Cc Debt

[fuzzywuzzy86]

I have outstanding 3,000 on a cap. one credit card...there interest rate for me is either 21% or 28% I keep paying the 91 or 100 " min fee" and because the int. rate is so high...the next time i go to pay the amt due goes up because of a "over limit fee" that I am charged when I am not even buying anything... its the int. rate that kicks in making it go "over the limit"
For Ex. when I did buy something....
The min due was 91.00 I paid $140 i checked it a few days later and it said i had either 35-40 to "use"/ available...I bought Chinese food at $8.00 cuz I didnt have my debit card with me and then when I check again..BAM! OVERLIMIT FEE! AND THE"BALANCE" OF THE $35-$40 IS GONE....WHAT CAN I DO ...I called them and they said "Ok let's see what options we have available to you" a few minutes later...."i'm sorry at this time we don't have any options available for you"
!!!!!!!!!
I had asked them if I could please have the int rate lowered for at least 2 mths...so that I could make better payments..
please tell me what I can do about this.

[freesia39]

do you have any other credit cards that you can do a balance transfer with?

[conj]

1. STOP USING THE CARD.

2. check into transferring balance to another cc.

3. develop a budget. take a look at your obligations and your income. in doing this Work up a plan to pay more than the min. GDers would be happy to help you come up with ways to spend less and earn more (heck, those survey checks can add up)


If you can not transfer to another card - would they be willing to raise your limit by $150? That'd keep you from hitting that ceiling (they like it when you hit the ceiling and have to pay, so they may say no) because of fees.

[pryan67]

definately don't use the card...


find out why the available balance went down like it did....it's likely due to interest accrued...

pay them down as quickly as possible...even if that means not getting chinese *LOL*

seriously though...if all you can put towards it now is 140 a month, you'll need to cut expenses one way or the other (this is assuming you don't have another credit card to transfer it to, no savings, etc)

[fuzzywuzzy86]

I don't have another cc..will not spend anymore even a dollar on the cc and I would also love to know of a way to budget.
thanks everyone!

[fuzzywuzzy86]

plz help with the budget plan and ways to make money on the surveys:)
.
1. STOP USING THE CARD.

3. develop a budget. take a look at your obligations and your income. in doing this Work up a plan to pay more than the min. GDers would be happy to help you come up with ways to spend less and earn more (heck, those survey checks can add up)

[freesia39]

check out the surveys forum.

as for the budget, one thing you can do is track EVERYTHING you spend money on in one month. EVERYTHING. everytime you go out, everything you spend on groceries, etc. from there you can look for places to cut out expenses - don't eat out as much, don't buy coffee, don't buy junk food. no alcohol. it won't be fun, but if you want to get rid of the debt, sacrifices have to be made.

further, DO NOT USE THE CARD. it makes your overages worse. everytime you charge it and you're over your limit, you're hit with a fee. that's just going to keep adding and adding up. if you're over your limit, pay ONLY the minimum balance, and the interest bumps you back over the limit again, the debt amount is getting worse.

you may want to also think of picking up a second job or anything else you can do to pick up income. i don't know what you do now to earn money, or what your financial situation is, or if you can get help from anyone. or you can try selling items if you are able to, on craigslist or ebay.

[kranky]

as for the budget, one thing you can do is track EVERYTHING you spend money on in one month. EVERYTHING. everytime you go out, everything you spend on groceries, etc. from there you can look for places to cut out expenses - don't eat out as much, don't buy coffee, don't buy junk food. no alcohol. it won't be fun, but if you want to get rid of the debt, sacrifices have to be made.

That's where you start. You can't budget until you know exactly where all your money is going. I guarantee that you will be surprised when you look at where it all goes, at least in some areas. The reason you have to start with a budget is so you can play "what if" to improve your situation. Most people find that they spend far more than they ever imagined on "little things" without realizing that they add up to a lot. That's exactly why it's especially important to record EVERYTHING you spend.

For example, what if you wanted to pay an extra $50 a month on your credit card? You look at the results of tracking what you spent, and decide where the $50 is going to come from every month. That way it's easy to know whether you can do it or not.

Remember to include expenses which don't come up every month - renewing your car title, water bill, whatever. You need to account for those in a monthly budget even if you don't have to pay them every month. If your water bill comes every three months, put 1/3 of that amount in your monthly budget.

[conj]

Remember to include expenses which don't come up every month - renewing your car title, water bill, whatever. You need to account for those in a monthly budget even if you don't have to pay them every month. If your water bill comes every three months, put 1/3 of that amount in your monthly budget.

Remember to break it down by your payperiods... every week? every 2 weeks? twice a month? once a month. set the money aside with each check.

Look on the grocery thread for couponing advice.

As PP stated, start by tracking every penny you spend. you may be surprised.

[elena_398]

Definately DO NOT USE THE CARD ANYMORE! This will make it worse for you in the long run

[elena_398]

Mypoints.com (I average 3-4 GCs a year from them)

surveyspot.com (I average $25 a month from them)

Wrinsiders.com (surveys, but few and far between... gift cards mostly)

Write down your monthly expenses....
See whats left in your paychecks....
Keep at least $20 or so from each check in an envelope for this credit card.... or more if you are able...

Stop eating out or limit it... pack your lunches or make dinner at home. This really adds up for savings.

Make your coffee at home and bring with you... Grabbing a coffee in the morning really adds up too.

Watch your spending on extras. YOu may have to sacrifice for awhile to get this card paid down. You don't want your credit getting totally screwed up.

[toolmaan]

I echo what the others have said, DO NOT USE THE CARD! I think it is ridiculous that you use a credit card to buy lunch and you don't plan on paying off the card at the end of the month. Habits like these are hard to break, and this is probably the reason the nation is in such a credit diaster.

[Crue2001]

I agree with everyone, but another option you might want to consider is walking into your bank and asking for a personal loan to pay off the card. Don't close the CC account, but do cut up your card. If you can get a loan for the balance, your interest rate will be fixed (unlike almost every Cap One card now), you'll have a definite time period to pay it off, and you'll have a steady payment amount that will actually put a dent in your balance.

[ryejay98]

Cut up the credit card.

Write down EVERYTHING you spend so you can create a balance.

Get a second job, cut down on uneccessary expenses (like that Chinese for lunch)

[Karmarose]

Here is a good starting budget form that you can print out. It's the one I use.

http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_monthly_cash_flow_plan_forms.pdf

I also keep an envelope with ALL of my receipts for everything. In the first mth of budgeting I think it's important to see where your money went. I always forgot to budget for things in the beginning and then was in a pinch towards the end of the paycheck period.

I also made a list of Free entertainment options that I printed out and stuck on my fridge. I was a big shopping therapy kind of girl and this was a big thing to cut back on.

Goodluck

edit: Oh and I use cash for groceries and eating out. Then I can physically see that I have no other option then to go home and make my family Sh** on a shingle for dinner. lol

[kselzer]

Here is a good starting budget form that you can print out. It's the one I use.

http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_monthly_cash_flow_plan_forms.pdf

I also keep an envelope with ALL of my receipts for everything. In the first mth of budgeting I think it's important to see where your money went. I always forgot to budget for things in the beginning and then was in a pinch towards the end of the paycheck period.



I agree with this. This is what I have been doing for the last couple of months. It has helped me tremendously.

Get together a listing of all bills you receive each month. Utilities, mortgage/rent, credit cards, student loans, other loans, etc. Then figure out other items you need to budget for the month (groceries, gasoline, medical co-pays, clothing, pet care, dining out, BLOW$$). I would recommend that you don't skimp in these areas, but budget reasonably. If you run out of money you are likely to go back to the credit card.

[pryan67]

just make sure you take the GOOD advice from Ramsey (budgeting, paying down balances, etc) and ignore the BAD advice (not having credit cards, paying cash for everything, etc)

[fuzzywuzzy86]

EVERYONE- THANK YOU! YOU ARE ALL THE BEST!
I WILL TAKE EVERYONES ADVICE AND CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE( sorry I am so late in replying today is the first day I went back to look at this) Thanks A lot!

[Ripn]

Rather than cut up that 1 and only card you have, place it in a freezer bag with water, and put it in your freezer.
Then I would check into the National Foundation for Credit Counseling @
http://www.nfcc.org/
or call 1-800-388-2227
With over 100 member agencies and more than 900 local offices throughout the country, the NFCC is the national voice for its members, which are nonprofit, mission driven, community-based agencies

Many NFCC members are known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service ® ("CCCS"). An increasing number of agencies operate under other names, but all members can be identified by the NFCC member seal. This seal represents accredited agencies with high standards, ethical practices, certified counselors, and policies and practices which help consumers achieve financial stability.

[pryan67]

Rather than cut up that 1 and only card you have, place it in a freezer bag with water, and put it in your freezer.
Then I would check into the National Foundation for Credit Counseling @
http://www.nfcc.org/
or call 1-800-388-2227
With over 100 member agencies and more than 900 local offices throughout the country, the NFCC is the national voice for its members, which are nonprofit, mission driven, community-based agencies

Many NFCC members are known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service ® ("CCCS"). An increasing number of agencies operate under other names, but all members can be identified by the NFCC member seal. This seal represents accredited agencies with high standards, ethical practices, certified counselors, and policies and practices which help consumers achieve financial stability.




one HUGE issue with CCCS is that they CAN sometimes negotiate lower payments, etc...they ALSO look as bad as BK-13 on your credit reports...but you get NONE of the protection of BK...so you pay the penalty, but get none of the benefits, of BK

[Cinnamonhuskies]

BAD advice from Dave Ramsey? nonsense

[justjessie99]

I have outstanding 3,000 on a cap. one credit card...there interest rate for me is either 21% or 28% I keep paying the 91 or 100 " min fee" and because the int. rate is so high...the next time i go to pay the amt due goes up because of a "over limit fee" that I am charged when I am not even buying anything... its the int. rate that kicks in making it go "over the limit"
For Ex. when I did buy something....
The min due was 91.00 I paid $140 i checked it a few days later and it said i had either 35-40 to "use"/ available...I bought Chinese food at $8.00 cuz I didnt have my debit card with me and then when I check again..BAM! OVERLIMIT FEE! AND THE"BALANCE" OF THE $35-$40 IS GONE....WHAT CAN I DO ...I called them and they said "Ok let's see what options we have available to you" a few minutes later...."i'm sorry at this time we don't have any options available for you"
!!!!!!!!!
I had asked them if I could please have the int rate lowered for at least 2 mths...so that I could make better payments..
please tell me what I can do about this.

The reason why it said it was available, it cause they do not add any fees/penalties until the statement closes out for the month. I have CapOne also, something similar happened when I was out for surgery. It showed I had available funds, however they had not added their fees yet. So I go screwed. Lucky it was only that one time. I have since stopped using the card and almost have it paid off.

Just don't use it and get caught up!

Good luck

[pryan67]

BAD advice from Dave Ramsey? nonsense

you're right...a lot of his advice IS nonsense...


he's a hypocrite, and he has ZERO idea of how credit scoring works, or of the NECESSITY of having credit available

[Ripn]

one HUGE issue with CCCS is that they CAN sometimes negotiate lower payments, etc...they ALSO look as bad as BK-13 on your credit reports...but you get NONE of the protection of BK...so you pay the penalty, but get none of the benefits, of BK

I should have typed more, but didn't, my bad :(

... Maybe the local CCCS could help with a budget, I wasn't really thinking of negotiating lower payments.

[pryan67]

I should have typed more, but didn't, my bad :(

... Maybe the local CCCS could help with a budget, I wasn't really thinking of negotiating lower payments.


true...as long as someone doesn't get into their "program", but rather just take their advice on budgeting (if it's good advice that is...sometimes it's not...)


but budgeting IS important...no matter how you do it...either on your own or with help from someone else