Debt Free Help

Seemund · 03-08-2007, 12:14 AM

Hello All,I need some serious help
I owe about $7-8K in Credit cards and stuff like that, and somehow I wanted to get a " loan" , or something similar to pay it all off

Could you guys give me some advice>?
I already tried Debt Consolidation from Citi and Bank of America and it was denied

Please advice :)
Thanks!

Si_Chick · 03-08-2007, 02:33 AM

Okay, I am in no way an expert, but I felt bad that no one had posted yet, so I'll throw in my $0.02... most of my knowledge is coming from a Canadian show called "Til Debt do Us Part"... it's a financial advisor who helps married couples get out of debt, but I think the principles are simple.
1) Get rid of that credit card or any others
2) Live on CASH ONLY (it will be easier to monitor what you're spending and see it actually leave your hand)
2.5) Record everything you spend in some sort of log or journal... EVERYTHING, Every penny
3) Start saving... set something up, a savings account, a (I don't what other kinds of things you guys have down there to save with)
4) Allot a certain amount of your paycheque towards the savings which will eventually be used to pay off the debt.
5) Get a better paying job, if necessary/possible. (Make more = save more)
6) Eliminate frivolous spending, including eating fast food or at restaurants/partying too much

So, that's pretty much all I can member. I hope it's helpful, or at least sends you in the right direction... seeing as you seemed to have tried most other options

MyFirstCivic@35 · 03-10-2007, 12:23 PM

That is some great advice by SiChick.

Another piece of advice that I have learned first from an expert then from experience is start with the lowest balance loan first. Make the minimum payments on all the rest, then pound out the lowest balance loan with as much as you can. Soon that will be paid off, then take all of the money that you had been putting towards the first one and apply it to what had been the 2nd lowest balance. Continue this process until they are all gone. Good luck.

MBK · 03-10-2007, 12:26 PM

www.tdiw.com

**truflip** · 03-10-2007, 10:24 PM

to continue Si chicks (which I actually do lol)
do NOT mod your civ!
buy shoes every 6 months..
and get an energy saving washer/dryer...
i got one.. it saves us $15 a month on the bill.. and we wash 3-4 loads every week.... yea....

striker_1818 · 03-10-2007, 10:31 PM

also cut some cash on the titty bars...

Jayhawker · 03-10-2007, 10:37 PM

Getting an unsecured debt consolidation loan will not help your problem. If you are having issues paying your bills, the first thing you need to get rid of is your biggest liability. Yeah, that might be your car but do you need a new car to get you around? Do you rent or own? There are so many things that can have you back on the right track it just takes will power. You really need to think about it though. Can you get by wearing clothes from Target or Ross? Can you give up all the going out and stuff.

The best advise I can give is look at your "TOTAL" monthly outgo compared to your monthly income. Start trimming the "wants" out of your outgo (starbucks and stuff like that) and paying down the debt with the most interest.

[IVI] · 03-11-2007, 12:21 AM

Dave Ramsey has a nationally syndicated "Get Out Of Debt" talk show every day. Check your local listings on AM radio. Listen to him for a few days and listen to the advice he gives people. A few of the things that he would say would be:

Don't get a loan to cover your debt. It's not going to solve your problem. "Short term gain equals long term pain"

Pay off the card with the lowest balance first (like others on this thread have stated). Then slowly work to the other ones.

www.daveramsey.com

striker_1818 · 03-11-2007, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [IVI]

Dave Ramsey has a nationally syndicated "Get Out Of Debt" talk show every day. Check your local listings on AM radio. Listen to him for a few days and listen to the advice he gives people. A few of the things that he would say would be:

Don't get a loan to cover your debt. It's not going to solve your problem. "Short term gain equals long term pain"

Pay off the card with the lowest balance first (like others on this thread have stated). Then slowly work to the other ones.

www.daveramsey.com

or play the lottery

drunknpanda · 03-11-2007, 12:35 AM

-just cut up my credit cards-
its a start.... now if i could get my gf to stop spending so much and wanting to go out all the time..

[IVI] · 03-11-2007, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drunknpanda

-just cut up my credit cards-
its a start.... now if i could get my gf to stop spending so much and wanting to go out all the time..

You know I combatted that? I showed her a graph from Quicken that showed our monthly expenses. She about freaked when she saw that we spent 21% on dining out. Needless to say, the problem is resolved.

Jayhawker · 03-11-2007, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drunknpanda

-just cut up my credit cards-
its a start.... now if i could get my gf to stop spending so much and wanting to go out all the time..

That is wise but DO NOT close the account. I am in the mortage business so take this for what it's worth. The lower your revolving usage is the better it helps your FICO score. Lets say you have 2 credit cards and your limits are $5k on each. You have $7k outstanding, your revolving usage is at 70%. Now, lets say you had 4 cards with $5k limits and you owed $7k. Your revolving usage is now at 35%. You want your revolving usage below 30%. If you have a company that is going to grant you credit, take it. If you feel the rate is too high, just don't use it. Again, you need will power not use the credit.
I do second mortgages and sometimes I can't believe how much revolving debt people have and use the equity in their home to pay it off.

MBK · 03-11-2007, 06:15 PM

john cummuta

kamikaze84 · 03-11-2007, 07:41 PM

Stop drinking. You may or may not go out to drink a lot, but it saves a lot of money if you cut that out. Or at least drink at home, much cheaper that way.

Driving91LX · 03-11-2007, 08:02 PM

I can't remember a time when I didn't have at least some debt. One thing I did a few years was put our finances under new management (me instead of wife!) and lay everything out in a spreadsheet or program.
Also if you get offers for "0% until 2008" or similar you can have $100 going towards your balance instead of interest. Just remember to religiously pay those payments on time (or else).

***Rems07si*** · 03-11-2007, 08:04 PM

www.daveramsey.com

**Yodums** · 03-12-2007, 12:42 AM

This isn't necessarily rocket science, but it's not going to happen overnight. The best suggestion I have for you is to deactivate the card, plan out your monthly budget and how much is going to be allocated to what, but to a limit of where you can still live and operate normally. It requires a lot of effort on your part. You're going to have to learn to live without buying car mod after mod, going out, etc.

Just looking over your profile, if you didn't pay any mods, you would have paid more than 10% of your debt off + interest. I know it's not easy, but deactivate the card and just cut it up.

Another thing to take into consideration is to look for a different card from your bank where it offers low interest. The interest is probably going to kill you, so paying an annual fee of $20 for your card to have an interest rate of ~10-11% is much better then holding on a card that has no annual fees with an interest rate of 19-21%.

P4rD0nM3 · 03-12-2007, 08:30 AM

Maybe you need to do a check list of the stuff that you do. I'm pretty sure that there will be a lot of stuff that you can cut-off which will save you a lot.

* Since you're in 8th Civic, I'm assuming that you own one and you might be one of the guys that want to mod their cars. Keep it stock for now and hyper-mile. EDIT: Nvm, you've already bought stuff...

* Do you have a maxed out broadband connection? Unless you really need the bandwidth, try to lower your connection speed. Or maybe it's time to go to the library and just totally cut it off.

* Do you have any subscriptions to anything? Magazine? Extra Cable Channels? Try to sort them all out and cut out the ones you don't really need.

* Check your phone bill connection, got any extras that you can cut out?

* Try to live a very simple life.

I hope that helps. I mean those are pretty basic and you probably know them already. But for anyone here who thinks that my idea will never work...think again. Those stuff may not exceed $100 or whatever but EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR counts. You can't make a million bucks if you don't have a dollar to start with.

Plus, I'm not really fund of taking a loan to cover a debt since it's basically (For me) a debt covering a debt.

I hope you get out of your debt real soon. My bro has a friend who has a debt of $7k+, he's 20 yrs. old, he hasn't finished college yet...he gets paid $9/hour at UPS...and he STILL KEEPS MODDING HIS 3000GT VR4 even when he's in debt (Like you I guess after reading your mods). He had to stop going to school to go to two jobs in order to just pay it off. Imagine that! I mean...gosh. It's already been proven many times that you will have a higher chance of landing a nice job when you finish college, although there will be some exceptions of course.

My bro had a fight with him a couple of months ago about this (I was there! Rawr~). He was like hey I'm going to come over to show you something that I just bought...so my bro was like uhm ok. And he showed us his not-so-new JDM crate engine. I think he was expecting a "Holy crap nice man." from my bro but my bro told him that he was dumb for buying more stuff for his car when he's in debt up to his ears. He was pissed...like really ticked off. He told my bro whatever and just be a friend and just mind his own business and stop acting like a father or something.

So my bro told him this (I can still vividly remember how he said it):

I'm not one of those friends that tell you how cool you are or how awesome your car is. I'm the kind of friend that tells you to do a reality check.

03-08-2007, 12:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
Seemund Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,569 iTrader: 2 / 100%	Debt Free Help Hello All,I need some serious help I owe about $7-8K in Credit cards and stuff like that, and somehow I wanted to get a " loan" , or something similar to pay it all off Could you guys give me some advice>? I already tried Debt Consolidation from Citi and Bank of America and it was denied Please advice :) Thanks!

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

03-08-2007, 02:33 AM	#2 (permalink)
Si_Chick Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ottawa Age: 23 Posts: 2,756 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Okay, I am in no way an expert, but I felt bad that no one had posted yet, so I'll throw in my $0.02... most of my knowledge is coming from a Canadian show called "Til Debt do Us Part"... it's a financial advisor who helps married couples get out of debt, but I think the principles are simple. 1) Get rid of that credit card or any others 2) Live on CASH ONLY (it will be easier to monitor what you're spending and see it actually leave your hand) 2.5) Record everything you spend in some sort of log or journal... EVERYTHING, Every penny 3) Start saving... set something up, a savings account, a (I don't what other kinds of things you guys have down there to save with) 4) Allot a certain amount of your paycheque towards the savings which will eventually be used to pay off the debt. 5) Get a better paying job, if necessary/possible. (Make more = save more) 6) Eliminate frivolous spending, including eating fast food or at restaurants/partying too much So, that's pretty much all I can member. I hope it's helpful, or at least sends you in the right direction... seeing as you seemed to have tried most other options

03-10-2007, 12:23 PM	#3 (permalink)
MyFirstCivic@35 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Spencerport, NY (just west of Rochester) Age: 38 Posts: 310 iTrader: 0 / 0%	That is some great advice by SiChick. Another piece of advice that I have learned first from an expert then from experience is start with the lowest balance loan first. Make the minimum payments on all the rest, then pound out the lowest balance loan with as much as you can. Soon that will be paid off, then take all of the money that you had been putting towards the first one and apply it to what had been the 2nd lowest balance. Continue this process until they are all gone. Good luck.

03-10-2007, 12:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
MBK Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,757 iTrader: 3 / 100%	www.tdiw.com

03-10-2007, 10:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
truflip Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Ottawa, ON Age: 22 Posts: 9,140 iTrader: 11 / 100%	to continue Si chicks (which I actually do lol) do NOT mod your civ! buy shoes every 6 months.. and get an energy saving washer/dryer... i got one.. it saves us $15 a month on the bill.. and we wash 3-4 loads every week.... yea....

03-10-2007, 10:31 PM	#6 (permalink)
striker_1818 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Farmingdale, New York Age: 23 Posts: 9,702 I HATE Stephanie iTrader: 18 / 100%	also cut some cash on the titty bars...

03-10-2007, 10:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
Jayhawker Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 257 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Getting an unsecured debt consolidation loan will not help your problem. If you are having issues paying your bills, the first thing you need to get rid of is your biggest liability. Yeah, that might be your car but do you need a new car to get you around? Do you rent or own? There are so many things that can have you back on the right track it just takes will power. You really need to think about it though. Can you get by wearing clothes from Target or Ross? Can you give up all the going out and stuff. The best advise I can give is look at your "TOTAL" monthly outgo compared to your monthly income. Start trimming the "wants" out of your outgo (starbucks and stuff like that) and paying down the debt with the most interest.

03-11-2007, 12:21 AM	#8 (permalink)
[IVI] Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Columbus, Ohio Age: 31 Posts: 1,634 Bryan iTrader: 0 / 0%	Dave Ramsey has a nationally syndicated "Get Out Of Debt" talk show every day. Check your local listings on AM radio. Listen to him for a few days and listen to the advice he gives people. A few of the things that he would say would be: Don't get a loan to cover your debt. It's not going to solve your problem. "Short term gain equals long term pain" Pay off the card with the lowest balance first (like others on this thread have stated). Then slowly work to the other ones. www.daveramsey.com

03-11-2007, 12:35 AM	#10 (permalink)
drunknpanda Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Palmdale ,ca Posts: 342 Daniel iTrader: 1 / 100%	-just cut up my credit cards- its a start.... now if i could get my gf to stop spending so much and wanting to go out all the time..

03-11-2007, 06:15 PM	#13 (permalink)
MBK Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,757 iTrader: 3 / 100%	john cummuta

03-11-2007, 07:41 PM	#14 (permalink)
kamikaze84 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: greenville, nc Posts: 258 Blaine iTrader: 0 / 0%	Stop drinking. You may or may not go out to drink a lot, but it saves a lot of money if you cut that out. Or at least drink at home, much cheaper that way.

03-11-2007, 08:02 PM	#15 (permalink)
Driving91LX Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Temple, TX Age: 39 Posts: 1,030 iTrader: 0 / 0%	I can't remember a time when I didn't have at least some debt. One thing I did a few years was put our finances under new management (me instead of wife!) and lay everything out in a spreadsheet or program. Also if you get offers for "0% until 2008" or similar you can have $100 going towards your balance instead of interest. Just remember to religiously pay those payments on time (or else).

03-11-2007, 08:04 PM	#16 (permalink)
*Rems07si* VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pa Age: 24 Posts: 1,015 Remy iTrader: 0 / 0%	www.daveramsey.com

03-12-2007, 12:42 AM	#17 (permalink)
Yodums Scrodums Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 8,433 HIRO - ಠ_ಠ iTrader: 10 / 100%	This isn't necessarily rocket science, but it's not going to happen overnight. The best suggestion I have for you is to deactivate the card, plan out your monthly budget and how much is going to be allocated to what, but to a limit of where you can still live and operate normally. It requires a lot of effort on your part. You're going to have to learn to live without buying car mod after mod, going out, etc. Just looking over your profile, if you didn't pay any mods, you would have paid more than 10% of your debt off + interest. I know it's not easy, but deactivate the card and just cut it up. Another thing to take into consideration is to look for a different card from your bank where it offers low interest. The interest is probably going to kill you, so paying an annual fee of $20 for your card to have an interest rate of ~10-11% is much better then holding on a card that has no annual fees with an interest rate of 19-21%.

03-12-2007, 08:30 AM	#18 (permalink)
P4rD0nM3 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,323 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Maybe you need to do a check list of the stuff that you do. I'm pretty sure that there will be a lot of stuff that you can cut-off which will save you a lot. * Since you're in 8th Civic, I'm assuming that you own one and you might be one of the guys that want to mod their cars. Keep it stock for now and hyper-mile. EDIT: Nvm, you've already bought stuff... * Do you have a maxed out broadband connection? Unless you really need the bandwidth, try to lower your connection speed. Or maybe it's time to go to the library and just totally cut it off. * Do you have any subscriptions to anything? Magazine? Extra Cable Channels? Try to sort them all out and cut out the ones you don't really need. * Check your phone bill connection, got any extras that you can cut out? * Try to live a very simple life. I hope that helps. I mean those are pretty basic and you probably know them already. But for anyone here who thinks that my idea will never work...think again. Those stuff may not exceed $100 or whatever but EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR counts. You can't make a million bucks if you don't have a dollar to start with. Plus, I'm not really fund of taking a loan to cover a debt since it's basically (For me) a debt covering a debt. I hope you get out of your debt real soon. My bro has a friend who has a debt of $7k+, he's 20 yrs. old, he hasn't finished college yet...he gets paid $9/hour at UPS...and he STILL KEEPS MODDING HIS 3000GT VR4 even when he's in debt (Like you I guess after reading your mods). He had to stop going to school to go to two jobs in order to just pay it off. Imagine that! I mean...gosh. It's already been proven many times that you will have a higher chance of landing a nice job when you finish college, although there will be some exceptions of course. My bro had a fight with him a couple of months ago about this (I was there! Rawr~). He was like hey I'm going to come over to show you something that I just bought...so my bro was like uhm ok. And he showed us his not-so-new JDM crate engine. I think he was expecting a "Holy crap nice man." from my bro but my bro told him that he was dumb for buying more stuff for his car when he's in debt up to his ears. He was pissed...like really ticked off. He told my bro whatever and just be a friend and just mind his own business and stop acting like a father or something. So my bro told him this (I can still vividly remember how he said it): I'm not one of those friends that tell you how cool you are or how awesome your car is. I'm the kind of friend that tells you to do a reality check.