Solving Credit Card Debt?

I admit it. I was 18, young and unwise. (not to mention my mom screwed up my credit but that%26#039;s another tale) I racked up about $5,000 in credit card debt. Right now, I just want to pay it off but I don%26#039;t have $5,000 laying around.

I was thinking of trying GreenPath solutions. But I%26#039;ve read some answers and I now have mixed feelings.

Then I was just going to pay the collection agencies but I heard some bad stories about those too.

Any advice on how to handle my debt would be well appreciated especially since I%26#039;m engaged and I refuse to marry my fiance until all of my debt is gone. Thanks in advance!

Solving Credit Card Debt?

I DO NOT recommend going through any debt consolidation services. All you do is pay money for them to do what you could do for free.

And don%26#039;t believe the %26quot;consolidation firms%26quot; that claim they can settle your debt for less than you owe. They technically can, but your credit will be trashed.

They are able to %26quot;settle for less%26quot; by withholding all credit card payments, which angers and frustrates the credit card companies. The firms will then offer X amount of money (generally around half of what you owe) and sometimes the CC company will take the settlement.

You get away with paying less than you owe, but it hurts your credit like nobody%26#039;s business.

Here%26#039;s what I recommend you do:

1. If you have more than one credit card, make a list of them and their remaining balances.

2. Stop all unnecessary %26quot;luxury%26quot; services (cable, satellite, Friday night movies, etc.)

3. Pay all your utilities FIRST

4. Arrange your CC balances smallest to largest

5. Pay the minimum on the largest balances while paying as much as you can on the smallest balance.

6. After the smallest balance is payed off start attacking the new low balance account, and so on and so on.

This is Dave Ramsey%26#039;s approach.

I highly recommend Dave Ramsey%26#039;s %26quot;Total Money Makeover%26quot;. The title sounds lame, but it%26#039;s a great resource for becoming debt free. I also recommend that you start listening to his podcast. It%26#039;s entertaining and VERY informative.

It%26#039;s really admirable of you to want to get rid of your debt before you get married!

Hope this helps!

Solving Credit Card Debt?

Hi...

first step to solve this: Take all your credit cards, cut em up and throw it in the bin.

step2: collect all statements and see how much you owe each one.

step3: try and calculate as to how much money each month you can set aside for each of these cards.

step4: Take your case to the companies and tell them the fact. tell them how much you can pay each of them. no more or no less. all card companies have a scheme for closing debt...bcos if u dont pay up it costs them as much to collect it. legally or illegal way. So best is negotiate and set the target amount,

Step5: stick to payments and finish them off. you can see in a couple of months that you would be out of debt.

Try this...i did and now i am out of debt.

cheer up and be happy.

Solving Credit Card Debt?

Oprah Winfrey%26#039;s Debt Doctor series is the best. All credit guru%26#039;s and big time advisers cover everything you need to know. Especially what the credit card companies dont want you to know. look it up online and buyyyyy ittttttt

Solving Credit Card Debt?

if you have a monthly income, subtract your monthly expenses ( necessities, things u can%26#039;t live without) from it. use the balance to make payments on ur card. just make sure you pay more than the minimum payment.

Solving Credit Card Debt?

What the guy above me said. daveramsey.com my dear.

You want to do what is called a debt snowball. You%26#039;ll be fine. It%26#039;s free and simple.

Listen to this real quick. My link has an audio clip in it. Scroll down and click %26quot;Listen to Dave%26quot;. JUST LISTEN.

http://www.daveramsey.com/tdrs/index.cfm...

This one audio clip of his CHANGED MY LIFE when I heard it.

Listen to this man for free, on the radio or online. This is like getting financial wisdom from Bill Gates except this guy has a national radio show.

Solving Credit Card Debt?

First, make a written budget, so that before you get your next paycheck, you already have a plan for where the money will go.

Second, cut back on your expenses.

Restaurants eat a lot of money, and malls do too.

A typical restaurant meal for 2 runs about $30.

A bag of rice is $0.89, a can of beans is $0.75.

That%26#039;s $28/day ($840/month) you can save.

If your interest rate is 15%, then $446/month will pay off the whole thing by next Christmas.

But I just showed you $840/month just with one item.

Once the debts are gone, then you can eat in the fancy restaurants. And the food will taste better when you don%26#039;t have to worry about debts.