“Dear Steve,
My credit card debt is $17,000 & has been for years. I don’t have bad credit & never miss a payment but it seems as if I’m spinning my wheels & my balances never go down. All my cards are maxed & soon as I get 1 down a little something comes up & I have to use it again. What advice can you give me to get out of debt?
Mary Ann”
The Answer:
Dear Mary Ann,
Your credit card companies love you. They’ve got you on a treadmill just churning out profit for them. It’s time to break the cycle.
If your credit score is 660 or higher then I want you to look at getting an unsecured fixed rate loan from LendingClub.com to consolidate the debt into one payment. The three year loan will probably be at a lower combined interest rate and a lower combined payment. Then I want you to take the difference in the new consolidated payment and the old and start putting that into a savings account each month.
I need for you to build up an emergency fund so when future surprises occur they can be paid for with cash and not credit.
If you qualify for the LendingClub.com peer-to-peer loan then the cycle is broken, if you don’t qualify then let me know and we’ll come up with Plan B.
If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.