chelba
New Poster
Cash: $ 0.45
Posts: 2
Joined: 03 Jun 2006
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| Need Advice! |
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I am a single parent that rents with a full time job. I have approx, 22,000 debt. My bills aren't behind and I try to pay a little more than the minimum. My credit is Excellent, but I have become so overwhelmed living week to week with nothing extra. I considered a personal loan at a lower APR than a couple of my current, or Credit Counseling Plan, but I don't want to hurt my credit for the future for being able to buy a home or such... I just don't know what to do, Please HELP!
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 2:49 am |
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chelba
New Poster
Cash: $ 0.45
Posts: 2
Joined: 03 Jun 2006
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I sent a PM to you Tim, not sure if you received it. Please let me know, I keep getting errors.
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 3:35 pm |
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Stock Mama
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Joined: 06 Apr 2006
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Talk to your bank and see if you can get a debt consolidation loan so that you can immediately reduce the interest you are paying. That may or may not be possible, but give it a try. If it's not, you're going to have to pay more than the minimum on your credit card bills.
Then sit down and do some serious budgeting. Keep track of everything you spend (and I mean everything, right down to the quarter for the gumball machine) so that you know exactly where your money is going.
With the facts and figures in front of you (and no fair saying, "Well, this was an unusual month, because I had to buy birthday presents, and there was a baby shower at work..." because all months are unusual months), start figuring out where you can cut back. Be totally honest with yourself. How many "necessities" are really luxuries? How many can you eliminate? Of those that are left, can you shop around and get the same services more cheaply elsewhere?
It's good that you've stopped using your credit cards. Save them for emergencies, or one-time purchases with a plan to pay off the charge quickly. Start saving ahead of time for charges you know are coming up, such as school shopping in August, or Christmas shopping, so you don't have to go into debt for these.
Get the kids in on the act, too. If they're old enough to understand, sit them down and have a family council and tell them that Mom made some financial mistakes, and has been spending too much money. Ask the kids for ideas. You may be surprised at how smart kids can be. Find ways to reward them for helping you save. For example, my son used to clip grocery coupons, and he got paid half of the money we saved from the coupons we used. But he also learned from shopping with us that sometimes we could save even more by using a store brand instead of the coupon for the national brand.
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Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:09 pm |
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JCook
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Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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I agree with the budget, it's a must. It will show you where you may still be spending needlessly.
Do you have anything you can sell. Quick cash paid against one of your debts could be a big help. There must be something that you don't need lying around the house.
John
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Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:42 am |
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nkthen
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Joined: 16 Mar 2006
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Consider a budget is important. I don't know if it is possible for you to take a loan from your family members because there usually be 'no interest' charge for borrowing from family members but there will be interest charge for debts.
Of course, you have to promise to repay them.
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Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:39 am |
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more freedom
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Joined: 12 Jul 2006
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chelba,
I think you can build a business for some reasons.
You can try to build a small home based business with very little money down. By doing this you can have some tax shield and passive income opportunities.
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Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:50 am |
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