Question

I’m so tired of CC debt. I have about $13, 200 in CC debt. 1. $4, 700-0% until June 17th the 15% AMEX-will be paying $170 a month 2. $3090-23% Capital One MC- pay $140 a month 3. $2740-15% Costco Citibank VISA pay $110 a month 4. $1193. 12-0% until November 2021 (will be paid off in time, Best Buy) $70 a month 5. 988. 20-0% until March 2022 (will be paid off in time, Apple Mastercard) $44. 90 a month 6. $414-0% until November 2021 (will be paid off in time, LoveSac-Synchrony) $$25 a month 7. $130-26% (will be paid off this month, All Rewards Mastercard) Not to mention my student loan is $121, 000 (I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to be, and I am on an IDR plan and working to give them fogiven) $281. 86 a month Car loan of about $7, 300 left, at $340 a month. Should I just get a personal loan at 9. 15% interest for the amount of the cards? One payment $425. 92 a mont for three years? It would definitely help since I will be taking a pay cut in August when I switch schools (teacher in AZ) Any help, advice appreciated! Thanks

Answer 1

Miko has an article on her website on this topic. She tried a consolidation loan twice. Hope this helps!  

Comments

@piaffe I read that, that’s kinda where I got the idea.  

Answer 2

I personally would consolidate it. And just pay more on the 1 payment.  

Answer 3

I've gotten personal loans to consolidate before. It's so much more manageable to just have the 1 payment and pay extra when you can

Answer 4

If you do the consolidation then continue to pay what you would have been paying in total had you not consolidate. Loan will be paid off early then. That is where the benefit lies.  

Answer 5

I guess consolidating doesn’t make sense to me cause most of your loans are interest free right now. If you take that big loan you’re paying interest immediately and in turn possibly paying more. The monthly amounts you listed are the minimums? Are you able to pay more than the minimums. If so I would do snowball method with smallest loan to largest. Maybe wait till June and then consolidate the top 3 loans?  

Comments

@finicky2385 those are if I want to pay them off in three years, I always pay more than the minimum. I’m only looking to consolidate the credit cards.  

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That was my thinking too. But when I looked at the interest difference I will be paying $1700 more in interest if I don’t consolidate the CC.  

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@susa I see. Ok try this. Look at what the minimum is on each account. Then add up the total per month you’ve been paying out. Subtract the two and see what the difference is. Then apply that amount to the lowest balance loan each month. Then when that loan is paid off move to the next one with that amount plus the minimum you paying on the loan prior (hopefully that makes sense). This is snowball and we’ve been doing it for over a year now and it’s been life changing. You might not even need to consolidate.  

Answer 6

I wouldn’t consolidate any of the 0%. Can you pay the top one off by June? I might consider consolidating the top 3. If you have money to throw at debt I would power through, buckle down your budget and get rid of them as fast as possible.  

Comments

@hauteur no. I can’t pay it off by June. The payments include making I can barely afford.  

Answer 7

I wouldn’t add the 0% ones(other than Amex cause it’s almost over) but if it’s gonna put you in a better position financially then o would go for it

Answer 8

Is that consolidation amount for all the cc debt or just the top 3?  

Comments

If you were to consolidate American Express, capital One and Costco at 9. 12% interest for 36 months the payment would be approximately $335 a month for the consolidation. Add in the payments for Lovesac Best Buy and apple at the amounts that you previously listed (total of $140/month) that is where you come up with the $475. If you were to snowball (pay the lowest balance first) you would be done with all of your debt by 12/2022 paying interest of approximately $1432. If you were to do the avalanche method of paying the highest interest rate first you would be debt free again by December 2022 paying interest of approximately $1429.  

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If you consolidate all of them ($13125. 32) at the 9. 12% interest for 36months ($425. 92) payment you’d pay $1, 886. 03 in interest and be cc debt free in 36 months If you consolidate all but pay 475/month you pay 1663. 83 in interest and be cc debt free January 2023.  

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@diapedesis6 okay! Nice! You are awesome. Yea, my interest with out consolidating would be about $3, 500

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@susa those interest rates are definitely what kill you.  

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@diapedesis6 agreed! I think I’m gonna do it, but deciding if I should do it now or June when the big ones interest kicks in.