Question:
Dear Steve,
About 50,000 in Credit Card Debt. Did the 0% balance transfer thing. Tried to get out of debt and got in worse. Debt-to-Income to high now. Can’t get a personal loan. Want to start with AMEX and see if I can get a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments to get a handle on my debt. Not late yet. Don’t have enough money every month to cover essentials like gas, electric, cable. Got behind on them.
I have about 10 cards. One Discover personal loan at 10% and $414 a month. Only have about $1,000 to cover all bills and credit card debts. Also owe $300 a month car loan.
Do you think I stand a chance to be able to reverse my situation? It started when IRS disallowed certain things and decided to pay me $1,000 less. Will the credit card companies lower my interest rates and lower my monthly payments?
Kathy
Answer:
Dear Kathy,
You are far too close to the situation to see it for what it is, a bad math problem.
In its purest form money troubles are really just simply math wrapped in emotion. You’ve been deeply invested in resolving your financial troubles by paying the credit card debt off. And you’ve tried various strategies only to find yourself deeper in the debt hole.
But you seem to be clearly past the point where you can adjust your expenses or increase your income to generate extra money each month to pay down your credit card debt.
It seems like the least critical issue here is your ability to stay current on your payments. The most critical is your apparent lack of being able to save for an emergency or for retirement if you are basically living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Will creditors reduce your interest rate, maybe. But what does that accomplish? I would suggest you look at my Get Out of Debt Calculator to compare your logical choices to deal with your debt in the fastest time possible for the least expense.
My bigger concern is if you decided to spend the next five to seven years limping along and trying to pay down your debt you are in fact just putting your older self in more financial danger. Take a look at the massive amount of retirement money you’d lose out on with that pay down strategy.
What you really need is some potion that will help you to abandon your assumptions and seek the truth about turning this bad debt situation around. Please read How to Get Out of Debt. The Honest and Unvarnished Truth.
It’s time to evaluate what is the most precious to you. It can either be your credit which can be easily rebuilt, or the time you will never get back with the retirement funds you will forever lose.
In conclusion, you don’t have a debt problem, you have a life problem. Your life does not fit within your income and you are either going to have to increase income to pay down your debt while still sacrificing a better financial future or think about bankruptcy and starting over again quickly. And this post will blow your mind when it comes to bankruptcy.