Amazing money-saving strategies! I have none!

What DO you do?

Also, don't buy TV dinners or other processed food-- you save a lot of money by buying fresh vegtables & fruits & pasta/rice, and fish from a local fish market. Then cook up side dishes/lunches over the weekend, invest in a lot of tupperware, and eat the leftovers during the week. Grow some vegtables & herbs on a sunny window sill-- lettuce & rosemary & chives are impossible to kill. Use your phone landline for local calls only, and get a cheap cellphone plan with long distance. Get your furniture from Ikea or outlets or second hand.

I have a pretty good job, but I'm still way into saving money-- I've supported myself since I was 18, so those starting years of having no money at all made me ridiculously cheap about stuff. There's also a good book on the basics of financial stuff: "Get a Financial Life" by Beth Kobliner. Not on practical stuff like "buy second hand" but about buying a house the first time, how to save money, etc.

My plan of attack upthread was nice in theory, but I ended up using my credit cards alot anyway. NOOO!!! Now I've maxed out my main one and the other one is pretty high. I have loads of student loan debts. My bf helped me out by paying for things this past weekend, but he can't support me.

I'm already NOT SPENDING, but my previous commitments (power bill, car bill, all the loan/credit card minimums) require a few hundred dollars more than I make each paycheck. I just don't know what to do at this point. :-(

I really need to buy groceries, but I can't. And I know there's food at home - if I want to eat canned beans for a few weeks. I need to lower my standards, but it's so hard!

ILX, tell me what to do.

I have a shareware version of Bubble Bobble that only goes to level 7, though!

.. is the biggest cry for help I've ever seen, someone help this poor guy!

I've been doing really well paying down my debts then last week get the brilliant idea that I should try to learn guitar again and Guitar Center has a 15-month no interest plan and... so it goes. But I'm not overly concerned, I don't see a future where I'm going to have the money to buy a house or the desire to have a family anyway. Might as well live it up now and fake my death in a few years.

And yeah, if you haven't exhausted forbearance periods on federal loans, this'd be what they're made for. Consolidating should bring your payments down, too, as well as making the whole thing slightly easier to manage.

Secondly, I've called up my student loan companies in the past and taken them up on any delays/forebearances that I could. I've actually come very close to consolidating them several times, but kept backing out at the last minute fearing my overall payment would be huge (due to interest and the lower monthly payments). But I guess in the end, it doesn't matter if I'm unable to pay the current amounts anyway! Also, I've been getting quite a few consolidation offers lately, but I never know how seriously to take the urgency in them. They always say Consolidate now or else!!! But, sgs, you sure sound like you know what you're talking about. Does it matter who I consolidate with? Salle Mae really wants me.

And keep paying an annual fee?

I keep meaning to save a ton o' money by learning to cook.

My mom is in horrible debt. She's gone bankrupt at least twice. She just had to move out of her tiny apartment to rent a room from someone. I don't want my life to be like that when I'm in my mid-fifties.

NB: I am the absolute last person who should be giving advice on a debt and/or credit thread.

If you can't get an interest-free credit card, go for the lowest rate loan/card that you can. Read small print, don't go for anything with tie-in periods, annual fees etc.

And, without being harsh, stop saying things like "I'll have to lower my standards". Be realistic. You obviously can't go on as you were, but you don't have to lower your standards, just re-evaluate your priorities. You don't need your new jumper/nail-varnish/glass of wine after work on a Friday as much as you need to get out of this mess.

I am in an even worse position than nabisco to be dealing out advice on this thread, but maybe you have more willpower than me (these are all the things I think I should be doing but don't, except the credit card thing)

I'm trying hard to pay everything way way down in the next year. Luckily my credit is good and my balances are now all on cards that have no interest for the next year, and I'm throwing 500-600 a month at them, but I've also realized I have to take side work if I really want to get out of debt. This sucks, it means no weekends and no evenings for a long time.

Also remember that for many credit cards, they can increase your interest rate if you are late paying ANY bill, like your phone bill or whatever.

Big advantages in my case: one rate for the life of the loans, one lender (the gov, whose bureaucracy I'd rather deal with in the long term), most of my loans are staffords so that simplifies matters, and the percentages/rates calculations work out more in my favor than anywhere else. I mean, I'll still be paying them off until I croak, but I'd rather have it easier to understand, since my expensive education is in the humanities and I haven't got much of a brain for this kind of thing.

Hope this helps somehow! Feel free to email if you want me to spout off more opinions etc.

when i finished college, i had a load of credit card debt that freaked me out, so i worked three (sometimes four) jobs at a time, till it was gone. it was a mental six months, but it sounds like you've been dealing with this for a long time, so might be worth having an exhausting few months while you pay off most debts, consolidate student loans, etc?

good luck with it! it can be a chore, but it can also be an 'interesting challenge' to live super cheap for a set period of time. i think that's the key-- tell youself you're only doing it for x months and it won't seem so bad...

also, everyone read the fine print of your cards. usually if you have just one late payment, they can jack up your interest rate to say, 30%. if you're lucky, it will go back down when the card is entirely paid off, but i've seen an agreement which said it would remain at default rate until you had an additional year clear. yikes

figure out a budget and pay yourself weekly in cash

Where is the best place to shop for a good low/zero interest credit card?

I actually have a great credit rating and I don't want to screw it up.

I applied for a salliemae consolidation online last night. It said it would take 4-6 weeks to process. Does this mean that, if I'm approved, I'll automatically have a sallie mae consolidation? Or would I have another chance to pull out and go with the govt instead?

So, which credit card has the best rate? How does one "shop around" for something like that? I mean, I get a million preapprovals for credit cards in my junk mail all the time. I guess I mostly need to look for a zero percent interest on transfers over the longest amount of time possible...

i've been through consolidation and bad credit nastiness. actually, i'm still in it. must read thread first. i just saw a few things posted here and wanted to offer a "No! wait!" sort of opinion.
m.

Also, would you consider transferring debt from 2 different credit cards onto a lower rate third card a bad idea?

Oh, regarding informal debt consolidation (just getting a lower rate credit card and transferring debt onto it)--my experience was that my new low rate credit card had a lot lower credit limit than either of the two I was trying to pay off. I just transferred a little less than the max and then at least there was less riding on the other cards. Then I paid the other cards off first, etc etc.

balance transfers won't affect your credit. getting a new card will, but as long as this isn't something you do every 6 or 12 months when the 0% goes away, it's not a huge deal. please please please cut up any card you plan to use for this balance transfer thingy. most of these 0% deals have extremely nasty fine print. i mean, you miss a payment, your rate is suddenly 22%. that's quite common actually. and often using the card gets you in weird limbo. your balance transfers may be at a low rate, but then you find out that your purchases on that card are at 17% or something... the 0% thing is the biggest racket. they know people fuck up so they offer you a relatively tiny carrot and hope you slip.

your original plan that you were trying sounds like the best advice i could wrangle up. tackle your smallest debt paying minimums on everything else. you absolutely cannot use any of these cards if you want this to work quickly. student loans are less of a big deal because they tend to be at really low, fixed rates. but the credit cards... holy evil.

one of the best things you can do for your credit is just make sure you get them money on time.

other ideas:
-don't have cable
-don't have both a phone and a cell
-use cheap/free internet access
-the second job idears are totally OTM, especially if you're single without kids... aka you have free time...
-cooking at home
-if i want a cd, i sell at least one cd. (this may not work for everybody, but i know i'm not the only ilxer with probably a few too many cds.)
-in that same vein, start using the library as much as possible
-try to cut back on booze and smoking if you enjoy either
-consider moving in a cheaper location and/or town

you can still definitely enjoy yourself, but it takes time. that's where i'm at. i'm paying my dues. i actually fucked my credit and am riding that out. i didn't declare bankrupcy, but it's all the same. i tried to buy a car and the only lender i could get was a cut my heart out rate. but that's where i've been at. we'll be out of credit card debt at the end of this year... hopefully sometime in 2006 or 2007 we'll actually be able to try to buy.

m.

i didn't do that one... but it's a way to save. (well, as long as you can buy a used car that's not going to be a pile of junk.)
m.

I have several credit cards I don't use and my credit is horrible due to having missed payments for all of them at some point.

hmm. google, can you help us out here?
m.

My next step is to research a new credit card with 0% interest.

m.

Coming soon to a credit card near you: bigger monthly bills. Two years ago federal regulators told banks to start raising required minimum payments but gave them tome to comply. Now [it's going to happen]. The rules are aimed at protecting consumers by ensuring that minimum payments will at least cover the monthly interest charged to the account. Typically, that will double current minimums. If your already stretching, ask your lender to lower your interest rate, or find a lower-rate card at cardtrak.com. you can also switch to a non-bank credit card, like one issued by a credit union or auto company, that isn't required to follow the rules.

I have yet to call my current credit card companies and beg.

Also, I think I'm going to do some apartment hunting soon. It makes me really sad to think of moving out of my current apartment. I love it so much. But I know I need to at least try to get out there and see what I could get for a couple hundred dollars less a month.

Instead I am looking into getting a loan on my car (which I got, but paid for already) and using that to pay off credit cards. Lower interest rate (5.8% or someething as opposed to like the 20% interest I have on my visa). Also, if you pay off your credit cards DO NOT CLOSE THEM as your credit score is based on a debt-to-credit ratio (according to Suze whats-her-name, whom I watched on television yesterday morning).

I also am starting to send off $100 a month to this life insurance policy I have that kind of acts as a savings account but I can't access it easily - because I've found I dump large amounts of money into my savings only to withdraw it weeks later when I'm in a bind.

I'm ALSO sending the two credit cards I have to my mom for her to keep. She's good at being the voice of reason so if I need to use them I have to make a big case to her first.

I'm ALSO starting to write down every little penny I spend in a check register.

I NEED TO GET MY LIFE IN ORDER!

Some things continue to be icky. I found out I do indeed have to pay a $350 hospital fee I thought I could avoid, but things are looking up!

http://www.urban75.org/photos/london/images/lon377.jpg

Also calling your CC companies and asking for a lower APR really does work. Again I got a balance down from 13% to 9% just by calling them up, after months of rejecting the idea as foolish. It doesn't cost anything to ask.

Another thing that works occasionally is, in the event that you are late by a day or so with your payment (I do online payments, but scheduling them is sometimes a hassle)- asking the CC company for a break on the late fee. Apparently most companies give their representatives the option to waive fees and such at least once a year.
Courtesy and begging can pay off, as well as harrassement and cajoling, come to think of it...

What DO you do?

Swim and eat tuna, mostly.

They said (and maybe this applies to you):
"The $1.00 charges are from you using your PIN number at the store. When you go to the store you have to tell them credit swipe the card and sign for the purchase. Any time you put your PIN number at a non North Community ATM you will be charged $1.00."

Separated from the military
Retired from the military
Married to someone actively serving in the military (Active, National Guard, Reserve, pre-commissioning)
Adult child of a USAA member
A spouse or former spouse of a USAA member

If none of the options above are appropriate for you or your spouse, contact us.

(xpost)
in theory i like credit unions. in practise i like convenience.

1. The best insurance in the country for safe drivers (I get money back from them occasionally, because of the way their insurance works)
2. Up to $15.00 a month rebate on ATM surcharge fees (since they have no USAA ATMs, that comes out to about 8-10 withdrawals a month though which is plenty and was damn handy when I was doing DC NYC 4x/mo.
3. .005% rebate on every purchase we make with the ATM mastercard thing
4. Rated investments and good credit offers
5. No late fees and no minimum balance fees on anything, ever, in my experience. + free online bill paying. I automated my rent through them, my landlord gets a cashier's check in the mail right on the 1st at no additional charge to me. So Hot.

I could go on and on but anyway hstencil's anecdote confirms what I've been hearing for a while, they're not being so strict with the membership thing as they used to at all.

I paid off the credit cards a while ago, so it's been a while since I've had to deal with those people (save one company that sold my billing address to one of those "people search" places), but I considered that debt a necessary "investment" because I stocked my personal library with most of that money. It ended up being cheaper than grad school.

In my experience it's been mixed. As always, the most important thing to do is read the fine print. Some credit cards will give you a grace period of a day or so.
More typically, many credit cards have terms that allow them to jack up your APR when you make even one late payment. With others that only happens when you make a number of consecutive late payments. The times that I have been late, nothing has happened to my APR, but I did get late fees($25-$40) and the minimum payment was doubled the following month.
So I would say, "don't make it a habit".

really good tips/menus to help slash that food budget.

The leather tonneau cover for my truck is getting old and drawing up -- it gets harder and harder to snap back on whenever I need to take it off to haul tall stuff. Decided to do the fuel-savings math, and near as I can figure it's saved me about $950-1000 in gas over the last 8.5 years. (It cost $175.)