Question: Situation is this. I am very topheavy in debt. I have lots of credit card debt. I have other debt to but i’m not getting anywhere with my credit cards. I have been able to make all my minimum payments but paying like zero principal on my cards for over a year. I haven’t used any of my card in a year in a half. I cannot afford to pay any extra on any of my minimums. My income is about to go down at work and i will not even make budget on all my minimums. Besides the fact that even if i make my minimums i get nowhere, soon i will not be able to make my minimums.
I do keep a budget i have for the past year. I only buy what i need i never spend any extra it would be impossible to tighten my budget. I am afraid i start getting behind on credit card payments late fees interest rates galore i’ll never get out of it.
So i figure i need to do something.
Credit counseling came to mind. I talked to a company there like yeah you deal with us you only have to pay 40 percent of the balance. At first they advertised it as a credit card counseling service, but then when i talked to them on the phone all of a sudden it’s a debt meltdown service. They’ve been around some time. the website is www.moneycares.com. Anyone here of them.
Anyway i need some sort of credit counseling advice help that is why i’m here. All i do is stress over my credit cards.
Any thoughts on credit counseling, and if so, how do i know who the frauds are.
Even if my credit suffers i just need to do something about this i don’t even care.
I got in my credit card trouble due to financial job loss and excess medical bills i didn’t go out and shop and buy lavish anything for myself.
Answer: The LAST place I’d go is to a web-only service. The second-last is a place that “guarantees” or states up front anything like “you deal with us you only have to pay 40 percent of the balance.”
Have you tried your bank or credit union? With your payment history, you may be able to get a consolidation loan at a substantially lower interest rate that your cards have. For the same total monthly payment you should be able to pay off the principal, too. well i already cut all my cards but one (in case of emergency i and mean EMERGENCY, haven’t had to use it in last year in a half either)
I heard it all. Pay extra on the higher interest cards. Pay the small balances off. Thing is, i can barely keep minimum payments. i have been able to keeping a real tight budget (patting myself on the back) but the interest rates keep going up and the minimum payments have went up since the bankruptcy reform. And my income at my job is going to be down at least for awhile. Plus there could be a layoff. I just wanna deal with this mess before i do get laid off and am forced to deal with it, or start getting behind on payments. Like i said i’m paying 90 percent interest. I don’t even make a bad income but my debt expenses are over the roof. I do see it getting better being i will have a personal loan paid off the next year, and a court fine paid off in 4-5 months. So yeah i may have a chance to pay the cards off in the long run being no unemployment and we get our OT back. But that could go wrong too. I’ll have freed up money so it’s kind of tough to figure out what the right thing to do is.
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