Financial Issues

[LakeJay]

What's up everyone?
I'm about to turn 27 in 2 days. I don't feel like I have any real order in my life. I currently live a friend, helping him pay off his mortgage by paying rent. Now I want to get my own place. I'm from north Jersey so everything is very expensive. With this in mind I need to save a lot.
That wouldn't be such a difficult goal to attain if I didn't have over $10K in credit card debt, not to mention student loans and car payments (incl. insurance). I don't know where to begin with saving up or paying off debt.
Am I looking for a miracle? Any ideas or suggestions on where to begin or how to do this? I am baffled, distressed, and everything else under the sun. Thanks for listening.

Later,
Jay

[Jaime_s]

Personally I would try to pay off as much of your Credit Card debt as possible, because with 10k in debt and huge interest rates, it acumulates quickly and it might take you a while to pay off that debt.

If you are looking to try to get a home loan, you probably wont be approved for a loan with that much debt.

Sorry I dont have an answer for you.

You might want to check into consolidating all of your debt, I dont know much about the process, or how benificial it is, but it is worth checking out.

[Cricket]

Don't consolidate. The only loan you should ever consolidate is a school loan...I don't say "ever" as in you "have to".

I have A LOT in school loans, a car payment and had cc debt. The first thing to remember is shool loans aren't "bad" debt, only bad if you don't pay them back.

Pay off your credit cards first. I had some cc debt, but finally decided to pay it all off (well, I am almost there). I just took one pay chack a month and paid it toward my cc debt. It wasn't easy, but probably a little easier for me than you. I have a husband, so there is more money coming into our household. After a while it's actually fun to watch your debt go away. Remember, the more you pay off, the more you will have. You won't have all of those monthly payments going out.

I don't think school loans can count against you when purchase a house or a car...but I would check that out first.

I only know all of this because I do have debt and because I watched an episode of Oprah while jobless about 6 months ago. There's a woman who wrote a book on debt. I didn't read the book, but she was very helpful on the show. Her name is Suze Orman. I just looked on Oprah.com and you can find a link to a monthly article by Suze.

You should chack it out. Good stuff.

[coll214]

You should definitely pay off the credit card debt first. right now, i'm in my own apartment, and have credit debt and car loan/insurance. As long as you continue to be ontime with your payments for them, you shouldn't have a problem getting approved for a home loan or a credit check...i was told their more concerned that you pay things on time than how much of it you have! hope this helped :)

[pisces2473]

Coll--are you saying that it's better to send 1/2 the money owed (or whatever you can send) than not sending anything? I cannot pay off my credit card bill for the first time in a few years, so I sent them 1/2--I'm thinking it shows that I'm putting in an effort to pay it, rather than just defaulting...

[coll214]

yup...i always try to put as much as i possible can towards them every month. they don't care if you can't pay the whole thing (that's where the companies make their money anyway, interest), as long as you pay something and preferably over the minimum due. i even had a friend who talked down what her minimum payment was supposed to be because she just couldn't pay it.

[golfgirl827]

I was in some credit card debt, and although I pay everything on time and all, I was just overwhelmed. Ever try checking out the banks, or the online sites like lending tree for taking out a small personal loan and consolidate all those cards (CUT THEM UP TOO!) into one monthly payment. Thats what I did!

Let me know if you have any other questions, shoot me an email...

[slater1018]

Hi Jay,

If I'm not mistaken, interest rates for student loans are super low right now so i would suggest you consolidate them, if you can.

I know I just consolidated mine this year and I believe after all the perks I get (paying 60 consecutive payments, etc.) my interest rate (for my govt loans) will be below 3%. Unfortunately can't say the same for my private loans. :cry:

Hope that advice helps.

p.s. I agree w/everyone else on paying your cc loans ASAP - I assume those are the debts you have with the highest interest rates. Additionally, my govt. loans allowed me to defer my loans for a year (I'm studying to take the bar exam.)

[LakeJay]

Hey everyone
I just wanted to thank you all for the advice and your trying to help me out. I think the main message I got was to work on get my CC debt down ASAP. I think once I can get that down then I worry about everything else. Thanks again.

I'll talk to y'all soon
Jay

[ShawnDC]

The whole self-perpetuating credit card debt cycle is frustrating to say the least. I have a ridiculous amount of credit card debt, but also have a decent job and can make the payments without any problem. I've found that if you are making the payments, and making them on time-basically just treading water, there are few solutions out there. Sure, there is the "just make bigger payments" option, but when you are already living paycheck to paycheck, finding extra money to do that is extremely difficult. Credit Counselors are reluctant to help because I'm not behind on payments-and they tell me they will ruin my credit. There seems to be no low-interest loans available to someone who doesn't own a house. I tried calling my credit card company to get them to lower my interest payment, they just laughed me off because of the large amount of debt I owe, telling me that since I pay my payment in full and on time every month, they only raised the interest I'm paying a little bit.

[Mackles73]

I consolidated my Credit Card Debt and it made the world of difference. Instead of a 21.5% Interest per month I pay 10% and it's all in one bill.

[ShawnDC]

What Credit Consolidation organization did you use?

Thanks!