How much do you owe CCs?

[WeLoveLilo05]

If you don't mind sharing, how much debt are you in, or at least telling me this.. is it (i can't say ok, but "normal"?) to be $8000 in debt? We only have 1 credit card and the max we could put on it is $12000.
We are going to get a new car soon, we are getting $7500 back from the tax refund. So how would you spend this money wisely?

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

I have $974 on my Disney Visa (only card) as of today, and I will pay in full on March 4 (or whatever my due date is this cycle).

I have no idea if $8000 debt is normal, but I would put a big chunk (if not all) of my refund toward the bill. It just bugs me to owe money.

That was probably not helpful at all, but there ya go.

 

[Piecey]

I think it's an American AVERAGE to have that much in CC debt.. or at least it is according to those debt consolidation commercials!

To answer the question in the topic line, DH and I don't carry CC debt. We have other forms, but not CC.

I'm not really sure what you're asking, though. You say the most you can put on it is 12,000... meaning you don't have a balance? Like I said, I'm not sure what you're asking.

 

[DrCavin]

Z e r o, nada, nuttin'

 

[Deb in IA]

$0.00.

We pay our cards in full EVERY MONTH.

We can't afford a 19% interest rate.

 

[Amy&Dan]

If you need a new car, then I would put that $7500 on the higher interest rate. If the new car loan is a lesser interest rate than the cc, pay off the cc.

Also, a secured loan like a car, is better debt to have as far as a credit score than a cc.

I am betting you can get a better interest rate with an auto loan than what you have on that car which means pay off the cc and finance the car.

I'll also just throw out there, that if you can hold off on the car, even for a few months do so! Take the money you'd spend on the payment and put it in savings or towards a down payment to keep your payment down. But if you need a car (which is understandable) now, get one now and shop for the best deal on yoru financing!

 

[PeterPan09]

Mine are finally all paid off....

I still have a car lease and student loan payments-but no more high interest CC debt!

 

[NAB]

If you don't mind sharing, how much debt are you in, or at least telling me this.. is it (i can't say ok, but "normal"?) to be $8000 in debt? We only have 1 credit card and the max we could put on it is $12000.
We are going to get a new car soon, we are getting $7500 back from the tax refund. So how would you spend this money wisely?

Are you trying to say you want to buy a car with you cc?

I do not think that is a good idea the interest will kill you.

 

[SDFgirl]

Right now I have $50 on my Gap card and $250 on our "main" credit card. This will all be paid off next month. 85% of the time we pay our credit card off monthly or have no balance. The rest of the time, we pay our credit card off the *next* month. I don't think we ever carry a balance for more than two months.

 

[wvjules]

This is the DIS. No one has CC debt!

 

[PeterPan09]

This is the DIS. No one has CC debt!

I was just thinking that....

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Also, a secured loan like a car, is better debt to have as far as a credit score than a cc.

Yes and no...it is better to have a good mix of both, not necessarily debt, but history of managing debts/loans of each type. Neither is beneficial overall to your credit score.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

Are you trying to say you want to buy a car with you cc?

I do not think that is a good idea the interest will kill you.

O God no lol
Sorry to confuse, just trying to figure out financial stuff. Like pay off the CC? Maybe put half towards CC? Some for car and savings?

 

[padams]

No credit card debt. The bills are paid in full each month. We only spend what we can afford. My parents always had credit card debt when I was a kid, and I swore I wouldn't do that as an adult.

 

[laurie31]

It drives us crazy to owe money.

We don't carry credit card debt. We do use them, but only as a convenience for things we would buy anyway (food, gas, etc) and to get the rewards. We save for cars until we have enough to pay cash. We buy a car that's a year or so old; we usually get the "new car" warranty, and the car's already broken in, plus we save thousands over buying a brand new car.

We have a 15 year mortgage, which will be paid off in 4 more years. That is our only debt.

I would put all your tax refund towards the credit card debt; you're paying a lot of interest on that money. Also, you loaned your $7500 to the government interest-free. For this year, could you put $625/month into savings instead? That's how much extra you gave the government. Have it direct-deposited to our savings account. If you're used to paying it in taxes anyway, you'll never miss it. Or at least stop paying it to the government and use it for your car payment.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Yes and no...it is better to have a good mix of both, not necessarily debt, but history of managing debts/loans of each type. Neither is beneficial overall to your credit score.

Which is pretty sad, if you ask me. When my wife and I started looking for a new home a few years ago, we only had 2 loans - our existing mortgage and my student loan. We had abused our CCs, so we canceled all but one some time before and carried no balance on the other.

Well, when we got out credit score, we freaked. It was very low in spite of having no bad marks - no late payments, not bad debt, nothing. Our problem, we had no revolving credit. We were advised to get a few new credit cards and begin running moderate balances to bring up our score. We did that and within 3 months my score went up over 100 points.

So, I had more debt, and I had bad debt (CC debt is bad debt), but my score went up dramatically. I am not sure who runs those agencies, but their methods are clearly flawed...

 

[laurie31]

O God no lol
Sorry to confuse, just trying to figure out financial stuff. Like pay off the CC? Maybe put half towards CC? Some for car and savings?

You don't need to put any of your tax refund in savings until the credit card debt is paid off. Compare what interest you are paying on the CC balance to what you would earn on the amount you're thinking of saving. It's like earning money to pay off that debt!

 

[Pakey]

No debt of any kind (whether I'm on the dis or not).

 

[ICF]

Not a cent....use for everything and pay in full each month on the due date.

 

[Deb in IA]

I would put all your tax refund towards the credit card debt; you're paying a lot of interest on that money.

I totally agree.

How much is your credit card interest?
And how much interest will you get in savings?

No brainer, right?