Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My debt is a thorn in my side, eating away my regular income. If I can narrow it down to one payment for a while I might be able to get back on track. How does it work, how quick can it happen, how much does it hurt?
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
23,546 posts, read 12,517,887 times
Reputation: 10467
What type of debt are you talking about? Loan debt? Credit card debt? Both?
What is your monthly outgo vs. your income, including regular payments such as rent/mortgage, utilities, food, luxury expenses (eating out, cable tv, etc.)?
Have you created a budget plan?
If the debt is on credit cards, is the interest rate high? If so, have you tried contacting the credit card company and requesting that the rate be lowered?
Have you thought about getting a second job, to help pay down what you owe?
What type of "debt consolidation" have you considering? A debt management program (DMP), a hardship agreement, a personal loan, a 0% or low interest balance transfer, etc?
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
23,546 posts, read 12,517,887 times
Reputation: 10467
Your state is very payday loan lending friendly and is probably a haven for those types of lenders.
Without knowing your financial situation other than your having numerous payday loans, all I can do is throw out some suggestions. Since your states cap on payday loan amounts is $350 per loan, it's possible that you might be able to begin paying off/reducing the loans by ..
Getting a second job and/or ask for overtime with your current job.
Cutting your consumption to the bone by .. not eating out, brown bagging your lunch at work, make inexpensive meals for dinner (pb&j a couple of nights a week, beans & cornbread, casseroles-that will last several nights and/or that can be frozen, oatmeal a couple of nights a week, etc.), cut out luxuries - at this point many things are a luxury, such as cable, high speed internet, find a cheaper phone plan, stop going out with the gang at night/after work, etc., etc. Think cheap, live cheap!!
Go through your stuff and have a yard sale.
Go to the Frugal Living forum and find more tips on how to save money that you can throw at those loans.
As far as financial options, if you think you might be able to qualify you might try ..
Getting a personal loan
Getting a credit card that will give you a 0% interest rate to balance transfer the loans to the card.
If you have an existing card, that isn't being used, then you might talk to them about getting a 0% or low interest balance transfer.
You might try a debt management program (DMP), but, the payday lender may not be receptive to having the loan placed into a DMP. In fact, you may find that your contract with the payday lender will not allow your loans to be placed in a DMP. You would have to check your contracts to see if there is anything in them about consolidating your loan(s) under a DMP.
You might also talk to a credit counselor. If you belong to a credit union they may have one on their payroll that you can talk to, or maybe go to nfcc.org and find one in your area.
Create a strict budget and stick to it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
