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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Credit |
How do I pay off my credit card? I work full time and just cant get ahead..? |
I need to pay off my credit card and I have tried not using them.. paying on time.. etc. etc. I dont want to take out a loan to pay them off bc Im trying to save up for a car. I work full time, and go to school. Should I get another job. It just feels like I can never get ahead.. Any help would be loved! Thanks. Dear "Jessica B": Well the credit cards don't want you to get "ahead". They'd like you to keep paying the 18 to 30% interest for the next 30 years. Credit cards are the quicksand of the financial world. If you struggle, you've drowned. If you relax and go with the flow, you can swim out of it. Just so I understand, you have one or more credit cards and you feel like you can never catch up. Well, I'm no Suzzie Orman or Dave Ramsey, but fell into the same trap when I was young a long time ago. So, I got out of it and you can too. Here's a suggestion and some thoughts. Suggestion: Find a credit union. Then drop by and chat. They are very nice people who have a different mission from a bank. They want members; not interest charges. If you think that you can't escape, you can't. The credit card company minimum payments will get you free and clear in forty years. You need to know EXACTLY what you are spending every penny on. Get a little book at Staples for a few bucks. They have a cheap brown stitched one with a column for figures. AND, record every expense. (You can also transcribe it to a check book program like Ace Money Lite http://www.mechcad.net/products/acemoney... (It's free!) to manage your budget. Then for every expenditure, ask do I really really really need it? Then, try a do without it. The daily expenditures for coffee and paper add up. Take a look at the sites in my sources for further thoughts. You can do it. I have confidence in you. Hope this helps. I'm interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog has other helpful "stuff". fjohn Ferdinand J. Reinke Kendall Park, NJ 08824 Webform that creates an urgent email => http://2idi.com/contact/=reinkefj... Web page => http://www.reinke.cc/ My blog => http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/... LinkedIn url => http://www.linkedin.com/in/reinkefj... Source(s): http://www.creditunion.coop/ http://www.suzeorman.com/ http://www.daveramsey.com/ http://www.ftc.gov/ http://reinkefaceslife.com/2007/05/16/ya... http://reinkefaceslife.com/2007/06/19/ya... The first thing you need to do is draw up a budget - a list of all your incomes and ouytgoings, so that you can find out where all your money is going. Once you have done that, you will be in a good position to take control and make cuts where they won't hurt too much. In the meantime, stop using your credit card. First of all, STOP USING IT then, pay off any bills you have on it. then, if you KNOW you won't be able to get by that again, CANCEL your credit card. personal experience try to sign up for another credit card with zero balance transfers or whatever where they dont charge interest or finance charges for like a year. the lack of them addng money each month to your bill will help you. good luck... its hard to get ahead when you get so far behind. Try to send in 10-20 more dollars when paying your bill that way the finance charges will be eaten away and you will see the bill go down a lot faster. Also, try not to use it unless it is possible! Draw up a budget and stick to it! This is very important. When you get an extra chunk of change, send it to your cc company. You can always mail in extra with the bill or at another time. Lastly, you may need to get a part time job in addition to a full time for a few months, just to pay off bills. I am doing that right now and although I am tired and I know that I am sacrificing time, fun events and time with my family, it is only temporary. I plan on buying a house in 2 years and I'd rather struggle now then to get into buying a house and be denied or get penalized with a higher interest rate because of bad credit or unpaid bills... Be smart about your money and sacrifice for about 6 months to a year. Trust me, you will be glad you did... GOOD LUCK! |
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