Need Christmas, Credit Card Help
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| Fri, 12-17-2004 - 4:48pm |
I feel like such an idiot. I have maxed out my CC (a $2000 limit) and hardly know how. My regular bank account is down to about $15 and I have no savings anymore. I am a college student and have done a terrible job of tracking my spending and budgeting. I don't have a job but am looking. I don't know how I'm going to pay for this.
Anyway, I have a relatively stupid question: If I open a new credit card account, can I use it to pay for my current credit card (to buy time on paying for it, essentially)? How long does it take to get a new card? I get those "pre-approved" offers in the mail all the time, but throw them away.
I don't know what I'm going to do about Christmas. Could I open a card by then?
Please help :(. I know this is a "quick fix" oriented post, and I'll have to address the bigger issues before it gets worse.
Starfish

Ok, you probably are not going to like what I have to say. But trust me, I've been there and am still there. I got my first CC in college and quickly maxed it out. I just paid it off 3 months ago, 14 years later.
I know you want to give gifts for Christmas, but can you come up with some very cheap alternative or maybe give no gifts at all. It'll be difficult this year but will be well worth it in years to come. But try as hard as you can not to get into any more debt. You are a college student and most people will understand the lack of gifts, especially since you don't have kids.
It may be possible to get a cc with 0% interest rate and transfer your balance to that. But I wouldn't charge any more, just work on paying it off.
My mom and stepdad got into a world of hurt doing what you're suggesting. They couldn't make their minimum payments so my stepdad would open a new cc so they could make a payment on another one. It's a viscious cycle, completely destroyed their credit and resulted in bankruptcy.
Good luck,
Laura
To be blunt...FIND ANOTHER WAY!
Merry Christmas