Need advice

[amykelley]

First off my husband has done the bills since we have gotten married 4 years ago since then I have been thinking he has paid all them we are in good shape period.

Well after I started getting phone calls (my husband is a const. worker so in the winter he is layed off) that we are behind on a truck payment I started investigating and i guess while he has been laid off he has been putting our bills on 2 credit cards one 10,000 maxed out and the other is 5,500 maxed out.

Interest rates are 19.99 and 21 percent I am wondering what I can do to get lowere interest rates and well I called them like you see on oprah and things and they will not lower them do to being late on payments.

We have a 575.00 a month truck payment for 2 more years, 174.00 truck payment 2 years and a 20,000 loan for consolidation loan he got a long time ago plus child support for his 2 children previously 250.00 a week.

I am wondering if I should try and get a credit card with 0% interest for transfers for 12 months and pay what i am paying now to get it down or what I should do.

We have a son together who has alot of health problems and I hate to have bad credit and things if for some reason he needs more medical treatments. Any suggestions. Any help would be appreciated.

[sweeps]

Hi, sorry to hear of your situation. Financially speaking, yes, you can look at 0% balance transfer offers and then work on aggressively paying down the balance. If that's not an option, sometimes you can talk the CC companies into lowering your interest rate to something a little more reasonable like 10 or 12%.

But as I'm sure you already realize, you need to talk with your husband about using the credit cards. What you don't want to do is consolidate your debt and then add more on top of it. Work with him to create a reasonable budget.

[disneysteve]

1. Destroy the credit cards so they don't get used anymore.
2. Try to get a 0%, or at least a lower interest credit card for a balance transfer. You may not qualify for 0% at this point with late payments on your record.
3. Find some way to bring in more money, especially while he is not working. Does he do any side jobs? I know several construction workers who work on home remodeling and other inside jobs when the outside jobs shut down for the season. Either that, or get some other work, even if it is retail or food service or something to keep the income flowing.

[Broken Arrow]

I think the real issue here is that there isn't enough:

1. Transparency and communication regarding the finances.

2. Savings to cover the times when income is lean.

3. Cutting back (if possible) on the standard of living rather than charging everything on the credit card.

Er, I didn't mean it to sound like I'm criticizing your current predicament. The last thing you need right now is some schmuck on the internet telling you how things screwwed up, eh? After all, you didn't realize there was a problem at all until just recently....

So, please understand that the above is merely what I think is the source of the problem, and by correcting these problems, it will protect both you and your husband from future financial woes.

[disneysteve]

1. Transparency and communication regarding the finances.

Absolutely. If you haven't already, you need to sit down together and go over all the household finances so that you are both fully informed about how much is coming in, how much is going out, where it is going, how much is owed, etc. Then you need to work TOGETHER to come up with a plan to keep spending below income and get the debts repaid. That might mean extra jobs. That might mean selling one or both trucks and replacing them with cheaper ones. But the sooner you both address this, the quicker you can undo the damage that has been done.

[mom-from-missouri]

How are you on your other expenses?? Such as rent or house payment, utilities..are any of those also behind??? Anything you can do without? Are you employeed? Give us a breakdown as to what is coming in and what is going out and let us bombard you with ideas and suggestions.

[kilcher]

Wow. The CC debt is just the symptom of a bigger problem. You have some serious communication and trust issues to deal with. Hopefully you know that.

If you end up getting a 0% card be sure you close the other accounts. Just destroying the cards isn't enough. You can do a lot of CC damage (particularly online) without having to physically produce the card.

I'm getting married in December and I'll be controlling the finances. However, after a few posts on this forum I decided I wanted my fiance to be involved and aware of what's going on even though I'm the one writing the checks. We're going to have a monthly "meeting" where we go over our checking accounts, credit card accounts, savings accounts, retirement savings, etc. I would imagine the whole thing would take less than 20 minutes per month.

If there's any bit of advice I could offer other newlyweds or married couples that's it. Even if the other person is paying the bills you have a responsibility to be aware of what's going on. And your partner should encourage that. If he opposes your involvement in any way you have some very tough decisions to make.

[peggypropester@yahoo.com]

A $575.00 truck payment??!! My best advice would be to ditch the expensive truck and find a good reliable vehicle. I don't believe in buying on credit but since you are really into it deep I suggest you go on a bare-bones budget until you can dig yourself out of this situation. Good luck, you'll need it!

[mom-from-missouri]

A $575.00 truck payment??!! My best advice would be to ditch the expensive truck and find a good reliable vehicle. I don't believe in buying on credit but since you are really into it deep I suggest you go on a bare-bones budget until you can dig yourself out of this situation. Good luck, you'll need it!

I think I agree with this--but what type of truck are we talking? And, what is the balance?

[amykelley]

I bought the truck before I was married and I have a year and a half on it, its a 2005 chevy trailblazer. I am thinking I shouldn't be the one to have to give up everything I have told him he needs to start selling tractors he has that he doesn't use or need, he has a vehicle he hasn't even started sicne weve been married. I have told him to start selling motors he has built and so forth. I think that will help a bunch with some. I know it will atleast pay the 10,000. card off.

I also feel as if I am being slammed with all this and can't even begin to imagine how to get out. I have called the credit card places and since he hasn't added me to his account I can not ask for a lower interest rate.

I have called on the 20,000. loan and have got the percentage down to 6% for 6 months. which it is either 12 or 18 % so that will help. I have also got rid of alot of wants we had, no caller id, or call waiting, and other misc.

[hawkster]

Start at the heart of the problems first...

1. You and your husband need to sit down weekly, bi-weekly or whatever and BOTH be informed of where the money is going and what bills are to be paid. 2 heads together working on this are better than one.

2. Secondly, he needs to get a job in the winter bottom line, heck maybe even 2 jobs.

To me thats the real meat of the problem.....

Contact your credit card company and try and work some terms out