new here and need help, very long!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2006
new here and need help, very long!
3
Fri, 01-06-2006 - 12:28pm
Hi. I just found this board yesterday and you are very supportive of each other. That's what I need. My husband and I have quite a bit of cc debt b/c we were young and stupid and all that. Anyway, we are hoping that this year we can little by little start chipping away at the lower balance credit cards while still paying the minimums on the rest. Anyway, my story is this. We've had unforseen medical expenses come up the last few months that I had to pay. So unfortunately some of our credit cards I had to skip paying. For example, in October I didn't even pay the min. payment on 4 of our cards. Then Nov came and I still owed the previous month's min. payment plus now late fees, overlimit fees, etc. So now it's two months later and I've only sent them each $50 a month just to send them something and meanwhile all the back stuff still keeps adding up. They call my house everyday and thank god for caller i.d. I just don't answer the phone. Well, last night my hubby and I sat down and put pen to paper and are going to find a way to get right. Okay, now my question from y'all: The four credit card companies that I need to quit avoiding...do you think if I called them and asked for them to waive all the late charge fees and that I can give them "x" amount of dollars for 6 months, they would agree to that? Then if I make sure I pay them on time each of those months, by the end of the 6 months my accounts would be in good standing and I will continue to pay them at least the minimums and definately ON TIME. Then we can get all caught up and I can start to tackle the little bitty cards. Just wanted to hear in your experience if you have tried this. Will they work with me? What can I expect them to say? Otherwise, if they won't help me get started, how can I get caught up? HELP! Any advice would be so appreciated. Sorry this is so long.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2003
Fri, 01-06-2006 - 5:10pm

Welcome here-you're right about the great support!

I would recommend that you talk to your creditors, as not fun as that will be. It's always better to be honest with them than to try to ignore them. However, before you do that...

You need to have a *realistic* budget mapped out so that you will know exactly what you will be able to pay them per month. If you don't, they will do their darndest to get you to pay more than you can, which will then land you back where you started.

A couple of very good books that helped me when I was going through all that are:

"How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously," by Jerrold Mundis, and "Financial Peace Revisited," by Dave Ramsey. Both have excellent chapters on how to talk with your creditors and not get caught up in the vicious circle of paying so much that you can't afford to eat. You can probably find these at a library, and if the library doesn't have them at their location, ask if the librarian can have them loaned from another library. (Most of the time they can)

Dave Ramsey stesses to 'take care of the 4 walls first': Food, shelter, transportation (reasonably) and clothing. Everything else is extra. Yes, even Visa, as hard as that is.

I know that you can find your way out of this, as many of us here either already have, or are in the process of doing!

~Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-14-2005
Fri, 01-06-2006 - 6:57pm

You definitely should speak to them. Always ask them to wave the fees, you have nothing to lose by asking!! And often times, they will refund them, or half of the amount which still helps. This is especially true if you tell them you had an unexpected medical issue. I missed a couple payments after my Grandma died, I just dropped the ball really. But I called and they refunded the charges and I started paying them again and everything worked out fine in the end.

Also, re:library books, our library is online, you can look up a book and request it to be sent to your local library and they call you when it arrives. It's only 25 cents to do this. You may want to see if yours offers this or, as suggested, ask the librarian.

Just remember that paying down debt is a process and you are on the right path. Keep your chin up, as they say...

~Carrie

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Fri, 01-06-2006 - 7:41pm

I honestly don't *know* what the cc companies will say, but calling them and giving them a heads-up to your situation is a great idea. Avoiding their calls only makes them more persistant!!!

I am glad you and your husband have decided to take control of the situation! Good luck to you!!!!!

~Aravis~

 

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