How are your CC bills?

$65K in debt, how can you sleep with that much debt on your shoulders..... Ouch

Personally I rarely carry cash. I charge about everything, but with that in mind I have cash in the bank to pay off my cards in full every month......

Actually I am a little obsesed with keeping my cards paid off in full such that once a week I pay the balance off on-line. A little over the top, but it works for me.

About 10 years ago I had $10K in CC debt, but I realized what a waste it was and paid everything down within 6 months. I basically went on a spending diet and have realized that I have much less stress and am much happier now that I have no debt.

Just figure, if you have $10K in debt you can be paying $150 or more per month in interest. That is a good chunk of cash over a year.

I have two reasons that I charge rather than pay with cash are for the airline miles and to track spending. The airline miles usually pays for a couple of free flight a year.

But there again, I don't spend unless I know I have cash in the bank to buy something. I also take my spending much more seriously and question just about every purchase.

Another thing that I watch very carefully is my credit score. I have worked very hard to build my credit rating, I don't want to mess that up. I use www.myfico.com to keep track of my rating and also alert me is new trade line (Credit Lines) are opened in my name.

Another good resource for credit help is www.clarkhoward.com. Clark pretty much tells it as it is.

My only word of advise is get your credit under control and you will be much happier......

 

The state of the economy today was brought on by 2 things.

#1 Greed
The bankers extended far too much credit to people who could not afford it.

#2
The public who were not willing to live within their means.


I'm sorry that people are losing their house, but in most cases they have nobody to blame but themselves.

They not only bought a house for far more then they could afford but also had to park 2 brand new option loaded vehicles in the driveway.

Then of course a new house needs new furnishings so they dug out the plastic and outfitted the house with all the latest and greatest.

The kids were each handed cell phones and given x boxes with all the latest games to go along with the new tv in their newly furnished rooms.

And then after going on this enormous spending spree they felt they needed to reward themselves so they take off on a 2 weeks vacation to Disneyland.

I don't feel sorry for those people at all.
They needed a far over do Reality check.

The ones that do get my respect and sympathy are the working poor, the guy that gets up every day and works 2 low paying jobs because he can't find a decent paying job.

Unfortunately the guy that has the balls to say we can't afford it is the one that ends up paying for everyone else.

 

AKA an illusion of them being more than they really are.

Phony, if you will...

 

I owe about $1000 in credit cards, but most of it is in 6-13 months no interest plans... so im good.... i think....

 

Only using one credit card these days and it's paid off every month.

Got divorced 12 years ago and was $13,000 in debt. The ex always said "if you want it, get it, we'll pay for it later", and so I went along with it. I usually paid off more than the minimum, so never paid attention to the balances. Then one month, only paid the minimum and my balance didn't go anywhere and that's when I started paying attention and OUCH!!!! I've got a friend who was always ragging on me when I'd buy something... Well, I got put on a budget and the balances were gone in about 18 months and my spending habits changed.

When I bought my house the bank said I qualified for a house with an $1,100 a month payment (the one I was getting was about $700) I said "no thanks".

I have old furniture and no fancy tv and no debt

For they guy who said his lawyer said his debt would be wiped out, I thought the new laws changed all that - to where you still owed the $$$ but they re-negotiate your terms...

 

That is dependent on what chapter of bancrupcy you are currently in.

 

Thanks for the information.

 

I actually only have 2 cars and 1 motorcycle. I put the vette up for sale before I started working short hours in anticipation...but it's one of those niche markets that the buyer has to be out there looking for it.

I bought the second house earlier this year when we had a bunch of work and before everyone start getting laid off. it's being rented out and I am making more than what I owe mortgage and taxes on it. in less than 2 years the remodel costs will be paid off from the extra income and I will start making a profit of 400/mo. imo, it was a great investment. where else will you make 8% (or more if I get another student in there, like 14%) on top of home appreciation, plus the 20-30K in raised house value from the remodel? I like those odds.

However, investments cost money up front. When you spend all your money on the investment and then have decreased income on your regular job- thats when things get tough. I don't know how house prices are by you, but try a 2600/mo mortgage and tax payment, new tacoma payment, utlities, medical bills, etc... and let me know how long your savings last. Then keep in mind that I am 26 and haven't been making decent money all that long. I never lived check to check and I am not there yet. But at the current rate, it's quite a possibility.

I get 3% cash back on my CC purchases. If i wait until I hit $200, I get an extra $50 thrown in for free. Why wouldn't you take the extra money? Plus, you can always dispute if there's an issue.

 

we just paid our credit cards off a couple of weeks ago...............oh what a feeling!!

 

i never carry a balance on credit cards. i just use them for fraud protection when i buy stuff off the internet then pay them in full when the bill comes. i hate debt

 

mine is down to 500 and change. It will be the best thing once i get it paid down! its been a long, LONG 4 years

 

speaking of debt my truck loan is down to 17k!!! i originally took out 25k and its nice to see it shrinking every month

 

ive be frugle for few tears now. i pay off all my cc cards every month. i only use it to buy gas. which is about $120 to $160 per month.

 

Not paying your full balance on your CC every month is suicide.

No CC debt.

Everything I own is paid for except the truck and my education...both of which will be paid off in less than five years. A year of living expenses (including truck and student loan payment) in liquid savings. Retirement is coming along.

 

I have 5% on my main credit card ($5k balance on it). My other cards don't have a balance.

 

I have 4 CC, but only use 2. One is a gas card that I get 5% cash back when I get gas, the second I get 3% back on groceries/utilities/pet stores which is where I spend the most of my money. 2 months ago I cashed in my rewards and I had $250.00 and that was only since January 1st. That is free money! I pay my cards off ever 2 weeks when I get paid so basically I earning $1000 extra a year by using my CC. I think as long as your dont carry a balance they are great!

 

Well, I am back in debt. My renter moved out of my second house and I am trying to sell it now. I am looking at +20K when/IF I sell it. I remodeled my kitchen last year which cost was about 12K. I got new flooring last week finally since I Was tired of walking on sub-floor for the last year. It cost a bit more than I expected, and my driveway went to shit this year as well, so I had to have a new drive put in this week. I was doing fine until the floors and driveway :-/

Sold the vette, but I bought a harley so it was a wash there. I also bought a camper and trying to sell the other bike to switch payments there. Was able to renew my mortgage (not a refi since I didn't start back at 30 years) and save 300 bucks/mo there and I now have a renter in the basement of my house that I live in for 400/mo.

I owe roughly 10K in CC, mostly from the remodel, that will be paid off as soon as I sell my second house. I can use the left over to pay off the camper and other bike until I sell it. Then, all I will owe on is the truck. I think its at like 2.9% interest so I am not too worried about losing too much. Man, I can't wait to sell that second house.

 

we paid off our cc bills again since the last time........and they had added up since we bought and moved into our house, and started doing some things for the house and garage. paid off now, but im about to put some tc uca's on mine....then have it paid off in august again.

 

I have no CC bills. But I do own stock in CC companies.

 

There are three sides to the story. There is the side of irresponsible credit card owners. Then there is a side of responsible credit card owners and then there is a side of those who got caught in middle of a really nasty ordeal and need to survive.

When I graduated college I expected to find a job within a couple of months. 12 months later I was still looking and all of my college loan institutions refused to defer the loan until I do find a job. So here I was trying to pay off $500/mo college loans while working on a completely unrelated to my career job. I also kept going on interviews and with my limited pay I was forced to use credit cards to buy plane tickets so that I could find a job and get myself out of that misery. Then I got a job... move cost me 2000 not including 300 for insurance. Upon arriving here most of my furniture, electronics was broken. Insurance on freight paid quarter of what was lost because they provided insurance by weight and not by type of item. So here I was in a new state with broken appliances and furniture. Need a microwave... paycheck is in 1 month.. bought a microwave on a credit card. Needed a chair because mine was in shambles.. so thats another 50. I also needed a table and that cost me 100 used. After 6 months I finally paid off my credit debt and out of nowhere my building gets hit with a lighting during storm. Every single electric appliance from fridge to computer was fried. Renters insurance did not cover acts of "god". So that was another 5000 of climbing back into debt. Then my car broke and cost me 3000 in repairs. Then US economy hit rock bottom. Prices started going up. With all my credit cards shredded I survived on 52 dollar per month income (paying all my loans and rent and gas etc etc first) because I did not want to climb into debt again. Then I thought it would be wise to set up automatic deduction with my bank. All fine and dandy except one day bank did not process my automatic payment on time and credit rate went from 5% to 29%. Good luck paying off your debt paying $269 in interest. Never less here I am. Already paid off 3 credit cards. 1 left with a high balance. On my current repayment plan I hope to pay it off by May of 2011. At which point I will shred this remaining card and never in my life will I again get another card.

Concept of credit card is not that bad.. except that it is not a loan like a mortgage loan. Somehow it is perfectly legal for my bank to not lower my credit card rate after 1 year of making all my payments on time. They said that they want to see some progress on repaying balance. More progress that is. They want me to pay half the credit balance in 6 months to even consider lowering interest rate. And of course i cant seem to be able to transfer my balances because no other company wants to issue me a card. So... to pay half the balance in 6 months i would need to make 1000/mo credit card payments.. im already paying 500 and its stressing me out the wazoo. Perhaps I could start pimping myself on a corner?