After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

[neatdesign]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

I only have one left!!!! with only $2,600 on the balance. Last year I had 4 cards totaling around $12, 000. Now I feel Like I deserve to save for myself.

First, WOW! That is really great and very inspiring. We have about $22k right now and are trying very hard to get rid of it. Your experience really gives me hope.

Second, I honestly thought at first that you had written, "Last year I had 4 cards totaling around $12,000. Now I feel like I deserve a pat on the back"!!! And to that I thought, "Of COURSE you do!!" LOL

Sometimes card companies will reopen recently closed accounts.

I don't know about other creditors, but Capital One accounts cannot be reopened once they've been closed for 30 days. I'm sure that timeframe is probably pretty standard, though.

Keep in mind that if your account has unredeemed rewards points, once you close the account you cannot get those points back, even if you are able to reopen the account later. Make sure you redeem any points BEFORE you close.

If it is a Capital One small business credit card account, that cannot be reopened, period. Once it's closed, it's closed.

~ Jenney

[Savingmonster]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

Jenny that 22k is just CCs?

If so, don't worry if you are trying hard are ARE eventually going to take them down one at a time!!. Having no CC Debt is a very rewarding feeling!

I had to pay 800-1000 a month though. It was tough, but I did it. That 2600 feels like nothing.

[neatdesign]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

Jenny that 22k is just CCs?

Yep, 'fraid so. We had sort of a financial/employment crisis last year, and after going through our savings we had to go to the last resort, credit cards. We went from two cards to five cards. In the next couple of months we will definitely have two cards paid off, and hopefully a third. I wish we could dedicate as much as you did towards paying down our debt, but right now we don't earn enough to do that. Still, hope is still alive!

~ Jenney

[Savingmonster]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

Yep, 'fraid so. We had sort of a financial/employment crisis last year, and after going through our savings we had to go to the last resort, credit cards. We went from two cards to five cards. In the next couple of months we will definitely have two cards paid off, and hopefully a third. I wish we could dedicate as much as you did towards paying down our debt, but right now we don't earn enough to do that. Still, hope is still alive!

~ Jenney

Somehow I am convinced you are going to overcome this. Just take one credit card at a time. Up until this year I was very bad with money, savings and not paying off these cards. Last year I made a serious commitment to paying off those CCs. I never thought I would have paid it off, never ever ever ever * 1000. Determination I think is the key. Again, You are going to get through it.

[Ima saver]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

It is amazing what you can do when you really try. I pay off my credit cards each month, but I am trying really hard to pay off a piece of investment property. Somehow, I have been able to come up with an extra $1000 each month to pay on the principal. I have got it more than half paid off, but still owe a lot!

[Diolla]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

Be sure and read the fine print some cc's only charge an annual fee if you don't use them. I had one that if you didn't use it for a year you were charged a $25 annual fee.

[neatdesign]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

Be sure and read the fine print some cc's only charge an annual fee if you don't use them. I had one that if you didn't use it for a year you were charged a $25 annual fee.

I feel it's important to read ALL the fine print at least twice BEFORE you decide to apply for a card. If there is anything that doesn't make sense, then it's a good idea to call the credit card company and ask for a clarification -- again, BEFORE applying.

Credit card companies are fantastic at making some really great, too-good-to-be-true offers -- because they are hoping the consumer WON'T read all the fine print and so the CCC won't have to hold up their end of the offer when the cardholder eventually screws up.

A good example is the type of card that offers "0% APR on the life of the transferred balance" -- BUT in order to maintain that 0%, the cardholder has to have 3 purchases post to their account every billing period (NOT "every month"). Let's say the cardholder's billing period ends on the 15th of each month. They could make 3 purchases BUT if the third purchase doesn't post until the 17th, then their 0% APR will end, PERIOD. Unlike other types of T&Cs attached to 0% offers, this particular set-up doesn't require the account to be delinquent for the 0% to end -- just bad timing on the part of the cardholder.

Moreover, a lot of these types of offers don't require a minimum amount for the 3 purchases. Consumers will go out and buy something for $50 or $100 and then get stuck paying interest on those purchases (because the payments are allocated to pay down the 0% balance first, of course). They assume that the purchases have to be of significant value to "count".

But if the fine print doesn't say that the purchases must be of a minimum amount, then the consumer could buy something that costs next-to-nothing and still keep the 0%. While working for Capital One, I remember one lady who maintained her 0% APR by buying three postage stamps (37¢ each) as separate purchases each billing period. So she was only adding $1.11 each month to her purchase balance, which kept her accrued interest very, very low. (And by buying postage stamps, she also didn't have to pay taxes on her purchases!)

~ Jenney

[neatdesign]

Re: After I finish Paying off credit cards.......

Somehow I am convinced you are going to overcome this. Just take one credit card at a time. Up until this year I was very bad with money, savings and not paying off these cards. Last year I made a serious commitment to paying off those CCs. I never thought I would have paid it off, never ever ever ever * 1000. Determination I think is the key. Again, You are going to get through it.

Thanks. I really appreciate your encouragement. Although I don't like being in this position, it is very nice to know that others can relate to what we're going through and can serve as examples that things CAN work out.

~ Jenney