debt consolidation
I want to start to pay off my debt.. and i keep hearing about these debt consolidation companies with their programs or plans. What should i look out for? any recomendations on a certain company? any advice would help..i have about 3 collectors i need to pay off , no more than about 2500$ total..
Do not use consolidating companies to pay the small off... shit, even if it was bigger , I would pay it off myself.
debt consolidating comapnies are a rippoff..... They do, what you can do if you are brave enough to talk to collectors.... DEAL down your collections... really easy, thats all They do.
But seriously, 2500 in collection is not that bad... unless you have no job or struggling to make a dollar.
i have 1 open personal loan, and a car loan.. woudl that be considered as debt? even tho its active and payign it off. if that is considered my debt would rise to about 10k. But ive talked to them but they act like i got money to pull out my ass to give them.. its annoying because mos of them dont seem to want to make a plan with you.
but the main thing i wanted to do is just have opne big amount i pay monthly or whatever so i wont have tos end money to 3 different people every month. woudl i be able to do that on my own?
well if you are paying them on time and all.. it is a debt, just not a bad debt.. you just paying on your loans.
If they make it to collections then thats a different situation... and easier to deal with. But at that point it already has a negative inpact on your credit.
If the loans are still with the original company, is a little harder to deal with them.. but Im sure they can work with you.
If you want to pay them off quicker, just send in more money.
Any loan is a debt: car, personal, student, line of credit, credit card, home equity etc.
Bottom line do it yourself, do not rely on a 3rd party for that type of service.
Some people end up worse off using a consolidation co. ie: bills not being payed on time.
$2500.00 total is.....damn that's....minuscule.
Draw up a financial assesment, see what payment you can manage consistently (monthly) and knock it out.
Please do it yourself.
Leisa and S. 4 Life NM?
Do you owe $2500 or their collector fees have racked up and everything adds up to $2500? I'm going to answer your questions but this is vital information.
What I'm asking is have you pulled your credit report and what was the original amount of the debt that was charged off or past due?
I am doing it for around 10k between 2 credit cards. Not because I could not afford the payments but because I could ONLY afford the payments.
With my car, student loans and whats left on my tool payments I am around 12-15k in debt without the credit cards. I would not suggest doing it for 2500 bucks. Call the credit card company(s) and aske them if they can help you with a lower interest rate or a different kind of payment plan.
According to the 10 or so companies I called it does not effect your credit unless you miss a payment, but we will see about that.
Credit cards fucking suck if you don't pay attention to how much you are putting on them, I learned this the hard way.
I would try getting a raise/better job/second job first.
Originally Posted by tony
one card is 1000$, i think it was originnally 7??$, and the fees etc made it 1000$, like u said, and i have another 2 with 900$, and 700$. that was what i saw on my credit report, . but i rememebr 3 charge offs, i just need to get a copy of my report.. because i didnt last time i saw it was back in janurary when i was lookin for a car, and i didnt get to really study it.
You better listen to me.
bitch!
Leisa and S. 4 Life NM?
Are they calling and hassling you? If so next time let them know that all correspondence needs to be via mail. How old are the debts? If they're more than 4 years old then theres nothing they can do to you.. if not they can still sue you. DO NOT CONSOLIDATE IF THEY ARE CHARGED OFF!
You can do this yourself, what you're going to do is make each one an offer in writing to settle each debt, generally between 6 weeks to 3 months. I really suggest going to the message boards at clarkhoward.com and post this information for Carrie Muller.. she will tell you exactly what you need to do.
i have one of them calling me, and 1 is more than 4 yrs old... but the others arent.. but one is getting to that 4 year point. i have got a few of those letters saying pay this amount (amount ont he account minus the fees) and the debt is settled. But they always come when i cant pay. and ont he phone its pointless talkin to them. ill check the forums out tho..
you want to go after the one with higher interest % first(while paying the min off of the other ones). only way to do this is by paying MORE than the min payment on your loan...more you pay, the faster you get out. most of the time the min payment is basically the interest and a low amount of the actual amount. so it will never end.
take a few months and instead of spending money on food and things, keep track and use that money as a extra towards your bill. it maybe VERY tough for a few months but in the end you will notice the difference. remember, the more you put in every month, the following month will be A LOT easier. and so on.
after the higher interest% debt is payed off, you can move on the lower on and repeat the process.
this is just my opinion on this...
in short terms.....as long as you give them something and keep up on your car loan and never be a penny short.... you should be good.... trust me on that one
Good thread, I'm sort of in the same pickle. So not to thread jack or anything, but theres no point in starting another thread.
Anyway I have about $5k in credit card debt and school is coming up which will be about $2500/semester. And I was thinking if possible that I should get a personal loan for about $10k, so i can clear out the credit cards and have tuition money. I talked to Jaimecbr900 about this and he recommended getting a student loan for the tuition, and just handling the credit cards now. However, I'd be working during the school year, so I'd have money to pay off the loan (I figure I could pay off the loan in about a year or less). So, I don't know if I should get a student loan, because the interest will just rack up until I start paying on it when I get out of school. What would you guys do?
the phrase
"your damned if you do and your damned if you dont comes to mind"
follow my advice it works wonders
i talked to one today, and the guy wasnt helpin at all. he pretty much was sayin pay the 1100$ or pay nothing...lol i tried to reason with him, but i ended up hangin up.
Bold is the answer to what is going on, DO NOT TALK TO THEM! It gets you nowhere, you're not dealing with the credit card company you are dealing with a debt collector. Mail is the only way to correspond and im serious, you need to post this on the Clark Howard message boards for Carrie Muller she will tell you everything you need to do.
There is no interest rate, debt collectors just tack on their fees.
ill get on the boards this weekend, i dont have internet in my apartment yet. but i also wanted to get a look at my credit report first to make sure and see whats goin on.
Last edited by JITB; 06-29-2007 at 01:07 PM.
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