How do I consolidate my credit card debt?
Credit Card
barefootbabee asked:
My wonderful , but obviously money happy boyfriend has accumulated around $13k in credit card debt. He has 4-5 credit cards, one with a balance of $7k. He does not own a house. We tried the bank where he has his truck loan through, but he cannot get a loan because he has no collateral. What can he do now? We want to start moving in the direction of marriage and a family, but not with this looming over us. What is the best way to resolve this issue?
Clinton
My wonderful , but obviously money happy boyfriend has accumulated around $13k in credit card debt. He has 4-5 credit cards, one with a balance of $7k. He does not own a house. We tried the bank where he has his truck loan through, but he cannot get a loan because he has no collateral. What can he do now? We want to start moving in the direction of marriage and a family, but not with this looming over us. What is the best way to resolve this issue?
Clinton
December 24th, 2008 at 7:43 am
go to prosper.com and signup and ask for a loan. cut the card too
December 24th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Your boyfriend needs to get his credit card debt under control. I would suggest talking to Consumer Credit Counseling Service. They are free and will work with his credit card companies to lower his interest rate and monthly payments. I used them several years ago and they were a live saver. In three years I was debt free.
December 27th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
He may need to seek credit counseling. He obviously has a reliance on credit cards that he should address before you get married (Note: financial stress is one of the two biggest reasons for divorce).
He needs to give up use of those cards and learn to use credit more responsibly. If you suggest he visits a credit counselor, then they can discuss that with him very tactfully. They can also likely help him get lower interest rates so that he can pay it off much faster.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:35 am
Best thing to do is to ask your existing card holders to consolidate the others. I did this once with Discover and they swallowed all the other credit balances and lowered the rate. You can then concentrate on paying aggressively on that one card and get the balance paid off more quickly.
This technique works only if you are lowering your rate AND continuing to make the same total payment. That way you pay down the principal more quickly.
January 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Hi,
Try to go on this web site:
they have many info and link about credirt card.
Hope that help !
Jeff
January 6th, 2009 at 5:45 am
This is what I did:
I signed up for a card with 0% interest on balance transfers for a year.
I transferred both of my high interest cards, and CUT UP the new card.
I paid the new card off within that year, with no interest.
The reason why I cut up the new card was because if I made purchases on it, the interest on the purchase and the purchase would be paid after the balance transfer.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
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. If the new rate is far below average of the old one, then opt for consolidation as it will be cheaper for you. After you get all the information, contact a professional, to assist you with the consolidation, and get the best offer.
Debt consolidation is also provided by credit-counseling firms. These firms will total up all your monthly debts and let you make one payment to them. With this amount, the firm will pay the lenders till the entire debt is cleared off.