balance transfer credit cards?
my situation… i have built up about a $22K credit line since i turned 18 7 years ago. i always made payments on time and until about a year ago was only carrying a balance of a couple thousand dollars. about a year ago, i lost my job and after about 6 months of RELUCTANTLY living off credit cards, i found myself in about a $15K hole. also, i now have 4 or 5 30 day late blemishes on my report. for the last 6 months, high interest rates and such have made it hard to reduce this amount any, so i still owe about $15K with about $22K total credit available. i have been worried about how applying for more credit could affect my score and thus, subsequent loans. would 0% balance transfer cards be worth looking into? can i get a card or cards for that high of an amount? has anybody been in a similar position? any worthwhile advice? thanks for your help.
i was unemployed for about 6 months, but HAVE been employed for about the last 6 months – made payments on time and everything all the while
What you should do is try to transfer all of your balances to a card with a fixed apr on balance transfers until the balance is paid off in full. You transfer all of your balances to this card, do not use it for new purchases and then pay it off as quickly as you can over time.
This type of card does not have a 0% APR but the savings can add up to more in the long run because the APR is fixed and will not skyrocket after the intro period.
That said, it sounds like you might have trouble getting approved for new credit right now, so you may want to call up your current credit cards and see if they will allow a fixed rate balance transfer.
Right now, I doubt you will be eligible for anymore credit due to the "blemishes" and your being unemployed. The best I would suggest is to consolidate & seek out any type of work to begin establishing your employment status at this time.
After a period of time, if it all gets really bad….you might need to file for bankruptcy protection to save yourself from creditors.
References :
What you should do is try to transfer all of your balances to a card with a fixed apr on balance transfers until the balance is paid off in full. You transfer all of your balances to this card, do not use it for new purchases and then pay it off as quickly as you can over time.
This type of card does not have a 0% APR but the savings can add up to more in the long run because the APR is fixed and will not skyrocket after the intro period.
That said, it sounds like you might have trouble getting approved for new credit right now, so you may want to call up your current credit cards and see if they will allow a fixed rate balance transfer.
References :
http://www.e-wisdom.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards.html#fixed-apr-balance-transfers
0% transfers are usually earned. You can’t get that with late payments on your report. You would be considered high risk. You could’ve when your credit was good but now I don’t think so. You shouldn’t start just applying everywhere because that will just look bad. Offers will come when they think your not a high risk candidate. Just pay as much as you can and it’ll go down. $15k is not enough to even think about bankruptcy.
References :