. Now we are much more reserved with our spending. We will have everything paid off (cars and all) this time next year. YIPPIE!! That is a personal goal, too. We don't want to start a family in the hole, so it keeps us motivated that we are doing this for our future babies

Edited April 19, 2007 by ace13

[Heracles 417]

Consolidate your debt. Shop around for a new credit card with a 0% APR for 6-12 months,

transfer your balances and close the old accounts.

Never ever close your old accounts as this will lower your credit score. Also the more available credit you have the better your score will be. Debt to available credit ratio..

I'm doing much better concerning how much I owe on my credit cards. The tricky one is the one where I spent $8,000. I bring it down to 7000 something but eventually it goes back to the original debt I owe. I owed 2000 on another card but I brought it down to 1000 and the third card is just 1000. I am working again being a telephone operator. It pays 7 an hour and I am doing overtime. I will be seeing my boyfriend in June. He was so sweet when he surprised me by buying my ticket. Not bad hmm?

Excellent work.

[Jasman0717 9]

All I can to is recommend you do the best you can to eliminate your credit card debt. Many cards charge over 20% in interest so if you only make the minimum payment you may never get the card paid off. Just think what you could do with all the interest money you are giving to the credit card company! Good luck

[mawilson 2,133]

Consolidate your debt. Shop around for a new credit card with a 0% APR for 6-12 months,

transfer your balances and close the old accounts.

Never ever close your old accounts as this will lower your credit score.

Good. Low credit score -> less credit -> less debt.

He should be worried more about paying off the debt than keeping a good credit

score. If you leave the old accounts lying around, what's there to stop him from

maxing out the new accounts and then the old ones again?

[addy 0]

Thanks all. I am keeping away from all sites where I liked to shop online. No more Jolly Mah sheep dolls or miniatures. I really liked amazon.com too. Eek!

Are you sure I should pay the smaller debts off first? My boyfriend thought I should do the big one and bring it down.

I did get a fourth card with 0 apr and it reallly helped bring down one of my cards balances.

Rush is coming to town in August. I was really into them but I decided to retire my love for them. Tickets went on sale weeks ago but my willpower was strong and I skipped going! It's going to get harder when I'm living in Wales with Dan because I am so into Porcupine Tree and Threshold. I hope I can control my horrible spending habits by then. New albums are coming out and I'm going nuts because I can't touch amazon.com.

Guys, keep me focused. Credit cards are really evil. Must make debt go away because Dan and I are starting to investigate visas for me. I don't think I can ask what types of visas are good for my situation on this board though since you are doing the opposite of what I'm doing. I only checked fiance visas and spousal ones but I don't think those would fit my position.

Keep me motivated!

[Ban Hammer 14,297]

From Dave Ramsey (financial guru)

1. stop using the cards

2. pay smallest debt off first and minimums on all others

3. pay off next largest and so-on. this will give you more money to pay off the larger debts (snowball effect)

He says to create an emergency fund and get rid of CCs totally (use debit cards instead). This is more than most people are willing to will do though. If you don't change your spending habits the CC debt will return.

i disagree on part 2 - it depends on the interest rate but if you have one with a low amount, pay it in full just to get rid of it plus you'll save the cost of stamps. in general, pay off the one with the highest interest rate first, make minimal payments on the others. then roll the money into the next highest after the 1st is paid off.

[Ban Hammer 14,297]

Consolidate your debt. Shop around for a new credit card with a 0% APR for 6-12 months,

transfer your balances and close the old accounts.

that works too - as long as one does not use that new card! consider this scenario: one transfers $5,000 to a 0% apr card, and charges $1000 over a few months to it. that $1000 charged will start accruing interest, and payments sent in will go towards the lowest interest rate until paid off. in the meantime, the $1000 charged continues to add interest.

addy, you've admitted that you have a spending issue, so once you pay off the card close the account - remove the temptation. if you do transfer the balance to another card, don't use it! also, formulate and stick to a realistic budget.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

From Dave Ramsey (financial guru)

1. stop using the cards

2. pay smallest debt off first and minimums on all others

3. pay off next largest and so-on. this will give you more money to pay off the larger debts (snowball effect)

He says to create an emergency fund and get rid of CCs totally (use debit cards instead). This is more than most people are willing to will do though. If you don't change your spending habits the CC debt will return.

i disagree on part 2 - it depends on the interest rate but if you have one with a low amount, pay it in full just to get rid of it plus you'll save the cost of stamps. in general, pay off the one with the highest interest rate first, make minimal payments on the others. then roll the money into the next highest after the 1st is paid off.

I was simplifying. He recommends that you get rid of the highest interest rate first. You can even shuffle money around from high to low interest.