Hi to all, I'm in a bind and don't know what to do. I have 3 credit cards that have a balance of close to $15,000 due to having some extensive dental work done. I was paying these off while hubby was deployed with no problems but since he has been home and the money is not like is was while he was deployed I have had trouble making some the payments and now the interest has really gotten the balances way up. My hubby is not one you can talk to about things like this due to him being self employed for a number of years. I hate to keep things like this from him but if I can take care of this situation without him knowing it I would rather do that. I have thought about trying to get a loan and paying off the 3 cards and just paying one lump some a month at a lower interest rate. The situation is about to drive me crazy and I'm just needing some really good advice on how to take care of this myself.
Trying to hide $15,000 of debt from your husband is a bad idea. Have you considered getting a part time job for the time being? What are the interest rates on the accounts?
I already work a full time job. I know it is a really bad idea to hide this from my husband and I normally don't hide things from him but when it comes to money issues he is not a very understanding person. He is really good guy but I go into panic mode when trying to discuss money issues with him. Thanks for your help
I agree hiding this is a very bad idea. If you two cant talk about money then you have bigger problems than this 15k. Couples who activly talk about their joint financial picture actually wind up with very few financial problems. I would recommend a book called Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach.
So anyway back to the debt, What is the current interest rate on the three cards, b/c the best way to tackle CC debt is to pay the minimums on the lowest interest rate cards and then put all the extra payments onto the one with the highest card. Then when that on is knocked out move all those payments plus the minimum you were paying on the next highest card and get that one taken care, then repeat for all your other cards.
Originally posted by vols19602001: Hi to all, I'm in a bind and don't know what to do. I have 3 credit cards that have a balance of close to $15,000 due to having some extensive dental work done. I was paying these off while hubby was deployed with no problems but since he has been home and the money is not like is was while he was deployed I have had trouble making some the payments and now the interest has really gotten the balances way up. My hubby is not one you can talk to about things like this due to him being self employed for a number of years. I hate to keep things like this from him but if I can take care of this situation without him knowing it I would rather do that. I have thought about trying to get a loan and paying off the 3 cards and just paying one lump some a month at a lower interest rate. The situation is about to drive me crazy and I'm just needing some really good advice on how to take care of this myself.
Where there's a will there's a way. I have a great job opportunity for you...but cannot link up with you as your profile is private...so if you want to know more shoot me an email.
You *HAVE TO* tell him because no matter what you do, eventually he's going to find out and then his reaction will be 10x worse. You are in a partnership and it is unfair of you to hide things from your partner, particularly when there's a very good chance that they'll negatively impact both of your future.
How did he think you paid for this dental work? Surely he knows you had it done. Just explain to him what happened. Say you're sorry, come up with a plan of attack to get rid of this debt and then do it. Hiding it only makes it worse.
You should certainly tell your spouse. He might never know that you owed $15,000. But what are the odds that he won't notice that you aren't saving money?
I don't know your finances so I'll have to make some assumptions. I'll assume that before you got your dental work done and before your husband deployed, you guys didn't have any problems with your credit cards. I'll assume that if you didn't have this dental debt included, you'd be doing fine with your credit cards right now. I'll assume that at least $10,000 of your debt is on one credit card. I'll also assume that you have decent credit.
I might catch some flack for this strategy, but based on the assumptions I listed, it can work.
First, start collecting those credit card offers you receive in the mail.
Call each of your credit card companies and ask for a lower rate. Tell them you have five offers in your hand for whatever interest rate they state. If the representative says he/she can't lower your rate, ask for a supervisor. Let them know you want to stay with them, but if they can't get more in line with the offers you've receive, you'll take your business elsewhere.
Now for the controversial part. I've lately gotten a couple of credit card mailers that offer a 0% promotional interest rate until April 2008 on balance transfers. Look for the information on the balance transfer fee. It's generally 3% of the amount that you transfer with a certain minimum, but it can also be capped. One of my offers was a straight 3%; the other was 3% capped at a maximum of $99. If you have an offer that has the fee capped and an interest rate that is substantially lower than what you're paying on your recently reduced rates, then take advantage of it. Transfer the entire balance from your highest balance card to the new one. This way you can quickly pay off your other two cards without racking up a lot of interest on the majority of your balance. Once you've gotten your other two cards under control (meaning balance paid each month), hopefully within a couple months, start paying big chunks towards your new one. When the promotional period is over, repeat the process. Before opening another new credit card, check to see if any of your current cards are offering you good promotions.
*CAVEAT* Don't charge any new purchases to a card that's carrying a promotional balance. When you do, all your payment goes towards the promotional balance, and you don't pay anything towards your regular interest rate balance at all.
