Student in Debt.
Date: Sun, 06/11/2006 - 23:04
I have 2 credit cards both who are in a lot of debt because of being over the limit and late chargers.
My hours were cut back at work causing me to miss some payments and it just snowballed from there. Then I was temporarily layed off. This caused me to get loads of finance chargers put on my cards making me depressed and leaving me with the attitude of ignoring it and it will go away mentality.
On one of my cards My credit limit was 200. Due to charges and other things my bill quickly went up to a little of 400 dollars in around November 2005. I then got around 300 dollars to pay most of it off. I setup an automatic payment of only 20 bucks a month. I recently thought everything was fine and payed off on that account but I just checked it the other day and noticed i have finance chargers out the wahzoo. I now owe 456 dollars on that card after having it payed down to around 100 bucks.
Now my other card I dont think Ive made a payment on it in almost a year. Im pretty sure they stopped putting finance chargers on it and its at around 775. Which is mostly just finance chargers from being over the limit, and late penaltys. This card has a 400 dollar limit.
Im trying to find the best way to get rid of these debts. Im done with the ignoring it, cause its just gonna get worse and im just 19 and Ive probably got terrible credit, ruining my chances for student loans, getting an apartment, etc.
I need advice on what to do. Should I get this debt consolidated or what. Do I call the companies and try to arrange something with them. Try to get some of those charges taking off my account. Im very worried about my financial future here. I know it might not be a lot of money compared to some people but I Just have all these negative things against my credit. I'm also young and not informed really about any of this.
Thanks in advance for any help I might recieve and sorry about the long post.
Student In Debt
Hang in there darling because it ani't hardly over for you at all. I don't know answers because I am new here. But I am age 51 and believe me your credit is very repairable! But you are right to NOT ignore it and to deal with it. I do not understand the laws that allow these additional charges but there are those who can help you deal with it or deal with it for you. Yes, you are young but you CAN also be informed and therefore prepare yourself for a future of great credit management. Find out from those who know (here and elsewhere) what to do to position your life to be debt-free, as much as possible and to SAVE, SAVE, invest and SAVE some more. I believe if you do this that this could be your most expensive lesson and if you read the threads you should be feeling better already! Stay away from PayDay Loans and small finance companies and don't borrow from a credit union. Should you have to get car or home financed, so it at a big, legitimate bank and even investigate them before you commit to any loans. Maybe one emergency credit card to maintain good credit that you pay off monthly. If you save and invest smartly, you should never need a credit card. Pay with your bank debit card. Learn patience. If you can't afford it, save for it or do without it. Nothing will contribute more to your peace of mind and then you can concentrate on all the other headaches of this world. Good Luck! With that said, I think education is extremely important so see what the experts say but I say that is a good reason to get student loans. But still be very careful and make sure you have looked every place you can for Grants. Take care.
xile--Have you pulled your credit reports? Since you haven't pa
xile--Have you pulled your credit reports? Since you haven't paid the other card in about 1 year it may have gone to collections.
go to www.annualcreditreport. com and pull all three of your credit reports if you haven't done so already. This is a free service you can do once a year.
Thanks
Thanks for the words of widsome jaelynbrown :)
No I havent done any credit reports. And yes my capital one card as been sent to colectors because I got a letter from one and they stopped putting all the finance charges on it awhile ago.
xile, take the time to pull your credit reports. It's very easy
xile, take the time to pull your credit reports. It's very easy to do and only takes a few minutes for each one.
Go through them very carefully. Make sure there are no errors and that everything reported on there belongs to you and is correct. Anything you find that's incorrect, dispute it. (You can do this online as well)
Second step is to send a letter to the collection agency and try to work out a payment arrangement that you can afford. Ask them to remove any negative information reported. Do this by mail so that you'll have any agreements in writing.
Make sure to add a Cease and Desist clause in the letter that says that they may contact you by mail only. If you go to the books section of this website, you'll find a free e-book with letters that you may copy and use for this purpose.
Xile, follow the steps shown by Jessi. Compare your credit copie
Xile, follow the steps shown by Jessi. Compare your credit copies from the three bureaus and dispute the items that are shown incorrectly in your file. They lower the credit scores to a great extent. Your credit file should report correct information of your debt accounts only.
Since you are highly interested in repairing your credit, make sure that you send regular payments to your creditors. Talk to them and explain the financial problems you had in the past. Assure them that you will be sending the payments regularly. They might be willing to offer some benefits in your repayments.
Talk to a consultant if you are finding it tough to handle the situation. They will negotiate with your creditors and lower down the interest rates and fees. You can do a free sign up in this website and get in touch with a debt counselor of your area. He will offer you a free counseling and frame your repayments. This will be helpful in your case.
You are at a young age and must learn the importance of good credit. You should take care of it in the best possible ways so that your future lenders respect your financial identity. Read some of the pages on how to improve your credit.
12 golden guidelines to solve your debts
8 milestones in your journey towards a debt free life
Get the proper debt help
