Getting Rid of Credit Cards

Dave Ramsey, Dave Ramsey, Dave Ramsey! We are going thru Financial Peace University right now. And it is making our financial life and our marriage stronger and better!

www.daveramsey.com

We are currently using a method called power pay. powerpay.com you input your balance,minimum payments,finance charges etc... and how much extra you can afford to put on them. how it works is you pay extra on one until it's paid off then take the minimum from the card that was paid off plus the extra plus the minimum of the next card. It's very easy all of the math is done for you & you can print it out and cross off when one is paid off. We have paid off 3 credit cards so far with this method & best of all it's free!

Pay off the lowest balance first. Every spare dollar goes to pay off that one card. When it is paid in full, take all the money you were sending in on that one and pay it to the next lowest balance. So for example, say you are paying $100 a month, the card now has a zero balance. Take that $100 and add it to how much you were sending in on the next lowest balance and so forth.

Good luck!

You have gotten some great advice already. Another thing we did with our larger one was to find a no interest card and transfer the balance. If you do that, be sure it is one with no transfer fee or a very small one. While we were paying off the smaller ones, the larger one had a smaller payment, but no additional interest was accruing and every cent we put towards it was for principle. It also made our minimum payment smaller so more was able to go towards the other cards. Just be careful and always pay it on time. We make sure and send the payment at least 10 days ahead of the due date since one late payment could cost you the no interest.

J., with the economy howit is, banks really don't want to lose your business. Give them a call, tell them you're going through a bad moment, and that you're willing to pay them off as soon as possible, ask them to lower your interest rate and to keep it low for the time you need to pay your loan off, by doing this, you can make monthly higher payments (if your budget allows you) and actually lower your debt, this will help you pay it all in less time.
Good luck,
Toni
www.betterlifejourney.com

I just had the opportunity to complete Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. The first thing is to clip up all the cards, of course. Excellerated Margin works best when you pay off the bills in order of amount, from smallest to largest. Try to pay extra on the first one and pay the minimum on all other accounts. Once you pay off that first account, add the amount you were paying to the first account plus the minimum payment to the second to excellerate pay off. Do this to the third, fourth, fifth and so on. If you have two accounts with about the same balance, you can pay off the one with the higher interest first. The main thing to remember is "steady wins the race". Blessings! TL

Dave Ramsey!!!!

DO NOT consolidate and Rob Peter to pay Paul with another credit card. You owe the debt so just pay it off. Your friends may think you are weird for living below your means now, but later it will all be worth it! STOP using your credit cards and START paying cash for everything. Adopt this attitude: If I don't have the cash for it then I don't NEED it. Start saving cash NOW for big ticket items you KNOW will be coming up (Christmas,Car Repairs,Home Maintenance). It is a wonderful feeling to be able to pay cash for something and not worry about credit interest or if the check will clear.

Dave Ramsey!! HI J., I highly, highly would listen to Dave Ramsey. The Money Makeover. You can hear him on
570 AM from 1pm - 4pm everyday.

You've received excellent advice--especially the referrals to the Dave Ramsey material. Just be sure you cut up the plastic so you won't be tempted to use it when a temptation pops up. May God bless you while you are learning to be good stewards of what He gives you.

Purchase and read the book called "MONEY MAKEOVER" by DAVE RAMSEY If you follow his plan, which is starting with the lowest balance first, you will have guaranteed success! My family did it and we are going to be there soon.

A. C
Canyon, Texas

You absolutely must try to consolidate to a zero interest credit card. Many of the offers are 0 interest for the first 12 months. You do have to watch out for the fees though as you dont want to pay more in fees than you would be payiing in interest. Watch your junk mail for an interest free card with free balance transfers. Transfer what you can and then get those high interest cards paid off first. All of the advise given is great...one thing I would like to mention is to NOT CLOSE your accounts once they are paid off. This can lower your credit score so leave them open just cut em up. Make sure you keep a card to use every month and pay off every month once you are debt free...this will keep your credit rating high. Use it for groceries and gas or some bills that you know you can pay off every month in full. Good Luck!

J.~ I second what Cindy said. We are actually in the process of paying off credit card debt. We have paid off 3 so far by starting with the lowest balance. We actually got a financial planner who helped us out with this, but its def something many can do on their own. Just as Cindy said, you pay the minimum on all credit cards except the smallest one and put all your extra money towards that one. Then move to the next one. At first it didn't feel like we were getting anywhere since we were just paying off the smaller ones, but now that we have 3 already paid off its a GREAT feeling!!! The big part is once you pay off a card you have to put your mind to it that you will not use it again so you don't end up in the same spot!!! You could make yourself a goal as to how long you want it to take to pay them off it that would help? You can do it! Good Luck!!!

We went the CCCS route & so far so good. They have an office in Arlington on Pioneer Parkway in a Chase Bank building. The phone # is ###-###-####, you have to call to make an appt. Janet Hale is the branch manager of that CCCS office. She is very supportive & a super nice lady. They get all of your interest rates lowered & then you pay them a monthly payment. Then they distribute the monies to your creditors. You can pay online so its very convenient. Trust me, it was a huge stress relief! We're on a payment plan for 4 years & then we will be totally debt free. One of my coworkers did the other option of paying off the smaller balance & then moving up the next one. It took them 7 years. Good Luck!

I second the Dave Ramsey thing. We are going through a class now as well. Life changing!!! If you don't want to attend a class you can do the program from your own home.

I went from $21,500 to now $4,000 in 2 1/2 to 3 years now. I am a Dave Ramsey fanatic and he's says start with the lowest balance so you can actually see result. If you don't see results your more likely to give up. Now the largest interest is the smarter way to go but if it's the bigger balance you'll get frusrated and feel like your getting now where. So I say start with the little one and when your done paying that one off then put that payment in along with your next smallest credit card payment, since your used to paying that much anyway and when your done with those to add there payments in with the next one, It's called "Debt Snowball". It worked wonders for us.

My husband and I were in the same predicament as you were. Had a bunch of little credit cards and then a big credit card with a high interest rate. What we ended up doing was paying off a few tiny credit cards then going to Wells Fargo financial to get a personal loan to help us pay off the larger ones. When you have a card with a high interest rate, like us ours is 29.9%, all your paying is interest every time you make a payment. With that personal loan, we were able to pay off all our tiny credit cards and take off a huge chunk of our balance on our credit card. We now have a lower interest rate and monthly payment on the card we still owe. The great thing is... we now have one payment for all those minimum payments but we'll have all of it paid off soon and there is no interest or finance charges! It really helped us out in a bind! Hope this helps

Dave Ramsey. In 2 1/2 years my husband and I got rid of around $70,ooo in debt and we now have a fully funded emergency fund- that's around $12,000 in the bank. In our situation, my husband got a huge pay raise and enormous bonus at the end of the first year that really sped up our process. But Ramsey's principles work no matter your situation, all that varies is how much you have to sacrifice to make it happen and how long it will take (average is 2-3 years though).

I second Dave Ramsey! Go to his website at daveramsey.com and check it out. "The Total Money Makeover" book is great, as is his book "Financial Peace". There are also classes, you can type in your zip code and find one in your area - Financial Peace University. The class costs, but it is for the materials (including the books) and is worth EVERY penny. My husband and I used these principles and paid off about $22,000 in debt over 13 months (and I quit my job to stay home 6 months into that), our three to six month emergency fund will be complete next month, and we should have our new home paid off in under 15 years. These principles work!! Even in this economy, although we are careful, instead of being financially stressed, we are making strides to become even more financially stable because we have a plan! Good luck with whatever you choose.

I second what everyone else has said. Dave Ramsey suggests starting with the lowest balance, no matter the interest rate and then when you have that one paid off, take the same amt you were just paying and roll it over onto the next one. So if you were paying $100 each on 4 credit cards, then when you got the lowest one paid off, then you would pay $200 on the next lowest one and $100 on the other two. And finally you are paying $400 on the biggest one. That's just an example of how it works. Good luck to you! That's a great blessing to not live on credit cards at all, you'll feel very free. Don't give up!! No matter what your friends say !! LOL Oh another thing is to call the credit card companies and see if they will lower your APR. They usually will. You have to be kind of persistent, I've done that before, especially if you have something crazy like 29.9! That's awful. If you have one that high and it has a small balance, I might cheat a little and pay that one off first! Just have a plan and stick to it. Always pay on time in the meantime, even if it's the minimum balance. Make sure and update and tell us how it goes!

When I had credit cards and decided that it was time to cut them up (and I literally did that!), I didn't look at the APRs. I paid the one with the smallest balance first. When that one was completely paid off, there was a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of 'I can do this' when it came to the next ones. If I had started with the largest one, I think I would have felt defeated because it would have taken me longer to pay it all off and I would have given up trying to get them paid off. (Credit cards and I got along great - it was the bills that came after that got me in trouble!) Anyway - good luck to you!
Frances

Several years ago, I paid off all of my credit cards by starting with the lowest balance first. It might have cost less in long run to pay off the ones with the highest interest first, but there was a huge psychological boost when the first one was totally paid off that kept me going to pay off the next..... and the next.... and the next..... until they were all gone! It's kind of like jump starting a diet. If you see some quick success, it's easier to keep going.

Then, once there was ZERO debt, I had a hard time allowing myself to charge anything new! I didn't want to ruin my record of being debt free. If I do charge for convenience (buying things online), I pay off the entire amount as soon as the bill comes in. Also, you can use a debit card anytime you might use a credit card. (It doesn't always give you the same protections as a credit card though, such as dealing with merchandise that never arrives.)

I did see that someone mentioned CCCS and we used something similar. I had used it once and got into trouble again with credit cards after I got married. Now we are doing it again. It is called Freedom Debt Management. I found it online. They don't consolidate your debt and they don't give you a loan. They work with your credit card companies to lower your interest rate and and then you pay FDM and they pay your creditors. You sign a contract and you can no longer use your credit cards. They look at your budget to see if it is worth trying to work out payment plan. I have been pleased with them and they are nice.

Try Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It will help not only get rid of credit card debt, but also let you "live like no one else".

Dave ramsey!!!
cut up your credit cards today and then start paying off the lowest balence first- it is an emotion thing- once you have that first card paid off you feel great! then you attack the next one- Anyway- go to daveramsey.com or check out his total money makeover book or Financial Peace book- they are great- and not only will this improve your finacial situation, but will also greatly improve your marriage!
God bless!
~C.