Eliminate debt.

My finances after graduate school are such a disaster! The Government should definitely declare this a National Disaster Area!
I work in a field where I help less fortunate people and LOVE my job, but it certainly doesn’t pay well and definitely is not helping me get out of debt.
I am not sure what to do- been trying everything from a strict budget to applying to a million jobs.
What has worked for you?
Maybe a philanthropic donor will rescue me!!!

I switched to the Disney card to be savvy about saving money and eliminating my debt quicker without interest charges. I failed miserably last month when I missed the deadline to pay the bill. I knew getting a calendar page in my office would help prompt me to make the payments on time but did not get one as of January this year. The company hit me with the the late fee of $39.95 (why not just make it the goddamn $40??? because it doesn’t look so bad at $39.95?) In addition to the penalty fine they increased my rate to a ridiculous interest rate of about 25%. I had about 11% once the promotional period was over. I argued with the representative on the phone and asked how it’s fair that my history shows not only on-time payments but payments that were at least double what the minimum was- and that the late fee was penalty enough and yes, I admit I was late. Rarely am I more than a week late with a payment. I think this was missed by 4 days. She tried to offer me different cards because it would be “6 months before we can review you again…and that’s if you make your payments on time.” I’m superbly irritated and I’m going to start saving money in my sock drawer- that’s predatory!!! I intend to close the card because I do not feel the steep penalty is something I deserved. I’m closing the account and using another card offer (of the dozen or so I get each week.) That would be supremely funny to get another offer from Chase for a zero interest balance transfer offer. When will they give us little people a tad bit of slack??

i want to get outta debt

Pay off loans

I have two student loans after completing two graduate degree programs, a mortgage, and credit card debt from fixing up my house. In 2008, I wish to sell the house to pay off credit card debt, my mortgage, and 3/4 of all student loans. That will leave me three years left in my doctorate program to pay off the remaining debt. Of course, I’ll be back in the hole when I finish my doctorate so I’ll probably be ad hoc to student loan companies until I retire. Still, like Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream!”

I finally narrowed my choice down to one card- the Disney credit card. Although I will not be using it for purchases- I got a neat looking Tinkerbell credit card. The rate is much lower and I scrutinized the terms of the card offer. I was nervous about applying but about a week later the acceptance letter and card arrived. I have not received the statement yet but they sure sent alot of “issuer terms and agreements” crap. Someone made a comment recently that there are few cards/banks to choose one these days. It’s mainly chase, citibank, and MBNA. MBNA sucked and so I switched that one. I really hated that account and was the one that kind of got me in trouble (got it in college/1st card.) I feel much more responsible with my debts now. I wasn’t crazy with it but I didn’t think ahead how I would pay things off and if I could afford the payments. Now I understand! Hopefully this balance transfer will mark the beginning of a new financial life for me!

I think I’m getting closer to actually transferring one credit card to another with a lower interest rate (new acct). I really just need to put a time limit on this idea. I got a little crazy with it and had about 4 or 5 mail offers…I managed to get it down to like one or two offers. I shall try to decide this week- I think? hahahaha. In better news, I managed to use credit to buy a washer and dryer. _{smacks forehead} Lucky for me, I got 10% off and have 12 months to pay down the balance.

The car is starting to worry me though- do you use money from your pocket to pay for a car repair when possible and just pay a smaller amount toward the credit card payment? Or do you charge the repair to the card and make a large payment? Something tells me this is like 6 of one- half a dozen of the other kind of jedi mind trick.

We spend alot, too much.

Infact, we spend money we dont have. And now we have 6000+ in debt, not including the 184,000 mortgage. I know it doesnt sound like much, but we have pretty low incomes.

So what to do… Start blogging and fixing the situation. I have created my 43 things based on the issues and problems we have as a young couple. We spend to much, we cant save, we buy all sorts of junk we dont need and we are crap at housework.

So there you have it, the story of us, trying to crawl out of the hole we dug.

An out-of-state bank account I have kept for years has been sending me 0% interest/ no transfer fee offers. I really want to do this but I’m scared I will end up with a bum deal. I was denied credit at a mattress store of all places- because the credit reporting agency they use has said that I have too many existing/open accounts. My credit score is extremely good though!

So my fear is that A) they will reject me for the same reason
B) I will be forced to open something with higher interest
C) I will overlook some important detail, like having to pay 2% of the balance each month, etc—which may mean higher per month payments than I expected.

I have read through the paper that outlines the “rules” of the account but I always feel like the companies are out to sucker me into something that will cause me to lend them some extra fees. I only intend to transfer the fee to take advantage of the 0% interest- the account will not be used to purchase anything.

On another note, how do I write these companies that are still listed on my credit report and what do I ask them? (I still can’t believe that, with my score – in the mid 700’s- I was denied for a freakin’ mattress!!) deep breath I have to organize my thoughts and structure how to get the credit cleaned up- I keep freezing up on this task when I know I have time to devote to this.

Should I just transfer my account to this offer? Scared!!

It took buying a house for me to open my eyes a little bit more to the credit card debt. I tended to ignore the money problem. I rarely use the credit cards and continue to feel like I am swimming against the current. I have used one department store card about twice a year and plan to emliminate this one first. Upon buying the house, I had to open credit for a stove, refrigerator, and bed. It is 0% interest for 6 months and have mapped out how to pay that off. It would probably be a good plan to continue attacking the smallest ones first- as someone else mentioned.

I know a friend who tried debt consolidation with these new companies and it works for her- also read about people having payments lost by them. I don’t know if solving problems through these companies would harm a mortgage so I’m not sure I will risk taking that route.