My husband and I are 20,000 in credit card debt. We used to make great money together -?
June 24, 2010 
8 Comments
gina m asked:
but his business has slowed (He already works 70 hrs week). My question is how can we get out of debt before our credit gets ruined? We are -1,000.00 per month bringing in the cash. I am trying to find an extra job but already do real estate on the side which has been slow. Please someone help. Every month, something isn't getting paid. We tried trading in our cars for cheaper payments but owe too much.
Thanks for your help.
but his business has slowed (He already works 70 hrs week). My question is how can we get out of debt before our credit gets ruined? We are -1,000.00 per month bringing in the cash. I am trying to find an extra job but already do real estate on the side which has been slow. Please someone help. Every month, something isn't getting paid. We tried trading in our cars for cheaper payments but owe too much.
Thanks for your help.
focus on the cards with the highest interest rates and pay more on them
or
get a new credit card that allows you no interest on transfer balance then transfer and pay down as fast as you can
You can get out of this hole. I own a flea market and I know this is going to sound crazy since you are in the hole so bad. You have to spend money to make money. You are coming up on the right time of the year also depending on what climate you live in. I am in the midwest so sales are mainly in the spring summer and fall. Anyway, once garage sales start up, get up early and take some money and go find bargains bargains bargains!! I mean cheap but nice quality or unique items. Once you have a few weeks worth of items, hold your own garage sale. If you think you have something valuable, look it up on Ebay. I went to a auction (wonderful bargains there) and bought a old race car track, cars and instruction booklet for 12.00. I thought the booklet was worth something however in the long run it was not. One of the little slot cars was though. I put the whole thing on ebay thinking I would be lucky to just get my money back. Imagine my surprise when that auction ended 7 days later at $801.30 Yep you read that right. There are plenty of sources to hen-peck around at. Goodwills, garage sales, flea market, estate sales ect. There is ALWAYS bargain. it is work but its fun and will help make a few payments or two depending on how hard you work at it. Plus its something you two can do together. Two eyes are better than one. This is coming from a single mother of two teen boys and sporadic child support. You can do this!! Good Luck!!
Go to the people you owe and see what kind of deal you can make with them. I did it and they wrote off alot that I owed and came up with a payment plan that I could live with. They can't help if they don't know.
Get all the cards together. Cut them all up. Then work out which one has the highest interest rate, regardless of the amount on it, and pay the minimum on all cards, and the extra on that card. Do not use the cards, because that will get you even more into debt and undo all your good work.
The highest interest rate card is costing you the most interest per dollar owed. So getting rid of this debt first will make your money work more efficiently at paying off the debts.
If you have room in your home, get a renter. Rent out a room and make extra money that way, even if it means putting two kids in the same bedroom. Things are tough, so sometimes you have to do stuff you don't want to do. Getting a boarder to pay you 'rent' and to cover their share of the bills will definitely ease your burden. Put ads up on university notice boards and you'll soon get someone. Charge them a bond of 4 weeks rent and then if they leave you high and dry, you can still pay the bills.
Do you need 2 cars? Really? If you can possibly arrange things with one car, sell the other.
Buy everything in bulk – toilet paper, washing powder, and tinned food for example. This saves you more money per unit and you can spend that extra savings on getting rid of the debt.
Call your telephone, internet, and utility providers and see if you can get a better deal. Shop around on the internet for cheaper rates. If you have broadband, get rid of it and get dial up, or axe the internet completely for the next few months.
All you need is food and shelter, at the end of the day. Cut back on power and gas in your house. Turn off all the lights. Turn off televisions and other appliances at the wall when you're not in the room.
Surely you have stuff lying around the house that you've accumulated. Sell the television in the newspaper classifieds. Sell your furniture. If there's only 2 of you, you can get by without a dining setting, bedside tables, coffee tables, and wall units. If you are that desperate to get out of debt, then selling these non essential things will give you a leg up. You can also sell anything you have like sporting equipment, motorbikes, lawnmowers, kitchen appliances, digital cameras, and stereo equipment. You don't need any of that stuff, really.
Take your own lunch to work. Make some sandwiches and freeze them, and then just get one out in the morning from the freezer. If you spend money on buying your lunch, you're just throwing money away.
It's kind of hard to offer advice when I don't know all the figures (amounts owing, interest rates etc).
Focus on clearing the highest rate debt first, and covering all the bills. Don't make late payments. Contact the credit card companies and tell them you're in financial difficulty, and see if you can negotiate a lower rate, or try to transfer some of the balance to a card with a lower rate. This will save you money long term.
The faster you do this the better.
Best wishes
Yes you can.
There are many debt consolidation compnies offering such service. You can apply online also.
Better put your money into a high interest account @12% APY as I did and get extra income.
Consolidation is the best solution available to the credit cardholders to improve their future credit. People go for debt consolidation for many reasons: prolonging the loan period from 5 – 15 years and reducing the interest rate. Consolidation allows you to go for a loan with lower interest rate than the one you are currently paying. Besides it simplifies the loan repayment as you are paying only one lender in place of various payments to different lenders.
Before consolidating your credit card debts, it is important to carry out thorough investigation to determine its suitability for your condition. Many credit card companies and banks provide debt consolidation services to their customers. To start the process, it is important to scrutinize your debt properly. Write down the interest rates charged on various cards.
QUICK
Call your credit card companies and talk to them!
They will often offer services that will protect your account in case of layoffs, firings, bankruptcy, medical, etc.
ADVANCED
You have six credit reports total. Access each and every one of them and spend a day fine tooth combing every single entry. Dispute all information that is not 100% accurate. When you are at the end of your rope, decide on which credit report you're willing to let go, and decide which accounts are on that and not the others, and…
Remember that a FICO score takes the middle score so the lowest score is less important than the top two.