Im Debt free. Went from $30k+ in credit card debt to cccs owing me $650 (they cut the check 7/3). Started the dmp in september or october of 2008 and paid $700-$800 / month (base payment was $691). Credit score stayed about them same ,never missed a payment, and paid back every cent i charged at whatever apr cccs was able to lock me into + the $25/month program fee. it wasn’t easy, lots of hustling and sleepless nights but its over.
Congrats Sir
Awesome work, man. I’m only about 5k in the hole. Trying to turn it around has neen rough, but I started at about 8k. Slowly, but surely.
Nice junk. I’ve got about 20 I’d like to get rid of. Did you go thru a consolidation company or what
Thanks guys. Whatever you choose to do have a plan and stick to it. Dustin cccs is a debt management service that gets partial funding from some creditors. Its not a loan or consolidation and they operate in most states. Initially amex and discover had a list of hostage negotiation demands i had to honor before they’d work with cccs. I basically paid cccs the $700-800 month and they paid my creditors after taking $25 for processing. During my time on the program i was not allowed to use credit cards or open new lines of credit but i could buy or lease a car or home or take out student loans. Google cccs but also try to talk to others about consolidation or other options. Some months the $700 really killed me . Your payment amount will vary based on tons of factors.
Well done sir. I just made the last credit card payment on my last card, this last pay check. This time last year I had about $9,500 in total debt. Now I am downn to $1,660 on my car. I DO have some debt on a daily expenses credit card that gets paid off every month. It is a little behind, but still inside the 0% interest period until February, and I suspect I’ll be able to get it back down to zero every month before December if not sooner.
Anyway, it sure does feel great to reduce debt. Also, I did this making a good 25% less than I was getting paid when I accumulated a good portion of this debt. Last year in June I got a 36 month car loan, and it should be paid off around October of this year.
One day a little over a year ago, I just got fed up with being poor and decided to knock it off. It has been pretty easy to do and my financial stability is a total 180 from when I was making a lot more money and had a lot less responsibility. By creating and sticking to a budget, I feel, and actually am, richer than I did when I just spent money as soon as I got it.
Awesome Junkman! I need to tackle my growing debt. It’s not fun.
it is a great feeling to pay stuff off and my current salary was a huge help (left my job at the hospital 2 years ago for the job I have now at the surgery center and they basically handed me $12,000 more to drive fewer miles, work less hours and have a set mon-fri no nights weekends or holidays schedule). One of the biggest obstacles I had was the cost of living in this area. A roach infested, firetrap, illegal, “studio” apartment (400 or so sq ft) rents for $1000 / month in an area that makes Beirut circa 1983 look like beverly hills. My car insurance is around $1500/year for the leased 2012 civic (took until I turned 30 for it to be “affordable” when factored into a monthly new car lease payment.) If wanted to buy a house in this area, I’d be looking at something in the $600k to $1.1m area with property tax between $20k-40k/year to live in an area where my car MIGHT get stolen and my house MIGHT get broken into, as opposed to the area where my grandmother lived (in a house worth $500k, with $21k/year property taxes and every one of her neighbors homes had either been robbed , some home invasion style, or had a car or 3 stolen from them) . About 60% of the taxes here go to fund the shitty failing public schools. Many of the townships in my county have few commercial rateables and are providing, on some level, “corporate sponsorship” for the cities of Newark (former car theft capital of america) , Irvington (a city that formerly held the title of having close to the highest or the highest depending on what calculations one used, murder rate per capita for a city of its size) and East Orange (such a shit hole that the “upscale” Village of South Orange debated on changing its name to South Mountain Village, to avoid any accidental association with east orange). Sorry going on a tear here.
Long story short, I will need to open a credit card in the not to distant future. It will only be used for things like hotel reservations, purchasing plane tickets, and renting cars. When a tree hit my house and car last october I had to find a hotel and fast. Many residents in this area were temporarily displaced and due to some conventions in the area hotels were at a premium. The only hotel I did manage to find had a policy of placing up to a $500 hold per reseveration. No problem if I had a credit card, but Bank of America flipped a shit when the hold was placed on my debit card. It would have been nice to have had access to that $500 if I had been displaced for longer than 4 days or needed the money fast.
Tell us how you really feel.
This upcoming deployment is gonna finish off the bit of debt we have left (not counting the z or mortgage).
sorry influx of douchebags from places like Brooklyn over the last 15 years has made me a hardened bitter fuck. Just because the public schools here are safer than some of their NYC counterparts, doesn’t mean that they’re good schools. END RANT.
Back on track
In 90 days i have a final meeting with CCCS to discuss my process and make sure that I’m on the straight and narrow. I assure you all the next time I go into this much debt, it will be to buy a home (not happening anytime soon, I mean down the road a ways)
Get a cash back card (American Express Blue Cash) and use it for all your daily spending. Since you won’t be using money directly out of your bank account, you will just pay the card off every month and you should never incur an interest charge. You’ll also be collecting 1-6% cash back on all your purchases to use at your disposal. It isn’t much, but as long as you aren’t paying interest, then you’ll actually be making money.
At the same time, all the spending on your credit card is protected, so if someone gets your credit card number, your company will take care of you, as opposed to if someone gets a hold of your debit card and cleans out your bank account, your bank might help you out, if they are feeling extra nice that day. Oh yeah, and if you do ever purchase a house, they like to see a higher average balance in your bank account. Keeping your paychecks in your bank all month while you use your cash back credit card for purchases helps you look like you have significantly more money in your bank account at all times.
Thats a good plan i will look into it.
Nice job John!
Agreed on the Amex. That’s what my wife and I do.
Going from high debt, to zero debt, and then straight into using a credit card for ALL of your spending, is going to take great discipline. Make sure you keep on top of it so you don’t start getting into trouble again. Cash back cards have high interest rates (21-22%) because most people don’t pay them off every month. Once you get into the habit of paying them off on time, it won’t matter what the interest rate is, as you will not be paying it. If you do screw up and pay interest, the 21% will easily take care of that month’s 1-6% cash back you earned, along with the last three months’ cash back as well.
My Amex Blue Cash came with the first 12 months interest free. I think this is the most dangerous period, as you end up spending more than you usually would because you know you have the cushion. Just make sure to get back on track well before that 12 months is over.
[QUOTE=Stu;2265347]Going from high debt, to zero debt, and then straight into using a credit card for ALL of your spending, is going to take great discipline. Make sure you keep on top of it so you don’t start getting into trouble again. Cash back cards have high interest rates (21-22%) because most people don’t pay them off every month. Once you get into the habit of paying them off on time, it won’t matter what the interest rate is, as you will not be paying it. If you do screw up and pay interest, the 21% will easily take care of that month’s 1-6% cash back you earned, along with the last three months’ cash back as well.
My Amex Blue Cash came with the first 12 months interest free. I think this is the most dangerous period, as you end up spending more than you usually would because you know you have the cushion. Just make sure to get back on track well before that 12 months is over.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I pay it every week instead of every month to stay on top of it.
That’s a good move. Pay early, pay often, is a great way to both manage, and reduce debt. The biggest part of budgeting (imo) is paying things as soon as you get paid, whether they are due or not. I think people putting off payments because they aren’t due is one of the biggest ways people get into trouble.
[QUOTE=Stu;2265168]Get a cash back card (American Express Blue Cash) and use it for all your daily spending. Since you won’t be using money directly out of your bank account, you will just pay the card off every month and you should never incur an interest charge. You’ll also be collecting 1-6% cash back on all your purchases to use at your disposal. It isn’t much, but as long as you aren’t paying interest, then you’ll actually be making money.
At the same time, all the spending on your credit card is protected, so if someone gets your credit card number, your company will take care of you, as opposed to if someone gets a hold of your debit card and cleans out your bank account, your bank might help you out, if they are feeling extra nice that day. Oh yeah, and if you do ever purchase a house, they like to see a higher average balance in your bank account. Keeping your paychecks in your bank all month while you use your cash back credit card for purchases helps you look like you have significantly more money in your bank account at all times.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Excellent post. 