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Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

Hey Guys!  I am a newbie and need a little help.  Here is my breakdown:

 

Target Visa: Bal- 3630, Limit 4500 22% APR

Old Navy Visa: Bal-3470, Limit 4000 22% APR

Honda Financial: Bal-10725, 9%APR (Car Note-not lease) This plays into the question.

 

Other odd and end CC's totaling 1760 with APR between 17% and 22%.

 

So, I went to Wells Fargo to get a loan to "consolidate",only my CC debt and hopefully lower my interest rate, however, they came back and said that they wanted to pay off my car and include it for a secured loan.  Here is the kicker... the interest rate is 17.49% over a 65 month period!!!

 

I think that this deal sounds a little fishy, but i also think that if I could change it to a 36 month period, it may work out.  The loan officer kept saying that installment loan interest calcualtions are much better than CC interest calculations?  I am so confussed on what to do.  Please Help!!!

 

 

 

Message 1 of 17
16 REPLIES 16
DI
Super Contributor

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

Smith- Welcome to the Forum

 

I wouldn't take out any other loans.  I definately wouldn't take out a loan for the 5.5 years at 17.49.  Your best option is to not charge anything else on the cards, and get a second job to pay down the balances quickly.  The interest rates on your CC's means you need to knock those balance down quick.  

 

If your credit is good, you may can  find a 0% offer for up to 12 months to help with one of the cards.  I doubt if your get a CL to cover all the card balances.  Even with the 3-4 % BT fee you still will save some money compared to the 22% interest. 

Message 2 of 17
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

Target Visa: Bal- 3630, Limit 4500 22% APR

Old Navy Visa: Bal-3470, Limit 4000 22% APR

 

Your util on your target is 81% and the Old Navy is 87%. Those are quite high. But you knew that because you are asking for advice. Smiley Happy As was stated you need to get those down ASAP not just to help with a FICO score but to save money in interest.

 

Other odd and end CC's totaling 1760 with APR between 17% and 22%.

 

Would you be willing to post the balances and credit limits on these cards? Just to get a better idea of your overall util.

 

 

 

Time can heal all wounds and a low FICO.
"Hello my name is Sandy and I'm a recovering crediholic".

 

 

 

Message 3 of 17
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

Alternatively, find a loan from someone else. Try a local credit union.

That's a terrible loan offer. I hope you can do better than that elsewhere.

Just as a general observation, loans to pay off CC's are great IF you have the self-discipline to stop using the cards. You can keep them alive by using each card once every month or two to buy a tank of gas or a bag of groceries --something that you would have to do anyway, using cash if necessary. The moment that the charge shows up online, pay if off, then and there. No more CC debt!

Loans to pay off CC debt are great, in that they are generally at a lower APR, and for FICO scoring, they move the debt over from revolving to installment. But if you are not ruthlessly honest with yourself, and if you allow yourself to keep using your cards and incurring additional debt, you will be faced with the prospect of making the monthly installment payment plus the new charges on your CC's.

So handle with care. If you got in trouble because of self-indulgence or lack of self-discipline, think long and hard before doing an installment consolidation loan. If your troubles arose from a one-time event, such as medical expenses not covered by insurance, or divorce or unemployment, that's different. Nevertheless, handle with care.

Hope you don't mind the tough love. I'm not scolding; I just feel that people need to regard this option with care! Good luck.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 4 of 17
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?


@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Alternatively, find a loan from someone else. Try a local credit union.

That's a terrible loan offer. I hope you can do better than that elsewhere.

Just as a general observation, loans to pay off CC's are great IF you have the self-discipline to stop using the cards. You can keep them alive by using each card once every month or two to buy a tank of gas or a bag of groceries --something that you would have to do anyway, using cash if necessary. The moment that the charge shows up online, pay if off, then and there. No more CC debt!

Loans to pay off CC debt are great, in that they are generally at a lower APR, and for FICO scoring, they move the debt over from revolving to installment. But if you are not ruthlessly honest with yourself, and if you allow yourself to keep using your cards and incurring additional debt, you will be faced with the prospect of making the monthly installment payment plus the new charges on your CC's.

So handle with care. If you got in trouble because of self-indulgence or lack of self-discipline, think long and hard before doing an installment consolidation loan. If your troubles arose from a one-time event, such as medical expenses not covered by insurance, or divorce or unemployment, that's different. Nevertheless, handle with care.

Hope you don't mind the tough love. I'm not scolding; I just feel that people need to regard this option with care! Good luck.

But if you are not ruthlessly honest with yourself, and if you allow yourself to keep using your cards and incurring additional debt, you will be faced with the prospect of making the monthly installment payment plus the new charges on your CC's.

 

 

Have you been spying on me?????? How did you know I've done that?  Smiley Indifferent

Message 5 of 17
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

lol, it's human nature. We're all about denial.

I have successfully used BT's and a HELOC to pay off CC debt, incurred in my stupid days. But that was after I got here, and learned stuff, and got smart.

Back in my stuck-on-stupid days, I would have created a disaster of unimaginable proportions. Smiley Very Happy
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 6 of 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

I appreiciate your tough love and will look other places for loans.  However, I do have Suzie Orman Platimun package and there is a Debt Eliminator Plan.  I may focus on that see what option that it suggests.  I know I need to buckle down be done with this stupid credit card debt.
Message 7 of 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

This is probably a dumb question, but what is UTI and how does it affect your FICO and interest rates?
Message 8 of 17
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?

OK, so I talked with the loan officer again and he said the term could be reduced to 3 years instead of 5.5?

 

Would this make the loan any better?

Message 9 of 17
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Personal Secured, Installment Loan to Pay Down CC Debt?


@Anonymous wrote:
This is probably a dumb question, but what is UTI and how does it affect your FICO and interest rates?

Your utilization ratio is your total balances divided by your total available credit. It accounts for 30% of your FICO score so it's very important to keep it as low as possible. 1-9% seems to be a popular goal among posters here. Lenders get nervous when they seem someone using most of their credit limit. The lower your FICO the higher the interest rates are applied on loans.

 

 

7/09 (myfico)
TU-742
EQ-779

 

Time can heal all wounds and a low FICO.
"Hello my name is Sandy and I'm a recovering crediholic".

Message 10 of 17
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