Credit Cards - New Baltimore,MI

I really don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but why do you think that you shouldn't pay them back every penny that you borrowed from them? We also have credit card debt, but it's OUR fault for spending more than we were making. It is very easy to demonize the credit card companies, but we must ultimately take responsibility for our own actions, and I truly believe that paying what we owe, in full, is one of the most important things we must do as adults.

As suggested by a PP, we are using Dave Ramsey's methods and that is truly helping us emerge from debt.

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How about asking them to lower your interest rate & close out your account. If you ask them to lower your interest rate it won't negatively affect your credit score, but if you get your balance lowered that will affect your credit score. Also using a credit counseling company will negatively affect your credit score. It will also be very unlikely to get your balance lowered if you have not been delinquent on your account.

It's best to get the Dave Ramsey book or better yet take the class (it's wonderful), sit down & figure out what you owe & cut up your cards (all of them). It may take you 10 years to pay your balance back but that's ok because it's your debt.

1 mom found this helpful

My experience with credit card companies (personal and with people I know) is that if you are paying your bill on time and paying more than the minium they are not willing to do anything for you. But...if you are not paying the bill and they have to constanly come after you for payment they are more likely to give you a payoff quote so they can get the money.

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My husband settled two accounts and got a couple thousand off of each bill. However, when I tried to call my credit card company told me that they don't settle accounts and they will only help me come up with a payment plan if I am struggling with payments. I talked to 3 or 4 different people and explained to them that I was going to quit my job to be a SAHM and wouldn't be able to keep up with the payments but they still didn't budge. Just to "call back if I ever got into trouble with payments." Grrrr. I would say at least call and try though. It worked for my husband twice!! Just be prepared for the run around and having to talk to a few different people.

I second Dave Ramsey. He is a genius. Because of him I have paid of half my credit cards in 1 year and have mid 7s credit score and I am only 26... He breaks it down for you.

i would contact Dave Ramsey online, he could tell you what to do!
I have been getting financially stable again by doing what he says in his books and listening on the radio. He has very good advice!
I wish you the best

Do what others suggested and go to the Dave Ramsey site. I learned enough on the forum boards to settle for 70% less. Yep. Paid 30%. You do have to have the full amount that you settle on to pay them right away though. And you also have to claim the amount waved as income on your taxes. Also most companies will not work with you until you are 6 months behind. We were already struggling so bad our credit was already shot so it didn't matter. When it comes down to paying for electricity/shelter/heat/food or credit card the credit card lost. Good Luck.

There are credit agencies that help you get the interest and balance reduced. I see it and hear about them on the radio all the time.

Be careful of credit consolidation companies. They serve a good purpose, just make sure you know how it will affect your credit before you enter an agreement. My husband did this when we were dating. His credit score has finally rebounded in the past year. It took 7 years to clear the damage.

The world of credit has changed considerably in the past few years and especially the past few months as the government has implemented new legislation. My father was severely in debt (high risk business) when I was in college and was able to reduce rates.

Suze Orman has great advice on what do to and how to approach the creditors to help reduce your rates. She's been a regular contributor on Oprah.com as well as having authored many books. Here's the link to her website in the event you can gain any information there.
http://www.suzeorman.com/

Hello:
Just wanted to give you a heads up. I have had a credit card company lower my balance so I could pay off the card and they settled for close to half of what was owed. However, something that they do not tell you is by doing this at the end of the year, whatever amount was written off or not collected, you have to claim as income on your tax return which increases your income, and may puch you up into the next tax bracket which is what happened to me and I ended up having to pay almost 800.00 is taxes that year. Just an FYI
A.

I've asked to reduce the interest rate. They did that for me twice. I've never asked about the balance being reduced. I just try to pay more than the minimum. Call and ask. Good luck to you!

I believe that they will lower the interest rate in the situaitons described below, but not your actual balance.

The other option is to look at debt consolidaters and have them lower your monthly balance. I'm not sure what's entailed there, but I do have friends that have used them successfully.

Some credit card companies will settle your debt. We had 2 of them cut our balance in half and put us on a payment plan. The one thing we didn't know was that you have to claim the settled amount on your taxes.

Good luck!

My brother is now disabled. I called Visa and got his balance cut in half. We had to go back and forth a few times. That was not what they wanted but they settled for it.

Every time I call they never lower my rate, I have good credit, been with the credit card company for more that 5 years, and their excuse is the "economy" but its worth a try, keep asking for a supervisor..

Just call and ask...
Don't settle for the first answer - ask to speak to a supervisor and another and another until you get the answer you want.
It doesn't hurt to ask...
YMMV
LBC

It really depends on the cc company. My husband called over a year ago when his cc was bought out by Chase and asked for tehir help. they put him on an interest free payment plan. S he still has to pay the entire debt off (which we are more than happy to do) but he can pay it off without accruing anymore interest.
My cc is with Capityal One and when both my husband and I were out of work last winter I called them to ask them what they could do help me with my payments. I asked if they could lower the % rate or lower the monthly payment (I did not actually want to get out of paying what I owed) and they would not work with me.
In order to keep up with my mortgage, utilities and feed my kids I had to stop paying my credit card, which was very stressful for me as I take debt very seriously. Whenmever they called I told them my situation until they started to call daily. the calls then started to get nasty with threats of court action and I truly had zero money to pay them anything. I stopped answering the calls, I could not tell them anything new. After a long 6 months they called me and told me they had an offer for me. They took 40% off of my debt and gave me an interest free payment plan on the remaining debt. I don't understand why they wouldn't work with me when I originally called just asking to lower the interest rate or monthly payment, i was more than willing to pay the entire debt I just wanted help to do so.
So it sounds awful but if they won't work with you try ignoring their calls, it may help.
You need to know though if they do relieve some of the debt for you, when you have paid the remainder in full they will 1099 you and you will have to pay taxes on amount they let you off for.
Good luck, I know it's easy to get into a bad situation with credit cards. I now have zero credit cards, and it will stay that way for a long time.

I tried w capital one and they flat out said no. I asked to speak to the manager and they said no also.
My sister however had good success, they were having financial problems and ended up talking to a financial counselor, and they lowered all the rates in exchange for a set monthly payment.

Updated

I tried w capital one and they flat out said no. I asked to speak to the manager and they said no also.
My sister however had good success, they were having financial problems and ended up talking to a financial counselor, and they lowered all the rates in exchange for a set monthly payment.

Just to clarify, we were trying to lower the interest rate. It had gone from like 8% to 16%. I didn't ask to change the balance. I had read some articles saying a lot of companies will lower the rate when asked. Unfortunately, ours would not, even though we have never been late on a payment.