Debt Consolidation Loan?

[Anonymous]

Types up a long thing/plan of action just to remember...your timetable of things in life wouldn't make it practical.

But...that 13.99% 5 year loan is garbage. One cc  has a much lower rate, one is nearly the same, and your third is card is the only one noticeably higher.

You'd be better offer just attacking the high interest card.

Anyway...it would really help to know your timetable.

How soon do you want to move? Is moving but renting an option while you fix your credit?

Do you REALLY need a  bigger car right after the kid is born? Car payments would be heavily draining your money that you could be using towards your cc debts. The freedom of not having a car payment is wonderful. Don't ever underestimate that. Hold off as long as you can after the child is born. Not trying to come off rude, but "My car that is meant for adults to fit into it is slightly too small for my infants, so more debt is justifiable" is a very " first world problems" thing...if the minor inconvenience is that big of a problem, I kinda question how motivated you are to fix this and towards the big picture goals. You want a nice house with the hubs for your kids. They won't even remember the smaller car. If the car is also having major mechanical issues, then car shopping is understandable...just don't get something brand new.

Anyway...lol

Yea, try finding a better loan option, if moving is going to be soon. If you can consolidate it all to a reasonable rate, that'd help your scores.

You could consider only consolidating your amex and csp to try for a better rate, since the CU rate isn't terrible. Toss 5k at the CU card, get the utilization down under 50% then shop for rates to consolidate the two.

Perhaps stretch the term of the consolidated loan to 5 years, so that you can pay off the CU card faster so that you can get all your cards down to zero, and be better prepared for a mortgage score-wise.

[AZEsq]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That is good to know, thank you!

One additional question - I have a savings account of 10k just in case I lose my job or something comes up unexpected. Should I take that and pay down what I can on credit card debt and then work on building it back up? Makes me nervous to not have a backup account should something happen but I know every month I carry these cards with interest I am losing money.

Let me know!

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No. You're about to move across country with two young kiddos. Jobs change, so much has to be replaced and anything can happen. Don't change anything until you get there, settle in (do not buy right away, you want to get to know the area first anyway unless it's HOME for one or both of you and you have some equity gift or other way to make it affordable), and get the lay of the land.

Keep that money, trust me, you will need it. I just moved across country with a toddler and infant and 2 dogs and the $7K I saved and budgeted for the move got us here, but the larger house, 2 deaths in the family, and a host of other smaller annoyances including an unanticipated car repair, combined to turn it into closer to a $15K move. Trust me, recovering from a cross-country move takes time. Don't do all (or any) of these things right now. Focus on getting the baby here safely (don't buy the new car, you don't actually need a 3 row car or SUV with 3 kids, it's just "nice to have") and moving. I am truly a BTDT on this so feel free to ask, but trust me, if you do "the most" you will see it. 

I have been in "recovery" mode since I got here in November and still can't breathe--my car has needed $3200 worth of work--re-registering, paying for inspections. There is SO much that COSTS MONEY to move that it's almost impossible to budget it all. Basically, focus on the things as they come. Don't take on more. Oh, and keep the money.

[Anonymous]

@Kforce: Thank you so much for your reply and all of the suggestions and info. I did what you suggested and shopped around a bit. I landed on the Lending Club site and was approved for a 30k loan at 8.45% with a loan fee of $900.00. The life of the loan is 36 months at $917/month - a significant difference vs. what I have been paying thus far (2k a month but using my cards for expenses too). As of today, my TU score was 708 which is what the loan was based on.

So, I decided to accept. The loan isn't finalized yet and I would imagine at that amount they will want my w2 or paystubs of course which I am happy to provide. Of my outstanding debts, I plan to use this for the following: 

Amex: Balance is $17,022 at 14.99% (pay this in full)

Sapphire: Balance is $12,033 at 18.24% (pay this in full)

Paying off the above with the Lending Club loan will leave me with:

MSU FCU Visa: $14,312 at 9.9% 

It didnt make sense to me to apply for a higher Lending Club loan to include the MSU FCU Visa balance since the interest rates were so close. So now, I can pay $1k a month on my MSU FCU Visa and $1k a month to Lending Club. Once my MSU FCU Visa is paid off, I will put that payment amount toward my Lending Club balance every month to pay it off as fast as possible.

Somewhere along the way I need to try to build up my savings but I think the above is a step in the right direction.

Any recommendations or suggestions?

THANK YOU!

[Anonymous]

@AZEsq: Thank you so much for your reply! We are moving to the state we are both from, so we will have family and friends to help us along the way and we are very familiar with the area, costs associated with the move, etc. I think we also have a pretty good idea of what type of money we will both be able to make there.

That being said, we actually do need a larger vehicle. Ours is leased and it ends in August, so we have to get SOMETHING. My husband is 6'4 and now with two kids we will need something larger to accommodate a car seat behind each of us (right now in our current vehicle we cannot fit a car seat behind his seat!). So - physically we need a bigger vehicle to accommodate. Of course I dont feel it has to be brand new or anything! But something larger is necessary.

We are planning to move in December or January and I certainly do not want to be the cause of a higher interest rate on our mortgage, so I decided to accept a Lending Club loan (I just posted the details in this thread). Hopefully this helps our situation as a whole and I can finally be debt free in 36 months

[Kforce]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Kforce: Thank you so much for your reply and all of the suggestions and info.

I did what you suggested and shopped around a bit.

I landed on the Lending Club site and was approved for a 30k loan at 8.45%

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Your welcome

Congrats, much better than the original 14%.

This loan should save you money.

Good luck on the move and hacking away at the debt.

[Anonymous]

I landed on the Lending Club site and was approved for a 30k loan at 8.45% with a loan fee of $900.00.

Did you have a lot of inquiries when applying for Lending Club? which bureau did they pull? My TU score is 646 & marcus offered me 23% APR.

Couldn't accept that.

[Anonymous]

Hi Maharshi,

Yes, that is the same amount I applied for and same interest rate I received. I didnt have any inquiries when I applied and they used my TU score which was 708. Good Luck! I am so happy I did it and already feel a weight lifted off my shoulders!

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone!

Update - after accepting the Lending Club loan and paying down most of my balances my scores jumped to 747, 743 and 743! Yay! 

We unfortunately had a death in the family so we had some unexpected expenses come up but I am budgeted out through the rest of the year and plan to be debt free well before the term of the loan is up. 

Thank you to everyone in this forum for your help. I couldn't have done it without you!