My girlfriend made some bad choices with her money and now she doesnâ??t know what to do. She had approximately $15,000 in credit card debt and she has been late with payments on a few of the cards so, on those cards, the minimum payment and interest rates are both very high. After all her other expenses are paid, she only has around $400 a month to put towards her credit card debt. She has tried to get a loan so that she can pay off her credit cards but, of course, she has been declined because her credit is bad. She would like to avoid bankruptcy because she doesnâ??t want to do any more damage to her credit and her debt is relatively low. Another option is a credit counseling or debt consolidation service but its hard to find a reputable one and I understand that using such a service might, in some cases, do more damage to her credit that bankruptcy. She has a low balance on some of her cards, so a balance transfer may be an option, but, in the meantime, she canâ??t afford the minimum payments on some of her cards. What are some of her other options?
Keep in mind that BK stays on your report for 10 yrs but will haunt you forever..I believe that with the new BK laws in effect that you would also be required to under go Credit counseling.. Never use the Debt repair companys. You can do it yourself.The money saved from payng them can go straight to paying on the cards.. 15K is not that bad.. Balance transfers may help some..Could you transfer one of the high int cards to one with low int rates?. Look at the available credit limit on one of the low int cards and see if its feasable to do it, while still leaving it low enough so the rates on it dont increase from to high of a balance.. Lay all her cards out and do the math..You did not say how many cards she had but you could concievably eliminate one or two of them. That could be a start.. What got her cards so high? If it was frivilous spending on( I WANT things and not on I NEED THINGS) than she should get it under control..People need to know the difference. It can mean the difference in financial catastrophy and Financial freedom from Debt.. Also tell her to Get the Book By Dave Ramsey. The Total Money Makeover.Its helped alot of people who want their lives back under control. DEBT is a 4 letter word and a bad one at that.
Thanks for the reply. I should have pointed out before that the main reason for her debt was frivolous spending but she had totally changed her ways. Even so, the debt still remains and is very discouraging for her.
