debt consolidation
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- zachary
Any of you out there in NT Land tried a debt consolidation service? If so, which one? Were you pleased with it?
Just now doing my homework on finding the right one to sign up with, but input and testimonials from others is always welcome.
- sexypixel0
jk posted something on ntb a while ago, search for 'credit'
- zachary0
Yeah, I remember reading that...
Sounds like the dude JK referred to clears credit history for profit.
I was more looking towards a non-profit organization that helps to consolidate monthly payments and the like. ie. genus, ameridebt, etc...
Anyone?
- kote0
Ameridebt is good - I just signed up with them. They have this policy that after making oyur payments on tume for 6 months they will report and continue to report good history on you.
I am very excited about it. Good luck.
- unknown0
How in debt are you? Do you want to use your credit again? these question you need to ask yourself! I advice you to pay them as you go, if you can't then you're out of luck, cause the service will be on your credit history for like 7 to 10 years, and no creditor wants to hear about you going to some agency to try and depry them of getting their APR money! No credit means being a nobody dude! Think about it!
:)
- unknown0
HAA, HAA LOL! You want good advice man, they are RIP-OFFS! Here is solid financial advice, don't spend so much on dumb shit you don't need and don't just pay your monthly minumum, I can do the math for you. $3,000 US Dollars will take you 100 years to pay if you just pay off the minimum each month. Multiply, multiply, multiply!
- unknown0
Just pick the highest interest loan or credit card and try making higher payments on that one, while meeting the minimum payments on the others, then when you get rid of that one, pick a next one, and so and so, nobody says you'll pay it quick, but at least you keep you good credit!
Go to http://lendingtree.com, when bankcs compete you win! unless you get a ridiculous APR offer!
:)
- unknown0
If you owe something like $7,000 you can forget paying it off if it is anywhere in the near 13 to 17% interest range. That is like 200 years paying just the monthly minimum.
- sp0
alot of people, and i mean people with creditability say that those consolidation companies are scams.
that's what both my lawyer and my accountant say. they've both been very good to me and helped me out a lot with my finances after college, so i trust them.
i don't however, trust debt consolidation companies or legal loan sharks [read: 'payday' loan places].
debt is probably the single biggest domestic problem in the us. the vast majority of crime can be attributed to financial and economic problems.
debt consolidation doesn't do anything but remove some interest from your payment, you still have to pay back everything...and, if you think they can make an impact on your credit rating then they are taking you for a spin.
sorry to say.
- drubynum0
I'm going with a company called Positive Return. They basically cut your debt in half , set up an escrow account to which they deduct monthly payments from your checking account and use to negotiate with your creditors. Sure, your credit goes to pot but at least you'l have money in your pocket. You have to ask yourself, which is better?
http://www.epositivereturn.com/
Good luck.
- lament0
for those crying "RIP OFF," you guys are wrong - at least with Genus (www.genus.org).
i've been with Genus for the past 5 years, and i can tell you right now that the shit works. my last payment is in March, and after that I'll just have school loans.
they work with your creditors to lower your APR. it's not a scam. in some cases, as with Discover Card, my APR went from 18% to 0%. others went from 21% to 6%. some remain unchanged. it depends on the creditor.
as for showing negatively on your credit, that remains to be seen. my credit rating is 750+, which is pretty decent. and yes, it does show that you're in a "credit counseling program" on your credit history.
keep this in mind - when you're in the program, you can't use any cards that are tied to it. so keep your lowest-balanced card for emergencies only.
anybody that has any questions, just email me.
- mitsu0
"they work with your creditors to lower your APR"
or you can just call your creditors yourself and tell ask each of them who will give you the lowest APR on balance transfers. they'll most likely bend over backwards for your business. then when your APR is lowered, set aside as much money as possible each month to put towards that card. i've been doing it now for about a year and i just have 3 more payments.
now when i go shopping and stores try to offer me credit cards, i just laugh. it feels so good to know i'm almost out of debt and i can only imagine what it will be like when i'm completley out.
- iodine740
http://www.clarkhoward.com -- check out his site, he has people calling in all the time on this subject.
To save you some time, here are a couple things he'll say.
1) Stop using all cards... particularly those with the high rates and high balances.
2) Make minimum payments on your low rate cards.
3) Pay extra on your high rate cards
4) For all cards -- Take your normal monthly payment amount (or whatever you decide you're going to pay - minimum or miniumum+extra), split it in half, and make that payment every two weeks. In other words, if you are gonna pay say $200/month on a card, do it in two payments of $100 each, once on the normal due date and the other two weeks before that. Since they calculate interest based on a daily balance, and you're constantly lowering that balance every two weeks, you pay less interest and can pay off the card quicker. My wife started doing this on one of my cards and it has made a difference.
- exador0
back in the early 90's when i was in college, i thought, hey...this credit thing aint so bad...
which of course was the first step in a downward spiral that left me with shit credit for years...
took a long LONG time...but finally, i got it all paid off (without any assistance from any 'agencies)
its a long process, and i suppose it must 've co-incided with being around 7 years or so from the time i got the bad credit in the 1st place, cuz when i finally went to the bank to get a new credit card i actually DID get one...no problems..
and my wife and i bought a house this summer...
(i thought FOR SURE they would NEVER give me the money...forget it..with credit as bad as mine was?....)
well...i got it....no problem...it takes TIME....time and more time...and on top of that it takes PAYING it all off...
then again, i'm in canada...not sure how different it is in the states...
- iodine740
One more thing... watch it with the Crediting Services.
My wife is a collector at a law firm and knows that they just screw their people. Clark Howard says the same thing.
There are free budgeting services out there that will help you assess your situation and let you know the best course of action. Using them doesn't affect your credit or anything. And it could be that they might tell you you do need to go with one of the consolidation services.
Clark Howard's site should have some info on those free services.
- one_edge0
I had staggering credit card debt five years ago. About $11,000, and I could only pay the minumum on each card - which was at least $100 each card. After looking at my balance I saw that I was only paying down $1 a month!! It was a rude awakening.
So I consolidated all my loans with a personal loan from my credit union. The interest rate was almost half of the rate on my cards.
I ended up paying the 5-year loan off within 3.5 years.Try to avoid hopping your balance from one low interest card to the next one that comes in, because you run the risk of having to pay balance transfer fees, and plus, that is one more card under your belt to worry about.
Try www.ihatefinancialplanning.com
And call your buddies at the credit card company every once and a while and renegotiate (yes you can do it) your APR.
- phaln0
Clark Howard does, however, refer people to CCCS centers all the time. They're the only ones he trusts for debt assistance, whether it be for advice or consolidation services. I just recently found the Atlanta CCCS center and plan on checking them out in the next week or so.
I just wish more of Clark's stuff was on his website - I'd say maybe 50% of what he says ever makes it to his website. Definitely the most useful and excellent radio show here in Atlanta (where he's based).