Credit card debt?

[dixiechick]

WOW! You guys rock! ahem....alas,

Yes, we do have a credit card

Yes, we do have some debt on it

No, we are no longer using it. It is our priority of paying off.

 

[Jennyhaschicks]

We have credit card debt. We put an addition on the house when we had our second child. We used our home equity line while purchasing and then transferred our balance to a credit card. The rate for a balance transfer is 1.9%. Home equity rate couldn't beat that. So $30,000 worth of credit card debt that we don't regret. We more than almost triple the payment every month.

 

[cackle]

Quote:
We also have credit cards with debt that we are just trying hard to pay off. Car will soon be paid off and even though we could use a new one we won't buy one but concentrate on the present debt.

 

[beak]

For all of you that have paid your debt down and stayed debt free congrats. We have done 2nd mortgages to pay down CC debt. Every time we tear up the cards, but then here they come again. We don't need Dave Ramsey, we need our brains rewired. We have 3 dogs and 4 horses, same thing, no impulse control. I've been like this since I was a kid. My sister is just the opposite. married to a 20 year AF guy. They managed to save about 45 k while he was in and put it down on their home. Of course they live in Fort Worthless where you can buy a 3 bdrm for 100k. Same house here is around 200k. But she is very frugal. She stole my frugal genes.

 

[lovemychix]

I use my reward credit cards all the time. I get money back or gift cards to spend. I just pay them off online before the interest adds up. I have recieved hundreds of dollars in rewards from these cards.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

No, we do not have any credit cards. I have a debit card that I use for the farm, I load it with farm income.

No, we do not have any credit card debt.

In the past my Mom would charge things left and right that I wanted but couldn't afford right then. At the end of one year of doing that we had racked up $16,000 in debt. Thank god that's all done and over with.
At the time they were things we needed, clothes for the kids, bills paid, etc. But it got out of hand FAST.
I will never have my own credit cards now, I don't want them. I keep my debit card so that I have acess to buying things online and through catalogs. I am also more responisble with my farm money when it's not floating around in my wallet.

Now, when I want something I cannot afford right now, I save for it.
I am currently saving for a $350.00 Coach purse that I have to have. A few years ago I would have just charged it with Mom and paid the min. fees. Now I'm saving change and small bills to get what I want.

 

[BrahmaMama]

Yes, we have 4 credit cards, only 2 (as of just recently) have a balance.

We just recently paid off $6000 in credit cards (between the two) We have two cards left, with not quite that much left.

We're getting there, just slowly. This past year was tough, with me using the card often, for groceries, or gas, etc. We are living off of one income right now, because I do stay home with our boys. With Gabe, our youngest, and his special needs, I just can't trust anyone to stay with him right now.

Hopefully by next year, we will be credit card debt free, and just have the house mortgage.

 

[bantiesrule]

I think alot of people are not replying because they have more debt then the want to admit to.
My DH had a gambling problem which I didn't realize was as bad as it was. He paid his bills, I paid mine. Until he became disabled in 2001. I found out then he had over $40,000 debt on his cards. (At the time we were making about that a year.) Between him being disabled (no income for almost a year until SSD kicked in), medical bills and the high interest rates he was paying, I was a basket case. I'm very happy to say the CC companies worked with us and helped lower rates and minimums until we got his disability checks. Then with transfer balances to lower interest, we got it to a level that We could manage on our lower income. It's been 8 years and we're still working on it but it's down under $7500 now.
I do still have one card I use all the time and pay off monthly.

 

[JennsPeeps]

It's really intimidating for those of us who do have debt to chime in among the multitudes of "0 cards, 0 debt" posters. We wind up being the discordant voices in the Allelujia chorus.

So yes, I will say that I do have debt. The amount between me and the issuing agency. Like many, I'm paying for the sins of my past. Quite literally. I will also say that I'm not adding to the debt, I'm actively working to pay it down, and my goal is to have no debt. I have 1 credit card that I have not activated, and will not do so until I have paid off all debt.

DBF and I now pay cash for 100% of our purchases. He's been unemployed for nearly a year. Ironically, my debt was incurred before his unemployment.

Our boiler went out nearly 2 months ago. We've lived with no central heat for that entire time, and it has seriously sucked. My mom pushed and pushed and pushed me to take out LOC on my house to repair it - the bids ranged from $2,300-4,000. DBF and I refused: we want to come out the back side with $0 debt. So, it has meant taking a hot shower when the room is only 58 degrees when you get out. It's meant wearing sweaters, robes, slippers, socks, covering up with blankets, and doing what's needed to stay warm. It's meant that we sacrifice having friends over (one of our favorite pasttimes), not getting new socks and underwear, and cutting our bills where ever possible.

When DBF has finished moving & repairing the boiler (the move was necessary, and meant re-arranging our utility porch), we will have added $0 to our debt, updated to an efficient tankless water heater, added a 1/2 bath to our 1-bathroom home, and gained a reliable boiler that we didn't have before. All for about $1,000 paid in cold, hard cash, and lots & lots of sweat equity

My parents have been bailed out god-only-knows-how-many times by my mom's parents. I don't want that to be our back-up plan: our back-up plan is our sacrifice and self-reliance. My mom doesn't get it, but how could she? When her furnace went out, my grandpa gave her a check for "antifreeze" and covered the entire thing. Her mom paid off her car. Her mom has bought my parents a brand new refridgerator and a top-of-the-line woodstove. I was raised with the mentality that someone else can bail you out financially.

I've worked hard to rewire my brain when it comes to finances.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

CC's- Yes we have two,one has a small balance that will be paid off in a few months. Things do come up and they do come in handy. They have to be used WISELY, or you can get in a mess.
Been there done that.