I have about 3500 in credit card debt that I want to eliminate before I graduate in December 07.

How do I, if possible, get them to lower my payoff?

12/29/2006 2:27:28 PM

Lower your payoff? They're not just going to let you take their money.

12/29/2006 2:31:49 PM

I understand that, but I have had these two "cards" for a couple of years now and almost nothing has come off of the principal and I think I have paid at least $1500 or more towards each. So I really wouldn't be taking any money from them I guess. I didn't know if they would work with me so that I could pay them and get out.

12/29/2006 2:34:36 PM

that's it?

First call them and tell them you are going to close the accounts. See if they'll give you a lower APR.

If they don't, find a new card with a 0% intro APR and transfer your balance. Close the 2 old cards.

MaKe yourself a budget and DONT use the new card unless you ABSOLUTELY have to. Use cash instead.

12/29/2006 2:37:39 PM

1) get a card that has a special 0% for X #months when you transfer your balances from other cards
2) transfer balances from other cards and payoff before X #months are up
...
3) profit

12/29/2006 2:38:54 PM

Good plan.

12/29/2006 2:41:30 PM

i cant get credit.. apparently i have an account somewhere that i havent paid for.... but i dont know where ( i guess fraud) and on these two accounts i am a couple of months past due because I am basically jobless right now. any other options?

12/29/2006 2:43:16 PM

ok FIRST of all run a credit report. It will show you all your accounts, if/when you've been delinquent on payments, and other really good info.

freecreditreport.com

Otherwise, call the card companies and ask for a lower rate.

Find a job.

12/29/2006 2:45:20 PM

Have they actually closed your account on this card yet? If so, you're fucked. If not, they might lower the APR.

12/29/2006 2:50:35 PM

got the free credit report....neither of the two are closed accounts.... there is one that went in to collections and it says i disputed the charges and went unresolved.... how long will that take to dissappear

12/29/2006 3:06:24 PM

7 years, i believe.

you really don't have any other options beyond what's been mentioned here.

12/29/2006 3:35:31 PM

That 3 step plan mentioned above is best, and after you're out, live by this mantra:

If you don't have the disposable cash money sitting in your bank account right this very moment, do not buy something on a credit card (save for random 0% deals, like on furniture purchases or something on a Lowe's card).

If you pay your CC bills in full every month, your life is sure to be better off.

12/29/2006 3:45:59 PM

Quote :

"I understand that, but I have had these two "cards" for a couple of years now and almost nothing has come off of the principal and I think I have paid at least $1500 or more towards each."

are you seriously an ECON major or did you just put that in your profile after you created this thread as a joke?

12/29/2006 3:55:06 PM

just don't pay the CC bills for the next several months and they'll end up sending you something in the mail about how they're willing to let you off the hook if you just pay 60% of the bill.

Of course your credit would be royally screwed, but you wouldn't have to pay the 3500

12/29/2006 3:55:40 PM

^^ But those bastards are charging him interest!

12/29/2006 4:16:52 PM

i am an econ major.... all of this went down before i became an econ major... i chose to focus on school now and not working and now i am paying dearly for it. stop trolling me. you act as if you have never made a mistake or something

12/29/2006 4:19:57 PM

i have made plenty of mistakes - but not when it comes to paying off $1500 in interest on $3500 of principal before realizing that there might be a better solution than what is currently occuring

you are 24 years old - how have you made it this far

are you only paying the minimum payment each month - if so that is a horrible way to do things

12/29/2006 4:46:09 PM

Just so you know debts NEVER disappear.

There are statue of limitations on using legal action as a method of debt collection that very state to state, and the method of the debt is also a factor. See: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml

There are many more websites that can school you on this. Also, never make a promise of sign anything saying you will pay, or make any payment, as this will restart the 'clock' for the statute.

I am not advocating not paying debt, but I think you need to know about this in your case.

12/29/2006 4:55:07 PM

12/29/2006 5:30:40 PM

your credit is going to be so fucked up if you are a victim of fraud....it takes FOREVER for the credit reporting agencies to correct that shit.....you will still be dealing with it 10 years down the rd when someone does a credit check.

12/29/2006 11:27:58 PM

i had a credit card company try to act like my checks were bouncing when i was paying my bill in full every month

so after 2 months of this shit and countless phone calls i wrote a long ass letter with copies of all the checks they CASHED, bank statements, etc.

then i called the 3 credit bureaus and put a fraud alert on my credit. i also included that tid bit in my little letter. when i sent it i also made a copy of everything i sent and used delivery confirmation.

i got a very apologetic letter in the mail a few weeks later. a "keying" error was the mistake, instead of checking their fucking systems they assumed i wasn't paying even though they were successfully cashing my checks. it was fucking bizarro but i didnt hesistate to call the credit bureaus- they were really quite nice and when i explained why i was putting the fraud alert on my credit they said i was doing the right thing

aside from being a good credit citizen, everyone should be checking their credit often and when creditors try to fuck with you have your shit together and don't hesistate to call the credit bureaus

12/30/2006 12:03:46 AM

fucking internets!

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 12:04 AM. Reason : SJKJDF]

12/30/2006 12:03:46 AM

never EVER close your old credit cards unless they have an annual fee. transfer your balance, grind up your cards, but leave them open - it will help your credit

12/30/2006 12:12:57 AM

it's annualcreditreport.com not freecreditreport.com. The former is your free yearly credit report from each of the 3 bureaus. The latter signs you up for some credit monitoring shit.

12/30/2006 12:13:37 AM

closing credit cards isn't a bad thing! when you call in to close it request that they make a note that you requested it to be closed

no one gives a shit if you have a $500 credit limit at the gap!

they're way more impressed with consistent and on time paymens to 2-3 major credit cards like visa or discover with a credit limit like $2000, constant and on time payments to student loans, car payments and mortgages

so if you have 5 store credit cards and you only use 1-2 of them, close the other ones

12/30/2006 1:32:20 AM

Quote :

"I have had these two "cards" for a couple of years now and almost nothing has come off of the principal and I think I have paid at least $1500 or more towards each. So I really wouldn't be taking any money from them"

Your logic is flawless...

12/30/2006 2:30:58 AM

Quote :

"closing credit cards isn't a bad thing! when you call in to close it request that they make a note that you requested it to be closed no one gives a shit if you have a $500 credit limit at the gap! they're way more impressed with consistent and on time paymens to 2-3 major credit cards like visa or discover with a credit limit like $2000, constant and on time payments to student loans, car payments and mortgages so if you have 5 store credit cards and you only use 1-2 of them, close the other ones"

this is really really bad advice. closing your credit lines DOES impact your credit score in very real and very immediate ways.

1) a large part of your credit score is based on longest running line of credit. if you close an account you've had for a long time, your score immediately drops and you only get a score that reflects your next longest line of credit.

2) another very large part of your credit score is based on the ratio of debt to credit. if you have $1,000 debt across 2 credit cards, both with $5000 credit limits, you have a ratio 1/10. If you transfer all your debt to one of the cards and close the other, you now have a ratio of 1/5 - your score drops to reflect a 20% increase in debt to credit ratio.

don't be stupid like ncsuwolfy. unless you think the line of credit is susceptible to fraud, pay it off, but keep it open

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 3:39 AM. Reason : s]

12/30/2006 3:38:36 AM

Quote :

" aside from being a good credit citizen, everyone should be checking their credit often and when creditors try to fuck with you have your shit together and don't hesistate to call the credit bureaus"

man, i'm looking at buying a house in ~3 years - thanks for the heads up - i'm gonna go check my ish out this week!

12/30/2006 4:05:25 AM

^ when you get close to applying for mortgages, about 2 months prior, make sure you've completely paid off all your credit cards and do not charge anything to them until you close on your mortgage. Even if you pay them off in full at the end of each month, they report your current balance at random times during the month, so your credit report could reflect debts that you've already paid off.

debt/credit ratio, once again.


[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 4:13 AM. Reason : s]

12/30/2006 4:11:25 AM

This won't eliminate your debt, but it might lower it. Check the rates on student loans and borrow against that. Having $3500 at a 4% fixed consolidation rate (or whatever it is) paying off over 5-10 years is a LOT better than $3500 at an 8%-24% rate paying off variable monthly.

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 7:51 AM. Reason : .]

12/30/2006 7:50:40 AM

So you want your debt to be gone, all $3500 worth that you didn't actually charge up? I'd say you don't owe a penny.

If you charged it up and you want it paid off by Dec 07 and you have no job then I'd suggest getting a job. Paying it off now will be a lot easier than after you graduate because then you'll have a lot more costs and it'll end up taking 10 years to get rid of.

Listen to Dave Ramesy, http://www.daveramsey.com

12/30/2006 9:46:02 AM

Quote :

"your credit is going to be so fucked up if you are a victim of fraud....it takes FOREVER for the credit reporting agencies to correct that shit.....you will still be dealing with it 10 years down the rd when someone does a credit check."

Depends on the case.

When I graduated from college, I applied for a bank account at USAA. They ran my credit and found two discrepancies (I can't remember them exactly, so I'm kind of working from memory here). They were bounced checks or some sort of collection (I think) from pizza places in St. Louis in 1988 and 1990.

It's obvious I wasn't writing checks to pizza places at 8 and 10 years old, so the credit bureau did a quick check, and yes, I was a victim of obvious fraud, and it was taken off my report a few days later. But then again, that's a pretty obvious case of fraud...they were even able to track it down to the culprit in question that time. I never felt the need to check my credit until I graduated college, so this stayed on my record for years, apparently.

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 10:32 AM. Reason : .]

12/30/2006 10:31:12 AM

well, my current job I look at lots of credit reports, I have seen many many things that were "supposedly taken care of 10 years ago" that still shows as active....such as fed tax leins that were paid off over 10 years ago....we still have to have proof no mater how old the info is. People need to contact the 3 agencies to make sure it is off or they have it as paid/close etc. They arent in any rush to correct it for you. You can get yearly free copies of your credit report from all three.





[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 5:16 PM. Reason : w]

12/30/2006 5:12:38 PM

i feel really good because about two months ago i completely got out of debt. no credit cards, no loans, no car payment, nothing. it gave me a real feeling of freedom not to be tied down, and since then i've been doing a lot of thinking about life choices and such, given that i don't have any obligations anymore.

12/30/2006 5:25:20 PM

you should keep a credit card or you will be fucked when you have to show some credit history.

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 6:40 PM. Reason : w]

12/30/2006 6:40:27 PM

^^Sooooo saving up for down payment on a house or what?

I'm aiming to have credit cards gone (meaning paid off) May, and school loans paid by Christmas next year. That'll just leave my car payment and it's only 6.25% interest... House down payment here I come after that!!!

12/30/2006 10:14:13 PM

What % are the student loans?

12/30/2006 10:34:09 PM

Ya know, I'm not sure. 7-something I think because I never re-financed this summer.

12/30/2006 10:39:58 PM

Damn, that's high. Is that private?

12/30/2006 11:31:09 PM

Quote :

"Sooooo saving up for down payment on a house or what?"

its actually better to put as little money down on a home as possible, according to john huggard who teaches bus 225

his example- put 25k down on a 100k home and a year later it is worth 105k, OR put 5k down on a 100k home and at the end of the year its worth 105k

[Edited on December 31, 2006 at 3:08 AM. Reason : .]

12/31/2006 3:07:42 AM

^^I may be wrong - it's a Stafford loan managed through CFNC. I may have the rate wrong, but I"ll check when I make my January payment. Note to self: setup autopay...

^Ok, I can understand that example. However, what about the interest you'll save over years of NOT having to pay interest on that additional $20k?

12/31/2006 4:44:46 AM

Credit is bullshit. If you have a good paying job and NO DEBT and NO CREDIT HISTORY then getting a mortgage will be no problem. Esp. if you have 20% to put down. Besides if you aren't making payments on things like a phonebill, taxes, powerbill, medical bills, etc. that don't require "credit" it will show up on your credit report.

12/31/2006 9:44:18 AM

Quote :

"its actually better to put as little money down on a home as possible, according to john huggard who teaches bus 225 his example- put 25k down on a 100k home and a year later it is worth 105k, OR put 5k down on a 100k home and at the end of the year its worth 105k"

Putting 25% down doesn't make much sense, but I would at least put 20% down if you can afford it.

Putting 5% down is usually only a good idea if the area where you buy has been appreciating rapidly. If that's the case, you can buy with 5% down pay pmi or do a piggy back for a year and then get another appraisal the following. Hopefully you'll have 20% equity by then and can refinance or stop paying pmi. However, if the value of the house is only increasing by 5% per year then I'd go ahead and try for a full 20% down payment.

12/31/2006 11:16:00 AM

Quote :

"If you have a good paying job and NO DEBT and NO CREDIT HISTORY then getting a mortgage will be no problem. Esp. if you have 20% to put down."

12/31/2006 11:25:20 AM

http://www.clarkhoward.com for all your credit questions.

12/31/2006 12:42:34 PM

don't go thinking that you cna buy a house with 5k downpayment


some people can

some people can't


I was approved for no down payment on my construction loan, but that was because I owned the land free and clear

12/31/2006 12:50:57 PM

if u have a good credit score, 5% downpayment is easy

12/31/2006 2:24:18 PM

not many people do though

and banks love to get that 20% downpayment

12/31/2006 6:04:56 PM

lots of people don't have good credit scores cause they follow shitty advice like what NCSUWolfy just doled out

12/31/2006 6:30:03 PM

BANK OF AMERICA GOT BUSTED FOR DISCRIMINATING PRACTICE AND HAS BEEN FORCED TO HAVE A LOAN TARGETED TO LOW INCOME 1st TIME BUYERS...


you either have to make <50k or... live in a "historically low income area"
but its 1pt below market and no pmi and 0 down.


look into it.... it'll save you thousands.

12/31/2006 9:38:36 PM