Stupid loan, please help!

icyhot · ‎05-06-2015

*Mods please move where appropriate*

So in November of 2014 I had a lot of CC debt and high UTL, so I took out a debt consolidation loan to pay most of it off. Payments were $122 and I figured I could pay it off when I got my fall refund check from school. It was $3100 and had an interest rate of 35%! Like I said I planned on paying it off 2 months later so I didn't worry about the interest. Well literally a week after taking it out, I lost my highest paying job (I had a full and part time) and ended up having to run the cards right back up. I got in a car accident and had a bunch of medical bills. So when I got my refund check, I just paid off the credit cards instead of the loan. Now I have this extremely high interest loan with a 4 year term. I am getting another refund check from school in August that will be of a similar amount, but I planned to use it to pay off my Venture card ($2900 balance with a $3000 limit, I really took advantage of the 0%). By the fall I will be working a much better job and making more money, so the payments on the loan will be more manageable but the 35% is killing me. So my question is, could I possibly renegotiate the loan an get a lower interest rate and payments once my credit is higher (it's taken hits from recent accounts) or would I have a better shot at paying off my Venture and asking for a higher CL and just paying it off that way? I mean 19% is better than 35% any day. Is it worth my UTL taking a hit? All my balances will be otherwise paid off by then. The loan is from Avant Credit

Ghoshida · ‎05-06-2015

@icyhot wrote:
*Mods please move where appropriate*

So in November of 2014 I had a lot of CC debt and high UTL, so I took out a debt consolidation loan to pay most of it off. Payments were $122 and I figured I could pay it off when I got my fall refund check from school. It was $3100 and had an interest rate of 35%! Like I said I planned on paying it off 2 months later so I didn't worry about the interest. Well literally a week after taking it out, I lost my highest paying job (I had a full and part time) and ended up having to run the cards right back up. I got in a car accident and had a bunch of medical bills. So when I got my refund check, I just paid off the credit cards instead of the loan. Now I have this extremely high interest loan with a 4 year term. I am getting another refund check from school in August that will be of a similar amount, but I planned to use it to pay off my Venture card ($2900 balance with a $3000 limit, I really took advantage of the 0%). By the fall I will be working a much better job and making more money, so the payments on the loan will be more manageable but the 35% is killing me. So my question is, could I possibly renegotiate the loan an get a lower interest rate and payments once my credit is higher (it's taken hits from recent accounts) or would I have a better shot at paying off my Venture and asking for a higher CL and just paying it off that way? I mean 19% is better than 35% any day. Is it worth my UTL taking a hit? All my balances will be otherwise paid off by then. The loan is from Avant Credit

Do you have any other BT card which has a decent limit and offers very low (or 0%) APR?

You can always try renegotiating the interest rate with the loan company.

Utilization has short term memory. Try a CLI with Venture, move part or some of the loan to it, and stop using it (or other cards as well) for a while. That way you'll save on interest payments. Run a tight budget and you should be out of the debt in a short time.

icyhot · ‎05-06-2015

I don't have a BT card but my Fidelity Amex offers 0% on balance transfers until April 2015. But the limit is only $1000

icyhot · ‎05-06-2015

I mean 2016

Ghoshida · ‎05-06-2015

@icyhot wrote:
I mean 2016

That's good enough; any other cards with similar offers? You can call up Cap One and see if they have an offer like that for you on the Venture as well.

In the worst case, you'll not get any rewards from the cards; you'll have to pay cash when you're running the BT because new purchases after BT often attract interest from day 1.

But that's better than 35% APR I believe.

I would advise against loading more than 50-60% of any one card even if you could pay them up in under 3-4 months.

If you list your other cards with any possible BT offers then more members could help you out. Try to stay away from consolidation loans as much as possible - that's my opinion, others here could chime in with their experience.

icyhot · ‎05-06-2015

@Ghoshida wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
I mean 2016
That's good enough; any other cards with similar offers? You can call up Cap One and see if they have an offer like that for you on the Venture as well.

In the worst case, you'll not get any rewards from the cards; you'll have to pay cash when you're running the BT because new purchases after BT often attract interest from day 1.

But that's better than 35% APR I believe.

I would advise against loading more than 50-60% of any one card even if you could pay them up in under 3-4 months.

If you list your other cards with any possible BT offers then more members could help you out. Try to stay away from consolidation loans as much as possible - that's my opinion, others here could chime in with their experience.

Well they will actually allow me to pay the loan off with a credit card so it doesn't necessarily have to be a BT. I just know that any card I have doesn't have a high enough limit to accomadte the entire amount without overextending it so I'm trying to wait the 6 months after my app spree to see what CLIs I can get

Anonymous · ‎05-06-2015

You can try a credit union card. When I opened my CU card they gave me a $10k limit and no-fee balance transfers. The only downside was no intro APR, but 8-10% is better than 35%

-NewGuy- · ‎05-06-2015

Honestly, I wouldn't even consider your UTIL in this situation. UTIL has no memory, so once it gets paid off your scores will never know it happened (although your lenders will). Get yourself the lowest interest credit card you can (keep the BT fees in mind) and transfer it. 35% is brutal and if you worry about UTIL you'll never get it paid off.

Guide to travel cards

icyhot · ‎05-06-2015

Which credit union do you guys suggest? I don't think it's wise to get one now, I have a lot of new accounts and INQs and don't want to get AA.

icyhot · ‎05-06-2015

Wait the credit union in my state has a great card. 7.25% for BTs an purchases and no BT fees. I just have to wait until I start working because it will be for the state and its a state employees union