Debt Help Please
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| Mon, 08-31-2009 - 9:23pm |
Hi Everyone! I am new the board and looking for a few ideas.
First let me explain my debt. I had a baby about six months ago and the maternity leave really took a toll on our finances. The baby ended up needing some extra medical care and so we had those expenses. I basically have most of those paid off but I put alot of money on my credit card. Almost 4500.00. Here is my question. I am thinking about seeing about getting a short term loan at the bank to pay that off and then paying the bank off at a lower interest rate. My husband and I have decided to get rid of the credit card and no longer go on credit. Or do I just keep paying down on my credit card? I just feel like I am paying to just keep them from calling me!
Secondly, I was wondering if anyone had ideas of things that I could sell to get a a little money to put towards the debt. Like jewelry or clothing or collectibles. Where is a good place to sell the stuff? I never have luck on ebay. I don't think I have enough stuff for a garage sale either.
Any help would be appreciated!

Welcome to the board!
Great to hear you are getting off the CC roller coaster. All CCs do is mortgage your future potential by bringing debt with interest from your past to haunt your future. So any increase in pay you get is more than made up by interest and payments taken.
Interst savings would be great, but whatever you do, don't tie unsecured debt like CCs to your home, aka home equity loan or line of credit. If something ever happened and you had to file bankruptcy, current law protects your home, and CCs might be disposed of or put on payment plans.
I would also suggest going to a local credit union to see what CCs or personal loans they can offer you. Many credit unions determine interest rates based upon the number of affiliations or accounts you have with them and not FICO scores, so if you moved an IRA over, opened a checking account and savings, you might have more than enough to really get the rate lower.
Before you do anything be sure to check our your FICO score with the three credit agencies to see where you stand and what a potential future creditor will see when making their decisions.
Also, to stay off CCs be sure to have a cash emergency fund in place - that way you learn not to use CCs in an emergency.
-Marie
Hi! Congrats on taking the first step to get rid of debt.
I agree with Marie. Do NOT tie the loan to the home. Its a bad move.
Its hard to suggest what to do without more details. What is the interest rate on the CC? What are the minimums? Can you make more then the minimum each month?
This is a great site that lets you play around with numbers to calculate when you will be out of debt:
http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/debtplanner/debtplanner.jsp
When living on cash and emergency fund is key. Most on this board aim for around $1000. This way, if something comes up, you don't have to resort to the CCs.
Good luck and post often! This board is great for advice!
Bex -
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift -thats why its called the present."
Bex -
First welcome to the board I hope you stay around and post often.
From someone that runs up huge doctor and hospital bills all the time. Next time don't pay with a credit card let them bill you and then make arrangements. Hospitals and doctors
Do you have a local consignment store that you could take your clothing too? Or a baby consignment store? As for a garage sale can you get together with a couple of neighbours and have a group yard sale? Just make sure to keep your items and sales separate.
Sharon