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2 years, 4 months ago

How to remove debt fast?

Should I consolidate my debt, cancel all my more credit cards, sell my house? I have no idea what to do and have over 10K in debt :(
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beaver7777's Avatar
beaver7777 | 2 years, 3 months ago
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You should try to negotiate credit card settlement, bringing debt amount down before paying it off. Try to leverage with lenders. They may be willing to negotiate more than you expect. Banks and credit card issuers got all the bailouts, but what about us

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baka13 | 2 years, 4 months ago
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Well, I don't know about credit card debt. I looked into it and it seems that there doesn't appear to be any Federal programs yet to help ease credit card debt. Debt consolidation might be your best bet with credit cards.

But if student loans happen to be among your debts, here's a new government program that should prove to be a great help in eliminating college debt.

http://ibrinfo.org/

It's for a program called "Income Based Repayment", wherein the borrower can repay his/her loan at a small percentage of their income, sometimes for as little as 0.00. And after 25 years of qualified payments, whatever debt remains, no matter how much, is automatically forgiven and stricken from their credit record.

I actually just found out about this program not too long ago and I've signed up for it myself. It could be a godsend if college debts are among your worries.

Hope that helped a bit.
source(s):
http://ibrinfo.org

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tranhawk | 2 years, 4 months ago
4
Say this mantra over and over when brushing your teeth and before you purchase anything.
"I will be debt free in (target date) I will be debt free"

There is no magic solution, service, company, or pill to get rid of debt. Unless you luck into a very generous sugar daddy, or relative that leaves you an inheritance.
Pay off. Pay off. Pay off.

Well, I am not sure if selling your house is even doable in this market.
If you have buyers. I say sell it because values are dropping faster than they rose it seems.
Remember, your house doesn't have any real value until someone buys it and the check clears.

1. Consolidate your debt and negotiate a low rate since its a large amount you owe.
Negotiate with credit companies that you plan to pay this all back in X amount of years and want
to stay with them.

2. Cancel all your credit cards immediately.
Use cash to pay for everything.
Call up your credit card companies to negotiate better rates on your current balances.
Negotiate that you have other intro offers you will move your account to if they can't lower.
Watch out though, these intro offers are for a limited time and can triple in interest if you are late.

3. Set up an automatic payment system from your bank so that you save on postage and
don't have to think about when to pay.

4. Cut your spending habit. Live below your means. Pay back every nickel you have to those evil credit card companies.

5. Talk with friends and family about your goals and progress. Its good to have support and financial discussions. People do not do it enough. If you have people you trust checking up on you it will motivate you to stick to your goals.

6. Just remember "Paying 15% debt is the same as Earning 15% interest tax free."
source(s):
My own personal financial education.
videos:

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maggiedwyer | 2 years, 4 months ago
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To start with, I'd like to say congratulations if you have your own house. You have established some credit in order to buy it, and you have built up your credit score by paying on it (assuming you are buying it, vs inheriting, etc.) No matter how urgent it may seem, take a little time, calm down, and make a plan.

This question is very similar to one I answered a few weeks ago, so I went back and found the information and am posting some of it here. I hope this helps!
________________

There are some good financial gurus online and on television these days. Take the time to think about it before making a move. I particularly like the advice that Suze Orman gives regarding debt. In addition to useful books and lectures (on PBS) and a program on CNBC, she has a good web site with many free topics, including a calculator to help you determine how best to reduce and pay off your debt. You'll find the starting point here: http://tinyurl.com/ykqomng Follow the steps after clicking on "Debt Eliminator" and get her take on how to reduce the debt.

Consolidation often ends up a rather short-term answer. If you lump it all into one larger bill, you are likely to end up running up a new balance elsewhere if all of your cash is tied up in paying the one large loan.

You may want to get advice from several sources and fine tune your approach by taking the best from each. I want to caution you to avoid the commercially advertised debt consolidation plays--many are scams at worst, at best, they are far more expensive than if you deal with the creditors on your own. Take a look at Suze Orman's YouTube video "Debt Management: Debt Settlement a SCAM?" Another place that is recommended by Orman and others is the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (http://www.cccs.org)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS43XFa3KGU

You said you have a home. I won't make any guesses about the real estate marketplace where you are, but if your home has any wiggle room equity-wise, you may find that there are some sound approaches to a home equity line of credit to cover this kind of debt also. A couple of years ago, Orman was talking about this as one way to solve credit card debt problems on some of her PBS programs. With current events, you may want to visit her site to see see what she advises today. To provide another site that has a lot of useful feedback, you might want to check out the Motley Fool (also appeared on PBS, and had an NPR radio program for years) at http://www.fool.com/
source(s):
Suze Orman http://tinyurl.com/ykqomng

Motley Fool http://www.fool.com/

Consumer Credit Counseling Service - http://www.cccs.org

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annelisle's Avatar
annelisle | 2 years, 4 months ago
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There are 4 options to be able to settle your debt fast.

1. Close the accounts and pay off all of them and negotiate the payments of it. But this option is only feasible if you have a smaller debt.
2. Try to avail of a consolidation loan. With this you take one type of loan to pay off all your debt but the downside of this is that the loan can take years to pay.
3. Join a debt counseling program which is also called debt settlement. A debt counselor will work with your creditors to negotiate the amounts you owed in your credit cards so you will owe less and will be able to settle your credit card debts faster. This plan will be very suitable for you because it is very effective for those who have more than $10,000.00 debt.
4. If all else fails, declare bankruptcy as the final option to get rid of all your debts but this is only done as a last resort. The disadvantage of declaring bankruptcy is that it will be hard for you to apply another credit card for the next 13 years.

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shadowbear's Avatar
shadowbear | 2 years, 4 months ago
18
First of all don't panic, $10,000 debt might seem like alot but really it isn't that much to climb out of in short order.
As long as you have a source of income you can clear $10k of debt in a fairly short period of time no sweat.
It will however take discipline on your part, no frills on your expenditures, put all your effort into knocking down the debt one duck at a time.Concentrate on your smallest debts first, any extra dollars you can apply will benefit paying down those low amounts quickest, plus it will ease your mind by actually seeing a debt decrease even though its a smaller one of your debts.As soon as you clear one of these smaller debts take the money you were applying towards that debt and add it onto your next debt.
Always be looking for extra income wherever you can even if its just a few bucks, don't blow it on something you can live without, apply it directly towards your outstanding debts.
By the time you've paid off your $10,000 debt, if you have remained focused, chances are you will find yourself with additional funds being generated that you can begin saving.
Ok your out of debt now, don't get all warm and fuzzy feeling just yet. Continue taking the funds you have mustered and begin saving it until you have built a nestegg of a + $10,000 instead of the -$10,000 you had when you began. Once you get to this point, well then take a breather, treat yourself to something nice, a weekend getaway perhaps, where you can reavaluate how to proceed with your financal stability, just be sure to pay cash for the treat.
Have patience, chances are you didn't build the debt in just a couple of months so you have to set a realistic time frame to pay it down.
#1, get rid of any CC's that you might be tempted to use just because you have room on them. If your carrying some debt on more then 1 or tops two cards then concentrate on the one with the least and get it paid off and close it, then move to the next.
#2, don't add any additional CC debt to any of your cards, make all your purchases with cash.
#3, you might want to concider refinancing your house if your in a position to do so. Interest rates are good on mortages right now and if you hold equity concider refinancing, take enough in equity to liquidate the $10,000 debt.
# 4, maintain 1 or 2 CCs with your best rates and limits and keep them active, however any purchases you make on them pay off within 30 days.
#5, don't fall for any cash advance quick get out of debt loan deal, their all scams and will only worsen your situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYBHvDiXhOc

You will be back on top of your finances in no time

Good luck
source(s):
personal experince

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mactrainer | 2 years, 4 months ago
3
Sell everything that put you in debt.

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wxman611 | 2 years, 4 months ago
3
If you haven't heard of Dave Ramsey, I highly recommend his book "The Total Money Makeover". In your situation it doesn't sound like your to bad. First of all, you will want to write out a budget and stick to it. Tell every dollar where it's going. Don't let your money tell you what it's going to do. You might want to consider trimming the fat. By that I mean cancel or reduce things you really don't need. If you're paying $150 to watch t.v. you might want to drop down to the basic package. Same with your cell phone. Do you really need to browse the internet on your phone and pay $60/mo. to do it? If you are finaning or leasing your car, see how much you could sell it private party or see what you can do about getting out of the lease. Then buy a car with cash. It might be a beater at first, but once you save up some money you can use the beater and trade it in and buy a different car with cash. Keep doing that and before long you'll be driving a nice, paid for car. Also, you might want to consider getting a part time job to pay off your debt. Don't get frustrated. You'll be ok.
source(s):
www.daveramsey.com

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drbaker | 2 years, 4 months ago
3
If you are in debt. Stop using ur credit cards, get a part time job and another part time job. Do not spend on anything else but survival materials like food, house stuff ( toilet,etc). No shoppping on clothes, electronics. Try to sell everything you got! and hopefully that will pay off ur debt.

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tracebooks's Avatar
tracebooks | 2 years, 4 months ago
17
You have two basic options, and every solution will fall into one of the two categories:

1. Shift the debt to somewhere else so the "old debt" becomes "young debt" (loans, consolidation programs)

2. Earn more money and pay it off faster.

A wise friend once told me how she and her husband eliminated a large amount of debt. First they found a way to bring in several hundred dollars more per month--not easy with four kids!

Then, they took that money, and the money they already spent to pay down debt, and divided it among all their debts like this:

First, they paid off completely their smallest debt under $100. Then the rest of the money got divided up equally among the other debts.

The next month, the second smallest debt was already a tad smaller than it had been. They put the amount it had cost to pay down the first debt on it; plus the amount it was budgeted. Then they divided the remainder among the rest of the debts. If the combined amount wasn't enough to eliminate the debt that month, they continued that until it was.

Within about a year and a half, they had everything paid off completely. It was more than your amount, too. They had about $6K from their additional income, plus what they'd been paying on it before.

They did start by canceling all their credit cards. They did this without using a consumer credit counseling center, because those centers charge 8-12%.
source(s):
Experience

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metha's Avatar
metha | 2 years, 4 months ago
3
1) NO cell phone. Keep landline for basic phone. Buy an ATT calling card for long distance. 2) NO cable. Look for community activities. 3) NO car. Learn to take the bus. Check into cheaper insurance options.4)NO Eating out. Learn the joy of cooking a home cooked meal. Include the kids in meal preparation. It will allow the family to reconnect. 5)NO credit card use. Use cash for everything under $100.00. If over $100.00 dollars, use a debit card. DO GET HELP: www.mint.com
source(s):
Yahoo.com news article
mint.com to manage spending

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