hyperinactive Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Alright so before I go into details... I already know I'm an idiot. Currently I have 5 maxed out credit cards totaling about $7,000 in debt. I dont know how I got so many credit cards in the first place but I was a stupid college student opening them and using them as free money since I had no other source of income for a while. (I have scholarships and havent taken out any student loans even though I should have done that instead). Right now interest alone for all these cards is about $70-80 a month and minimum payments for all the cards combined is about $200/month. Since I am still in college and even though I work a shitty full-time job, this is KILLING ME. Anyone have any advice on what I should do to try and help myself? Ive been told I should consolidate my debt but I dont know how to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daegor Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Ive been told I should consolidate my debt but I dont know how to. You goto a bank, if they turn you down, find someone who's got good credit who is willing to co-sign with you. Fail that goto your local credit counselling center and explain the situation, they'll get you on the right track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jtk Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 This may not work for you since you said the minimum payment is already killing you, but here's what I'm doing. First, pick a card and start trying to pay it off. I did my lowest balance first so that I could get it done quicker and feel awesome. But highest APR is a valid choice also. I paid the minimum on my other cards initially while I was doing this, but once I got some space I started paying more on my others as well. Also, quit using your cards. After I had one paid off, I only use that one and I pay it off completely every month. Missing payments will kill your credit rating. I've never done the consolidation myself. I transferred a few balances to try and get lower APR but that seems to be useless and I think everything I moved ended up with an APR that was the same or higher (in one case). I know the credit union I belong to offers debt consolidation loans that would probably have a lower APR than any card. You might consider that also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipsterasfolk Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I'm a banker. In order to get an idea of your current situation I would need to know your monthly income and your current living expenses (food, utilities, rent, and etc.) From there I would be able to better understand the situation..... The way this question is portrayed is you are not in a good position to pay your debt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathroommonkey Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 credit limits aren't what they use to be. i have about 30k in available credit in my pocket and that is only two cards. jtk and hipster sound like people with good advice/ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordan999 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Almost anything calling itself "debt consolidation" should be approached with extreme caution, especially if they are targeted toward credit card debt. Often times the rate is higher and the penalties are severe, but you get the "convenience" of one payment! Cut up the cards, make on time minimums on every card and pay what extra you can on the highest rate card. If you're serious about paying it off, cut your discretionary spending. Or be a true American and stop paying them, settle a year later and then do credit repair after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcm1610 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 To answer your question about how you got so many cards... your exact scenario is exactly why you got them so easily. CC companies LOVE college kids because they rack up debt and give them a huge profit on fees. As long as you aren't unbelievably bad and not paying, they'll probably give you another one. You just have to be smart. Pay as much as you can. -There's absolutely NO reason to have any savings if you are paying ridiculous rates for CC debt. Well, that's a lie.. most people like having some emergency fund in case things go south fast, but any money sitting in an investment fund or a savings account or a CD is losing you money because it's like trying to swim against a fast current. If you have 2% return coming back to you, but you're paying out 20% on CCs, you're losing. (This goes for student loans, too. Paying them off is better than investing because of net interest. That's the important word.) -Cut your costs. You don't need HBO or cable at all. Stop buying vinyl and video games and whatever else you may do. Ride your bike instead of driving. Don't go to the bar anymore. Find the unneeded spending and get rid of it. It'll be short term. -$7000 actually isn't that bad. If you get a second job where you're working 1 or 2 shifts a week, you can put that entire paycheck towards the credit cards. Even if you only make $50 a week at this job, you're covering your minimum payments, then whatever you're already throwing at your CCs will help pay it down faster. It'll suck, but take care of this with sacrifices NOW rather than spending thousands of dollars in interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jtk Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Also... although cutting up cards feels pretty good, if you lose access to your online cc accounts for some reason, they'll want the code from the back to reactivate your account. I keep my cards now because of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjb2k1 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 one thing that's helped me, besides stopping using my credit card (and paying as much i can a month on it) is to buy everything with cash. i have found it is so much harder for me to buy something when i'm seeing the cash disappear, instead of just that little swipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyperinactive Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I stopped using them a couple months ago and have never missed a payment thankfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattisr1984 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 if you can't consolidate, pay more towards the highest apr card first. Rinse and repeat and vow to never use a credit card without paying off the balance every month ever again. No person should carry credit card debt. Use it for emergencies or like a friend you borrow 20 bucks from and pay back next month. ps. Sell shit you don't need on ebay, craigslist, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvinscam Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 get more credit cards and use cash advances to pay off your other cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deafmx Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 get more credit cards and use cash advances to pay off your other cards. this. endless cycle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankmurphy Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 If you stop paying, they'll sell your debt to a collection agency for a fraction of what you owe. Then you can haggle with the collection agency and end up paying only a fraction of your original debt. Credit card debt is unsecured so they can't take your property as collateral, and they won't sue you unless you refuse to pay. It will absolutely destroy your credit rating, but if you're like me you don't give a fuck about that anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest unclerickey Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Don't pay shit, there's no such as debters prison. And remember, there's nothing punk about maintaining a good credit score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipsterasfolk Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 get more credit cards and use cash advances to pay off your other cards. this. endless cycle! ahahah I loathe this cycle. You think the normal person would be like "That's a horrible idea." But it is a very common practice. Spend all money before next check, Cash Advance, next check arrives and you have $3, rinse and repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appletree Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 So not to de-rail thread, but I often get my card up to like $1000 or so as I use it for almost everything, bills paid via bill pay from checking, everything else is on this card, rarely use my debit card. It is a visa card through Wells Fargo. I pay it off monthly in full and often more then I need to. If I see it is at $922 I pay $1000 to it from my checking account, I usually do this at the beginning of the month when paying bills. Am I building credit by paying it off that way? Like by never paying the minimum payments or anything. Someone told me I may not be building credit by paying it off so quickly. Sometimes I pay it more than once a month. I always have treated it like a debit card but use it to try and build credit, any advice appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamlikesmusic Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 So not to de-rail thread, but I often get my card up to like $1000 or so as I use it for almost everything, bills paid via bill pay from checking, everything else is on this card, rarely use my debit card. It is a visa card through Wells Fargo. I pay it off monthly in full and often more then I need to. If I see it is at $922 I pay $1000 to it from my checking account, I usually do this at the beginning of the month when paying bills. Am I building credit by paying it off that way? Like by never paying the minimum payments or anything. Someone told me I may not be building credit by paying it off so quickly. Sometimes I pay it more than once a month. I always have treated it like a debit card but use it to try and build credit, any advice appreciated. Of course you build credit by paying off your bill - that's the whole point of credit. Why should people only be rewarded with more credit if they can't pay off what they borrow? That would make no sense. Plus, if you only pay the minimum, then you're going to start paying interest as well, which in your case seems like an unnecessary expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 hyperinactive, do you have a close family member who would be willing to help you? I didn't need it for credit cards (I needed it to buy a house), but I borrowed $10k from an uncle (who isn't RICH, but is close to retirement and well set up for the rest of his life). 5 thousand or whatever you owe might be a lot to you, but to someone with a nice retirement savings or something it is change and it might make them really happy to help out a young person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 thanks for starting this thread.. i guess it was the kick in the butt i needed to get better about making sure i pay my shit on time. ive got 3 cards, and hopefully in the next couple weeks thatll be down to two. i have a terrible history of making payments on time, so im setting up my iphone with monthly reminders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottheisel Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 So not to de-rail thread, but I often get my card up to like $1000 or so as I use it for almost everything, bills paid via bill pay from checking, everything else is on this card, rarely use my debit card. It is a visa card through Wells Fargo. I pay it off monthly in full and often more then I need to. If I see it is at $922 I pay $1000 to it from my checking account, I usually do this at the beginning of the month when paying bills. Am I building credit by paying it off that way? Like by never paying the minimum payments or anything. Someone told me I may not be building credit by paying it off so quickly. Sometimes I pay it more than once a month. I always have treated it like a debit card but use it to try and build credit, any advice appreciated. The idea that paying off your card in full every month will prevent you from increasing your credit score is a total, complete myth. I've had the same Discover card for the past eight years, and I do the same as you—I use it for virtually all of my expenses every month, and then pay it off in full every month. My credit score, as of last fall, was 782. Can't get much higher than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicole Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 what is the best way to find out your credit score? are those stupid websites legit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducksworth Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 what is the best way to find out your credit score? are those stupid websites legit? Most sites don't show you the credit score. Only your credit report. You usually have to pay to see your credit score or at least sign up for a 30 day free trial for whatever current scam they are pushing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 what is the best way to find out your credit score? are those stupid websites legit? Disclaimer -- I am not 100% about what I am writing but am reasonably confident: You cannot get your score for free. You can get a credit report once per year from annualcreditreport.com, but it doesn't give you a score. It just lists your lines of credit, whether you are in good standing, maybe missed payments and such (I don't know, haven't done it in a long time). freecreditreport.com and other sites are not free. You have to enroll in their credit monitoring system to see your score. If you really want to know your score, go for it. I don't think it is worth it, though. Knowing your score doesn't change anything you do. Next time you apply for credit you will find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorbike Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 im going through sort of the same thing you are. i have three cards and had a pretty much perfect credit score. then some family health problems/loosing my job really fucked me. im about $3250 in the hole and let me tell you as soon as i get this shit paid off i will call city bank, close my account and then mail them a box of jager vomit. never dealt with so much bullshit in my life from a credit card or any bill collector for that matter. they are my biggest problem. missed one payment and they cut my limit in half (which is what i owed at the time). those mother fuckers start blowing my phone up days before my bill is due. this is why you see so many sales threads from me these days in case anybody gets frustrated with the constant threads i post over in sales/trades. im just paying off the smallest debt first while paying my minimums, rinse repeat, rinse repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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