Credit Cards Debit

you need Dave Ramsey. I would try to put them all one one card and pay that off. Put it on the one with the lowest intreast rate.

I agree with the earlier post. Call them and try to work something out BEFORE you are delinquent. They are more willing to work with you when you are in good standing with them and, especially now, they would rather get something than nothing. You will have to speak to a manager because the average call center person won't have the authority to help you much. Also, check out Dave Ramsey. ANYTHING by Dave will help you a lot. If you can find a church in your area doing a Financial Peace University class, take it! They usually have scholarhsips for people who can't afford to pay the fee. His class or books will help you understand how to keep your head above water while your hubby gets back to work. He may need to go deliver pizzas or take any kind of job he can find to help support the family until he finds something more permanent. I'll pray for you and your family. Call the credit card company (but be prepared to be frustrated by the whole process if they aren't receptive to you) and get some info from Dave and you'll be on your way to financial freedom. Good luck! It's tough out there right now.

Check out www.daveramsey.com - you can listen to his radiop show onilne- or live on radio near you or on FOX business channel on TV. His book is the Total Money Makeover. It changed our lives- really! Gives you a plan to get rid of debt- save more and invest for future. I am a stay at home Mom mostly and it took us 2 yrs to pay off our debts- but now we are lookign at 3-6 months of income in savings- ready to invest for retirement and slowly pay off our house (8 yrs) - last Fall we bough ta slightly used mini van with cash- it can be done- DAVE can help- it is the best plan ever!!! CHECK himn out! Lots of his videos are on YOU TUBE as well! BE BLESSED!

K.

go onto the credit cards web sight, or your credit report sight & dispute everything over & over. If they don't do their part of the paperwork every time the charge gets taken off. A friend disputed his debts this way & it worked for him. It might take some time but be persistant. Then pay cash or checks for everything & don't set yourself up for this fall again.

Im sorry you are going through Credit Card debt. The best advice I can give you is to call the CC companies and let them know about your situation. Be honest and call several times so you get to talk to different people. Go to Suze Orman's website, she has a lot of advice on this regard. Download the budget sample that she has, so that way you know exactly where your money is going to and where you can save, it is very details, it helped my husband and I to get on top of our money.
And please if you do not have cash for it and it is not a need, do not buy it!!!!!

Good luck!!!
A. l.S.

I have also been there and I know exactly what you are going through. When you need to decide between credit cards and food and lights, the credit card companies just have to wait.

I highly highly reccomend Dave Ramsey. DO NOT use a consilidation company they will just make things worse.

The only way you can legally dispute the charges is if you feel you are not responsible for paying for them. Otherwise you will be commiting fraud by disputing them.

Dave Ramsey's debt snowball works! First you need a budget, you list your debts in order of importance first, house, lights, car food etc. Then you list your credit cards in lowest to highest balance order. Once you get to 0, any other credit cards will just have to wait! As you pay off the smallest balance you can then put that payment towards the next debt. Before you know it everything will be paid off.

Dave Ramsey has some great books and advice. We got out of debt using his snowball method and now we have money in savings and are on our way to saving for college and retirement.

When creditors call you explain that your husband is out of work, and that they are below the line! Make it clear that you have all intentions of paying. You may also want to research the FDCPA (fair debt collection practices act).

Good luck, and hang in there I'm sure your husband will find something soon. If he needs any assistance with his resume let me know. I do professional resumes and would love to help if I can!

R. :0)

S., first of all, sorry to hear about your situation. Can you get a debt consolidation loan?? This would consolidate everything and usually lowers your payments. Do you own your home and if so, do you have any equity you could pull out to pay off the credit cards. You might even call the creditors and talk with them and ask them to help you and maybe they can lower your interest rates or do other things to help you out. Sometimes they are willing to help and sometimes they are not, but its worth a try. Surely, they would be better off getting something versus nothing so it only benefits them to help you. Again, sorry for your situation, keep your chin up and keep your faith that things will get better.

Call the card companies and explain your situation and try to set up a payment plan, even if it's $10.00 a month. Start with the least one if you have any extra money and pay them off one at a time, realizing that they will certainly raise the interest rate to the max., otherwise, it'll go against your credit rating.

I started doing this a few years ago, and I still do it since it worked so well.

Pay as much on your credit cards as you can. Then use your credit cards to pay the bills that will accept credit cards.

I got into a little money problem a few years ago, and didn't know what I was going to do. I got the thought to add up all of my bills that would accept credit cards as payments. Then I would pay $5.00 more. Once the payment hit my credit card, I would pay my bills. I still do it. It works out so good for me. And I don't have to worry about 5 or 6 transactions going through my checking. And I know how much I have on my credit card to spend.

Hope this helps.

Contact each company and explain your situation. See if they will work with you. Talk to your banker, ask if they offer an interest free credit card. The banker may have other ideas to help you. I have a home business and will tell you and your husband what I do and see if it is a fit for him and/or you. The job does take time and effort but the income is whatever you want to make it. Reply to this message if you are interested in hearing more.

Don't pay one of those debt consolidation companies to handle the situation. I research it and what they do is they don't pay your cards for three months and then they tell them you can't pay and try to get them to deal. You can do that yourself!

I would certainly talk to them first and some may deal, some may not. If you have to be delinquent, then try paying what you can AND calling them and saying this is what the payment is, will they accept it (and not file on you.) If they won't, THEN you might consider going three months without payment and then call them and see if they will deal with you. Usually what they do is make the debt smaller (like if you pay it now then they can reduce the debt.) Then you could try to pay them off one at a time.

Meanwhile, DON'T CHARGE STUFF. I know, easier said then done. But as long as you keep charging you are getting deeper into it.

I feel your pain. I've been there. The biggest thing that helped me when things got out of control was I realized my tombstone was not going to show my credit score. Nobody wants their credit to go bad. When it does Google Fair Debt Collection Act and read it. They will run all over you. Do what you can, learn your rights, and pray about it. And don't forget, what's important is what your tombstone will read one day. This too shall pass quicker than you think and you'll be back on your feet.

S.,
I'm sorry to hear about you recent situation. I am in the finacial industry and can tell you that it's better to pay something rather than nothing. It's great that you still have respect for your credit and want to preserve it. You may want to go as far as calling them and see if they can help with a payment plan, lowering your interest rate, consolidating your debt...something. Even if you can only send them $5.00, it's better than ignoring them.
Hang in there. I hope everything gets better for you soon.

S.-

I'm sure someone will have some good advice for you, but the first thing I would suggest is for you to call your credit card companies. Many times you can work out a lower interest rate or lower minimum payments just by talking to them. In most cases, they would rather get paid something than nothing.

Good Luck,
K.

I feel you completely! Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover...We recently bought this book and decided to tackle our credit card debt. We are still in the process but we have already made alot of progress and I know this book has totally helped us out! Please check it out...it's very encouraging as well because it has real testimonies from others that have tackled their debt. Good luck! You can also check out his website.

I know it stinks and times are tough but you have to pay in the order of importance! Rent/morgage and electricity...grocries...etc...then whatever is left over you can pay credit cards with. Don't stress out about it because in any other "normal" time you would pay all your bills. It is just a tough time right now and things that are most impprtant should be delt with first. Once he finds a job or things get better you can start paying more on those cards and getting out of the hole that you are in. Hang in there!

Has your husband filed for unemployment benefits? That should help at least for a few months while he looks for another job. I know exactly where you're coming from. In short, this is what I do: First, take all of your bills, write down the due dates, the total amts. due & the min. amts. due. If the majority of your bills are due at the same time/same week on the same paycheck which I'm assuming they are, see if some of the companies can change your due dates to coincide w/your second paycheck which is generally close to the second week or middle of the month or try to start using your last payck of the month for your first of the month bills. A lot of companies do try to wk w/their customers on this b/c they don't want to lose money or customers. Just tell them about your situation. If you've been on time or early or if you've paid more than the min. pmt all the time or a lot of the times, they'll see that on your reports or just remind them of that. Explain you're trying your best not to be late but it's now difficult to pay all your bills on one paycheck for right now. That your not trying to delay paying, just trying to move the date down at least a week if not two so you can pay w/your second month's paycheck, that way you can avoid being late & avoid that affecting your credit too. The companies may even be MORE willing to help in this tough economic time to avoid losing money/customers. If you can get this done, it will help tremendously. Now, whether you can do this or not, let's focus on your ccard bills since they won't cause your utilities to be cancelled if you should happen to be late a little bit or can only pay the min. pmt. What I do is this: take the smallest amts owed, say if I owe $132.50 & my min. pmt for that card is $18 for example, I TRY to pay it off since it's a small amt if I have the money or, if a large amt owed, pay a large amt or at least half if it's a large amt. owed to knock that down first to a reasonable level to focus bk on the smaller ones owed. So for this first one of $132.50, assuming I can't pay it off, if I can pay either $32.50 or even $22.50, it's MORE than the min. pmt of $18 & I know that for the next month, I'll have an even $100 plus the monthly surcharge to pay which is not usually a large amt. which helps it go down a lot faster than just paying the $18 min. b/c generally, the surcharges are MORE than the min. pmt which, in turn, just adds more the next time if I only pay the $18. For the remaining cards, I do either the same thing (pay more than min.) or pay the min. pmt on those if I have to until I get the first one pd off. Yes it goes slowly sometimes but it goes nonetheless & that's what you're trying to accomplish. If I have the money, I do try to pay a big chunk of what I owe on the big bills so I can then focus better on the smaller ones. Paying more than the min. even just by a little bit also helps improve your credit score too b/c it shows you're able to pay more than the min. Even if you REALLY can't afford it, try to anyway. The credit ppl don't know that, they only go by what they see on your report & therefore, improve your credit b/c of that. Once the smaller bills are paid off, put those cards away & DON'T touch them! Cut them up if you have to--you can always get a replacement card later, or, if one expires & the new one comes in, cut up the expired one but don't activate the new one til you HAVE to use it. Just remind yourself that if you DO use it & still have other cards to pay off, you'll just be putting yourself bk in deeper debt again. That usually helps me in addition to knowing I have NO money to pay for anything so why rack up new debt when I still have the old ones to pay off. We've had to cut MAJOR corners & sometimes we have to eat the same thing every day for a week or cook at home & have leftovers, we don't go do things like movies or vacations or anything but work, eat & sleep. Yes, it can get boring but we have movies at home to watch, we play games at home or clean house to spend time together or eat Spaghetti-O's everyday instead of eating out, even w/the dollar menus but it's what we have to do to get debts paid off. It won't be forever, just remember that. It's worth having to cut corners when you know it will help your situation. Try to get your dates changed, that's the first thing I'd try to do. Just start w/the smaller ones, pay more than the min. if you can, even if it's a little more than min. & pay min. on the others til you get the first paid off, then repeat w/the next lowest amt, etc. Try to use the majority of your paycheck too. If you bring in, say, $372.60 or even $572.60 for example, either keep the 72.60 or $172.60 for food/gas if you had to & use the rest for bills. Hope these suggestions help & good luck!!

Take a look at this and some other sites like this one. I don't believe that they are bankruptcy companies so you don't have to worry about having that on your record.

http://www.consolidatedcredit.org/debt-management/debt-co...

~Crys

Ditto! The debt consoladation companies are not the way to go. Call each company and tell them your situation. Tell them you can not pay because of job loss and want to know what they can do to help. I called my Lowe's card two weeks ago and they had a "hardship program" they put me on. My payments went down from $150 to $50 and the interest dropped by 1/2. It will last for 6 months, but the account is permanently closed. It will show on my credit, but be much more favorable then just not paying. THey would rather have some money than none. Make sure you let them know you want you interest rate dropped or suspended. Also check with you auto loan if you have one. They will usually let you skip a payment and put it on the end of the loan. Let us know what kind of job your husband is looking for! We might know someone hiring for that!

Call each company and ask for their hardship dept. Most will stop the fees, drop the interest, stop the calls and set up a program. Be sure to ask how it effects your credit reporting. Some it does not touch, others it shows that the company shut you down and will show as a negative. So, you can be selective on who you work with first. This is what I have done in the last months and it has been a life saver!

I agree with the suggestion to contact the companies to see if they can work out some kind of arrangement. ...and if they aren't willing AND if your credit rating isn't a huge issue (you own your home and car already), then you might wait until they start calling you...they may be more willing to deal when they realize you can't pay them...

A friend of mine recently lost his business...he then discovered that one of the business cards was secured by his personal assets rather than the business (couldn't include it in the business bankruptcy). He couldn't do anything but when the company started contacting him demanding payment, he explained the situation and they offered him a settlement for less than 25% of what he owed on the card.

I agree with all the above on seeking out advice from Dave Ramsey. To go along with that, you can also make some additional cash on a part time basis with Mary Kay Cosmetics. We are a debt free company and offer free training and can show you how to save money and make money in your spare time. I've been with the company 11 years and love their values as well as the products. Cosmetics are recession proof. If you're interested; visit my website at www.marykay.com/M. and you can contact me via email thru my website.

Check out www.careonecredit.com They are a Consumer Counseling service certified by the BBB. They advised me against consolidation and contacted my credit card companies to lower (and lock in) my interest rates and a payment plan. The payment plan is based on your income and your bills (so have a list of those ready before you call, even what you pay monthly on gas, groceries, dry cleaning, etc). It's reasonable, but still hurts (since your debt isn't usually small). My only problem with Dave Ramsey was that the books & materials cost money I already didn't have. Good luck!!

It is very important you take steps to be in contact with your credit card companies. If your can not pay--DO NOT JUST IGNORE IT--call. Aske for reduction in interest--payments and even ask if they will take a payoff of 20% of the balance--stop late fees. I feel your concern I was there over 6 years ago and I worked with the companies for over 3 years (when ever my situation changed). Pray everytime you pick up the phone--but call. You will not like the outcome if you stand by and do nothing.

Blessings to you

Hi S.,
Sorry to hear about your issues- we have all been there at one time or another- when we experienced this situation we had a rule- first- mortgage or rent- second pay utilities, third- food and necissities then the credit cards went into a hat and if they were lucky their card got pulled that month .....
I suggest you call each of them- let them know your situation and see if they can work with you- those who are willing - pay them first- the others when you can- There will be some negative impact to your credit, but during these hard times you are not in that boat alone.
If you would like to earn extra with a part time job from home I may be able to help with that- I work from home and supplement our retirement income.......no selling- either- but if intereted you will have to PM me cause I can't talk about it on this site. But there is hope-
Hope to hear from you soon
good luck and blessings

C.

Hi S.,
You may want to check into Consumer Credit Counseling. I've seen a couple of spots on tv about this type of service and they seem to come highly recommended (the financial reporter on The Today Show on NBC always seems to recommend them). I think non-profit agencies probably offer the best service, so if you find a 'for profit' service it is probably not what you're looking for. I think they can help you consolidate your debt and lower your payments. They can also advise you on speaking to the people you owe about lowering interest rates, etc. I'm so sorry you and your husband are going through this tough time but I'm sure you will get through it! Best of luck to you.

I am in agreement with Valerie as well. Please look at daveramsey.com. I went through his Financial Peace class (offered all over) and not only did I find some peace and hope, but I also learned how to pay my bills with very little income and who to pay to. How to pay is very important. You don't want to pay a bill and not be able to buy food etc... Check it out. They have free counselors that can help as well. He is a financial advocate and also teaches you how to deal with creditors when they call etc...