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Wed 12 Jul, 2006 07:45 am
So I am currently in the process of refinancing my car, consolidating my student loans and getting a personal loan to pay off some high interest credit cards from college.
Auto Refinance:
I've pulled my own credit report (which was not bad), called so many people I've lost count, applied to about 6 different refinancing places and still I am no farther along in this damned process. Every place I go to has a rate that is higher than the one I have, which is hard to believe since my rate isn't great. And if the rate is lower, it's only because they've extended my loan by 6 months or more. One place actually proposed to me a 72 month loan at 15%! Are they f*cking nuts??? I have two years left on my loan and they want me to refinance it for another 6???? WTF? Seriously. My credit is not that bad. Lesson Learned: Refinance people are idiots.
Student Loans:
So, I applied to this place online and got back a lower payment estimate. Well, stupid me, I didn't realize until after that I'd not only applied for this loan consolidation, I'd also e- SIGNED the promissary note. So I start scrambling to calculate whether or not this was a wise choice. Turns out, the reason again that my rate was lower was because they wanted to extend my damn loan. I called them and explained my situation and told them that the rate they gave me was higher than the one I already have and why in hell would I want to switch. They proceeded to tell me that because I had combined two different loans, that was why and that the combined rate was lower from them. Uh, ok...except the one loan is only at $500 and will be paid off in like a year at my current rate and I tried (unsuccessfully) to not consolidate that one but apparently I hit the back button or some sh!t and it added it. So now I am waiting to talk to some guy there named John and see what he can do for me. I may have screwed myself in this whole thing. Lesson Learned: Don't consolidate your student loans online... you'll end up signing for something you aren't sure you even want.
Personal Loan:
So far I have nothing to gripe about with this. I am going through my bank so I am feeling pretty secure in it. I know the interest rate won't be fabulous on it (they never are) however, considering I would be paying off credit cards with 20% and 25% interest rates, I'll take anything under 20%. (I know...isnt that just f*cking insane?? The credit cards refuse to lower the interest rates for me. Dicks.) I am sure that after I talk to my financial officer today, I will have a gripe or two so for now, there is no lesson learned.
All in all, this whole thing sucks. They make it so hard for you to get back in the game. You can't pay off your bills because the damn interest is so high but they won't lower the interest because you have too many bills. You can't get a decent loan to pay off your bills because you have to many bills. It's a vicious cycle. But considering I want to be buying a house in a year, I am really trying to get my sh!t in order so that I don't have to do this then...I can suffer and want to kill now.
BD, I hear you! It's the pits when consumers have so little control and choice in what one must pay in interest to finance outstanding loans.
I was in exactly your situation in my younger days, and I know how frustrating it can be.
Once I got married, I told my wife that we would sock away 15 to 20 percent of our income every year for our retirment, and we stuck to this regimen.
I now pay cash for everything I buy, and for many things I get a discount for paying before the due date.
We also went through all those necessary loans to buy a home and cars.
Our home is paid in full, and my wife paid cash for her new Honda early this year.
Once you make a plan/goal, stick to it. It pays off in the long run.
BTW, I bought my wife's engagement ring on credit, because I didn't have the money to pay cash. I continued to pay it for over one year after our marriage. It was tough, because I was a working, full-time college student..
Personal Finances were such a problem in my life that decided to get rid of them.
CI, we only use credit when it's "same as cash" and we know we can pay it off.
Otherwise, it's cash cash cash. I learned way to hard the ways of credit.
BD, Oprah had an interesting segment in her program last week (that I watched just for a few minutes) about people's inability to control their spending, and the credit card debt they have accumulated.
I think it's very common in the US; the average debt of the US consumer has been increasing dramatically during the past few years. Not a good sign for our economy.
Is there any chance you could take on a part time job in the evening or weekends for just a couple months?
When I was single I would do that to pay for something extra for myself, like furniture that I'd pay off over 6 months.
When you're married, it's different, but a few years back I went to a temp agency and told them I just wanted weekend work, didn't matter what....Some of it was actually weird and fun.
I pre-screened contestants for a beauty pagent (there's a dilly of a story associated with that, let me tell you)
Was a ticket taker at a couple of football games
They wanted me to be an Easter Bunny, but I drew the line there.
One job, I literally sat on my ass and read for 6 hours on Sat and 6 hours on Sunday, reading a book and answering the phone to give directions. That job lasted as long as the Spring flowers were blooming, about 3 months. Got really caught up on my reading.
Even if you only bring in 50-100 a week, and that's only here and there, you can put a dent in the bills, paying more than is required.
I stopped doing that when it was getting in the way of my life, but, it was a good feeling writing those checks out.
Would you be OK w/ something like that?
Thanks.
Tell me Amigo, do you think I should have gone for the Easter Bunny gig?
I heard they made pretty good money, and they couldn't get involved with any of the customers. Sounded pretty straight forward to me!
Waaay back in the previous millenia, the first Mr B suggested we use our tax return to pay off all our debt. I was planning a trip to ..... somewhere wonderful. He thought we would be better of zeroing out our credit cards and loans and being debt free. He was right.
Having revolving credit isn't bad..it's the freakin' outrageous interest on the old ones that's killing me.
I don't mind the AMEX we have now. It's good for making purchases and paying them off right away to establish some good credit. I do mind the ones I screwed up with in college that now have a 29% interest rate.
I just f-ing hate money.
All together.
Having been raised around Russian grandparents who still believed in the Czar's debtors' prison well into the 1970's, I was taught the only good debt is no debt. It has served me well. I've always paid cash for my cars and owned my house before I turned 40. I do have one credit card that I use for business, but I pay it off in full each month. The trick is to learn needs from wants. My needs could be covered by a minimum wage job.
I saw a part of the Oprah show (apparently it goes on for days) and looked up the website. I think there is some good advice there:
Debt Diet
Don't hate money Bella, hate owing it.
Green Witch is right; don't hate money. Hate owing it. When one has enough of it to live comfortably, it's a blessing.
Chai Tea wrote:Thanks.
Tell me Amigo, do you think I should have gone for the Easter Bunny gig?
Yes! You would still br talking about it today. We would all be laghing right now. When you kids got lazy you could scream
"I was a god danm Easter Bunny! THE EASTER BUNNY!!! Do you know what that did to me! Now clean your room or I'll make you do it in a Bunny costume.........Go ahead....test me."
I was a carnie. One of my jobs was to to ride in the roller coaster when two people wanted to sit in the front cart alone so I had to ride in the back. After riding that danm thing 100 times I was taking naps while riding the roller coaster and reading books.
"There's only two things I'm afraid of, and one is nuclear war." "And the other?" "Carnies... small hands." ~~Austin Powers
ahem...sorry Bella..didn't mean to sidetrack.
Maybe we should get a room?
My hands are't that small.
Chai, feel free to sidetrack...maybe I can get a laugh.
This week has been pretty stressful.
And to top it off, this morning I had to pull something (a baggie, a length of toy stuffing, ???) out of my dogs ass.
Chai, I'm just kidding I know your married.
Amigo wrote:Chai, I'm just kidding I know your married.
You've been reading the french guy thread, haven't you?
I didn't even think twice about it mi amigo.
How big ARE your hands?
Small but effective. Skilled in the trades. Thick.
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