High balance High intrest rates

[Anonymous]

So I need opinions ...

I have 2 credit cards with high balances and High intrest rate . I got beside myself a few years ago and kept Accepting the increases . So now I stopped using the card all together and every month they charge these minuim balance due of $300- $400 then a few days later they charge the intrest to the card ranging from $200- $300 . Because It is hard to pay it off and I know I shouldnt have even let it get that far .

Anyone have a stragety to get them away . I am so lost because even if I pay each card over the limit I am still not knocking it down much .

I dont want them charged off and I even talked to the bank about lowering the payment and they lowered it $100 and said they will not lower it anymore .

So its is over $1200 going to the cards monthly .

I just need to hear from someone who knows where to start and what to do . All my other cards are paid on time its just these high ones .

[Appleman]

Welcome to myFICO,

Your story is a familiar one for many on these forums.

I always start by saying you need to start with a budget (my fall back is YNAB.com). This way you are not creating new debt as you slowly get out of debt.

I also like undebt.it as a free site to look at the snowball (lowest balance approach) and avalanche (highest interest) methods for paying off debt.

Some people like the Dave Ramsey approach.

The likely reason the cards will not drop your payment further is that you are now only paying interest and very little prinicipal.

You need to continue to make on-time payments as any lates will really tank your scores.

Good luck, it can be done!

[AverageJoesCredit]

Maybe you can get a consolidation loan or a bt card. I think you need to give some more info so that the gurus can offer better advice. What are the balances and credit limits on the 2 cards. What other cards do you have, what is your current fico score. There seems to be lots of dsta that needs to be considered. I offered a loan or a balance transfer card as that can help have only one payment or help save on interest. Best of luck and i hope we can help

[Anonymous]

Card #1 22,000 Limit  Current balance - 22,636.39

Card # 2 15,000 Limit  Current balance - 15,220.29 

They are both over the limit because of intrest .

My other cards are American Express Blue that has a limit of $1000 

Capital one quicksilver $2000

[fltireguy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Card #1 22,000 Limit  Current balance - 22,636.39

Card # 2 15,000 Limit  Current balance - 15,220.29 

They are both over the limit because of intrest .

My other cards are American Express Blue that has a limit of $1000 

Capital one quicksilver $2000

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thinking that the high Util. makes a BT card pretty much impossible.... 

You should look into a debt consolidation loan... 

Who are the cards from?

What is the APR?

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Card #1 22,000 Limit  Current balance - 22,636.39

Card # 2 15,000 Limit  Current balance - 15,220.29 

They are both over the limit because of intrest .

My other cards are American Express Blue that has a limit of $1000 

Capital one quicksilver $2000

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Yes, first question is what banks are these from? APR?

You must stop using the cards and pay them down so you are not going over limit, that is likely creating over limit fees. 

Even if they tell you you can pay $100 less per month, you really have to pay a lot more per month. 

You our also need to understand what the interest charges are and where you can avoid fees.

Debt consolidation might make sense, but you have to watch the fees and APR on those.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest debt consolidation. I had to do this probably 7 years ago and it really helped me.

[happypill]

You need to stop using the cards and start putting every extra dollar you have towards them until you get the balances down.  Asking the banks for a reduction in payment amount will not help, you actually need to pay much more than the minimums.  One thing you might try is to see if you can get an APR reduction, but that will probably be unlikely given the balances (and probably penalty APR because you are over).  Otherwise, a debt consolidation loan might be your only shot.