Debt...

JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
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Hyrule
what kinda debt u have? lets be honest here.

i owe comcast like $700. im betting there are other places that i cant even think of that i owe another 2k to. so im saying im 2.7k in total debt. and thats not talking about the mortgage...i owe BoA about 25k over the next 27 years. i dont count that.

i have never had a real credit card. my mom always told me to avoid them like the plague. and i have. i got the visa debit deal that doubles as credit but not really.

im kinda proud of that. and im not bragging or anything....straight up if my ma didnt die i couldnt have bought my place. but she did and life goes on.

things are ok right now is what im trying to say. it could always be better, but it could be a whole lot worse.
 
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memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
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Lake Huntzing
About $100k left on the house.
About $4500 left on the car.
About $2000 left on the mattress (0% interest).
Just paid off my big computer, also bought on a 0% promotional credit card.

I have several credit cards to keep my credit rating high (they count the number, mix and age of your credit accounts for that). I only use the Discover card, because it pays cash back on all purchases (about $100/year). I never carry a balance on it.

I went through a period in the 80s and 90s where I didn't use credit wisely, but I fixed all of that when the dot com bubble burst.
 

Vargas

Molon Labe!
Oct 16, 2008
3,426
153
63
Western, PA
My wife and I both screwed up our credit when we were in college (we weren't married then--just made the same mistakes) and we've spent a long time cleaning it up. Everynow and then we will get a strange call or strange letter from a collection agency telling her how shw owes $120 from a phone bill from 1998. We just laugh. we're both in our early 30's now.

We managed to pay off all the credit cards and other financed items back in December of last year. We didn't have a lot of Visa or Mastercard debt but she had a large amoutn of money on a Victorias Secret card (my head almost exploded) and we had a few hundred bucks on the EXPRESS card and about $2000 to a furniture store from when we got new bedroom furniture for the kids. We paid all of that off.

Right now the only DEBT we have is the Mortgage and the Car payment and that is exaclty how it should be. We just started paying over the amount on the car and once that is paid off we will start overpaying the mortgage.

We now have a few simple rules:

1. Pay cash for everything (or debit card).
2. If we don't have the cash today, right now, we don't buy the item. If it is something you want, save cash for it and buy it when you can. Sounds like common sense but people actually forget shit like this.
3. FINANCE NOTHING but Homes and Cars.

By paying off all of those $200-$2000 debts in December, it has saved us about $450 per month in "minimum paymets."

Credit Cards are evil.
 
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Casual Fan

Surprisingly nice
Oct 14, 2008
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Roanoke, VA
Vargas, tell us more about this Victoria's Secret bill. :buttrock:

All we have is about $80K on the house. Cars all paid for.

We use credit cards like there's no tomorrow, but only as a convenience. We use mostly Discover, because of the cash back, like 'bag said. The whole bill gets paid every month.
 

Vargas

Molon Labe!
Oct 16, 2008
3,426
153
63
Western, PA
Vargas, tell us more about this Victoria's Secret bill. :buttrock:

All we have is about $80K on the house. Cars all paid for.

We use credit cards like there's no tomorrow, but only as a convenience. We use mostly Discover, because of the cash back, like 'bag said. The whole bill gets paid every month.

The Victoria's secret bill would have been much easier to swallow if it were hot little outfits. But $1,200 in sweatpants and yoga pants and bra's was nothing exciting. Trust me. How many fucking "pink" sweat pants does a woman need? Jesus christ...

But, it is all paid off now. She was paying $75 per month in minimum payments to victoria's Secret!!!! My head almost exploded!!!
 

Casual Fan

Surprisingly nice
Oct 14, 2008
19,024
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Roanoke, VA
The Victoria's secret bill would have been much easier to swallow if it were hot little outfits. But $1,200 in sweatpants and yoga pants and bra's was nothing exciting. Trust me. How many fucking "pink" sweat pants does a woman need? Jesus christ...

That's a shame...:(
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
17,485
168
Toledo, Ohio
what kinda debt u have? lets be honest here.

i owe comcast like $700. im betting there are other places that i cant even think of that i owe another 2k to. so im saying im 2.7k in total debt. and thats not talking about the mortgage...i owe BoA about 25k over the next 27 years. i dont count that.

i have never had a real credit card. my mom always told me to avoid them like the plague. and i have. i got the visa debit deal that doubles as credit but not really.

im kinda proud of that. and im not bragging or anything....straight up if my ma didnt die i couldnt have bought my place. but she did and life goes on.

things are ok right now is what im trying to say. it could always be better, but it could be a whole lot worse.

If you're able to stay ahead of your bills in general, you should have a real credit card. Use it, but don't live off of it. Being responsible with credit cards is a good way to build your credit rating. I pay mine off every month, but it's actually good to carry a small balance from time to time. I shows the banks you can manage your finances well. I know there are some things on the web you can read that explain it better than I can.


We're ahead on your house, and unfortunately I think I'm going to have to get a new car sooner than I had hoped to. I'm still going to try to nurse this one for another year. Maintenance has been very low, but I'm starting to think that it's going to catch up to me sooner than later.
 

Vargas

Molon Labe!
Oct 16, 2008
3,426
153
63
Western, PA
If you're able to stay ahead of your bills in general, you should have a real credit card. Use it, but don't live off of it. Being responsible with credit cards is a good way to build your credit rating. I pay mine off every month, but it's actually good to carry a small balance from time to time. I shows the banks you can manage your finances well. I know there are some things on the web you can read that explain it better than I can.


We're ahead on your house, and unfortunately I think I'm going to have to get a new car sooner than I had hoped to. I'm still going to try to nurse this one for another year. Maintenance has been very low, but I'm starting to think that it's going to catch up to me sooner than later.

I disagree on the credit card statement. They are NICE to have in case of emergency's but nobody really needs one. A good credit rating is nice but a perfect credit rating is 0--this means you have no debt, nothing financed and use only cash. That is a little idealistic, I understand, but it is the truth.

Anyway, I'm working toward a debt free life. We're paying off the family car sooner than later and will take that money, save half of it and the other half goes to an increased payment in the mortage. Our car payment is very low--$219.00 per month because we had decent value on the car we traded in and also put a few thousand down.

So we are paying $100 per month OVER the payment to pay it off much quicker. Basically every two months we're making an extra payment--every year that is 6 extra payments towards the principle.

Hoping we can do this.
 
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JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
28,632
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40
Hyrule
If you're able to stay ahead of your bills in general, you should have a real credit card. Use it, but don't live off of it. Being responsible with credit cards is a good way to build your credit rating. I pay mine off every month, but it's actually good to carry a small balance from time to time. I shows the banks you can manage your finances well. I know there are some things on the web you can read that explain it better than I can.

yea but doesnt paying my mortgage and all the other bills on time every month help my credit enough? i just dont trust myself with a real line of credit.
 
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Casual Fan

Surprisingly nice
Oct 14, 2008
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A good credit rating is nice but a perfect credit rating is 0--this means you have no debt, nothing financed and use only cash.

That's not true at all. To have a perfect credit rating, you have to have debt and show an ability to pay it off.

Let's don't confuse credit rating with an ideal life situation, however. I'd much rather be debt-free than have great credit. Although the credit I have is comforting should I ever need it badly.
 

memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
17,404
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Lake Huntzing
I disagree on the credit card statement. They are NICE to have in case of emergency's but nobody really needs one. A good credit rating is nice but a perfect credit rating is 0--this means you have no debt, nothing financed and use only cash. That is a little idealistic, I understand, but it is the truth.

Credit ratings depend heavily on your history of credit use. If you've never proven that you can use credit responsibly, you're a big risk. Revolving credit is just one component of building a good credit history.

yea but doesnt paying my mortgage and all the other bills on time every month help my credit enough? i just dont trust myself with a real line of credit.

If you miss payments, your credit score goes down. To make it go up, you need a lot of different kinds of credit accounts kept open for a long time. Mortgage alone won't build an excellent rating.

I know from experience. I've built my FICO from 690 to 770 over the last year.
 

Wolf

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
33,309
10,059
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Phoenix
I have always have had great credit score near 700, but in the past several months I been racking up some debt. But to make a long story short. I been unemployed for about 9 months now and with my car and debt I owe it over $40k! So that why I'm filling for bankruptcy and the only thing I have to owe soon will be some utilities, new car payments and new college loan that I just got.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
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Toledo, Ohio
yea but doesnt paying my mortgage and all the other bills on time every month help my credit enough? i just dont trust myself with a real line of credit.

It does help quite a bit, and if you don't trust yourself, then you are smart enough to know you aren't ready for one yet. They are nice to have for emergencies and on line purchases. You have more protection than using your bank card. The banks like to see how you do managing your finances. Properly managing your plastic is a good sign for them. Having cards that are always totally payed off, is good, but it doesn't raise your rating (they like to know if they lend you money for something that you'll let them make a couple of bucks along the way.)

It sounds like you're doing all right.
 

blueneon36

Active Member
Mar 10, 2009
880
156
43
Pittsburgh
I scored a new position in my day job at the beginning of this year. :)

The result is almost double what I used to make before. :eek:mfg:

So, I paid off my fiance's Xterra, paid off my credit card debt, and I am now in the process of saving for a house and a wedding.

The only debt I have is my truck payment, my car insurance, and a cell phone bill. Thats it.

Its a great feeling, especially knowing that last August, I was desperate. I was on unemployment for almost a year at that time and working a part time evening job to get by, but it certainly wasnt enough.

I began to worry about when my UE benefits would end and if I would be employed full time ever again.

The economy treated me horribly at the beginning of 2009 and I am lucky to have had the opportunity that I was presented with at the beginning of 2011.

Without it, I would be like most americans right now, struggling to get by and praying for the best....
 

Jon

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
15,259
5,279
168
Majority of my debt is Student Loans (to the tune of about $45-60k) and Medical bills (around $20k) plus a few smaller collections here and there. A car that was repo'd I'm on the hook for $9500, and I just settled on an old credit card that I had just before the shit hit the fan with the economy.

Ideally, I'd like to have a credit card, a debit card and investments/savings while still maintaining some "good" debt. But that's a long way down the road. Right now I'm all for not living beyond my means, and not buying things I don't need (you'll notice my Slacker subscription went away). Also looking to go back to school without racking up yet more student loan debt, and getting out as quickly as possible. I'm considering EMS/Paramedic which is only an Associate's degree.
 

Casual Fan

Surprisingly nice
Oct 14, 2008
19,024
3,053
163
Roanoke, VA
I scored a new position in my day job at the beginning of this year. :)

The result is almost double what I used to make before. :eek:mfg:

So, I paid off my fiance's Xterra, paid off my credit card debt, and I am now in the process of saving for a house and a wedding.

The only debt I have is my truck payment, my car insurance, and a cell phone bill. Thats it.

Its a great feeling, especially knowing that last August, I was desperate. I was on unemployment for almost a year at that time and working a part time evening job to get by, but it certainly wasnt enough.

I began to worry about when my UE benefits would end and if I would be employed full time ever again.

The economy treated me horribly at the beginning of 2009 and I am lucky to have had the opportunity that I was presented with at the beginning of 2011.

Without it, I would be like most americans right now, struggling to get by and praying for the best....

Congrats on getting ahead. You're an inspiration to folks who are having a hard time right now. :hatsoff:
 

MAJ Badmotherfarker

is drinking a beer.
Oct 11, 2008
8,461
211
63
Washington D.C.
Majority of my debt is Student Loans (to the tune of about $45-60k) and Medical bills (around $20k) plus a few smaller collections here and there. A car that was repo'd I'm on the hook for $9500, and I just settled on an old credit card that I had just before the shit hit the fan with the economy.

Ideally, I'd like to have a credit card, a debit card and investments/savings while still maintaining some "good" debt. But that's a long way down the road. Right now I'm all for not living beyond my means, and not buying things I don't need (you'll notice my Slacker subscription went away). Also looking to go back to school without racking up yet more student loan debt, and getting out as quickly as possible. I'm considering EMS/Paramedic which is only an Associate's degree.

Student loans are why I'm in the military!!