Each month I am sitting here wondering why my cc is over the limit as I am trying to pay it off! The balance is high and my insurance charges my monthly amount to this card (I have no choice in the matter, its the only card I can do this on) and I always seem to be over my limit each month!! Well I looked at my statement and the insurance payment is not putting me over its the interest they are charging me!! So on top of it they take on a late fee!!! I am not sure how they can do this!!! I am unable to pay more then the min payment right now due to a one paycheck house hold (that changes soon) and my debt to ratio income is so high I dont think I am able to get another card to transfer the balance!! HELP!!
What kind of insurance are you having charged to your CC? Do you *need* to have it paid this way? Can you switch to cash?
You're going to be over your limit until you decrease your balance, which is how the interest is calculated. The interest charge will go down when your balance goes down.
Have you tried calling them to see if they can help you out any? I don't know how much CC companies are doing this given today's economy, but I don't think it could hurt to try.
__________________
*~*Michelle*~*
"You can't have your best health without exercise. It's just not possible" ~ Leslie Sansone, WATP
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Yes I did contact them only to find they are raising the rates even more!!! I am getting ready to call the insurance company now!! Its so hard to even get ahead!!!
Are those minimum payments/balance? Which one is at its limit?
__________________
If you could kick in the pants the person responsible for your problems, you wouldn't be able to sit for a month.
Did you know that a 4 year student paying $20,000/year who finances their education graduates with over $103,000 in debt to start? But a student who works and pays cash and takes 6 years to graduate ends with $6,300 in their pocket! So much for "getting a head start by financing!"
Greebo(Nerd Spender): Loving and extremely patiently tolerated husband of ceashels. WARNING: Y Chromosome behind the keyboard. Adjust your listening filters appropriately!
Three Two mortgages, twoone no car loans, one no credit cards, and a partridge in pear tree!
To be honest with you and this freaks me out to say it all of them are at their limits, the #4 cc is the one that is over the limit because of the interest! And just to add in there my husband starts a new job soon so it will be easier to pay more then the min payments! Oh and by the way the insurance company is no help!! I have to figure this one out!!
To start with you need to cut up those cards and don't even think about opening another one!
__________________
If you could kick in the pants the person responsible for your problems, you wouldn't be able to sit for a month.
Did you know that a 4 year student paying $20,000/year who finances their education graduates with over $103,000 in debt to start? But a student who works and pays cash and takes 6 years to graduate ends with $6,300 in their pocket! So much for "getting a head start by financing!"
Greebo(Nerd Spender): Loving and extremely patiently tolerated husband of ceashels. WARNING: Y Chromosome behind the keyboard. Adjust your listening filters appropriately!
Three Two mortgages, twoone no car loans, one no credit cards, and a partridge in pear tree!
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Greebo For This Useful Post:
Already ahead of you on that one!! I had to close two due to the interest rates sky rocketing, I know it hurts your credit score but if I didnt I would go under! I still have two open so hopefully it won't hurt me too bad!!
Already ahead of you on that one!! I had to close two due to the interest rates sky rocketing, I know it hurts your credit score but if I didnt I would go under! I still have two open so hopefully it won't hurt me too bad!!
Your credit score is the LAST thing you need to be worrying about here. I'm sorry, but you've demonstrated that you have no control over your credit card use. 4 maxed cards for nearly 30k debt means YOU CAN NOT TRUST YOURSELF. So *stop* even considering *another* card for a balance transfer - all that will do is give you another chance to run up more debt. Time for the Debtor's Anonymous approach - cut it off, cold turkey!
Next, you're in a financial crisis. These cards are priority # 93 right now. Your top priorities until your income situation improves are:
1) Food
2) Rent
3) Lights (Utilities)
4) Car
5) Necessary clothing
Make sure those are paid, on time, every month. If you run out of money before the month ends and there's nothing to pay the CC's with, DON'T PAY THEM. Yes, short term this will make things worse for their debt but they are still not a priority.
Get your insurance *off* of the credit card and write them a check each month as priority #6. Close the accounts for future use. Tell them you don't want them to accept *any* more charges on any of them.
Once hubby's job kicks in and his income is flowing, start working down the cards. Get them current first, then save up an emergency fund of $1000, and then start paying off those cards, smallest to largest.
Read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. Do not buy it with credit. Get it from the library. If you can't, let me know.
You've got a mess here to deal with, and it won't be dealt with over night, but if you start cleaning it up now, you CAN fix it. It's going to take time and it'll be hard, but it can be done!
__________________
If you could kick in the pants the person responsible for your problems, you wouldn't be able to sit for a month.
Did you know that a 4 year student paying $20,000/year who finances their education graduates with over $103,000 in debt to start? But a student who works and pays cash and takes 6 years to graduate ends with $6,300 in their pocket! So much for "getting a head start by financing!"
Greebo(Nerd Spender): Loving and extremely patiently tolerated husband of ceashels. WARNING: Y Chromosome behind the keyboard. Adjust your listening filters appropriately!
Three Two mortgages, twoone no car loans, one no credit cards, and a partridge in pear tree!
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Greebo For This Useful Post:
Your top priorities ought to be as follows:
1) food (cash only, menu planning, no eating out, using coupons)
2) rent
3) utilities (can you do automatic withdrawls for these?)
4) car payment (if any) and then petrol (cash again - if you run out of petrol before the months end, suck it up and take the bus!)
You do NOT need "necessary clothing"....make do for now! Take care of what you have now so you dont have to buy anything new. Stay out of the malls, dont buy magazines, etc. If you do need something, buy it with cash and cash ONLY!!!
When it comes to your CC debt, I agree about getting rid of the insurance - its just a waste of money. I used to have this on my CCs too but realized I was paying so much for such an unnecessary service, especially if you're having trouble making payments on just the balance!
Now, take all your CCs cut them up so you're not going to be tempted to use them!!! I was in a pretty deep CC hole a while ago too and this was the only way that helped me stop using them. Its harsh but necessary.
Next, write down every single penny that you spend for a month. Then, sit down and make a budget that you can stick to. Use the envelope cash system (or jars, whatever works for you) and do NOT under any circumstance go over what you budgeted yourself for the month. Any extra $$$ you have at the end of the month gets put into paying off your DEBT.
I dont care if that means eating plain rice for a week because you ran out of food money.....suck it up. Once you do this a few times, the reality of your situation will kick in and you'll do everything in your power to avoid feeling like you're dirt poor....actually, pretend that you are!!! It might help you with controlling where your money is going and how you think of it. I would tell myself over and over again that I have to live life like a poor college student to get out of the mess I was in and reframing how I thought about my situation (instead of "oh poor me!" <--victim) really helped me focus on my goals.
Also, is there any way you can make an extra $20 here and there? That would help a lot with paying down some of your CCs.
Good luck with everything!!! I can send you a spreadsheet that I use for budget that really has helped me track of where my money goes for bills and such and shows me how much (if any) I have left once everything gets paid off. Let me know!
__________________
My own personal baby steps:
BS 1: $82/$1,000
BS 2: One $214,000/$220,000
BS 3: $0/$25,000 goal (6 months)
BS 4: Invest 50% of income into RRSPs/savings
BS 5: School fund for the kiddo
BS 6: Will be paid off in BS2!!
BS 7: Enjoy the good life
Personal Goals for the rest of 2009:
1. Start my business - check us out on etsy: CuddleMonsters
2. Go back to school to become a teacher
Wife to a wonderful man ; Stay at Home Momma to a smiley baby girl ; Momma to 3 cuddly fur babies &
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to PrairieGirl For This Useful Post:
I agree with most of what Greebo said, all except ignoring your cc pymts. If you continue to allow your cc to be over limit you will continue to get hit with overlimit fees which will only make your situation worse than it is already. Figure out some way to get that card below its limit...I don't care if you have to sell something or go out and get another job. Then make sure your payments are made before the due date. Once you accomplish this you may be able to get your cc company to work with you.
1. Rent
2. Utilities (lights & heat)
3. Food
4. Car & car expenses
5. Necessary medical expenses
6. CCs
Without a roof over your head, you don't need utilities and without someplace to keep/make your food you'd be in a world of hurt. Food expenses were the first thing I tightened up when the need arose in years past. You can make headway and clean up your mess if you put your nose to the grindstone...
__________________ Challenges 2010
Grocery Challenge: $2600/$265.31
get down to $50 per wk. avg. by end of year.
Thanks everyone!! I have requested the book from my local library so that is one thing done. I have done a budget so thats another thing done. The insurance will be cancelled by the end of the day! We are living off what ever is in the cabinets so thats not a problem and all other bills are paid on time. I am not late on anything not even the cc bills. So that is good, now its just one step at a time to paying everything down!! Thanks again!!!
Ok, I'll go along with that. You don't want the CC's to get worse any more than necessary - so do as much as you can to keep them current, but NOT at the expense of the real necessities.
__________________
If you could kick in the pants the person responsible for your problems, you wouldn't be able to sit for a month.
Did you know that a 4 year student paying $20,000/year who finances their education graduates with over $103,000 in debt to start? But a student who works and pays cash and takes 6 years to graduate ends with $6,300 in their pocket! So much for "getting a head start by financing!"
Greebo(Nerd Spender): Loving and extremely patiently tolerated husband of ceashels. WARNING: Y Chromosome behind the keyboard. Adjust your listening filters appropriately!
Three Two mortgages, twoone no car loans, one no credit cards, and a partridge in pear tree!
__________________
If you could kick in the pants the person responsible for your problems, you wouldn't be able to sit for a month.
Did you know that a 4 year student paying $20,000/year who finances their education graduates with over $103,000 in debt to start? But a student who works and pays cash and takes 6 years to graduate ends with $6,300 in their pocket! So much for "getting a head start by financing!"
Greebo(Nerd Spender): Loving and extremely patiently tolerated husband of ceashels. WARNING: Y Chromosome behind the keyboard. Adjust your listening filters appropriately!
Three Two mortgages, twoone no car loans, one no credit cards, and a partridge in pear tree!
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My interest rate is putting me over my limit!
; Stay at Home Momma to a smiley baby girl 
; Momma to 3 cuddly fur babies 
& 
: $0.35 
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