Need Help-Advice

[cscott9766]

Need help....way overextended on my debts.  Have pretty good income at $133,000 per year....credit scores TU 691, Experian 696, Equifax 732.  Maxed out on 4 credit cards and also have one auto loan and one personal loan.  Need a loan to pay off debts worth roughly $43,000 any suggestions?

[pizza1]

oohhh, Im gonna let some others chime in here with some better advice on your situation. Is there any way you can get a local bank loan, or a CU? What about checking Lending Tree?

[RobertEG]

Obviously, paying them with a loan will not reduce your debt.

Is the goal primarily to convert revolving credit to installment for score improvement purposes, or to reduce monthly interest?

[Anonymous]

At an income of $133K a year, you should have no trouble making large payments each month and paying off the cards. If you can't do that, then you need to evaluate your spending habits and make the changes necessary to improve your cash flow.

[cscott9766]

trying to reduce the monthly interest... and score purposes as well.

[Anonymous]

When a person runs up a large amount of CC debt, maxing out every available card, when he already has a a very high income, the solution is rarely to search for an installment loan to pay the CC debt off.  The reason is that the underlying drives that led him into such a briarpatch are probably still there.  Ironically, the maxxed out cards are a good thing, since they are acting as the only leash to prevent him from getting into deeper trouble.

CapTool's advice is sound.  The amount you are paying in interest, as a percentage of your total income, is very small.  My guess is that you are paying maybe 5 hundred a month in interest, possibly less, compared to a gross monthly income of 11 thousand.  You could easily pay down the principal very quickly, and if you can't, it means that the psychological drive to spend is the problem and a zero balance on all cards will only cause your debt to double in a years time.

I suggest you take CT's advice and develop a budget that will enable you to pay off all cards in two years, with a goal of by the end moving the amount you use to pay off debts into savings and retirements investment.  The disciplined period in which you do that will enable you to see if you can rewire your spending impulses slowly, a rereq for avoiding the debt in the future.

[Anonymous]

+1 on the budget.

It is not hard to spend beyond your means at ANY income. Whatever you spend money on, it is always easy to spend more.

Take a hard look at your lifestyle. Spend a month tracking every penny you actually spend. Think if you really need those things, many things you take for granted are luxuries that really add little value.

Also high incomes tend to fall victim to splurge spending. Maybe you have a good budget but a long string of "one time" purchases. Upgraded your phone, went for a weekend getaway, bought a big screen TV, etc.

It is easy to get used to spending but if it is going on plastic and your not paying in full then whether you make $20k a month or $2k a month, there comes a time when the interest becomes a challenge.

You really need to get the spending under control and be making big payments against those cards. As the balances come down your options for financing get easier.

In direct answer to your question, go to your bank or credit union and negotiate a loan for as much as they will give you. If they won't check out lending club or Prosper.

But make sure that you are paying every bill in full. Consider getting a charge card like an Amex that you HAVE to pay.

Point is that from now on every month should see your debt go down, NEVER up, and when it is finally zero you should plow the money that used to pay the debt into savings.

In fact. Make a plan that shows that debt turning into a big retirement nest egg with a budget that shows how you will get there.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and "for score purposes", forget about that. You owe a third of your annual income in consumer debt. Score is not your concern right now. Your concern is to end the financial crisis you are in and get back on track so that when you retire one day you aren't forced to eat dog food.

Concentrate on paying off your debt, your score will take care of itself.

[Revelate]

FWIW as an investor on LC, when I was individually picking loans (before that became way too time consuming) yours would've been one I would've tagged; good income, credit card consolidation = good loan prospect from my perspective.

Not sure on the rate you'd get with your scores but I'd go the P2P lending route in your shoes personally, verifiable income goes a long way on those sites.  I'd probably pretty up my revolving utilization a bit though before doing that.

+1 to the budget ideas as well.