Thanks for all the advice GrimJack I'd like to talk to you more, if that's ok

PM me your e-mail address. Thanks

Use the MBNA Balance.

Use Juniper BT to pay off Fleet
Use Fleet to pay off MBNA and Citibank + whatever balance remains from Juniper
Use MBNA to pay off $2000 of what remains on Juniper

Do all of this in the next few days. You have to wait 1-2 days from making the call to Juniper until the balance comes off the Fleet account before you can use Fleet to pay off MBNA, Citibank and the remaining available from Juniper. You will then have to wait 1-2 days from the time you make the call to Fleet for the balance to come off MBNA before you call them and put the full $2000 back on it from the Juniper card.

Then pay your $500 a month focusing on what remains on the Juniper Card, since this now is your highest rate. Only pay the minimums on the others. Once you have paid off the Juniper you should get a BT offer from them just about the same time your BT offers expire on the other cards.

Then put the balance on the other cards back on to Juniper at the lower rate. You can keep doing this until all the cards are paid off and you are out of debt. Good luck. Its still going to take you awhile, but you will save probably a good six months y approaching it in this manner.

PA remember what I said about having the BT put directly into your checking account and writing your own check to the CC company from your accoount to pay off the CC. This will add a few days to the process, but then your BT activity is not tracable by the cards you are paying off.

Yes,

But if you do the math, you still come out ahead.

I took you through the math. You are just paying upfront.

$2000 times 19.99% interest for six months is $199.90
$2000 times 0% interest for six months is $0.00 plus $75=$75...
or $2000 times 0% for six months is $0.00 plus 3% of $2000 equals $60.00

Since $75 is less than $199 you make out. So go ahead and do this...why wouldn't you? This is a no-brainer. This is like paying 7.5% for the first six months, still a good deal. But actually its 6% since it is 6% or $75 whichever is less.

Either way you are making out...its a no brainer. Just make sure you do the stuff I suggested earlier to maximize your balance transfer ability. And MBNA definately lets you take the BT to your checking account directly which avoids the CCs knowing you are using this trick to save yourself money.

You are on the right track. Now its just a matter of time and you will have all of your cards paid off. Don't worry about it taking a few months to get a BT offer from your other cards. Its just a matter of time. The CC companies are used to taking your money. They will sorely miss you and do whatever is possible to lure you back in and get you spending more moeny you don't have...all so that they can line their pockets when you get into a hard place with their 20% interest rates.

That is the love/hate relationship CC companies have with people with prro credit rankings. They love them because thay can make 20% off them, but they derride them in the media as deadbeats who don't pay their bills, which they will say is why they have bad credit.

Pay them off, pay with cash in the future, and calculate over your life how better off you are going to be by not carrying a balance. Figure out in currect dollars over the rest of your life how much extra of your hard earned money you will be able to enjoy because you don't pay finance charges...its a lot.

Cool

fotomaniak said:

<< Since your friend is helping you, see if he/she can apply for 0% apr card and move some balances to that card 0%

Good luck! >>

I tried that. He doesn't want to do anymore.

fotomaniak said:

<< May be he'll agree if you can buy him a bottle of wine

Ok, can't blame him, may be he does not want to carry large balance, but what he can do is transfer money from his 7% card to 0% card, the balance that he carries will remain the same...

or you can suggest that you split the savings ... i.e. transferring from 23% to 0... you save 23% in interest... so you pay him 10% interest on that... you'll still be saving and another nice thing is that the rest of the money does not go to CC company but to a friend. >>

I'm already doing that. His CC's APR is really only 1.99% for 6 mos., but he's charging me 5% on top of that = 6.99%

I'll take 6.99% over 23.99% any day of the week

I'll loan you the money @ 7.5%. Try to run away, and I'll find you

02/20/04 UPDATE:

Here's the current CC situation:

Juniper
Balance: $0
Minimum: $0
APR: 7.90%
Limit: $15,750

MBNA
Balance: $1876
Minimum: $15
APR: 0% until July 2004 (17.99% thereafter)
Limit: $2,000

Citibank
Balance: $2475
Minimum: $50
APR: 2.99% until loan is paid off
Limit: $2,500

Fleet
Balance: $5,513
Minimum: $110
APR: 1.99% until April 2004 (8.99% thereafter)
Limit: $6,000

BankOne
Balance: $0
Minimum: $0
APR: 14.65%
Limit: $4,000

Friend's CC (highest APR CC with a balance, currently attacking)
Balance: $2,408
Minimum: $63
APR: 6.99%

I called Juniper to request a lower APR. They lowered my rate from 23.99% down to 7.90%
No good BT offers from them right now. They have an offer where they'd increase my credit limit by $3,500 if I did a BT. I declined it, as it really isnt worth it, unless I had a good 0% APR BT offer. I'll be waiting and calling them for any better BT offers.

Citibank gave me a 2.99% rate on a BT until it's paid in full. I took it, and BT'd over my previous BankOne balance (at 14.65% APR).

I used my tax refund to totally pay off the rest of the BankOne balance

BankOne actually sent me a couple of BT offers in the mail. One was for 1.99% APR for 6 mos OR 5.99% for the life of the loan. They weren't really worth it, so I passed. I'll wait for better BT offers from them too, since my balance is now 0$

TOTAL CC DEBT as of 02/20/04: $12,242

Also...

1. I do NOT use any of my CCs.
2. I pay for everything with cash.
3. Starting next month, I'll be increasing my CC payments to at least $550/mo, paying the highest APR card first (my friend's CC), and paying only the minimum on the rest.
4. I save money religiously. 10% of my paycheck gets taken out automatically and deposited into my ING Direct savings account. Current balance on it is $1,230 It's a nice feeling to have money in the bank. I've never had that feeling before. It's only been a couple of months since I started saving and I've already amassed $1,000+

Saeculorum said:

<< You should not be saving money at a 2% interest rate when you have debts at higher interest rates. >>

I understand where you're coming from, but you have to understand my situation too.

I've never had any kind of savings/reserves in my life until now. It took 23 years of my life to understand the value and power of saving money, and living frugally.

Sure it's easy to just take the money out from my savings acct, and use them to pay off debt.

But...

What if I have emergency expenses? Where am I going to get the money?

Credit cards again? The very things that got me into this mess?

I don't think so.

You should read the book Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason