Some advice?
Date: Sat, 01/20/2007 - 21:19
My debt is slowly growing and I'm becoming more and more nervous. I currently have around 12,000 in debt. I'm not behind in payments, and I've been able to pay a little more than the minimum for several months now.
I get the feeling that maybe consolidating my credit cards would benefit me? Less interest maybe? What can you all suggest?
As a preventive measure, I've taken all of my credit cards and put them in a sealed envelope. I then put the envelope deep inside my closet. All that's left in my wallet is my drivers liscense and my debit card. I figured I'll try the whole cold turkey way of dealing with credit cards. ;P
I have heard others on here say that a dmp will not take you if
I have heard others on here say that a dmp will not take you if you are current with the creditor -- that they only take delinquent accounts. That is just what I think I've heard.
One suggestion is to call the credit cards directly... tell them you are have financial problems and want to make arrangements before it gets to be delinquent. (I would think they would appreciate you calling before it gets to be a problem rather than afterwards...). They may stick you on a set payment schedule and drop the rate for a while. However, they may also demand automatic withdrawals from your checking account as a stipulation to such a plan.
If that doesn't work, I might say to work on one card at a time. Keep paying at least the minimum's... but start off with your smallest balance and pay anything extra you can afford towards it every month. When it's finally paid off, you can take the money you were paying towards it and apply it to the next card. So on and so forth.
While trying to pay the cards off, you should definitely not be putting new charges on them. That only defeats the whole purpose.
I always recommend that you contact that the companies themselve
I always recommend that you contact that the companies themselves and try to make payment arrangements with them. You will be surprised at the number of companies that will be willing to work with you if they know that you are having a problem.
Also, you might want to consider a debt consolidation program that will assist you in the matter. However, I would recommend that you contact your local BBB and do your research on these particular companies. There are many debt consolidation programs out there that are nothing more than scam artists. Just be careful.
I hope that everything works out well for you and you have come to the right place for help. Let us know how things are working out.
