Financial Arrangements
July 11th, 2008We’re trying to get our debt in order. It’s…astronomical right now, given we’ve been having to do a lot of unexpected things, like car fixes and all the rest of it since we moved into the house. We have two credit cards we’re trying not to use any more because they’re maxed out (or almost maxed out) and that’s almost $20′000 in debt, we have our mortgage, and we have a great deal of monthly bills such as the term life insurance, the electricity, the phone and internet, the cable, the health insurance, and another credit card (that is thankfully almost paid off).
So we have to sort out where we can cut corners. The bills mentioned above are ones that we have to pay, but we can cut expenses by eating at home more, by car pooling, or in my case, saving up all my weekly trips and doing them in a circuit on one day, instead of going to Walmart and to Publix and then to maybe the post office or the hardware store on three different days, I will now go to the post office on the way to Walmart and circuit back via Publix, or somewhere else that’s on the same route like the pharmacy. Anything to save gas.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Have you looked into debt settlement companies? I went through a company called Credit Solutions of America. They negotiate with creditors to get a lump sum offer. Like, one credit card was close to 6,000 and they got a settlement offer of 1,500. I’m completely debt free (not counting student loans) now.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Also, nice to know it’s letting me leave comments again. I used to just get error messages.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I think it was something in the other layout that was screwed up.
I’m wondering if that was the reason a lot of people weren’t leaving comments who used to. Seems the new layout is treating people a lot better.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I have wondered about that…but I’m never sure which are legit and which are scams.
July 11th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Yeah molly, this was also happening to me!
July 12th, 2008 at 4:27 am
It’s pretty easy to suss out scams and legit stuff by googling names and seeing what people have said. However, if you are able to make minimum payments on your credit cards, I wouldn’t worry about that right now. It’s when debt is in threat of going to collections that you should take serious measures, because you don’t want those wolves at the door. We’ve occasionally gotten on collections lists for someone who used to have our number, and just try explaining to them that they have the wrong people! They finally stopped calling, but if you’re actually the person they are are, that won’t happen.
I’d consider debt consolidation as a last resort because I imagine it must have some kind of implications. While I don’t have any personal experience with it, I doubt that it doesn’t leave some kind of mark on your credit report. Maybe someone with greater knowledge in this area can help out.