i messed up pretty bad!!! AKA CC debt

[Anonymous]

Dude, are you trolling us? Credit cards are not money. If you can't afford to take vacations, you don't take them. If you can't afford to pay back your spending whims, don't spend. I'm not trying to be a butt here, but you did some crazy stuff. Yes, I understand spending goes up during the holiday season for many of us, but my rule is not to spend more than I can clear off in a month or two after the holidays. Do you gamble? Most of the people I know around town who frequent casinos are in similar trouble. I have great sympathy for people who face unforseen circumstances, like medical, catastrophic home repairs and other things that they didn't see coming, but going through life just thinking because you have some credit, you can just buy and do everything isn't and shouldn't be an option. The first step should be that you recognize that you did not use good mental judgement and that you have a problem. Next should be that you have some work to do, but you can do it, if you have the desire. Sorry to sound harsh, but you and only you are the one who put yourself in the predicament. There are many ways to solve a problem. Get cracking!

[Credit_]

just asking for ideas. was looking for back door numbers to lower my apr.

[core]

After looking over some of your previous posts, there's no way I would even consider a debt consolidation loan.  All that's going to do is fool you into thinking you did something, when in reality you did nothing but move the debt from one place to another.  And possibly save a small amount in interest, but I think that's the least of your worries.  If you took out a loan you'd be back in 4x worse shape by this time next year.

You paid a law firm to remove baddies from your reports earlier?  Between that, and this debt consolidation loan idea, it sounds like you are just looking for a quick fix to solve things.   There is no quick fix to this, except for maybe selling things (including a car or two).  Sell so much stuff the kids think they are next!  Alternatively, you could just roll up your sleeves, make some extra income, and start paying this off.  Cut all expenses to the bare minimums and you'll be surprised how quickly you can pay it off.   The problem is doing it though.

[Credit_]

that was what i needed, thank you so much i really appreciate the time for your feedback.

[Anonymous]

There is no quick fix, start paying them down and learn from this...sorry!

[Anonymous]

You did mess up, but I like that you're taking ownership now. A debt consolidation loan could be helpful, but only if you couple it with putting away your credit cards. Otherwise, the issue will just balloon. It sounds like you're still stable in terms of being able to pay off your cards. Here is what I would do:

1) All purchases become cash purchases. Anything new that you put on a card will start accruing interest immediately, so you don't put anything new on a credit card.

2) Make the minimum payments on every card.

3) Assess how much you can pay towards the debt every month. Anything that you have that you can put towards the debt, you should. Some advocate going for the highest APR first. Instead, I think you should take as many cards to $0 as you can by dollar amount. What I mean is that it is better to take two $300 cards to 0 than one $500 card, but one $500 card is better than two $200 cards, even if there is also a $1000 card out there that you can't take to zero. This is because removing the debt from the card will reinstate the grace period, which will allow you to make basic purchases on the card again without accruing interest. This could be helpful if you get rewards on any of the cards that can be converted to cash to help pay down the other cards. However, if you don't have any such rewards and are just using cash for purchases (see (1) above), then pay off the highest APR first.

Good luck, OP! It sounds like you've had some bad luck and made some bad choices, but you've caught it before it had a chance to destroy your credit.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for your situation. If you do not have a budget, make one and stick to it! It will get easier to do over time. Set up online payments so you don't miss any. Good luck!

[takeshi74]

There are two separate things that you need to do.

One is to address the cause(s) of your problem.  If you're spending more than what you have then you need to understand how much you bring in versus your required spend, savings, etc.  That will tell you what you have leftover to spend on other things such as vactions, shopping, etc.  You need to stick to your budget or else you'll continue to dig yourself deeper into the hole.

The other thing you need to do is to stop accumulating more debt by not using your cards until you have paid off your card debt.  You can look into options for dealing with the debt but additional credit when you have high revolving utilization is probably a bad idea.  If you can't address the issues I mentioned in my prior paragraph then debt consolidation is also a bad idea as you'll then just have consildated debt AND new credit card debt.

My comments are high level and not specific but you need to sit down and invest the time and effort to work on both of these.  Until you get the first sorted out you won't be able to make progress.  There are many resources avaialble for budgeting and financial management.  We can help with specific questions but at this point it's difficult for us to formulate a plan for you with what you're presenting to us.  Work on your budget.  Stick to it.  Include a liquid cash reserve in your plans for things like car repairs and emergencies.  Do not rely solely on credit.  Stop accumulating more credit card debt.  Put away the cards, cut them up, lock them away or do whatever it takes.  Do not close your credit cards as you'll make your revolving utilization even worse.  Once you have your finances sorted out you can then tackle the best way to handle paying down your debt.

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@Credit_ wrote:

just asking for ideas. was looking for back door numbers to lower my apr.

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The APR you qualify for is based on your credit profile.  The credit card debt you have probably means that you have high revolving utilization which has a signfiicant impact on your credit profile.  Don't count on lowering your APR.  A back door number doesn't change your credit profile.

There is no quick and easy fix for your problem.  It will be a long, slow, difficult and painful process but you can get through it if you put forth the time and effort and you'll be in better shape once you're on the other side and better equipped to handle your finances and credit.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Some advocate going for the highest APR first. Instead, I think you should take as many cards to $0 as you can by dollar amount.

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Interest and number of balances are certainly considerations but I recommend looking at revolving utilization on each card.  Get the highest ones down ASAP to hopefully avoid or minimize AA which will make matters even worse.  Once all cards are under 50% then switch focus, if desired.  It's possible that the rapidly increasing credit card debt is already a red flag to at least some of the OP's creditors.

[Anonymous]

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@Credit_ wrote:

add 3 vacations in the begining of the year.  Should i look into a debt consolidation loan?

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beginning of this year or last?

because if it is this year it is only January...

if you consolidate it wouldn't change the fact, as others have mentioned, that you keep adding to this debt. 

which is why majority of the time i wouldn't recommend to folks; doing consolidation.

you could TRY and get a loan from somewhere like lending club, to consolidate your 20k plus and counting debt; but that is IF they approve you for that much amount.  Once they do, your ccs will sit at a zero balance and that temptation to swipe them will be there again because let's face it.

you probably thought, i'm in the hole for 10k, whats another 2k? and another 1k? and another 3k?  till it added up to 20k+.

another way would have been to call the credit card companies individually to see if they'll settle with you but it will result in having your cc closed (not a bad thing necessary for you) BUT it wouldn't look so awesome on your reports plus there is potential tax repercussions from what i've heard...not 100% sure on that.

basically anything you do at this point, other than to pay off the CCs asap and not spend anymore than necessary (absolutely necessary and def not on cc).

will have some sort of repercussion that you don't immediately see.

some folks have no other options and unfortunately have to deal with those consequences in the future, but they made their bed.

you still have the option to dig yourself out? do so.

no one can say anything that will impact your decision, unless you're open to it and committed to it.

BEST OF LUCK 

[elim]

Gotta' pay to play  Make a spreadsheet and a budget, Pay it off.

Paying off debt is nothing new around here. We all do it.

All you have to do is start paying and stop spending.