how to get above water with 12.5K in credit debt?

[Anonymous]

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@Creditplz wrote:
"We are barely getting by" is why I recommend another job.

"I spend $1600 on monthly reoccuring bills & needs + $1400 on mortgage, plus my car and auto payments = $4000" His GROSS income is 60,000/yearly, he spends $48,000 yearly on his needs.

His Gf nets $24,000 yearly.. now do we know if she's contributing to bills, rent?. Does she have debt herself that she needs to pay monthly?. Transportation cost if not already included?. Does she have necessities ( I know my DW does).

Anyway you look at it, OP is $12,000 in debt. I personally feel that income is the issue, extra income could go towards paying that debt faster and saving OP hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the future.

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I don't mean to come across as a snob, but, his annual income is actually $65,000. As, he said every two weeks, and there are 52 weeks in a year, not the "traditional" 48 weeks that automatically comes to mind when thinking of weeks in a month. Granted, 5,000 difference isn't huge in this scenario, but that is a significant difference in income at the same time.

[Sk323i]

every dollar of my girlfriends income is available to the household finances. 

We just basically got under water again after 4 months into our new mortgage. 

Granted I could have gotten a used Honda instead of a new Toyota Tacoma - still think it's a worthwhile investment long term. 

Last year I was shelling out a couple hundred a month on car maitenance. Now $0 on maitenance and it will remain like for a long time. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@Sk323i wrote:

I'm maxed out at 12,500 at high apr across 5 different cards all 17 - 22 %.

My biggest balance is 5K.

I just started a new job so i'm unsure how much a full 2 weeks paycheck is after taxes, but I gross $2500 every 2 weeks.

I spend $1600 on monthly reoccuring bills & needs + $1400 on mortgage, plus my car and auto payments = $4000

My girlfriend nets $1000 every 2 weeks. 

We are barely getting by. Not much money is wasted on friviolous things. 

Do I snowball method. 

How do I get above water?

Can I consolidate all 12K somewhere for less than 12%?

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My suggestion would be snowball method:

1. stop using cards

2. apply all possible cash flow to paying down smallest credit card balance; on other accounts, pay minimum + $5 on each

3. once smallest account is at zero, move on to next smallest balance, and so on

[NRB525]

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@Sk323i wrote:

every dollar of my girlfriends income is available to the household finances. 

We just basically got under water again after 4 months into our new mortgage. 

Granted I could have gotten a used Honda instead of a new Toyota Tacoma - still think it's a worthwhile investment long term. 

Last year I was shelling out a couple hundred a month on car maitenance. Now $0 on maitenance and it will remain like for a long time. 

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Please detail out what the $1,600 of other expenses are per month. That you simply must understand and ruthlessly cut in order to make progress on any debt reduction. Since your mortgage and cars are listed separately those make the $1,600 even more necessary to understand. 

Keep the new vehicle, I agree that is a good long term investment. My 2003 4Runner has 207,000 miles and while there are replacement repairs going on, I've had it 13 years.

[Sk323i]

sorry -- i thought I had copied pasted my expenses in a previous response. but seems as if the forum did not post it because it was HTML. 

I will write it out in plain text later when I get home from work.

Another question: i like to have $3000 in emergency cash savings at home. 

I thnk of it like a back up for the mortgage, auto, and insurance payments - in the event i am laid off or somethings. I also think of it as a reserve for any emergency medical expense that might come out of nowhere. 

Is cash savings a better store of money for this purpose -- or would using that $3000 to pay off debt be a better choice. If i paid off the debt i'd be in a position with no emergency funds except on credit. 

[Anonymous]

with regards to the car issue... i actually saved a ton of money (before getting my self a new car when i could afford it with out any issues) by keeping my old jalopy honda accord... the way i saw it is i would rather spend even 1k a year for maintenance on a car  i dont have to pay anything monthly on, vs spending 200+/month for a new car just because i dont have to worry about maintenance for only 3 or so years.... also i liked tinkering with cars so most repairs i did myself. but thats just me i guess everyones situation is different.... i would also recomed just going through a list of all your expenses and just seeing what you can cut out. call credit cards and try to get apr cuts even if its only temporary, call cell phone and tv prodivers and try to get cheaper pricing... i do this on a regular basis to make sure i pay the least for the things i really want. Youd be surprised how much you can save on a lot of services when you threaten to cancel your subscription/ relation with said company

[Sk323i]

is there a guide to doing that - "apr cuts"

Is that an official name for something?

Basically, just ask them to cut apr so you can make payments?

I have never been late in last 3 years. hopefully they would want to work with me. 

[Anonymous]

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@Sk323i wrote:

sorry -- i thought I had copied pasted my expenses in a previous response. but seems as if the forum did not post it because it was HTML. 

I will write it out in plain text later when I get home from work.

Another question: i like to have $3000 in emergency cash savings at home. 

I thnk of it like a back up for the mortgage, auto, and insurance payments - in the event i am laid off or somethings. I also think of it as a reserve for any emergency medical expense that might come out of nowhere. 

Is cash savings a better store of money for this purpose -- or would using that $3000 to pay off debt be a better choice. If i paid off the debt i'd be in a position with no emergency funds except on credit. 

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also personally when i went through my rebuilding phase i went through the same issue of deciding what is more important, and while its always important to have money saved up, i decided to use my savings to pay off my credit cards... sure it left me with no savings but now that i have most of my cards paid off i can save 400 a month where as before i had nothing to save up... sure it will take me a while to get back to where i was but also with my cards being paid down if hopefully nothing major happens i know i can either use my available credit to cover any unexpected expense...

[Anonymous]

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@Sk323i wrote:

is there a guide to doing that - "apr cuts"

Is that an official name for something?

Basically, just ask them to cut apr so you can make payments?

I have never been late in last 3 years. hopefully they would want to work with me. 

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i dont think its official per say.. just call them up and see what they can do, let them know hey i been with you guys x amount of time and wanted to see about reducing my apr i think most places should be able to knock some off even if its not permanent it could help you for a couple months. its just about asking samething with the reducing payments for subscriptions

[txtjjs]

I'm always for having cash on hand for emergencies. Your credit limit can always get slashed, and not all bills can be easily paid with credit cards. You may be able to use a service like plastiq for your mortgage, but then you are probably looking at fees to make the payment. Just my 2 cents.