Nicki “Dear Steve, When I left college with credit card debt I had no way of paying, no real job and student loans piled on top, I was struggling to keep from drowning in debt. Top that off with medical isses (no insurance) and those bills, it took almost seven years to pay back the largest items after being delinquent ... Read More »

Deb “Dear Steve, I’ve been married for 17 years, I let my spouse take over finances for a 2 year period and found out end of last year that we were completely overextended (even though income is good), and more importantly have mutliple late payments on probably every account/credit card we had. Some in his name, some in both our ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, I live in California and have been self employed for 15 years. Long story short, in 2006 business was extremely slow and I acquired a $32,000 balance between two Amex cards. One card is business one personal and have an interest rate of 8% and 10%. I also have two or three other credit cards with zero balances. ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, I am bankrupt what do i do now? Mary” The Answer   Dear Mary, Excellent question. Being declared bankrupt and having your debt discharged ends one part of your financial life. It buries it but now is the time for your new financial life to be born. Here are the key steps to focus on next. Start Saving ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, I am currently a stay at home mom and my husband is working outside the US. Our monthly income is $13,000/mo. And our revolving debt is listed below: Home Mortgage – $340,376.98 – 2,098.82 Line of Credit 191,529.48 – 568.53 Credit Card 1 10,088.49 – 336.00 Credit Card 2 15,865.05 – 343.00 Credit Card 3 13,321.12 – 231.00 ... Read More »

“Hi Steve, Im finally on the right financial track since I am starting to pay off my $20,000 credit card balance since I stopped using the card and am now paying more than the minimum due. Also, I just started contributing to the retirement plan at work as well and also started putting a little in a savings account. Doing ... Read More »

Sulian “Dear Steve, I have this 19% personal loan with a payoff of $816.00 I’ve been paying for the last 4 1/2 years. I am so ready to pay it off I can feel it. I bring home about $1220 a month after taxes from work and about $2,200 in a savings account. The minimum payment is $150.33 and they ... Read More »

Diana “Dear Steve, I have approximately $25,000 in credit card debt, drained my savings and struggling to meet my payments. I can pay my mortgage and normal billing but not the cards I am so confused about wha is available out there and frankly scared that I may not do the right thing with a repuable company. Can you help. ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, Hello, I am a female in my late 20’s and my credit is horrible. However, I have been focusing on cancelling my credit card debts and paying down my school loans. My goal is to purchase my first home in about 3 to 5 years. I’m also interested in investing but don’t know much about it. My question ... Read More »

Hal “Dear Steve, I have an outstanding credit card balance of $ 8,288.76 at 18.99% APR. We are paying roughly $500 a month, which is about 300 over the minimum. However, the finance charges costs about $138, seems to me to be a losing battle. I have 13K in a savings account that is making just over 1.3% interest. Just ... Read More »

Jenn “Dear Steve, I have been out of college for 3 years. I have 26,000 student loan debt with low interest rates 1-4%, 6000 in credt card debt with 9% interest. I’m struggleing with if its better to have a savings accont or to pay down my debt. i currently have a savings account, but I dont know if I ... Read More »

Jen “Dear Steve, Well we are young (24)married, and make good money, also live above our means a bit. depending on where you live this may sound high to you, but we make 70k a year, and about 4-7k per month varying. well it wasnt always this way, back when we were 18 my hubby got a truck re-posessed and ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, Putting it nicely I want to “tidy” up my debt. I want to get my ducks in a row so my husband and I can eventually buy a different house. Here’s my financial picture: Together my husband and I take home: $5800/month Secured Debts: Total: $1503/month broken down as the following: 1st mortgage approx 72,000 @ 6.75% 30 ... Read More »

I know this is going to sound like crazy talk but keep reading. Now is not the time to pay more than the minimum payment on your credit card if you don’t have a lot of money in savings. If you thought the foreclosure crisis was bad, just watch what is going to happen to credit cards. With twenty thousand ... Read More »

Zach “Dear Steve, I just turned 26 years old and I’ve got $6700 in credit card debt (All at 0% except for $1700 at 11%) and $4500 in an emergency fund savings account. It costs about $1600 a month for me to live, giving me about 3 months of living expenses saved up. I have a stable part-time job, and ... Read More »