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AaronEvil
The GuitarVillain



Registered: 09/27/04
Posts: 1,706
Loc: California
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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Debt issues and questions
#7585525 - 11/01/07 08:38 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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So, my girlfriend and I are in debt (like most US citizens) and we are trying to get out of debt. What is the best way for us to do this? Collectively we are abour $7,000 in debt and we have $1,500 to use towards some of it. Does anyone have suggestions on how to go about this?
Should we attack the largest debts first and only pay a portion or should we pay of our lowest debts and ensure those do not increase?
Any suggestions or advice/personal experience is greatly appreciated.
--------------------
There is not a lot of difference between a fox hole and a grave; but knowing that you dug your ditch and climbed in anyway.
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Crystal G



Registered: 06/05/07
Posts: 19,584
Loc: outer space
Last seen: 8 months, 5 days
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: AaronEvil]
#7585534 - 11/01/07 08:40 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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pay lowest debts first, get that out of the way. contact whomever you owe the large debts to and make some sort of deal with them, so that you only have to pay around $100 or so every month for however many years.
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DieCommie


Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: AaronEvil]
#7585554 - 11/01/07 08:46 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Most people when upside down in their finances immediately think they need more money. This is half the problem. Consider picking up a part time job temporarily, like pizza driving. The pay is decent and the annoyance will help reinforce good budgeting techniques.
The other half of the problem is expenses. Americans are ultra spoiled and think that many of their expenses are necessities when they are infact luxuries. Get rid of the cell phones, the cable TV, dont go out to eat (fast food and restaurants are hella expensive), dont buy shit on a whim. You need to budget, that is specifically you need to plan how you are going to spend all of you money for the next month and dont spend on anything you dont budget.
Many people think that to get rich you need a high paying job. Well using the world and history as perspective all Americans have high paying jobs. The way most rich people get rich is they budget, save, budget and save.
Focusing on the order you are going to pay off your specific debts is sidestepping the issue that got you in trouble to begin with. It is irrelevant in the long run, you need to reexamine your belief system and habits with regards to finances.
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Veritas

Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: AaronEvil]
#7585638 - 11/01/07 09:11 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Consumer Credit Counseling Service is an excellent resource. Check online to find a local office & make an appointment today. They will help you develop a budget, work with your creditors to reduce interest rates & lower monthly payments, target the highest-interest debts first, electronically transmit your payments each month so that you never pay late fees, and provide classes (usually for a small fee) on financial management. 
They really helped me when I decided that I wanted to turn my financial life around, and I recommend them to anyone who is tired of being enslaved by consumer debt.
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MrBump
Third prize is you're fired


Registered: 10/01/02
Posts: 4,263
Loc: Denver, Colorado
Last seen: 4 years, 6 months
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: AaronEvil]
#7585670 - 11/01/07 09:21 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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$7K in debt isnt much at all - at least in relation to most Americans. If this $1,500 is all you have in the bank account right now, I would suggest that you dont use it all at once to pay off your debt. if you zero your bank account and your car breaks down and you have to borrow to pay for the repairs, then your right back where you started.
you didnt get 7,000 in debt over night, so dont think your going to get out of degt over night either. get on some sort of a monthly budget plan.
-------------------- If it weren't for the bloody corpses, I wouldn't have any corpses at all. There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree: start climbing or sit on an acorn. Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: AaronEvil]
#7585889 - 11/01/07 10:21 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Some good advice here. Also, cancel and cut those credit cards into teeny-weeny little pieces and never get another one. It's worked well for me.
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blkjkrabbit
Registered: 07/22/07
Posts: 4,971
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: Crystal G]
#7586286 - 11/02/07 12:38 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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dump your assets and pay it off so interest doesn't accumulate.
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meatcakeman
the search for bodhisattva



Registered: 07/03/07
Posts: 8,380
Loc: el sol
Last seen: 10 years, 9 months
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: DieCommie]
#7586426 - 11/02/07 02:04 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
DieCommie said: Most people when upside down in their finances immediately think they need more money. This is half the problem. Consider picking up a part time job temporarily, like pizza driving. The pay is decent and the annoyance will help reinforce good budgeting techniques.
The other half of the problem is expenses. Americans are ultra spoiled and think that many of their expenses are necessities when they are infact luxuries. Get rid of the cell phones, the cable TV, dont go out to eat (fast food and restaurants are hella expensive), dont buy shit on a whim. You need to budget, that is specifically you need to plan how you are going to spend all of you money for the next month and dont spend on anything you dont budget.
Many people think that to get rich you need a high paying job. Well using the world and history as perspective all Americans have high paying jobs. The way most rich people get rich is they budget, save, budget and save.
Focusing on the order you are going to pay off your specific debts is sidestepping the issue that got you in trouble to begin with. It is irrelevant in the long run, you need to reexamine your belief system and habits with regards to finances.
-------------------- 大开眼界
 
Hasta siempre, comandante.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: AaronEvil]
#7586618 - 11/02/07 05:17 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Do what you can to get the interest rates lowered... most credit card companies will work with you, if you call them. Pay off the high interest rate debts first and as quickly as possible.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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druqs
ALKALOIDOHOLIC


Registered: 09/11/06
Posts: 8,862
Last seen: 4 months, 6 days
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: Seuss]
#7586622 - 11/02/07 05:24 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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i can't understand how people can get in debt.
just get an AMEX card, they don't chase you for anything less than $32000
sorry, I'm no financial adviser.
Edited by druqs (11/02/07 05:27 AM)
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: druqs]
#7586639 - 11/02/07 05:52 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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> i can't understand how people can get in debt.
The system is designed to keep people in debt once they get there. The credit card companies give credit cards with large limits and huge interest rates to people that they know cannot cover the liability. Before you know it, you are barely able to pay off the interest, never making a dent on the principle owed.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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druqs
ALKALOIDOHOLIC


Registered: 09/11/06
Posts: 8,862
Last seen: 4 months, 6 days
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: Seuss]
#7586644 - 11/02/07 05:54 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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yeah but do americans just not understand what a credit card is? if you are having money problems the last thing any sane person would do is get stuck in a debt trap...
they all can't be that stupid can they?
Edited by druqs (11/02/07 05:55 AM)
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: druqs]
#7586680 - 11/02/07 06:27 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
mycelismymind said: they all can't be that stupid can they?
Apparently they can be. I agree with you though. I have had a credit card for 10 years. Never once did I say to myself: "Oh, I have a credit card so that must mean I don't have to pay for this item".
I just don't understand where the disconnect occurs.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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druqs
ALKALOIDOHOLIC


Registered: 09/11/06
Posts: 8,862
Last seen: 4 months, 6 days
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: badchad]
#7586684 - 11/02/07 06:31 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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haha yeah!
this is my normal train of though when i would like to buy something:
'i have £5 in my bank' 'i would like a nice fast koenigsegg''
(http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&resnum=0&q=koenigsegg&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi)
'ah well, i'll just buy some beers'
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WhiskeyClone
Not here


Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,509
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Canada ...
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: druqs]
#7586740 - 11/02/07 07:13 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
mycelismymind said: yeah but do americans just not understand what a credit card is? if you are having money problems the last thing any sane person would do is get stuck in a debt trap...
they all can't be that stupid can they?
You don't have to be stupid. You have a few unexpected expenses one month, You use up your rainy day fund and you just barely break even.
Then your water heater goes...
-------------------- Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it. ~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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memes
Blessed



Registered: 01/11/05
Posts: 27,785
Loc: In a Tree
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: WhiskeyClone]
#7586768 - 11/02/07 07:37 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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i didn't read anyones responses (no time) but i figured i'd throw this out real quick.
Monitor your expenses - cut back all you can. -Pay off highest interest debts first
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AaronEvil
The GuitarVillain



Registered: 09/27/04
Posts: 1,706
Loc: California
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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Re: Debt issues and questions [Re: MrBump]
#7587216 - 11/02/07 10:32 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
thecornking said: $7K in debt isnt much at all - at least in relation to most Americans. If this $1,500 is all you have in the bank account right now, I would suggest that you dont use it all at once to pay off your debt. if you zero your bank account and your car breaks down and you have to borrow to pay for the repairs, then your right back where you started.
you didnt get 7,000 in debt over night, so dont think your going to get out of degt over night either. get on some sort of a monthly budget plan.
I may have been unclear, we have 1,500 extra to use towards our debts. Its money that is on top of what we already bring in.
Great advice though from everyone. I wont get into how we got in debt but it wasnt initially credit cards. We had a lot of things go wrong in a very short time span so the money we had saved up got spent quickly, then my car had problems and it kind of spiraled down hill from there.
So far I have cut up all the cards and made a spreadsheet lastnight to try and balance what we make with what we owe.
--------------------
There is not a lot of difference between a fox hole and a grave; but knowing that you dug your ditch and climbed in anyway.
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