I have a lot of CC debt. But I made the first step and cut that fudder up.
Credit Card Offers..are they changing?
- Thread starter runeight
- Start date
I have little credit card debt, use for minimal purchases, but pay off monthly.
+ 1, I use that card that pays me to use it. Anyway my offers are starting to pour in lately.
ditchdr
Registered
Jessica and I have worked WAY to hard ot pay off our debt, and let me tell ya,, IT FEELS GREAT.. We get CC offers in the mail every day, eveough to where Jessica bought a high power cross cut shreader to make sure the cards were cut up lol..
Here is a little help for those paying off more thne one line of credit..
Lets say you have 4 lines.
line one has 5K worht of debt, line 2 has 2K worht of dept, line 3 and 4 both have 3K.
Make minium payments on the 5K, and the 3K lines, use any extra money you were paying and knock out the 2K, then do the same on the 3K and the 5K. Its called the "snow ball approach". The good thing is you see the ballance dropping fast and it keeps you excited about it..
Here is a little help for those paying off more thne one line of credit..
Lets say you have 4 lines.
line one has 5K worht of debt, line 2 has 2K worht of dept, line 3 and 4 both have 3K.
Make minium payments on the 5K, and the 3K lines, use any extra money you were paying and knock out the 2K, then do the same on the 3K and the 5K. Its called the "snow ball approach". The good thing is you see the ballance dropping fast and it keeps you excited about it..
We have only two reasons for using any credit card.
1. Internet purchasing. On the rare occasions we are going to buy something on the internet, we use one card for that purpose. That way, if anything strange happens on that account, we know about it right away. On occasion, it serves as a backup in case the other card (#2 below) happens to get fraud checked and tries to leave us stranded at a gas pump somewhere.
2. The other card is ONLY used because it's that Shell Mastercard that gives us 5% rebates on all gas purchases from Shell stations. It also gives 1% gas rebates on anything else we buy. When we were in the process of furnishing our house, the rebates paid for all of our gas for several months. We pay that card of every month and NEVER generate interest on the card.
It's always a good feeling to not have any debt. Our FICO scores are midway between 800 and the max of 850. VERY nice feeling.
--Wag--
1. Internet purchasing. On the rare occasions we are going to buy something on the internet, we use one card for that purpose. That way, if anything strange happens on that account, we know about it right away. On occasion, it serves as a backup in case the other card (#2 below) happens to get fraud checked and tries to leave us stranded at a gas pump somewhere.
2. The other card is ONLY used because it's that Shell Mastercard that gives us 5% rebates on all gas purchases from Shell stations. It also gives 1% gas rebates on anything else we buy. When we were in the process of furnishing our house, the rebates paid for all of our gas for several months. We pay that card of every month and NEVER generate interest on the card.
It's always a good feeling to not have any debt. Our FICO scores are midway between 800 and the max of 850. VERY nice feeling.
--Wag--
same here.
MelodicMetalGod
Registered
Just used a 0% for one year offer to backup my savings after my Hayabusa purchase on November 1st.
Had the cash in the bank, but not much more. Dealer was giving me a better price based on a cash deal and I have no desire to give the CC folks 2-3 % of the purchase price of the bike and I also didn't wanna make the dealer makeup 2-3% fee to the CC. So....I paid the dealer in cash, paid $100 to borrow the credit from the card and put it in the bank as cash (at 0% interest for a year) and don't have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck while I build up my savings over the next few months. If something unexpected comes up, I'm covered. If not, I'll just pay off the card before the year is up.
Other than that, I use a single card for most mundane purshases that I pay off IN FULL each month - NO exceptions!!!
Also, I do have one card with a balance of 1.99% for the life of the balance that s/b paid off in less than a year.
Credit is not inherently good or bad. It's whether you use it or allow it to use you. The best advice - understand the tools and have a plan that you understand and like before you EVER use credit of any kind.
Best of luck to everybody, especially in these precarious and trying times.
Had the cash in the bank, but not much more. Dealer was giving me a better price based on a cash deal and I have no desire to give the CC folks 2-3 % of the purchase price of the bike and I also didn't wanna make the dealer makeup 2-3% fee to the CC. So....I paid the dealer in cash, paid $100 to borrow the credit from the card and put it in the bank as cash (at 0% interest for a year) and don't have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck while I build up my savings over the next few months. If something unexpected comes up, I'm covered. If not, I'll just pay off the card before the year is up.
Other than that, I use a single card for most mundane purshases that I pay off IN FULL each month - NO exceptions!!!
Also, I do have one card with a balance of 1.99% for the life of the balance that s/b paid off in less than a year.
Credit is not inherently good or bad. It's whether you use it or allow it to use you. The best advice - understand the tools and have a plan that you understand and like before you EVER use credit of any kind.
Best of luck to everybody, especially in these precarious and trying times.
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MelodicMetalGod
Registered
FYI: To those who may not know, often you can work out better terms (APR, payments, fees, ask for waived late fees, etc) just by calling your creditors, especially credit cards. It never hurts to ask and it will often save you money and you and call up every three to six months to ask for better terms.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
suzuki4life
Banned
unless they are charging an annual fee, there is no reason to ever close a credit card. Credit cards are good things if you are responsible enough to use them properly. I have one visa and multiple store cards. I use them until the first bill comes and they are paid off....interest free.
I got rid of all of my credit cards about 3 years ago.. but I am still paying on it through a Refinancing of our house.... But it helps me sleep better at night.
winlite
Registered
tyddlywink
Registered
We are in trouble. The plan I laid out to get out of CC debt went to pots when the housing market died. I have enough equity in my house to pay of all my CC debt but no one wants to loan me the money because it would put me above 80% LTV. 
Anyone use any Debt Counselors?
Anyone use any Debt Counselors?
We are in trouble. The plan I laid out to get out of CC debt went to pots when the housing market died. I have enough equity in my house to pay of all my CC debt but no one wants to loan me the money because it would put me above 80% LTV.
Anyone use any Debt Counselors?
Never a good idea to borrow against your house to pay off cards. You might want to negotiate with the CC Companies first. Don't be "suckered in" by the TV commercials you see.
Do a search, read a little and go from there. A good place to start might be:
clarkhoward.com
He is also on the Radio daily. I have heard him talking about this very subject.
r8
MelodicMetalGod
Registered
We are in trouble. The plan I laid out to get out of CC debt went to pots when the housing market died. I have enough equity in my house to pay of all my CC debt but no one wants to loan me the money because it would put me above 80% LTV.
Anyone use any Debt Counselors?
Without knowing the specifics of your situation, here's an idea:
Get as much of your debt to as low an APR as possible via balance transfer/cash advance offers on cards for which you have no balance. Look for the lowest APR offers first than ask for waived or capped transaction fees. Once you've gotten as much of your debt as possible at the lowest APR's, begin paying minimums on ALL but the highest APR debt, which you pay as much as possible until paid off. Then begin paying off as much as possible each month (or week or every two weeks or every three weeks) on the highest APR for the balances you have left. Continue unitl all CC debt is paid off. This leverages your credit resources and income to give you the fastes payoff with the lowest interest cost.
To do this effectively, you'll need to keep track of each balance - APR, end date of promo APR, etc. One month prior to a promo APR expiring, move it to another card with a good promo APR.
Although not the best solution, if you need to borrow against your house, do so as little as possible. The reason is that while the monthly payment may be lower, you'll be paying interst for years longer on that borrowed money, which means that, in the long run, you'll be paying much MORE interest on the borrowed money. That said, if you don't have ANY clean CC to start moving debt to good rates OR if you're upside down on monthly minimums, you can use your real equity.
Best of luck!
You sir, are a hero.
Very few consumers realize that the fees charged to businesses by credit card companies for every penny of merchandise purchased by credit card customers are a hidden tax on the economy as those fees are passed along to every consumer...cash or credit.
My business paid about $40,000 in fees to credit card companies last year.
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